Charlotte Legal Diversity Clerkship Program
CLDC 2024 Outline & Frequently Asked Questions
last updated October 2023
CLDC 2024 Outline: Pre-Program
Employers have until Friday, November 3 to register to participate in the 2024 CLDC program. Registration forms will request the following information:
- Employer name;
- Pairing with another employer (if none, employers may state any preferences/requests);
- Anticipated start date for clerks (up to the employer);
- Employer description (e.g., areas of law, credentials, culture, etc.);
- Any hiring requirements;
- How many clerks the employer would like to hire; and
- Whether the employer offers additional incentives (e.g., financial assistance in the form of stipends, scholarships).
On or around Monday, December 11:
- The CLDC will host the Employer Kickoff Meeting via Zoom to discuss updates and next steps and to answer any questions from the employers.
- CLDC leadership will also invite employers to contact them if they are interested in hosting one of the Wednesday evening events during the summer. (Follow-up questions: which date, budgeting, whether they want to host the clerks or both the clerks and their employers, etc.)
- All employers will be invoiced for the commitment fee the same week as the Employer Kickoff Meeting.
- The CLDC will post to Symplicity the CLDC 2024 program information, employer descriptions, application deadline, and link to the application. (Symplicity is a platform used by over 130 different law schools.)
Students will have until Friday, January 19 to apply to the program. In order to be eligible for the CLDC, applicants must be in their first year of law school with an expected graduation date in the Spring of 2026 and have both a personal background that would contribute to the diversity of the legal profession here in Charlotte and a history of strong academic performance. Required materials include the applicant’s:
- Cover letter;
- Resume;
- Transcripts (undergraduate and 1L fall semester);
- Diversity Statement:
- Detail how the applicant would contribute to creating a more diverse legal community in Charlotte, and why the applicant would like to practice law in Charlotte (length requirement: one to two pages)
- Writing sample from the applicant’s 1L fall semester; and
- Selections, if any, on employer pairing(s).
CLDC leadership will have the following week after the application closes to review all application materials, remove incomplete or otherwise deficient applications from consideration, and advance remaining applications to employers.
- On or around Thursday, January 25, CLDC leadership will send a packet of applications from qualified candidates to each employer individually. For an applicant who selected employers on the application, only those employers will receive the applicant’s materials in their packets. Each packet will be prefaced with a summary chart containing information about the individual applicants in that particular packet. That information will include the applicant’s name, schools, GPA, and diversity categories.
- Simultaneously or thereafter, CLDC leadership will notify students whose applications were not advanced in this process.
For those whose applications are advanced in the process, CLDC leadership will offer a virtual session to discuss next steps, provide general interviewing advice, and coach applicants on handling different situations (e.g., what to do if/when notified by the CLDC that an employer is interested in an interview, how best to handle a multiple-offer scenario, etc.).
Employers will then review application materials under their own criteria and are required to notify the CLDC of which students they would like to interview for a clerkship position so that the CLDC can communicate with students who are NOT selected for any interviews. After notifying the CLDC of their selections, employers will plan and coordinate interviews with the applicants directly. All employers will receive application materials at the same time and may immediately begin contacting applicants to schedule interviews that may take place beginning Friday, February 2. Ideally, interviews will be complete by Friday, February 9. The deadline for interviews and offers is Friday, February 16. Presumably, these interviews will be conducted virtually unless the employer is coordinating and funding the student’s travel. Notes:
- The employer pairing may issue an offer to an applicant at any time following the interview but must provide the applicant a minimum of three days to respond to the offer.
- The employer pairing must notify the CLDC of an acceptance immediately; the CLDC will then notify other employer pairings scheduled to interview the applicant of the match so they can move on to other candidates.
- If an applicant declines an offer, the employer pairing must continue making offers until it receives an acceptance. This will continue until all employer pairings are matched with an applicant.
On or around Friday, March 1, or as soon as practicable, the CLDC will announce the full class, first to the clerks and employers, then publicly to MCB membership and beyond.
CLDC 2024 Outline: Summer Program
Program Length: The clerkship is a total of 10 weeks. Employer pairs have the flexibility to format their clerkship experience. Example options: (1) The clerk spends six to seven weeks at the firm followed by three to four weeks at the corporation; (2) The clerk spends one day a week at the corporation and the remaining workweek at the firm.
