Mitchell Hamline School of Law

Career and Professional Development

Interested in a federal judicial clerkship? OSCAR is for you!

Posted: April 17, 2023

OSCAR, the Online System for Clerkship Application and Review, is a web-based system for federal law clerk and appellate staff attorney recruitment. OSCAR’s extensive set of features allows users to easily manage every aspect of the hiring process. Using OSCAR, applicants can easily apply to federal clerkships (chambers, pro se, death penalty, and bankruptcy appellate panel) and staff attorney positions; law school administrators and recommenders can help students, graduates, and law professionals advance their careers; and judges, chambers staff, and staff attorney offices can find the candidates most suited to their needs.

Access to OSCAR

  • Current third-year law students and law school graduates can register for an OSCAR applicant account at any time.
  • Students who entered law school in 2021 (graduating class of 2024) gained access to OSCAR to register for an account, upload documents, search for positions, and build applications on January 9, 2023 at 8 am EST.
  • Students who entered law school in 2022 (graduating class of 2025) will gain access to OSCAR on January 8, 2024 at 8 am EST.

Application Release

  • Finalized clerkship applications from current third-year law students and law school graduates are immediately visible to judges and chambers.
  • OSCAR will release applications from students who entered law school in 2021 (graduating class of 2024) on June 12, 2023 at 12 pm EDT.

Note: Students who attend law school part-time or who seek a dual degree may have a later law school graduation date but meet the requirement of having two full years of grades. These students can register for OSCAR as Alternate Graduation Date applicants.

Where Should New Applicants Start?

Are you new to OSCAR? Keep reading for information to help you get started.

Complete Your Profile

When you first register for your account, the information you provide becomes part of your OSCAR profile, but this doesn’t mean your profile is complete. After you log into OSCAR, you still need to go to the Profile > My Profile page and finish entering your profile information. Remember, judges and staff attorney offices can review your OSCAR profile for information relevant to their hiring process, so make sure it’s complete and up to date. We also encourage applicants to voluntarily complete the demographic information in their profile. Demographic data is not provided to hiring judges or staff attorney offices.

Review Employment Resources

Take some time to review the new Employment Resources tab. Here you can find information on the federal courts as well as employment information, such as the duties of federal law clerks; qualifications, salary, and benefits; workplace conduct resources, and a brief video of law clerks and staff attorneys sharing their experiences.

Keep Current

Follow the US Courts LinkedIn and OSCAR LinkedIn pages to get the latest updates on new clerkship and staff attorney positions.

Find Help Resources

We have extensive resources to assist you in your clerkship or staff attorney search, including: