Judicial Clerks

Wilson Sonsini is full of judicial clerks and we can’t wait to hire more. We recognize how your time as a clerk can help you seamlessly transition into a thriving career—and the significant value that judicial clerks bring to our firm.

To give just a few examples of former clerks among the firm’s leadership, Mark Yohalem (co-chair of Complex Litigation) clerked for Justice Kennedy and Kathy Ku (a leading M&A partner) clerked for Justice Ginsburg. Fred Rowley (co-chair of the Supreme Court and Appellate practice) clerked on the Ninth Circuit, and Maureen Ohlhausen (co-chair of the Antitrust and Competition practice) clerked on the D.C. Circuit. Jim Yoon (co-chair of the Patent Litigation practice) clerked in the District of Hawaii, and Ben Crosson (co-chair of the Securities Litigation practice) clerked in the Eastern District of California. In all of the firms’ offices, law clerks are well represented among our newest hires, from Liddy Nielson (a clerk for Justices Kennedy and Barrett) in Salt Lake City, to Madelyn Chen (a Ninth Circuit clerk) in Los Angeles, to Ashleigh Herrin (a Delaware Court of Chancery clerk) in Wilmington. We would love to have you join this team!

These clerks have thrived at Wilson Sonsini because our culture has a lot in common with what you’ve experienced in chambers.

Here, partners will care about your career goals and help you achieve them. Your colleagues will push you to make your writing and arguments better every day. And you’ll work alongside passionate peers on fascinating cases and also take the time to get to know each other as people and friends.

Your clerkship has given you immense insight into how courts work, and you’ve had the opportunity to see how a case fits together start to finish. You’ve honed your research and writing skills, been exposed to different litigation and management styles, and become comfortable with administrative processes. You’ve developed a strong understanding of what kind of work you would like to do and with what kind of attorneys you’d like to practice.

All of these skills and sets of knowledge are key to our firm’s success, and whatever practice area interests you, we hope you’ll apply to Wilson Sonsini.

Come meet our attorneys at one of our clerk receptions or reach out to our Attorney Recruiting team to learn more about us and meet attorneys in your preferred practice area.

We know clerks look for their next opportunities on varying timelines based on the rules of each chambers. Rest assured that we are interested in you whenever you’re able to come visit. Ready to apply? We encourage judicial clerks from any Federal District Court, Circuit Court, State Supreme Court, and other courts with jurisdictions relevant to Wilson Sonsini’s practice to apply. You can apply through any of our clerk postings at any time.

Questions?  Reach out to judicialclerks@wsgr.com.