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Students

Working while you are in law school builds legal experience, broadens your professional network, helps refine your interests, and leads to valuable post-graduate job opportunities.   We're here to assist you in identifying positions in the areas of practice you want to explore and to help you build the skills for a successful job search. 

CDO appointments are conducted in-person and virtually during regular business hours (8:30am-4:45pm). We offer counseling appointments, answer questions, and review application documents via in-person, video conferencing software, email, and/or the telephone. Students should schedule career advising appointments on Symplicity. Be sure to check Symplicity regularly for available positions during the fall, spring, and summer semesters. Please direct any questions to lwcareer@loyno.edu.

 

The Career Development Office offers students a variety of services, starting in your first year, designed to maximize employment opportunities.  Our services include resume and cover letter review, assistance in choosing a writing sample, mock interview opportunities, advice regarding networking and building a professional network, and assistance in identifying and connecting with legal employers. We also work with students to secure post-graduate employment in the legal field and in other alternative career areas.

To schedule an appointment with a career advisor, please log on to your Symplicity account.
If you are unable to find an appointment time on Symplicity that fits with your schedule, please contact our office at lwcareer@loyno.edu.

 

Summer Public Interest Grants

Every year, the College of Law provides funding to enable students to spend the summer building their legal skills while practicing law in the public interest. 

In the summer of 2023, the College of Law's Gillis Long program alone funded and placed 51 interns at legal services providers, non-profits, and government agencies working in the areas of civil, criminal, immigration, and environmental law - see the opportunities below. Please know that funding is limited.

  • Gillis Long Poverty Law Center

The Gillis Long Poverty Law Center provides funding for 1Ls and 2Ls to spend the summer providing free civil legal services to low income individuals.  Interns work in legal aid offices around the state of Louisiana and, in some circumstances, in other states.  

Interested students should contact Christina Luwisch for more information.

  • Environmental Justice

The Center for Environmental Law funds the Gauthier-St. Martin Student Service Grant to defray living expenses for a significant service placement in the U.S. or abroad for service related to law and policy in the field of environmental protection, natural resources, or energy.

Applications for the Gauthier-St. Martin Student Service Grant are accepted and awards are made on a rolling basis.  

Interested students should contact Marianne Cufone or Professor Rob Verchick for more information.

 

The Career Development Office hosts an On-Campus Interview (OCI) Program each Fall and Spring Semester. Participating employers include law firms, corporations, government entities, and judges throughout Louisiana, including metro-New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Lafayette, and Lake Charles, and in various other states. As part of the OCI Program, employers interview students on or off campus and/or conduct resume collections, generally for summer or post-graduate employment.

To learn more information about the OCI Program, please contact the Career Development Office at lwcareer@loyno.edu

Why Clerk?

Judicial clerkships are among the most prestigious and competitive employment opportunities available to recent graduates. Usually lasting one to two years, a judicial clerkship is an excellent way to bridge the gap between law school and the practice of law. Judicial clerkships experiences are also highly valued by employers, who hire clerks because of the clerk’s in depth legal knowledge of the court system and the ability to view court cases from a judge’s perspective. Law clerks work in a variety of court settings, including in federal and state trial and appellate courts, administrative law courts, and tribal courts.

2023-2024 Federal Clerks

Peter Finney: Hon. Ivan L.R. Lemelle, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana

Alexis Smith: Hon. Ivan L.R. Lemelle, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana

Kristina Taylor: Magistrate Judge Boone Baxter, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas

Bridget Wallis: Hon. John Herke, U.S. Department of Labor, Louisiana District Office

Aspen Murphy: Hon. Dana Douglas, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit

 

2022-2023 Federal Clerks

Zachary Berryman: Hon. Ivan L.R. Lemelle, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana

Margaret Daly: Hon. Carl J. Barbier, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana

Anastasia Hernandez Diedkova: Hon. Renee Gumbs-Carty, Superior Court of the U.S. Virgin Islands

 

2021-2022 Federal Clerks

Kelicia Davis Raya: Hon. Ivan L.R. Lemelle, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana

Gabrielle Broders: Hon. Carl J. Barbier, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana

Hannah Quicksell: Hon. Carl J. Barbier, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana

Laurel Taylor: Hon. Dana Douglas, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana

 

2021-2022 State Court Clerks

Jarrett Lofton: Hon. Leigh Garrett, 1st Judicial District Court, Louisiana

Christen Abels: Hon. Blair D. Edwards, 21st Judicial District Court, Louisiana   

Katherine Sepcich: Hon. Donald "Chick" Foret

Blake Daigle: Hon. Randall Bethancourt, 32nd Judicial District Court, Louisiana

Corina Lopez: Hon. Bernadette D'Souza, Orleans Civil District Court, Louisiana

Carlos Torres: Hon. Laurie White, Orleans Criminal District Court, Louisiana

Janae Torrence: Hon. Paula Brown, Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal, Louisiana

 

Timeline for Clerkship Applications

Federal Clerkships

According to the Federal Law Clerk Hiring Plan, the OSCAR applications of the class of 2025 will not be considered until June 10, 2024. However, not all federal judges use OSCAR and some may hire later than this deadline and some earlier. Therefore, 2L students intending to apply for post-graduate clerkships should be readying application materials and requesting letters of recommendation during the fall semester so that they can be ready to apply in February as judicial clerkship deadlines start rolling. We encourage students to come speak to us early in fall semester so that we can identify whether an earlier application is warranted and to discuss the application process. 

