<p>I've spent an immense amount of time pondering my future, and I plan on attending law school at an upper-tier institution with the ultimate career goal of becoming a judge, ideally at a state supreme court or federal district court/court of appeals. I've been withholding this question for a while now because I assumed someone would eventually ask it, but are these sorts of aspirations even feasible given the few positions available and the unfortunate yet increasing politicization of judicial appointments? Including two seminars this summer, I will have maintained a 4.0 with 39 credit hours after my freshman year of undergrad (with six 3/4000 level classes included in the mix). I love reading casebooks and devour Supreme Court histories like most people do gossip. Would my best bet be to do all I can to ensure acceptance into a school like Harvard/Yale/Columbia, etc., finish near the top of my class, try not to leave much of a controversial paper trail, and try to obtain a prestigious clerkship shortly thereafter? And are graduates of schools of the Georgetown/Duke/Virginia (not at all to disparage the quality of these great schools!) caliber usually able to obtain these sorts of clerkships? I do realize that serendipity has played an enormous role in the successes of our nation's most eminent jurists, but I'd also like to capitalize on the human agency I possess and facilitate the realization of my goals as wisely as is possible. </p>
<p>Thanks for reading, and any advice is quite welcome!</p>
<p>There are a couple of jokes that actually shed a little light on this question:</p>
<p>How to become a judge? Room with a future governor in law school.</p>
<p>The other joke: the A students in law school become law professors, the B students become judges, the C students become lawyers, and the D students become politicians.</p>
<p>Getting on the governor's list of potential judicial appointees is very political. The surest path to being appointed to the bench in California has been to be a Republican career prosecutor. </p>
<p>Reagan notoriously appointed one of his someone to the California Supreme Court who wasn't even a lawyer, and whose principal qualification seems t have been his long friendship with Reagan. </p>
<p>Academic qualifications are important. The ABA generally reserves its "well qualified" rating for judicial appointments to people with really solid records of academic achievement, plus extensive trial experience, and extensive prior judicial experience (generally) for those nominated for appellate courts. </p>
<p>Highly regarded law professors sometimes make it without judicial experience. Two of my law school professors are now on the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.</p>
<p>Your jurisdiction will have something to do with it too, but it's generally politics, politics, politics. </p>
<p>You should be well-connected, and have spent many years working in the legal profession earning the high regard of your peers. Litigation is a typical track. </p>
<p>Many Bar Assns will do interviews and determine, based on your professional experience, whether you are qualified before issuing a recommendation. </p>
<p>Some Judges are appointees but in many jurisdictions State Supreme Court Judges are elected. If elected, you should be prepared to pound the pavement and spend $ to get out the message that you are Judicial material. </p>
<p>Frankly, there are so many hurdles and what-if's that this dream borders on pure fantasy at this stage of your life. First, get through college. Then, get through law school with great grades and ideally law review (getting through law school is not necessarily a function of intelligence, hard work or desire, by the way, or every talented student in law school would graduate with As). Next, get a great job. Spend the next 10-30 years impressing the heck out of your peers and developing political and community connections. It helps to earn a lot of money. Then, start to look for openings on the Bench...
and convince your spouse that you should give up your high-paying career that allows you to pay for your kids' tuition and make mortgage payments on that nice big house for a signficantly lower Judicial salary.</p>
<p>I hope your dreams come true. Hey, I wish my own dreams come true too.</p>