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Creating this thread for discussion, updates, etc. as fall 2026 post-clerkship hiring starts moving.

After starting to apply in mid-October, I’ve mostly gotten word from boutiques so far - very recent interviews at Kellogg Hansen, Mololamken, and Hueston Hennigan, and rejections (no interview) from Holwell Shuster, Wilkinson Stekloff, and Gibson Dunn. I am a T6 circuit clerk.

District clerk in a major city, started applying recently and slowly rolling out apps still:

Interviews from HH, Kellogg, Molo, and Elsberg. Everyone else generally said things won’t start moving till December/early 2026.

Sent out a handful of apps to what I would consider 'reach' boutiques this morning. Good luck everyone.

Applied end of October/November, interviews at Molo, Elsberg, Hueston, Kellogg, Selendy, and Gibson, silence everywhere else. District clerk in big city.

How long between applying to boutique lit shops and hearing anything is typical? Assume it varies but curious if silence for a week or two is meaningful.

I’ve recently received interview invites from K&E, Quinn Emanuel, Patterson Belknap, and STB, all in New York.

To the poster above - I think a week doesn’t mean anything. I applied to some boutiques too, and waited longer than that to hear from some that ultimately offered interviews.

Bumping this thread - has there been movement? Wondering how summer associate recruiting is impacting clerk hiring, if at all.

What firms are actually interviewing clerks??

Is anyone seeing any movement? If so, what markets? I’ve only had a couple of dings and silence.

Yeah, any movement??

Quinn, Selendy, Molo have interviewed and sent offers out. I haven’t heard of movement from traditional big firms

Any luck with Morvillo, KKL, Levine Lee, Petrillo or Lankler?

In the DC market: Interviews from Kellogg, Williams & Connolly, and Wilkinson.

In NYC - interviews and offers sent by Selendy, Quinn, Elsberg Baker, Patterson Belknap, Holwell.

Any movement from Jenner DC or NY?

Also chipping in with my experience so far. I've applied on a rolling basis to mainly boutiques and some biglaw firms on the east coast (mainly NYC and DC). Not a lot of movement, and of that movement mostly rejections--which admittedly is expected because I applied to firms that were serious reaches for me. I've had rejections from Molo, Wilkinson Stekloff, HH. Interviews at Quinn, Elsberg, DLA Piper, Hecker Fink. Silence from the remaining 10 or so firms. And no offers yet either

Has anyone been applying to smaller markets like Denver, Salt Lake, Seattle, etc.? I would prefer not to relocate, but I’ve had very little movement on my applications. If anyone has had movement, that knowledge would be very helpful in determining my next steps.

I've interviewed/heard of interviews in Chicago at MoloLamken, Bartlit Beck, and Goldman Ismail. Seems like hiring for the boutiques really gets serious starting in the winter.

Has anyone heard back from Jenner ? If so, what market ?

To poster above - I applied to Jenner NY weeks ago, with an internal referral, and haven’t heard anything.

Re: Jenner. Same. Glad to know they’re just slow and this is not particular to me.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 19, 2026 7:23 pm

Has anyone heard back from Jenner ? If so, what market ?

Friend of mine has interview with Jenner DC next week after applying mid-January. Even with internal referral, it took them over a month to reach out to schedule interview.

I got rejected from Arnold & Porter’s DC office. I’ve been hearing silence from everywhere else, but I’m at least happy to see some movement. Anyone else hear anything from anywhere recently?

Still nothing on my end. Mostly silence & rejections. At what point do I start worrying?

Any insight into why the typical non boutique NY litigation shops (e.g GDC, WH) aren’t hiring in litigation this year. They didn’t host receptions either. Should we be worried