I'm a final year law student that has managed to accumulate some pretty significant skepticism toward big firms. Should I even bother with clerkships, or am I wasting my time?

There's plenty of arguments about merit and fair competition that I appreciate, but (to make a poor analogy) taking the last pastry from the buffet when you don't even want it is pretty poor

It's a poor analogy not just because of merit's role in clerkship applications, but because applying for a clerkship is more akin to a pastry while the buffet is full.

This is by no means personal to me, so take "my benefit" out of it. If OP genuinely doesn't want to clerk and takes positions, that means someone (could be anyone, not just me) who applied and may have wanted it more, misses out.

The very first sentence of your post was: "As a student about to go through the clerkship application process, I have a simple request for you - if you know that working in big firms isn't what you want to do, then PLEASE DO NOT APPLY."

OP came to this thread for advice on whether they should go ahead with clerkships. Talking them out of clerking with some utilitarian argument is one thing, calling them selfish is another for pursuing their own interest is another.

/r/auslaw Thread Parent