Is a one-year clerkship in a small market enough to break into a major market?

Transcript

"I completed a one year clerkship in a random small market. Would that be enough to help me break into a major market if I'm already at a top law school, but I didn't do a summer associateship?"

Yup, that's enough. If you're at a top law school and you can work as a summer associate, it's okay, especially now during this pandemic, if you do a one-year federal clerkship in any small market. Yes, you can get into a big market. Now, New York City and DC are very difficult markets to break into for litigators because those are markets where there's an oversupply of litigators, but there's plenty of big firms and other markets where you could potentially work. Certainly New York is one of them and there's lots of small markets where you could work as a federal clerk.

The reason law firms like clerks is because it's a prestigious honor, of course, but more than anything, you're working with a judge for a year. They review your work, you're doing a lot of writing and it makes you a better attorney. Having done a clerkship was actually very helpful for me. And I did it in a random smaller market and I got a lot of good training and it was a very good thing that I did. I think it can make you definitely a good hire.