I am currently in my fourth year of law school and want to build a career in litigation. A few seniors have advised me to apply for judicial clerkships after graduation. They say the experience improves legal research, drafting, and analytical skills. However, some others believe it is better to join a litigation chamber or a law firm immediately instead of spending a year in a clerkship.
I am now confused about which path would benefit my career more. Will a judicial clerkship give me a long-term advantage, or would I learn more by starting legal practice right away? Is a judicial clerkship useful only for aspiring litigators, or does it also help students who want to work in corporate law or other legal fields?
Dear Student,
I want to answer this question not just as a faculty member but also as someone who has been through this journey. I served as a Law Clerk at the Supreme Court of India, and I can tell you with complete confidence that it was one of the most valuable decisions of my career. So let me be upfront: my advice leans strongly in favour of doing a clerkship, and I’ll tell you exactly why.
When you clerk for a judge, you are not learning from the outside; you are right at the centre of how legal decisions are actually made. You go through case files, research the relevant law, help draft notes, and sometimes even parts of orders and judgments, and then you see how all that research turns into an actual decision. No chamber, law firm, or classroom gives you this kind of exposure. As a first-year lawyer in a chamber, you usually get to see only a handful of matters closely. As a clerk, you are exposed to many matters across almost every area of law, and you see them from the judge’s side, his perspective, like how bench thinks, the side that finally decides who wins and why. That kind of exposure is priceless, and it shaped the way I understood cases, arguments, and judgments for years afterwards.
Another positive side which cannot be ignored is that when it comes to relationships, a clerkship doesn’t hold you back; it actually introduces you to judges, senior advocates, and fellow clerks who often go on to do very well themselves, giving you a network that is hard to build otherwise.
So my honest, experience-backed advice to you is this: if you have the opportunity to clerk, take it. Further, if you decide to go ahead with this, I would be happy to guide you further on how to apply for clerkships.
Regards
