How To Become A Federal Appellate Clerk: What It Is and Career Path

What is a federal appellate clerk and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a federal appellate clerk. For example, did you know that they make an average of $20.22 an hour? That's $42,056 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 0% and produce -5,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreFederal Appellate ClerkUS Average

Salary

3.3

Avg. Salary $42,056

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

7.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.31%

Asian 7.72%

Black or African American 8.95%

Hispanic or Latino 13.89%

Unknown 7.72%

White 61.42%

Gender

female 82.61%

male 17.39%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

5.3

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.7

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.8

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a federal appellate clerk

Explore federal appellate clerk education requirements

Most common federal appellate clerk degrees

Bachelor's

47.6 %

Doctorate

23.8 %

High School Diploma

14.3 %

Start to develop specific federal appellate clerk skills

Skills	Percentages
Appeals	38.32%
Legal Research	21.23%
Legal Analysis	20.45%
Oral Arguments	20.01%

Complete relevant federal appellate clerk training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New federal appellate clerks learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a federal appellate clerk based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real federal appellate clerk resumes.

Research federal appellate clerk duties and responsibilities

Demonstrate strong math skills in managing inmate s accounts and calmly and effectively deescalating outbursts of belligerent inmates.
Attend conferences with clients at the ACI.
Process tax payments-complete company payroll -process utility payments -File management -Answered phone calls and provide customers with the information they request
Detail oriented information authorize includes signatures, official public records, and certification of notary.

Prepare your federal appellate clerk resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your federal appellate clerk resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a federal appellate clerk resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable federal appellate clerk resume templates

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