University of Arizona Law Students Tapped for Arizona Supreme Court Clerkships

All five Arizona Supreme Court justices hired University of Arizona Law students for the 2017-18 term, with Wildcats filling 7 of the 10 available clerkships.
 
Arizona Law has a strong history of placing students in clerkships. From 2011 to 2015, 20.3 percent of employed Arizona Law graduates earned judicial clerkships, compared to the national rate of 9.3 percent (according to data from the National Association for Law Placement).
 
A clerkship experience after graduation is widely considered to be among the best post-law school training opportunities, both in terms of work and building relationships within the legal community, says Virginia Clarke, director of judicial clerkships in Arizona Law’s Career Development Office.
 
“It’s an excellent way to gain experience and insight into the legal system from the unique perspective of the court,” Clarke says. “As a judicial clerk, you are in chambers with the judge, conducting high-level research and analysis, sitting in on hearings, reading case materials, briefing the judge, learning to articulate your opinions, and obtaining intimate insight into the judicial decision-making process.”
 
The application process for judicial clerkships begins immediately after the 1L year and requires extensive preparation. Clarke helps students work with faculty recommenders, choose a writing sample, fine-tune their resumes and cover letters, prepare for the interview, and even connect with alumni who have clerked. The Career Development Office also regularly hosts judges and clerks at the college for career panels to help inform students who are interested in clerking.
 
Clarke says a clerkship can set the stage for the rest of your career.
 
“You learn how you want to model yourself as an attorney, and it will shape everything you do going forward,” Clarke says. “Later, when you appear in front of the court for the first time as an attorney, you will be a lot more confident, having already been on the other side of the bench.”
 
3L Lindsey Huang applied for a clerkship and will work for Chief Justice Scott Bales after graduating. She says it’s a chance to make a significant contribution while also being challenged.
 
“I'm so excited for the opportunity to improve my critical thinking and writing skills while helping to shape the law in the state where I will practice and live,” says Huang, an Indiana native and the editor-in-chief of Arizona Law Review who was a summer associate at Perkins Cole in Phoenix this year. “I know I will learn a lot from not only the justices, but also my fellow clerks."
 
3L David Lundmark, a 2016 summer associate at Bowman & Brooke in Phoenix, is the firm’s third consecutive clerkship placement with Justice Robert M. Brutinel.
 
“I'm honored to be a part of this informal tradition and excited to work with Justice Brutinel,” says Lundmark, a Phoenix native and the articles editor of Arizona Law Review.
 
Members of the Class of 2016 and Class of 2017 also secured federal and Arizona Court of Appeals clerkships.
 
Congratulations to all the newly selected clerks!