Clerk of a state supreme court is one of the most attractive jobs for recent law school graduates. Most state high courts choose the issues they consider, and all play an important role in shaping the constitution within their states. state court report has created a number of resources for interested applicants, including conversations with state judges about clerkships and information about specific opportunities available to those seeking clerkships.
However, applying for a state court clerk position can be confusing, in part because applications for state court clerk positions are not standardized. Although some courts post their positions on CORA, a platform designed by the National Center for State Courts to aggregate clerkship opportunities, there is no state equivalent to the federal OSCAR system. Courts and judges are then assigned different numbers of clerks, judicial assistants, and staff attorneys. Some courts do not employ short-term clerks at all.
This fluctuation can make it difficult to know what opportunities are available. This post is intended to assist clerkship candidates in two ways. (1) by explaining which courts regularly employ fixed-term law clerks and approximately how many opportunities are available; and (2) by hyperlinking to each court’s clerkship-related resources, if available.
employment practices
State supreme courts’ hiring practices can be divided into two broad groups: those that regularly hire term clerks and those that rely primarily on career clerks. Term clerks hold the position for a set period of time (usually one to two years), while career clerks work indefinitely. Career clerks often (though not always) have previous judicial clerkship or work experience.
Term Clerk’s Court
Most state supreme courts in the United States often employ fixed-term law clerks in addition to permanent law clerks or judicial assistants. For example, in the Colorado Supreme Court, each justice employs three clerks. Some judges typically employ three-term clerks for one-year terms, while others employ permanent law clerks in addition to clerks for two-year terms. Other courts, such as the Connecticut Supreme Court, have a well-established tradition of employing a set number of career clerks and a set number of term clerks for each judge.
Listed below are courts that regularly employ law clerks on a regular basis. The number of clerks per judge indicates the number of term clerks for the average judge on that court. It was done Hire in the specified year. However, given the multi-year term of clerkships and the variation in the number of permanent career clerks, not all judges hire this number each year. Additionally, the presiding judge may be assigned additional staff and may employ more than the number listed below.
Finally, if a state supreme court has a website dedicated to law clerk employment, that page is a hyperlink.
carrier clark coat
A relatively small number of state supreme courts employ indefinite-term employment of law clerks as a matter of practice and tradition. Those interested in working with these courts and judges should check the court’s website for full-time staff job openings, but clerkship opportunities will be much more sporadic.
After all, given that most judges run their own processes when it comes to hiring law clerks, applicants should research the specific opportunities available that year.
Jake Mazetis (he/him) was a law clerk for both the Colorado Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
Recommended Citation: Jake Mazeitis, Who employs state supreme court clerks?Sᴛᴀᴛᴇ Cᴏᴜʀᴛ Rᴇᴘᴏʀᴛ (January 21, 2026), https://statecourtreport.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/whos-hiring-state-supreme-court-clarks
