U.S. News Ranks The Best Law Schools For Getting Federal Clerkships (2025)

Do you like prestige? Of course you do. Is there really a law student who doesn’t? That being said, if you’re like the majority of your colleagues and you’d like to embark upon one of the most prestigious career paths available to recent law school graduates, then you’ll probably want to compete for an elite federal clerkship.

Some law schools, of course, are better than others when it comes to getting their graduates a leg up on the competition for one of these coveted jobs — but which ones?

U.S. News has compiled a new ranking for that, focusing on the law schools whose graduates are the most likely to obtain full-time, long-term jobs as federal clerks. Only the Top 40 schools (including ties) were included in this ranking, due to the “limited share” of federal clerks that each school produces.

That said, here are the Top 10 law schools with the most graduates working in federal clerkships (and because this is U.S. News, there are multiple ties listed here):

1. Chicago: 26%

2. Yale: 24%

3. Stanford: 21%

4. Notre Dame: 18%

5. Michigan: 14%

5. UVA: 14%

7. UT-Austin: 13%

8. Duke: 11%

8. Harvard: 11%

10. Georgia: 10%

Click here to see the rest of the Top 40 law schools with the most graduates working in federal clerkships.

Yale — the law school known for producing federal clerks — finds itself in second place in this rankings, while Notre Dame finds itself in the Top 5. It sure is helpful having a SCOTUS justice as an alumnus!

An obvious point to make here is that these rankings don’t distinguish between prestige of clerkship. Were these feeder judges or non-feeder judges, circuit courts or district courts, Article III courts or non-Article III courts? In the land of law, these things are important. Considering how coveted federal clerkships are, we’d absolutely love to see this information. If you have it, please feel free to email us.

Did your law school make the cut? During these unprecedented times when the very rule of law grows more imperiled by the day, we wish you the best of luck in your search for the perfect clerkship.

Law Schools With the Most Graduates in Federal Clerkships [U.S. News]

Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.

The post U.S. News Ranks The Best Law Schools For Getting Federal Clerkships (2025) appeared first on Above the Law.