OSCAR Clerkship Applications and the Federal Law Clerk Hiring Plan (2026-27)
Short answer: OSCAR is the federal judiciary's online system for law clerk and appellate staff attorney hiring (OSCAR Applicant Prep Kit). The Federal Law Clerk Hiring Plan sets the earliest dates judges may take applications, contact applicants, interview and make offers to current students with two full years of grades (OSCAR hiring plan). Everything else, including graduate hiring, runs on each judge's schedule.
Hiring plan calendar
- Class of 2027 (entered 2024): OSCAR access January 20, 2026 at 8 a.m. EST; applications June 8, 2026 at 12:00 p.m. EDT; contact June 9; interviews and offers June 10. The plan added an extra day between scheduling and interviews as an experiment (OSCAR hiring plan).
- Class of 2028 (entered 2025): OSCAR access January 19, 2027 at 8 a.m. EST; applications June 14, 2027 at 12:00 p.m. EDT; contact, interviews and offers from June 15, 2027 (OSCAR hiring plan).
- Class of 2029 (entered 2026): applications June 12, 2028; contact, interviews and offers from June 13, 2028 (OSCAR hiring plan).
- Part-time and dual-degree students: may qualify once they have two full years of grades (OSCAR hiring plan).
- Graduates: the dates do not apply (OSCAR hiring plan).
- All uploads must be PDFs under 1 MB (OSCAR Applicant Prep Kit).
- You cannot upload a transcript scan. Type grades into OSCAR's grade sheet form (up to two law school sheets), and have official transcripts ready for chambers (OSCAR Applicant Prep Kit).
- Sessions time out after 55 minutes; click Save and Upload often while entering grades (OSCAR Applicant Prep Kit).
- Up to 100 finalized chambers applications at one time; the cap does not apply to staff attorney, pro se, death penalty or BAP positions (OSCAR Applicant Prep Kit).
- If you withdraw an application you cannot reapply to that position (OSCAR Applicant Prep Kit).
- Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on the close date, and judges may close a position at any time (OSCAR applicant FAQ).
- Judges do not keep applications for future openings, so do not mail packets to judges who have not posted (OSCAR applicant FAQ).
- Staff attorney applications are released to offices immediately and are not controlled by the hiring plan (OSCAR applicant FAQ).
- Recommenders do not register themselves. When you attach a recommender to an application, OSCAR emails them a secure link (OSCAR recommender FAQ).
- Recommenders, faculty assistants and law school administrators can upload letters; applicants cannot, and letters are not visible to applicants (OSCAR recommender FAQ).
- Letters can be PDF or Word uploads or written in OSCAR's editor (OSCAR recommender FAQ).
- Just listing recommenders does not send requests; requests go out only when a recommender is associated with an application packet (OSCAR Applicant Prep Kit).
- Before the plan date, judges may not seek or accept formal or informal recommendations for plan-covered students (OSCAR hiring plan).
Best Practices for judges (what you can expect)
- The Best Practices are voluntary and cover circuit, district, bankruptcy and magistrate judges, not the Supreme Court (OSCAR Best Practices).
- Judges are encouraged to keep OSCAR profiles current, including when they are not hiring (OSCAR Best Practices).
- Judges may interview by video instead of in person (OSCAR Best Practices).
- Judges are encouraged not to require email applications (OSCAR Best Practices).
- Judges may post future positions, and both students and graduates can apply to them (OSCAR Best Practices).
- Run an Advanced Search by court and judge type, then save results into folders such as "Circuit" or "1-year term" (OSCAR Applicant Prep Kit).
- Turn on email alerts under My Profile > Email Frequency (OSCAR applicant FAQ).
- Export results to Excel and track application method, term dates and close dates.
- Check non-OSCAR judges separately. Discussion: Getting Clerkships Purely Through OSCAR.
OSCAR support: oscar-support@ao.uscourts.gov or 866-666-2120, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, Monday to Friday (OSCAR Applicant Prep Kit).
FAQ
Q: When does OSCAR open for the Class of 2028?
January 19, 2027 at 8 a.m. EST, with applications released to judges at 12:00 p.m. EDT on June 14, 2027 (OSCAR hiring plan).
Q: Can international law graduates use OSCAR?
Yes, they can register and choose "Other" as their school (OSCAR applicant FAQ). Citizenship rules still apply to paid jobs (U.S. Courts).
Q: How many OSCAR applications can I send?
Up to 100 finalized chambers applications at one time (OSCAR Applicant Prep Kit).
Related guides
Last verified: September 26, 2026, against the official court pages and dated news sources linked in this guide. Hiring status changes often, so confirm on the court or chambers page before you apply. Spot an error? Reply in the linked discussion thread or PM a moderator.
