What is clerking for a SDNY magistrate like? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Also, what are the job prospects after such a clerkship?

Thanks

[Anonymous User]

It is a great experience. SDNY is obviously a prestigious district and most of the Magistrate Judges have extensive civil litigation experience and excellent connections. That being said, I can't recall any SDNY Magistrate clerks who became AUSAs in that district, and EDNY magistrate judges generally get to handle more civil lit work than SDNY magistrates

[Anonymous User]

As with all clerkships, your employment prospects depend on what you have to bring to the table.

Why should a law firm pay you a gazillion dollars?

You can make a much stronger case if, for example, you also have two to four years of experience at a V10.

I loved clerking for an SDNY MJ. My docket and motions were extremely varied and challenging.

[Anonymous User]

It is a great experience. SDNY is obviously a prestigious district and most of the Magistrate Judges have extensive civil litigation experience and excellent connections. That being said, I can't recall any SDNY Magistrate clerks who became AUSAs in that district, and EDNY magistrate judges generally get to handle more civil lit work than SDNY magistrates

You know every former SDNY magistrate clerk? Bizarre false claim.

[Anonymous User]

I mean at my V10 there are former SDNY magistrate clerks. They're less common than SDNY Article III clerks though.

[Anonymous User]

It is a great experience. SDNY is obviously a prestigious district and most of the Magistrate Judges have extensive civil litigation experience and excellent connections. That being said, I can't recall any SDNY Magistrate clerks who became AUSAs in that district, and EDNY magistrate judges generally get to handle more civil lit work than SDNY magistrates

You know every former SDNY magistrate clerk? Bizarre false claim.

Different poster. I won’t claim to know all SDNY magistrate clerks, but it’s certainly true that there are no or very few former magistrate clerks in the SDNY USAO.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone familiar with the types of cases they generally handle and what the typical hours a week are?

[Anonymous User]

SDNY has a lot of securities litigation cases and also a good number of employment, antitrust, and breach of contract cases.

Non-dispositive motions are often referred to magistrate judges, with some exceptions by judge (some like to retain those motions).

Of course, litigants can always consent to a magistrate judge trying their civil case.

Magistrate judges sign search warrants, preside over arraignments, and sometimes take guilty pleas depending on the judge - some refer pleas to magistrates and some do not. But magistrate judges can never sentence in a regular criminal matter or preside over a criminal trial (misdemeanors are a different story but are super rare in SDNY).

[Anonymous User]

Magistrates also do a pretty heavy load of pro se stuff. Pro se stuff blows.

Tbh it’s not a job I ever saw as appealing as a SDNY A3 clerk, but then it’s less competitive than A3 jobs and it’s still good experience in how to actually manage litigation.

[Anonymous User]

SDNY magistrate clerkships are much easier to get than SDNY A3 clerkships so that's a plus too. Additionally, Netburn was just nominated for an A3 gig - notwithstanding her scary warning on her website not to call chambers expressing your opinions on cases or you will be arrested - so she might be good to apply to.

[Anonymous User]

SDNY magistrate clerkships are much easier to get than SDNY A3 clerkships so that's a plus too. Additionally, Netburn was just nominated for an A3 gig - notwithstanding her scary warning on her website not to call chambers expressing your opinions on cases or you will be arrested - so she might be good to apply to.

She's a nice person. I know someone who knows her and if I had to guess that might be something she put because she was getting a lot of crypto related calls from a crypto case and it was getting super annoying.

[Anonymous User]

Really rewarding experience. I compare it to being in the boiler room of SDNY dealing with the nitty-gritty of civil litigation. You'll get really proficient with the FRCP and since it's SDNY, you'll get tons of interesting cases and plenty of substantive dispositive and non-dispositive motions. Purely anecdotally, I also think MJ clerks have a better work-life balance here than district judge clerks (although this is judge-dependent and plenty of district judges are humane to their clerks). Other huge plus that I don't think people consider enough is getting to sit in on settlement conferences. I've learned so much about negotiation and what not do as an attorney behind closed doors, stuff they don't teach you in law school, and I think that'll serve me really well moving forward.

Downsides are: some people are definitely snobby about MJ vs. A3 clerks and your employment prospects probably won't be quite as good, but having SDNY on your resume in any capacity still carries a lot of weight. Getting an MJ clerkship is less competitive than an A3 clerkship in SDNY but is still very competitive and all the MJ clerks I know here are very accomplished, smart, and ambitious. The MJs themselves also come from really impressive pedigrees and often have good connections. Your exit options will be more than fine.

Other downside is district judges tend to use MJs as their litigation garbage disposal for cases and motions they don't want to deal with (hence the high volume of pro se litigants). But for my personality at least, on any given day I'd rather be dealing with that sort of challenge as opposed sitting in a silent room writing legal memos. Maybe that's just the chip on my shoulder talking. It can be frustrating sometimes but without MJs moving things along, SDNY would grind to a halt.

If you get an offer and don't have a more compelling clerkship lined up, I'd definitely do it. It also can only help your chances if you do want to do an A3 clerkship later (I know of multiple people who've done both).

Oh, and important tip: it's magistrate JUDGE, not magistrate. MJs get very touchy about this when lawyers screw it up.