State Clerkships 

State court hiring varies from state to state and court to court. Generally, however, students should plan to apply to state Supreme Court positions in the summer after the 2L year, appellate courts in the summer after 2L year/Fall of 3L year, and trial courts in fall/spring of the 3L year. We have many resources about state court hiring in other states, as well as Louisiana and encourage students interested in state court clerkships to come see us by the end of 2L Spring semester, at the latest, to plan an individualized application strategy. 

The CDO pays postage and provides resume paper and envelopes for all paper clerkship applications. 

 

There are a variety of public interest fellowships available to law students who are interested in pursuing public interest law at graduation. Typically, fellowships are one- to two-year opportunities designed to give recent law graduates experience in public interest practice. A short-term public interest fellowship provides opportunities to practice law that further the interests of the entire public or advocate on behalf of disenfranchised groups. Students may also secure fellowships while in law school.  Loyola offers several fellowships exclusively to Loyola graduates.

Loyola Post-Graduate Public Interest Fellowships

Gillis Long Poverty Law Center's Graduates for Justice Program

The postgraduate internship program offers full-time, short-term employment opportunities to recent Loyola law graduates waiting for results from the Louisiana Bar Examination. Postgraduate interns work for eight weeks, earning $6,500.00. Postgraduate interns will work with local legal services offices. Paid interns gain invaluable legal experience and skills while assisting the indigent in our community.

Gillis Long Poverty Law Center Social Justice Fellowship

The Gillis Long Poverty Law Center and Southeast Louisiana Legal Services sponsor a recent Loyola College of Law graduate who works for one year in one of SLLS' six offices, serving the unmet legal needs of the community.

National Public Interest Fellowships

Several foundations and employers offer public interest fellowship opportunities. Students interested in post-graduate fellowships should meet with the Career Development Office in the Spring Semester of the 2L year, at the latest, and plan to work on fellowship applications during the summer following the 2L year of law school. Students should be ready to apply by early fall semester of the third year. Please note that most fellowship applications require significant advance planning and research.

For more information, see:

PSJD (https://www.psjd.org/Postgraduate_Fellowships)

American Bar Association Fellows Programs: https://www.americanbar.org/diversity-portal/DiversityScholarships.html

ABA Fellowships: https://abaforlawstudents.com/start-your-legal-career/law-student-internships-fellowships-and-clerkships/

Equal Justice Works: http://www.equaljusticeworks.org/

Immigrant Justice Corps: http://justicecorps.org/

Skadden Foundation:  https://www.skaddenfellowships.org/

Soros Justice Fellowships: https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/grants/soros-justice-fellowships

The Graduate Employment Survey for the class of 2023 is now available and can be found here.

Career Services will not condone any employer misconduct and will take all employer misconduct complaints seriously. Employers receive free access to advertise on the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law’s website. This is a privilege and not a right. If it is determined that an employer has acted inappropriately, the employer will lose privileges with the College of Law.

If a student feels an employer has acted inappropriately, he/she may file an oral and/or written complaint with the Director of Career Services.

Oral Complaint: A student is invited to discuss the allegation with the Director of Career Services. The student and the Director of Career Services will decide whether or not the employer should be contacted by the Director. The Director will keep a confidential record of any oral complaint to monitor the types and frequency of issues brought against a specific employer over time.

Written Complaint: If the Director of Career Services concludes that an oral complaint is timely and not insubstantial, and if the student desires to pursue the matter further, the student shall have the option of filing a written complaint. Once a written complaint is filed, the Director of Career Services will investigate the allegations, including contacting the employer and obtaining the employer’s position, and/or clarifying the employer’s practices and policies. The Director of Career Services will retain for a reasonable time a copy of the written complaint, the employer’s response, if any, and any notes compiled during the investigation. These documents will be kept confidential and may be used to monitor the types and frequency of issues brought against a specific employer over time. The Director of Career Services shall file a semi-annual report with the Dean of the College of Law containing all written complaints, the employer’s response, and any notes compiled during the course of the investigation. The Director of Career Services will determine whether dismissal, conciliation, or sanction is the appropriate resolution. Sanctions will take into account the totality of the circumstances, including, but not limited to, the seriousness of the offense, the existence/absence of discriminatory intent, and the employer’s efforts to rectify the wrongdoing. If it has been determined that the employer acted inappropriately, the employer will lose ALL privileges at the College of Law. Information about sanctions imposed against an employer will be made available to students. Upon timely request to the Dean of the College of Law, a student and/or employer may seek review of the Director’s resolution of the complaint.

Informal Hearing: If there is inconsistency in the facts from the complaint, the employer, the Director of Career Services, the Dean of the College of Law, may convene an informal hearing to clarify the parties’ positions or to obtain additional information.