Hiring Judicial Law Clerks

What do judicial law clerks do?

• Prepare briefs, legal memoranda, or statements of issues involved in cases, including appropriate suggestions or recommendations.
• Research laws, court decisions, documents, opinions, briefs, or other information related to cases before the court.
• Draft or proofread judicial opinions, decisions, or citations.
• Confer with judges concerning legal questions, construction of documents, or granting of orders.
• Review complaints, petitions, motions, or pleadings that have been filed to determine issues involved or basis for relief.
• Keep abreast of changes in the law and inform judges when cases are affected by such changes.

Core tasks, O*NET OnLine, 23-1012.00.

What does it take to become one?

Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

O*NET Job Zone 5, SVP (8.0 and above). O*NET OnLine.

Employers commonly list experience with Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Thomson Reuters Westlaw, Adobe Acrobat for this role.

What do judicial law clerks get paid?

BLS OEWS, May 2025 publishes a wage for judicial law clerks in 42 of the metro areas in this build. The median ranges from $44,630 to $143,350 a year depending on the metro, with a midpoint of $65,260. This is what employers pay, place of work, not a single national figure and not what any one person takes home.

BLS OEWS, BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 23-1012.

What does hiring one cost?

The same as any role: tier, not location or salary, sets the fee. Across all six tiers the published range is $6,240 to $54,340 per search. For scale, the highest published median for judicial law clerks in this build is $143,350. A contingency firm hiring at that level would bill roughly $28,670 to $43,005 on the first year salary alone, 20 to 30%.

Frequently asked

How fast can a judicial law clerks search fill?

23 to 35 days, 2 to 3x faster than a typical contingency search, per the recruiting provider's published figures.

What if the hire does not work out?

A 45-day replacement guarantee, at 50% off a repeat search for the same role.