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    Judicial Clerkship Program

    The Judicial Clerkship Program (JCP), presented by the ABA Council for Diversity in the Educational Pipeline and the ABA Judicial Division, is held annually at the ABA Midyear Meeting. The 25th annual JCP was held during the 2025 ABA Midyear Meeting in Phoenix, AZ.

    About the Program

    The Judicial Clerkship Program connects law students from diverse backgrounds across the nation with judges and law clerks. It educates students on the long-term benefits of judicial clerkships, offering a unique, hands-on experience over the course of three days. Participants engage in legal research, draft memoranda or briefs, and present their findings to peers, judges, and Pipeline members. The JCP is a collaborative initiative between the ABA Council for Diversity in the Educational Pipeline and the ABA Judicial Division, with generous in-kind support from sponsors.

    Please contact Kris Berliant, Judicial Division Director, at [email protected] or at (312) 988-5700 for questions.

    If you have questions about law school participation in JCP, please contact Jason Ravin, Diversity Director, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Center, at [email protected] or (312) 809-8013.

    Volunteer Opportunity for Judges

    What’s involved:  Judges participate on panels, in social events, and are the heart of the Program's "research exercise." To acquaint the students with the working relationship between the judge and the law clerk, the students are convened in small groups of students with two or more judges assigned to each group. The students assume they are judicial clerks and that the judge they work for has been assigned to write an opinion on an issue pending before the Supreme Court. In four sessions the students discuss the issue with the judges and then, on their own, research and write between sessions.  Ultimately, they develop an outline of an opinion resolving the issue.  

    Contact [email protected] with questions about volunteering.

    Law School/Student Participation

    Law schools and others interested in supporting the Judicial Clerkship Program, please contact Jason Ravin, Diversity Director, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Center, at [email protected] or (312) 809-8013.

    2024 Participating Schools

    • American Indian Law Center, Inc.
    • Boston University School of Law
    • Emory University School of Law
    • Howard University School of Law
    • IU McKinney School of Law
    • Loyola University Chicago School of Law
    • McGeorge School of Law
    • Michigan State University College of Law
    • Pepperdine Caruso School of Law
    • South Texas College of Law Houston
    • Southern University Law Center
    • Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law
    •  University of California, Irvine School of Law
    • University of Connecticut School of Law
    • University of Iowa College of Law
    • University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
    • University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law
    • University of San Francisco School of Law
    • University of Tennessee College of Law
    • Vanderbilt Law School
    • Willamette University College of Law