HELPFUL HINTS FOR LAW-CLERK APPLICANTS

1. Pay attention to detail in your application, in your cover letter, in everything. Don’t leave misspellings and grammar mistakes in what you send.

2. Don’t hide your GPA. Put it on your résumé.

3. If you’re applying through Symplicity or another one stop-application service, realize that the service may not allow you to append more than your résumé and cover letter. Without all required materials, your application will be incomplete. Read the Court’s posting on law-clerk applications on its web site for instructions on what the Court needs.

4. Recommendations are highly encouraged and can be instrumental in a justice’s determination whom she or he wants to interview.

5. The Court gets more than 100 applications each year for 18 law-clerk slots. You will be notified if a justice wants to interview you, but not, if not.

6. If you apply by email, don’t apply by U.S. mail, too. One or the other, but not both, please. If you apply on paper by mail, send copies of all materials for each justice to whom you apply.

Listen to these comments from the Court’s staff attorneys, who often are the first line in culling applications:

► I don’t like really long cover letters, random capitalization in résumés and including a writing sample from a clerkship without specifying that you have permission to use it. Watch for typos. Recommendation letters from professors who only dimly remember the student from a long-ago course are not particularly helpful. This may seem basic, but know who’s on the Court. We often get cover letters addressed to a justice who left more than a year ago. I like résumés reflecting interesting interests because we want to work with interesting people.

► We recently had a hard decision between two good candidates, but we went with the person who appeared more interesting. I definitely prefer short writing samples. In cover letters, I don’t care to hear much about how working here will help the candidate or their legal career. That’s a given.

► Watch your vocabulary. For instance, the word “comprised” is almost always misused.

About the routine: Applications submitted by electronic mail are entered on a spreadsheet. Résumés are posted separately, as are transcripts and recommendations. Schools are listed, as well as law-school grade-point averages and law-review experience. One column will note distinguishing factors about an applicant, if pertinent, such as class rank or publications or additional degrees beyond undergraduate and law degrees. The idea is to give staff attorneys and justices a quick view of your application, and you, and allow them to click on your materials as a whole or for parts.

If you have questions, write SCClerk@txcourts.gov.