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

What is a federal law clerk and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted experts

Frank Alcock Ph.D.,

Jennifer Brobst

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a federal law clerk. For example, did you know that they make an average of $25.96 an hour? That's $54,003 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 80,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a federal law clerk?

Frank Alcock Ph.D.

Director of Academic Initiatives and Special Projects, Professor of Political Science and Environmental Studies, New College of Florida

You're just beginning on what will hopefully be a long and rewarding journey. Career paths are less stable and more turbulent than they were a decade ago, so understand this at the outset. You may find yourself moving into a well-defined career path that you enjoy and that's great. But professional versatility is becoming an increasingly important asset. Versatility will build over time as you cultivate more skills and experiences. Lifelong learning will continue to be indispensable so always look for opportunities to learn from your setbacks as well as your successes. And embrace your future. It won't be boring.

ScoreFederal Law ClerkUS Average

Salary

4.2

Avg. Salary $54,003

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.3

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.30%

Asian 7.20%

Black or African American 9.55%

Hispanic or Latino 19.27%

Unknown 7.60%

White 56.08%

Gender

female 48.46%

male 51.54%

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 law clerk

Explore federal law clerk education requirements

Most common federal law clerk degrees

Bachelor's

46.9 %

Doctorate

40.6 %

Associate

5.2 %

Start to develop specific federal law clerk skills

Skills	Percentages
Legal Research	65.64%
Jury Trials	34.36%

Complete relevant federal law clerk training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New federal law 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 law clerk based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real federal law clerk resumes.

Research federal law clerk duties and responsibilities

Analyze petitions for allowance of appeal, appellate briefs, and intermediate appellate opinions in preparing for disposition of discretionary appeals.
Develop presentations for state police officers to reinforce drunk driving and highway safety initiatives via PowerPoint.

Prepare your federal law clerk resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your federal law 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 law 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 law clerk resume templates

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