Abstract
In an effort to bring order to what has historically been a chaotic process, federal judges and law schools implemented the Judicial Law Clerk Hiring Plan in 2002, prohibiting all students except those in their third year of law school from applying for federal clerkships. However, there is a serious problem with the Law Clerk Hiring Plan: it is an unreasonable restraint of trade. In this article, we explore the history of the Law Clerk Hiring Plan and analyze whether it would survive traditional antitrust scrutiny. We conclude that the Plan is an unreasonable restraint of trade. Further, based upon each participant's economic incentives, we predict the Plan's eventual demise.
Recommended Citation
Mark W. Pletcher & Ludovic C. Ghesquiere,
In Restraint of Trade: The Judicial Law Clerk Hiring Plan,
78
U. Colo. L. Rev.
147
(2007).
Available at:
https://scholar.law.colorado.edu/lawreview/vol78/iss1/6