How to Hire a Law Clerk

Why hire a law clerk?

The need for new staff can affect both your existing team and your bottom line. A great law clerk hire can help your business:

• Draft legal documents on behalf of lawyers or attorneys 
• Perform extensive research by analyzing laws, constitutions or statutes and make detailed reports
• Maintain daily work calendar of the principal lawyer and schedule appointments

What are the types of law clerks?

There are many types of law clerks who have different responsibilities in the legal field. These types include:

• Pro se clerk: A pro se clerk works with attorney offices and handles complaints about civil rights violations, employment discrimination, Social Security disability appeals and prisoner habeas corpus petitions. They’re responsible for examining cases to determine whether they have merit. 
• Temporary law clerk: Courthouses can hire temporary law clerks for one- or two-year positions. 
• Senior judges’ clerk: A senior judges’ clerk is a law clerk who works underneath multiple judges. They’re responsible for assisting the judges with duties in their chambers and often witness the legal decision-making process. 
• Staff clerks: Staff clerks work for courthouses as a whole instead of for judges. They’re responsible for researching cases that will be heard by a panel of judges. Staff clerks can also be given administrative duties, such as reviewing correspondence with judges. 

Where to find law clerks

To find the right law clerk for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Maintain relationships with law schools. Many law clerks are recent graduates of law schools. Contact law schools in the area to find information on promising recent graduates and reach out to them to meet and determine if they’re interested in the job.
• Conduct online searches. Look online for members of the legal community who are looking for work as law clerks. Make contact with these potential candidates to gauge their level of interest in the job and to see if they’d be a good fit for the position. 
• Post your job online. Try posting your law clerk job on Indeed to find and attract quality law clerk candidates.

What are the types of law clerks?

There are many types of law clerks who have different responsibilities in the legal field. These types include:

• Pro se clerk: A pro se clerk works with attorney offices and handles complaints about civil rights violations, employment discrimination, Social Security disability appeals and prisoner habeas corpus petitions. They’re responsible for examining cases to determine whether they have merit. 
• Temporary law clerk: Courthouses can hire temporary law clerks for one- or two-year positions. 
• Senior judges’ clerk: A senior judges’ clerk is a law clerk who works underneath multiple judges. They’re responsible for assisting the judges with duties in their chambers and often witness the legal decision-making process. 
• Staff clerks: Staff clerks work for courthouses as a whole instead of for judges. They’re responsible for researching cases that will be heard by a panel of judges. Staff clerks can also be given administrative duties, such as reviewing correspondence with judges. 

Writing a law clerk job description

A thoughtful description can help you find qualified law clerk candidates. A law clerk job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your law clerk job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on law clerk jobs, according to Indeed data:

• Law clerk
• Legal
• Legal intern
• Law firm
• Law
• Legal assistant
• Paralegal
• Summer associate
• Legal internship
• Attorney

Interviewing law clerk candidates

It’s essential to test each candidate’s knowledge, attitude toward learning new concepts and documentation and research skills to zero in on the most suitable law clerk candidate. They should be able to answer questions regarding:

• Proficiency in legal concepts
• Knowledge of legal software and MS Office
• Experience supporting lawyers and drafting well-researched legal reports

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of law clerk interview questions for examples (with sample answers).