The Online System for Clerkship Application and Review (OSCAR) is a secure, user-friendly, web-based system for federal law clerk and appellate staff attorney hiring. OSCAR's extensive set of features allows users to easily manage every aspect of the hiring and application process. Judges display their hiring practices in OSCAR, providing applicants with transparency to their hiring schedules and preferences.
You are eligible to work for the United States Courts if you meet both citizenship requirements and the qualifications of the law clerk or staff attorney position:
Using OSCAR, you can complete your entire application process online. Although the process may seem daunting at first, applying to positions can be completed in four easy steps, outlined below.
Once you've created an OSCAR account, logged in, and completed your profile, you can begin searching for positions. OSCAR allows you to search for both law clerk and appellate staff attorney positions, with comprehensive search filters to narrow the field of positions that fit your particular goals and interests. Once you've found positions that fit your search, you can use tags to organize positions and manage your application process.
This video provides an overview of using search to find positions and how to save searches for easy resuse.
Video Length: 4:42
Before you can create applications, you must upload the documents you plan to submit with your applications (i.e., cover letter, resume, transcripts, writing samples). The number and type of documents you submit with any given application packet will vary depending on the position requirements; however, a resume is always required.
This video gives an overview of uploading documents in OSCAR.
Video Length: 4:13
Selecting your recommenders is a crucial part of the application process. You must identify your recommenders before submitting applications just as you must upload your application documents before applying for a position. Please note that simply identifying your pool of recommenders does not generate recommendation requests.
When you’re ready to apply to positions, you can begin building your applications. With all your documents and recommenders prepared ahead of time, building the application is a simple and straightforward process.