Saturday, October 09, 2004
Advising, sort of
So I'm clerkship-less. I emailed the one lady at the Office of Career Services whose sole responsibility is helping students with judicial clerkships, and I asked her if there was going to be some sort of presentation for those of us who have come up empty (and it seems that there are plenty of us). Sort of a "What Now?" instruction session. She replied that she finds it more useful to talk to people one-on-one and asked me to sign up for an appointment. I did so.
When I went in to talk to her, I told her my situation, and she asked to look at the list of judges I had applied to. She told me it included a lot of big-shots, and I knew that; DC happens to be my first choice geography, so I applied to all the DC judges, who are all big-shots. But not everyone on there is a big shot.
Essentially, she told me that what I needed to do now was to determine which judges still have openings; there are some who are still scrambling for clerks. She presented three main ways to accomplish this goal: 1) there's an online system where Harvard students who have interviewed with judges can voluntarily post a message saying a judge is done hiring, 2) there's another online resource where judges can post available positions, or 3) I could call the judges on the phone and ask.
Well a fat lot of good that'll do me. The Harvard site is sparsely notated and only helpful to learn which judges do NOT have openings anymore--if it says nothing (as almost all of them do), then it means nothing. The other site is kept by the judges themselves, but none of them seem to have updated it since July. I'm going to need daily updating. And calling each of the hundreds of federal judges in the US on the phone isn't an appetizing task.
I think it's amazing that the most prestigious law school in the country with so many resources at its disposal can't do more than this for me. Maybe I should get over my feeling of entitlement, but a pat on the butt and a "Good luck!" really isn't helpful at this point. It really doesn't even strike me as very worth it to pursue any of these lines of attack.
When I went in to talk to her, I told her my situation, and she asked to look at the list of judges I had applied to. She told me it included a lot of big-shots, and I knew that; DC happens to be my first choice geography, so I applied to all the DC judges, who are all big-shots. But not everyone on there is a big shot.
Essentially, she told me that what I needed to do now was to determine which judges still have openings; there are some who are still scrambling for clerks. She presented three main ways to accomplish this goal: 1) there's an online system where Harvard students who have interviewed with judges can voluntarily post a message saying a judge is done hiring, 2) there's another online resource where judges can post available positions, or 3) I could call the judges on the phone and ask.
Well a fat lot of good that'll do me. The Harvard site is sparsely notated and only helpful to learn which judges do NOT have openings anymore--if it says nothing (as almost all of them do), then it means nothing. The other site is kept by the judges themselves, but none of them seem to have updated it since July. I'm going to need daily updating. And calling each of the hundreds of federal judges in the US on the phone isn't an appetizing task.
I think it's amazing that the most prestigious law school in the country with so many resources at its disposal can't do more than this for me. Maybe I should get over my feeling of entitlement, but a pat on the butt and a "Good luck!" really isn't helpful at this point. It really doesn't even strike me as very worth it to pursue any of these lines of attack.
Comments:
Dear Son, (this is the old man!) It appears that I have to set up an account to respond under my name. Anyway, your poll request has me a little befuddled! I am really not a sports fan, so I do not have a favorite professonal team for any sport. And, I find myself in the same perpelxed situation with presidential candidates. I do not want to vote for either one of the big party candidates and I do not even know the names of the others that are running excpet for Ralph. So maybe I will have to vote for him -- ARGGGG!
Kerry seems to lack almost all of the virtues which I would like to see in a national leader. And, I cannot bring myslef to vote for a person who started his own personal war because he thought that it was his "moral" duty, and not because there was any compelling, rational reason to do so. And, since I do not believe that the president has much influence on the economy or any other domestic issue (they are really in the hands of Congress), but does really control foreign policy; I cannot bring myself to vote for a person who I feel is incompetent on foreign policy matters. I realize that this might not fly well in your home, but he (along with a little help from Cheney & Runsfeld) is soley responsible for an action which I find difficult to reconcile with my religion -- agression. Furthermore, his "Axis of Evil" rehortic followed by invasions of some of the members of that axis, obviously caused the North Korea problem. What's Kim to do? He is next on the list!
So, I cannot vote for either one of them. So, what do you know about the "Constution" party? That sounds like a good name.
Post a Comment
Kerry seems to lack almost all of the virtues which I would like to see in a national leader. And, I cannot bring myslef to vote for a person who started his own personal war because he thought that it was his "moral" duty, and not because there was any compelling, rational reason to do so. And, since I do not believe that the president has much influence on the economy or any other domestic issue (they are really in the hands of Congress), but does really control foreign policy; I cannot bring myself to vote for a person who I feel is incompetent on foreign policy matters. I realize that this might not fly well in your home, but he (along with a little help from Cheney & Runsfeld) is soley responsible for an action which I find difficult to reconcile with my religion -- agression. Furthermore, his "Axis of Evil" rehortic followed by invasions of some of the members of that axis, obviously caused the North Korea problem. What's Kim to do? He is next on the list!
So, I cannot vote for either one of them. So, what do you know about the "Constution" party? That sounds like a good name.
