Law
and Document Clerks in many respects can be used to describe two very different
classes of legal professional. A law clerk is
a position where an individual performs a number of administrative duties for a
judge or judiciary, which heavy reliance on substantive work, such as legal research, analysis, and drafting of legal
decisions.
In
almost all circumstances, becoming a law clerk involves having graduated from
law school with a legal degree, usually with a specified academic focus on
judicial review, and in some cases, having performing near or at the top of
their class. As a general rule, the process is
more selective among the higher courts, such as at the federal state and
appellate court, and are less selective in the lower courts (though, comparative
to other legal positions, they are still highly selective).
The firsthand observation of the
intricacies of the court are an undeniably beneficial position, as well as the
high volume of legal professionals that interact with a judge gives a promising
law clerk a potentially extensive quantity of connections throughout the legal
community.
some individuals become law clerks as a career, the positions are typically
under a limited duration, commonly a year, and serve mainly as a valuable
stepping stone for the law clerk on the path between law school and achieving a
successful career in law.
Document
clerks generally perform more common paralegal practices, usually limited to
clerical and administrative work that centers almost exclusively on the filing
of legal documentation. Sometimes it is required of a document clerk
to have passed a local or federal civil service exam (though usually not for
positions in the private sector).
