Judicial Law Clerks
Assist judges in court or by conducting research or preparing legal documents.
- Median pay
- $64,920
- Doing it now
- 14,000
- By 2035
- Up 2.8%
- Usually needs
- Doctoral or professional degree
a year
across the country
1,500 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Attend court sessions to hear oral arguments or record necessary case information.
- Communicate with counsel regarding case management or procedural requirements.
- Confer with judges concerning legal questions, construction of documents, or granting of orders.
- Draft or proofread judicial opinions, decisions, or citations.
- Keep abreast of changes in the law and inform judges when cases are affected by such changes.
- 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.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Organised and precise
Leading and persuading
Analytical and curious
Careers like this one
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $64,920 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.