Congressional Clerkship Initiative
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From: Your Name <you@example.com>
To: congressionalclerkship@gmail.com
Subject: Congressional Clerkship Initiative
BELOW IS THE TEXT OF THE PETITION. YOU CAN SIGN IT BY FILLING IN THE BOXES TO THE LEFT. IT IS ESPECIALLY HELPFUL IF YOU INCLUDE YOUR LAW SCHOOL UNDER ORGANIZATION. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SEND US A PERSONAL STATEMENT.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HELPING US CONVINCE CONGRESS THEY SHOULD HAVE CLERKS!
As law students and recent graduates, we are well aware of the professional development and educational value of prestigious post-law school apprenticeships. Competition is therefore intense for judicial clerkships and similar opportunities at executive branch agencies, as well as associateships at law firms.
Unlike the other two branches of the federal government, however, Congress does not have a standardized, unified program created with new lawyers in mind. Individual offices in the House and Senate hire lawyers, but they make offers out of synch with the annual fall hiring cycle used by judges, executive branch agencies, and law firms.
It is challenging for new lawyers to choose Congress over the competition if Congress does not come to the table.
Congress, and the country as a whole, would benefit if Congress rigorously sought out new lawyers. Legislation is central to legal practice, providing the statutory substance and foundation for most law today. The legislative process and statutory interpretation are complex, and yet in law school they receive nowhere near the emphasis placed on court process and interpretation of judicial decisions. The result is that both Congress and its statutes are often poorly understood by the legal profession today.
Congress can begin to change this by creating a Congressional Clerkship Program. Interest in learning about legislation from the inside is strong among law students and recent law graduates. Each of the undersigned, and many others, want the opportunity to spend a year or two at the start of our legal careers working for Congress.
We are encouraged that the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation during the 110th and 111th Congresses authorizing a federal legislative law clerk program. The 111th Congress bill, H.R. 151, passed the House by a 381-42 bipartisan vote. A companion bill in the Senate, S. 27, did not reach the floor for a vote. The bill would have created a pilot program of 12, year-long prestigious law clerk positions, equally divided between the two chambers and between Democratic and Republican offices. The program would pay Congress's clerks the same as U.S. district court clerks, and hire them on the same fall schedule. The annual cost of the program is estimated at one million dollars per year -- less than the cost of the larger Supreme Court clerk program, and easily justified by the potential benefit to Congress and legal interpretation of the law it writes.
WE THE UNDERSIGNED, representing the future of America's legal profession, call on our congressional representation to cosponsor and pass legislation creating a Congressional Clerkship Program. We also call on other key institutions -- the courts, administrative agencies, law firms, advocacy organizations, and law schools -- to support the initiative as an investment in a new generation of lawyers who will more fully understand the statutory law the profession practices, and the legislative process from which it originates.
Your Name
Your Organization
123 Your St.
Yousville, YO 12345
Phone: (123)456-7890
Fax: (123)456-7890x123
p.s.
Your Personal Statement
--
Campaign (<em>2203</em>): <em>Congressional Clerkship Initiative</em>
Learn more about this campaign here: <em>http://citizenspeak.org/campaign/flac2011/congressional-clerkship-initiative</em>
--
This campaign was created with CitizenSpeak. Visit us online at http://citizenspeak.org
To: congressionalclerkship@gmail.com
Subject: Congressional Clerkship Initiative
BELOW IS THE TEXT OF THE PETITION. YOU CAN SIGN IT BY FILLING IN THE BOXES TO THE LEFT. IT IS ESPECIALLY HELPFUL IF YOU INCLUDE YOUR LAW SCHOOL UNDER ORGANIZATION. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SEND US A PERSONAL STATEMENT.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HELPING US CONVINCE CONGRESS THEY SHOULD HAVE CLERKS!
As law students and recent graduates, we are well aware of the professional development and educational value of prestigious post-law school apprenticeships. Competition is therefore intense for judicial clerkships and similar opportunities at executive branch agencies, as well as associateships at law firms.
Unlike the other two branches of the federal government, however, Congress does not have a standardized, unified program created with new lawyers in mind. Individual offices in the House and Senate hire lawyers, but they make offers out of synch with the annual fall hiring cycle used by judges, executive branch agencies, and law firms.
It is challenging for new lawyers to choose Congress over the competition if Congress does not come to the table.
Congress, and the country as a whole, would benefit if Congress rigorously sought out new lawyers. Legislation is central to legal practice, providing the statutory substance and foundation for most law today. The legislative process and statutory interpretation are complex, and yet in law school they receive nowhere near the emphasis placed on court process and interpretation of judicial decisions. The result is that both Congress and its statutes are often poorly understood by the legal profession today.
Congress can begin to change this by creating a Congressional Clerkship Program. Interest in learning about legislation from the inside is strong among law students and recent law graduates. Each of the undersigned, and many others, want the opportunity to spend a year or two at the start of our legal careers working for Congress.
We are encouraged that the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation during the 110th and 111th Congresses authorizing a federal legislative law clerk program. The 111th Congress bill, H.R. 151, passed the House by a 381-42 bipartisan vote. A companion bill in the Senate, S. 27, did not reach the floor for a vote. The bill would have created a pilot program of 12, year-long prestigious law clerk positions, equally divided between the two chambers and between Democratic and Republican offices. The program would pay Congress's clerks the same as U.S. district court clerks, and hire them on the same fall schedule. The annual cost of the program is estimated at one million dollars per year -- less than the cost of the larger Supreme Court clerk program, and easily justified by the potential benefit to Congress and legal interpretation of the law it writes.
WE THE UNDERSIGNED, representing the future of America's legal profession, call on our congressional representation to cosponsor and pass legislation creating a Congressional Clerkship Program. We also call on other key institutions -- the courts, administrative agencies, law firms, advocacy organizations, and law schools -- to support the initiative as an investment in a new generation of lawyers who will more fully understand the statutory law the profession practices, and the legislative process from which it originates.
Your Name
Your Organization
123 Your St.
Yousville, YO 12345
Phone: (123)456-7890
Fax: (123)456-7890x123
p.s.
Your Personal Statement
--
Campaign (<em>2203</em>): <em>Congressional Clerkship Initiative</em>
Learn more about this campaign here: <em>http://citizenspeak.org/campaign/flac2011/congressional-clerkship-initiative</em>
--
This campaign was created with CitizenSpeak. Visit us online at http://citizenspeak.org
