Post-graduate federal judicial clerkships are coveted positions, with law students and lawyers nationwide competing for limited spots. Year after year, LMU Loyola Law School (LLS) students and alumni secure these prestigious positions. Indeed, LLS placed students and alumni in 24 federal clerkships for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 terms. Another eight students and alumni have already secured federal clerkships this year for future terms.
“People are often surprised by how many Loyola students secure clerkships,” says Professor Laurie Levenson, who has helped Loyola students and alumni secure clerkships for the past 36 years. “Loyola has had amazing success with clerkships. While many of them are in California, our graduates get clerkships across the country. The judges appreciate how well prepared our students are and how hard they are willing to work.”
A key driver of this success is the Faculty Clerkship Committee, which provides individualized support to every applicant. Committee members inform applicants about clerkship opportunities, advise them on their applications, and prepare them for interviews. “There is no one-size-fits-all advice,” explains Professor Amy Levin, chair of the committee. “We try to find the right clerkship for each applicant.”
Alumni credit the committee with helping them secure clerkships. “You just felt like the Clerkship Committee was looking out for you from the start,” said Chris Kissel ’20, a deputy attorney general at the California Department of Justice. “I didn’t know about this particular [Fifth Circuit] clerkship, and they really improved my chances of getting the clerkship with the help they gave—helping me understand what the judge could be looking for and giving me a mock interview to prepare. There was so much support. You see how the law school gives you a leg up.”
Andrew Beshai ’15, an attorney at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP and former assistant U.S. attorney, concurred: “I never met a lawyer growing up. I didn’t know what a clerkship was and hadn’t even thought about applying until my law school professors encouraged me. Without the committee, I wouldn’t have known what to look for, who to seek letters of recommendation from, and what would be the best writing samples to use. They helped give me direction.”
The Clerkship Committee is assisted by the entire law school faculty, who support clerkship candidates and serve as recommenders. “Within minutes of my asking former professors whether they would be willing to serve as references, I received multiple responses offering to call chambers directly,” said Yungmoon Chang ’16, an IP litigation partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP who clerked for Hon. S. James Otero, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
Loyola also has an extensive alumni network of former federal judicial law clerks, including several now serving as judges. This tight-knit community of former clerks offers additional support to clerkship applicants by attending networking events with students, making themselves available on short notice to help students prepare for interviews, and keeping the Clerkship Committee abreast of clerkship openings. “I give a lot of credit to our clerkship alums who regularly mentor our students seeking clerkships,” says Professor Levenson.
The Clerkship Committee is excited to continue growing the clerkship program at Loyola. “Loyola’s talented law students and alums are key to our success with clerkships,” said Professor Levin. “It is a pleasure watching our graduates thrive in their clerkships and seeing the successes they have achieved from clerking.”