Judicial Law Clerks
Assist judges in court or by conducting research or preparing legal documents.
Most important skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Writing
- Speaking
- Active Learning
- Complex Problem Solving
- Judgment and Decision Making
Key knowledge
- Law and Government
- English Language
- Administrative
- Computers and Electronics
- Public Safety and Security
- Administration and Management
- Communications and Media
- Customer and Personal Service
What the work involves
- Attend court sessions to hear oral arguments or record necessary case information.
- Communicate with counsel regarding case management or procedural requirements.
- Confer with judges concerning legal questions, construction of documents, or granting of orders.
- Draft or proofread judicial opinions, decisions, or citations.
- Keep abreast of changes in the law and inform judges when cases are affected by such changes.
- Prepare briefs, legal memoranda, or statements of issues involved in cases, including appropriate suggestions or recommendations.
- Research laws, court decisions, documents, opinions, briefs, or other information related to cases before the court.
- Review complaints, petitions, motions, or pleadings that have been filed to determine issues involved or basis for relief.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Conventional, Enterprising, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Doctoral Degree (51.9% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (32.9%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (62.1%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 5: Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Judicial Law Clerks is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Low | Lower on contact with others than 71% of occupations compared | 47% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Lower on dealing with the public than 51% of occupations compared | 35% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Low | Lower on teamwork than 79% of occupations compared | 46% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 82% of occupations compared | 42% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 67% of occupations compared | 51% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Low | Lower on conflict situations than 78% of occupations compared | 36% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Moderate | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 59% of occupations compared | 28% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 64% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: moderate
- Consequence of error: low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Contact with others about half the time: 12.02%
- Contact with others most of the time: 27.57%
- Constant contact with others: 47.18%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2021
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 11.51%
- Fairly important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Important: 12.02%
- Very important: 16.06%
- Extremely important: 35.16%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2021
Teamwork
- Not important at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 24.03%
- Very important: 16.47%
- Extremely important: 46.26%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2021
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very little freedom: 12.02%
- Limited freedom: 3.62%
- Some freedom: 41.72%
- A lot of freedom: 30.63%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2021
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 21.01%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 51.47%
- Every day: 27.52%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2021
Conflict situations
- Never: 35.54%
- Once a year or more but not every month: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a month or more but not every week: 27.52%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 13.24%
- Every day: 7.64%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2021
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 12%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 25.04%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 27.59%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 28.29%
- Every day: 7.08%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2021
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 8.57%
- Fairly serious: 48.06%
- Serious: 20.77%
- Very serious: 8.14%
- Extremely serious: 14.46%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2021
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O*NET-SOC 23-1012.00 · SOC 23-1012 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8