As expected, the top four schools for clerkships – Yale, Stanford, Harvard, and the University of Chicago – also ranked in the top four in U.S. News’ latest law school rankings. Overachieving schools include the University of Notre Dame, the University of Georgia, and the University of Alabama, whose percentages of Federal clerks belie their rankings. Ironically, New York University, despite ranking #5 overall, didn’t make the list. Despite their Washington D.C. location, neither the Georgetown Law Center nor George Washington University cracked the top 20, either.
At the state and local level, New Jersey is the place for earning clerkships, with the top three spots owned by both Rutgers law schools (Camden and Newark) and Seton Hall University. Remarkably, over a third of each of their classes end up clerking at either the Federal or state and local level. Here are the top 20 schools for clerkships at the state and local levels:
| School | 2015 Best Law Schools rank | Percent 2012 employed J.D. grads with federal judicial clerkships | Percent 2012 employed J.D. grads with state and local judicial clerkships |
| Rutgers University (Camden) | 81 | 2.30% | 42% |
| Rutgers University (Newark) | 83 | 1% | 33.20% |
| Seton Hall University | 68 | 2.20% | 33.10% |
| University of Hawaii-Manoa | 100 | 2.40% | 28% |
| University of South Dakota | 145 | 0% | 20.60% |
| University of Nevada-Las Vegas | 83 | 2.30% | 19.50% |
| University of South Carolina | 93 | 3.10% | 19.40% |
| University of Colorado (Boulder) | 43 | 2.50% | 19% |
| University of Montana | 121 | 6.30% | 18.80% |
| University of Oregon | 100 | 2.70% | 17.70% |
| Howard University | 135 | 1.60% | 17.60% |
| University of Baltimore | 135 | 0.70% | 17.00% |
| University of Kentucky | 58 | 3.60% | 16.50% |
| Southern University Law Center | Not Ranked | 0% | 16.50% |
| University of Maryland (Carey) | 46 | 3.80% | 16.50% |
| Penn State University (Dickinson) | 51 | 0% | 16.30% |
| University of Arizona (Rogers) | 40 | 3.20% | 16.10% |
| University of Maine | 129 | 1.60% | 15.90% |
| University of Idaho | 118 | 1.00% | 15.60% |
| Roger Williams University | Not Ranked | 0% | 15.30% |
Source: U.S. News and World Report
Source: U.S. News and World Report
