As new clerkship and staff attorney positions continue to open in OSCAR, we would like to offer a few reminders for applicants regarding searching for positions.
Once you have uploaded your documents and selected your recommenders, you can begin searching for positions. OSCAR provides basic and advanced search features to help find specific positions for judges and staff attorneys that match your interests. You can navigate to both search options within the Search for Positions tab when logged into your account.
Basic Search
The basic search within the “Judges” and “Staff Attorneys” tabs provides the following general search options. Note: Items marked with an asterisk (*) appear within the “Judges” tab only.
- Keywords: Search for a position based on specific keywords such as judge or circuit name, city, state, hiring practices, or chambers information.
- Position Status: Select “Available” to see currently open clerkship positions. Search for “Filled” or “Expired” to help you get a feel for how often certain judges hire.
- *Clerkship Type: Narrow your search by the type of clerkship position you are interested in applying for. Most clerkship positions in OSCAR fall under “Term Law Clerk – Chambers.”
- Application Method: Find out which openings are accepting applications online through OSCAR and which prefer paper or email applications.
- *Judge Types: Look for clerkships for bankruptcy, circuit, district, magistrate, or special master judges.
- Term Start Year: Find terms starting in a particular year.
- Post/Last Modified Date for Open Positions: Find positions that have been recently posted or modified.
- Post/Last Modified Date for Closed Positions: Determine when closed positions were posted or last modified.
Advanced Search
The advanced search option within the “Judges” and “Staff Attorneys” tabs provides an extensive list of search fields, allowing you to customize your search, as well as save your search criteria for later use. The advanced search provides some of the following search options, in addition to those provided in the basic search, and many more. Note: Items marked with an asterisk (*) appear within the “Judges” tab only.
- And/Or: You can search based on all or any of your selected criteria by selecting and or or, respectively.
- Interview Methods Accepted: Allows you to select your preference of in-person, telephone, or video conference interview.
- *Specialty Court: Select from U.S. Court of Appeals for Veteran Claims, Federal Claims, or International Trade.
- *Court: Select from U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Court of Appeals, or District Court.
- Circuit Code: Select one of 1-11, DC, or Federal. Hover over the question mark icon to see a detailed list of circuits. Note that district judges, magistrate judges, and bankruptcy judges (as well as circuit judges) all sit within a particular circuit so, if necessary, use the "Judge Type" search field below to narrow your search to a particular type of judge.
- *Date of Appointment: Select your preferred date range for the appointment. If no preference, leave blank.
- *Law School: If you prefer to apply for a judge who has gone to a certain law school, indicate this here.
- Number of Recommendations Required: Select a minimum number of required recommendations per applicant.
For more advanced search options, see the advanced search feature.
After you've applied your advanced search, you will be brought to the Search Results tab. Click on a judge or staff attorney office name, then click the Clerkship List or Position List tab. Click the View & Apply button for the position of your choice.
If you would like to apply to a position at a later time, you can save positions using OSCAR’s folder feature. For more information, see the tip sheet Adding a New Folder located under Help when logged into your account.
For further details on searching, see the tip sheet titled Search for Positions as well as the Application Process Overview and Applicant Prep Kit.
More Information for Applicants
