Yale and the University of Chicago led the Class of 2025 in immediate federal-clerkship placement, followed by Stanford, Notre Dame and Harvard. But “immediate placement” is the key phrase. The ABA employment snapshot captures graduates working in clerkships roughly ten months after graduation; it does not capture every graduate who clerks later.
That distinction matters because several schools explicitly report substantial later-term clerkship activity. Harvard says roughly as many 2025 clerkships were held by alumni from prior classes as by new graduates. Stanford separately reports the share of graduates who begin a clerkship later. Yale says about half of a class clerks at some point. Duke and UVA likewise publish later-term or alumni clerkship data. A one-year placement table is useful, but it is not a lifetime clerkship probability.
| School | Immediate federal clerkship rate | Federal clerks | Source note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yale | 23.2% | 49 | Yale reports 49 federal clerks among 211 graduates |
| UChicago | 22.7% | 49 | Chicago reports 49 federal clerks among 216 graduates |
| Stanford | 19.5% | 37 | 2025 ABA data; Stanford reports 190 graduates and separately tracks later clerkships |
| Notre Dame | 17.1% | — | 2025 ABA placement rate; school continues to publish extensive federal-clerkship outcomes |
| Harvard | 16.6% | 100 | 2025 ABA data; Harvard notes many alumni clerk after working first |
| Texas | 14.3% | 44 | Texas Law reports 44 federal clerks from the Class of 2025 |
| Duke | 11.7% | 27 | Duke reports 27/230 in federal courts ten months after graduation |
| WashU | 11.7% | 32 | 2025 ABA Employment Summary: 32/273 |
| Vanderbilt | 10.8% | 18 | Vanderbilt reports 18 federal clerks among 167 graduates |
| UVA | 10.7% | 33 | UVA reports 33 federal clerkships in its 2025 graduate-employment data |
Rates are rounded. The first five percentages track 2025 ABA data summarized in a Reuters analysis; where an official school page exposes the underlying current figures directly, those are linked below in the methodology. The table is a point-in-time employment outcome, not an admissions ranking and not an individual probability.
The table answers a narrow question: what share of a graduating class was in a federal clerkship in the ABA employment reporting window? That is useful for identifying schools with unusually strong immediate clerkship pipelines.
It does not tell you how many students applied, what grades they had, which judges they targeted, how many graduates chose firms instead, or how many alumni clerked after one or more years of practice. Those missing variables are why a school-level rate should not be converted into your personal odds.
Harvard's employment page explicitly warns against reading the ten-month number as its full clerkship footprint. It says the reported clerkship figures reflect graduates who began within ten months and that approximately an equal number of 2025 clerkships were held by HLS graduates from earlier classes.
Stanford separates first-job clerkships from clerkships starting at any time. For the JD Class of 2025 it reports 19% of graduates with a clerkship as a first job and 37% reporting a clerkship starting at some point.
Yale publishes a similar long-run distinction. Its clerkship data says roughly half of graduates from each class clerk at some point, while its Class of 2025 employment report shows 49 federal clerks in the immediate employment snapshot.
Duke and UVA also publish later-term information. Duke reports clerkships by judicial term in addition to ten-month outcomes. UVA reported that 58 members of the Class of 2025 had accepted 73 clerkships when future terms were included, illustrating why one employment snapshot and a multi-year clerkship record answer different questions.
If the question is strictly immediate Class of 2025 federal-clerkship concentration, Yale and Chicago lead this set. Stanford, Notre Dame and Harvard follow. If the question is where you are most likely to have a strong clerkship ecosystem over several years, you should also examine later-term placement, faculty support, advising, judicial networks and the courts students target.
Raw count and rate answer different questions. Harvard's 100 immediate federal clerks show enormous scale; Yale and Chicago's higher percentages show greater concentration within smaller classes.
Notre Dame, Texas, WashU and Vanderbilt all show that federal-clerkship strength is not limited to the conventional T14. That does not make one of them automatically a better choice than a higher-ranked school. It means a clerkship-focused applicant should compare the specific clerkship infrastructure and net cost rather than assuming overall rank perfectly predicts the outcome.
For example, Texas reports 44 federal clerks from the Class of 2025. WashU's official 2025 ABA Employment Summary reports 32 federal clerks among 273 graduates. Vanderbilt reports an immediate federal rate of 10.8% for 2025.
Federal clerkships are only one category of judicial experience. State supreme courts, appellate courts and trial courts can be valuable preparation for litigation, prosecution, public defense, state government and regional practice.
If you expect to build a career in one state, investigate the school's state judicial network rather than treating the federal percentage as the only meaningful number.
A great school-level rate does not eliminate individual selection. Judges can receive many applications and may care about grades, writing, recommendations, prior experience, geographic ties and fit. Exact preferences vary widely by judge.
Faculty relationships can matter because clerkship recommendations are unusually personal. Before enrolling, ask current students how clerkship advising works, which faculty frequently support applicants, when the process begins, and whether the school helps alumni as well as current students.
Many federal judges use OSCAR to post clerkships and receive applications, while some judges hire through other processes. Applications commonly include a resume, transcript, writing sample, cover letter and recommendations. Hiring timing changes, so current court and school guidance should control over an old calendar.
For litigation-focused students, a clerkship can provide unusually close exposure to judicial decision-making, legal research and writing, motions and case management. Many firms recruit former clerks, and some offer clerkship bonuses.
For students committed to transactional practices such as M&A, capital markets or finance, the value can be less direct. A clerkship is a career choice, not an automatic prestige upgrade for every practice.
| Factor | Question to investigate |
|---|---|
| Immediate federal placement | What percentage of the relevant graduating class entered federal clerkships? |
| Later-term placement | How many graduates clerk after one or more years of practice? |
| Faculty support | Who writes recommendations and how accessible are they? |
| Dedicated advising | Does the school support current students and alumni through the process? |
| Geographic breadth | Are graduates clerking across circuits and districts you would consider? |
| Net cost | How much additional debt are you taking on for the clerkship ecosystem? |
| Career after clerking | Does the school also support the firm, government or public-interest path you want afterward? |
Primary sources checked October 4, 2026 include Yale Class of 2025 Employment, UChicago Employment Data, Stanford Graduate Employment Outcomes, Harvard Recent Employment Data, Texas Law Career Outcomes, Duke Employment Outcomes, WashU ABA Disclosures, Vanderbilt Employment Report, and UVA Employment Data.
For the Class of 2025 national ranking figures for Stanford, Notre Dame and Harvard, we cross-checked the ABA employment data summarized by Reuters in April 2026. The article intentionally separates ten-month employment outcomes from later-term and alumni clerkships.
School-level outcomes are descriptive. They are not admission guarantees, clerkship guarantees or personal probabilities.
September 20, 2026
September 20, 2026