Driven by faculty expertise and extensive career training, the judicial clerkship placement rate for WVU Law has surpassed the national average.
Despite intense competition, College of Law students consistently secure state and federal clerkships at a high rate of 10.5% to 12%.
While every profession has an entry point, a clerkship is the best way to start a legal career.
Clerks assist judges by reading court filings, researching case law, making recommendations and even writing drafts of judicial options.
“What I loved most about clerking was the chance to develop my writing and research skills,” said Mary Claire Davis, teaching assistant professor at the College of Law. “Learning from judges who have been writing their whole lives was incredibly beneficial to me, and it would be beneficial to any recent law school graduate.”
Most clerks serve for one or two years; however, Davis served for 12 years. That formative experience continues to shape her work as the chair of the WVU Law Clerkship Committee, where she helps students secure positions with state and federal judges.
“When I was a student, we didn’t hear a whole lot about clerkships,” she said. “We didn’t know what they were. I’m excited to serve in this role because we can educate the student body about what clerkships are and how they can pursue them.”
Zach Spurrier, a 2024 graduate, is an example of how the WVU Law Clerkship Committee builds strong relationships between judges and students. Following graduation, Spurrier began a clerkship with Judge Joseph R. Goodwin of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. He now serves as a career clerk in Judge Goodwin’s chambers, and his enthusiasm is hard to contain.
“I love this job for a number of reasons,” he said. “The team you work with is collaborative and tight knit. It’s hard to have an ego when you work in a group of four or five people and one of them is a federal judge. We keep each other honest.
“I’m also learning every single day. The civil cases range from personal injuries to business disputes to constitutional interpretation, and the criminal cases are similarly diverse. The work is varied and serious with real-world impact, and at the same time I’m becoming a better writer, researcher and thinker.”
Spurrier also notes that clerks must be good writers, researchers and thinkers to become a judicial clerk in the first place, and that's where WVU Law comes in.
“Legal writing is difficult, and it changes how your brain works,” Spurrier said. “I joined the WV Law Review, which was a writing experience, and the Moot Court team, where you write briefs. In our seminar course, you have to write an article at the end. Then, of course, you have mandatory classes in legal writing.”
Because clerks see cases from beginning to end, they have a unique opportunity to witness how rulings take shape. This experience offers a comprehensive understanding of the law that few people are exposed to.
“A clerkship is such a unique and valuable opportunity for both the clerk and the judge,” said U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael John Aloi, who serves the United States Northern District of West Virginia and is an adjunct faculty member with WVU Law.
“The student experiences in real time the rule of law, court hearings that make real the daily challenges of what it means to bring justice to our community, and how people work together to make that happen. The court has the benefit of a new generation of lawyers who bring their perspectives to the work we do. We learn from them too, in the hope that our work remains relevant,” he added.
“We are so fortunate to have judges in West Virginia and beyond who want to connect with our students, and that connection between the bench and WVU Law is one we hope to foster for years to come,” Davis said.
Add routine visits from state and federal judges, panel discussions with former law clerks and a variety of clinical opportunities, including externships, and the message is clear: WVU Law students get a lot of preparation for future clerkships.