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

What is a judicial law clerk and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Andrea Schneider,

Jennifer Brobst

As a judiciary law clerk, your roles are to conduct research, attend court sessions, write documents, and offer administrative assistance to judges. Your job will be limited to within the court, although you may also need to leave and deliver documents. By doing their jobs, law clerks help judges make the best decisions, in any given case.

A day in the life of a judiciary law clerk involves doing legal research for the judge's cases, managing records, maintaining the judge's schedule, submitting documents, attending court sessions, and administering oaths to witnesses.

Judiciary law clerks are required to have passed the state bar exam and have past clerical experience. They may also need to pass a criminal background check to land the position. Employers look for clerical skills like multitasking and typing over 40 words per minute when filling this position.

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

Andrea Schneider

Professor of Law, Marquette University

Take every opportunity to network and volunteer. Make connections with leaders in your local and state bar organizations and those who lead legal service organizations in your area. Think about how your skills can be used in a variety of ways, and make connections throughout the community.

ScoreJudicial Law ClerkUS Average

Salary

4.2

Avg. Salary $54,006

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.3

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.30%

Asian 8.38%

Black or African American 9.49%

Hispanic or Latino 18.70%

Unknown 7.59%

White 55.54%

Gender

female 53.32%

male 46.68%

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 judicial law clerk

Explore judicial law clerk education requirements

Most common judicial law clerk degrees

Doctorate

50.9 %

Bachelor's

42.5 %

Master's

5.1 %

Start to develop specific judicial law clerk skills

Skills	Percentages
Legal Issues	10.21%
District Court	8.25%
Litigation	5.92%
Legal Memoranda	5.74%
Appeals	5.64%

Complete relevant judicial law clerk training and internships

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

Research judicial law clerk duties and responsibilities

Review wills and applications to ensure that they meet the statutory requirements to be admit to probate.
Research and write judicial orders in civil, criminal, family, juvenile, child protection, and probate matters.
Compile accurate information from other departments in order to answer complaints, interrogatories and other legal documents on a timely basis.
Appeal of deny Medicaid eligibility; settlement result in reinstatement of Medicaid eligibility and services.

Prepare your judicial law clerk resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your judicial law clerk resume.

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