What is a Judicial Clerkship?

Judicial clerkships offer highly valued training experience to recent law school graduates, serving as an alternative or complement to traditional articles. Law clerks spend a year at the courts performing the roles of researcher, drafting assistant, editor, and general sounding board for the judges. They emerge from the clerkship with unique insights into the judicial decision-making process, honed legal research and writing skills, and strong relationships with their judges and clerk cohort.

The judicial clerkship program at the BC Superior Courts has been running continuously since 1973. The program began with the hiring of just two clerks: the Honourable Lynn Smith at the Court of Appeal and Penny Bain at the Supreme Court¹ — an illustrious start. Today the program hires 35 clerks annually: 12 at the Court of Appeal and 23 at the Supreme Court.² The basic role of the clerks hasn’t changed: to allow judges more time to simply think about the cases they are deciding, thereby better ensuring that the decisions they reach are right.³

Is being a clerk just about research and writing? Well, no. Clerks regularly observe hearings, which provide a practical demonstration of court procedure, etiquette, and advocacy, both good and…less good. Other professional opportunities include fireside chats⁴ with judges, who share career and other advice. Clerks also organize educational field trips, such as visits to specialized courts or tours of prisons.

Bonding happens, often in the shared (and mysterious) 5A lounge and often with cake involved. There’s an annual clerk softball team, known for its variety of punny team names (go, Habeas Porpoises!), infamous for their win rate at having fun. Birthday buddies, book clubs, and cat calendars have all featured among treasured moments of clerkships past. The Court of Appeal has an annual band, currently called the Chords of Appeal. The Supreme Court is in the midst of a competitive colouring contest. Both courts have regular meetings with court legal counsel to discuss the law, share what they are learning, and decompress together.

It’s hard to overemphasize how much the judges enjoy welcoming the new clerks each September and how sad it is to see the clerks leave after a year. By that point, their skills are sharpened and the trust placed in them is at its strongest. Many judges continue the friendship with and mentorship of their former law clerks throughout their careers.

Law clerks bring new energy, up-to-date legal knowledge, and a breadth of perspectives to the work of the courts, all of which strengthen our work. Those of us at the courts feel truly privileged to work with the law clerks and look forward to the annual Law Clerk Reunion as an opportunity to reconnect. The judicial clerkship program here in B.C. is pretty special, and we look forward to sharing it with many more new members of the profession for decades to come.

1. Allan Caplan, “Law Clerks” (1974) 32:6 Advocate (Vancouver Bar Association) 370.
2. All Court of Appeal clerks and over half of the Supreme Court clerks work in Vancouver. Supreme Court clerks also work in New Westminster, Victoria, Kamloops, or Kelowna. Typically, the courts receive 150 to 180 applications per year from law students across Canada and a few from beyond. The Superior Courts’ legal counsel jointly run the hiring and training process, as well as provide day-to-day supervision and mentoring, all under the direction of the two courts’ respective Law Clerk Committees. The Law Society recognizes clerkships as an articling equivalency, so clerks who have already completed PLTC are eligible to be called at the end of their terms.
3. Caplan at 371.
4. There isn’t actually a fire to cozy up to in the courthouse, but several judges enjoy this substitute: Fireplace 10 hours full HD (youtube.com).