Many Cornell Law School graduates clerk in federal or state courts either directly after graduation or after one or more years of practice. Our typical JD class size is approximately 200 students, and 20-24% of recent classes have obtained at least one clerkship within six years after graduation. For example, as of May 20, 2022, the following percentage of each class had clerked or secured a clerkship:

• 20% of the Class of 2016 (36/184)
• 21% of the Class of 2017 (43/202)
• 23% of the Class of 2018 (46/197)

In the most recent six years, an average of 54 graduates, including both new graduates and alumni, have started a new judicial clerkship each year. Data on the number of Cornell Law School graduates starting new clerkships in each calendar year, based on self-reporting, is below.

	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
U.S. Supreme Court				1
U.S. Circuit	9	8	15	17	13	15
U.S. District	14	27	25	34	27	15
U.S. Magistrate	4	2	2	6	5	2
Other Federal1	4	3	8	2	6	1
State Supreme Court	4	1	4	4	6	1
State Appellate	2	7	1	3	4	2
State Trial	2	5	3	1	1	7
Foreign	1	1	1		1
Total	40	54	59	68	63	43

¹ “Other Federal” includes courts such as International Trade, Tax, Bankruptcy, and Federal Claims, and administrative agencies.

Last updated: December 12, 2022