Start and End Dates: The start date for the clerkship should be established between the employer and the clerk. The CLDC Opening Reception is tentatively slated for the evening of Wednesday, May 24, 2024. It is expected that the clerk will be in Charlotte at that point. The CLDC Closing Reception is tentatively slated for the evening of Wednesday, July 24, 2024.
CLDC Events: In addition to the Opening and Closing Receptions as stated above, events for clerks will be held on Wednesday evenings over the summer, with one to two weekday luncheons tentatively planned. (Exception: No events will be planned the week of July 4.) The full CLDC Summer Calendar is anticipated to be distributed in March 2024.
Recommended Minimum Salaries: CLDC leadership can help with minimum salary recommendations. Please contact a program co-chair or the staff liaison for more information.
CLDC 2024 outline: post-program
The CLDC will ask clerks for updated resumes and transcripts on or around July 5. The CLDC will then pass along those materials to all CLDC employers for their consideration in interviewing clerks for a summer position in 2024 (i.e., after a clerk’s 2L year). The CLDC will not attempt to match; this process will be left to the clerks and employers to handle directly. Employers may reach out to clerks after receiving the updated resumes and transcripts from the CLDC but are requested to wait until after the CLDC closing reception on July 24 to conduct the actual interviews. The CLDC asks that all clerks and employers notify the CLDC of accepted offers to return to Charlotte by mid-August.
CLDC 2024: FAQs
Q: What happens if a firm or corporation is without a pairing at the end of registration?
A: The CLDC will review the employer’s requests/preference for pairing and will assign a paired employer. The CLDC cannot guarantee that employers will be matched with their preferred partners; employers are encouraged to have conversations in advance to establish their preferred pairings.
Q: Why do employers have to pay the commitment fee so early?
A: Commitment fees (a) help demonstrate the employer will be fully engaged and (b) provide funds that allow CLDC to pay deposits and fees for events (kickoff, weekly, closing, retreats, etc.). The CLDC will be flexible if there is a compelling reason the employer needs to pay at a later date.
Q: Can an employer have multiple pairings?
A: Yes, if the employer will be hiring more than one clerk. For example, Firm A and Corporation A are an employer pair. Both Firm A and Corporation A would like to host two clerks. Two of the same pairing will be advertised to applicants. Alternatively, Firm A and Corporation A are a pair for one potential clerk. Firm A would like to host one clerk, but Corporation A would like to host two clerks. Corporation A also pairs with Firm B to make this happen. (Or Firm A wants two clerks and pairs with Corporation A and Corporation B to make this happen, and so on).
Q: How much is the commitment fee?
A: The commitment fees are $5,000 for firms and $3,500 for corporations. Nonprofit and government employers are now eligible for a 50% discount on the annual CLDC corporation commitment fee (i.e., the $3,500 fee is reduced to $1,750). Employers seeking discounts may be asked to substantiate the request by providing proof of nonprofit or government employer status. Note: If the commitment fee is all that is stopping a prospective employer (firms or corporations) from participating in the program, the employer should reach out to the CLDC to discuss a potential hardship discount.
Q: How will the employer know whether an applicant will/may require visa sponsorship for employment after law school graduation?
A: Employers will determine their own interview questions. The CLDC will not inquire into an applicant’s visa status (on the job application or otherwise).
Q: How can the employer be sure that it will be paired with a clerk the employer would consider hiring after graduation, with this open competition among employers?
A: Employers may choose to meet only with students who meet their hiring criteria, and interview schedules are determined by the employers. If an employer’s first choice declines an offer, the employer may reach out to other unmatched applicants for interviews.
Q: Can the employer make a back-up offer to a second choice contingent on the first choice declining the offer? Can the employer rescind an offer for any reason?
A: The employer may follow its normal hiring practices, except that the employer is expected to give a student a minimum of three days to respond to an offer, after which the employer may rescind the offer.
As a reminder, all interview and hiring processes must be consistent with the MCB Statement on Diversity:
The Mecklenburg County Bar (MCB) seeks to eliminate biases, barriers and prejudices within the legal profession by creating and promoting environments that treat all individuals with respect and dignity.
Diversity is an inclusive concept and encompasses, without limitation, race, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, nationality, age, disability, and marital and parental status. We acknowledge that the varied perspectives and backgrounds of our members are central to the MCB's success as an organization and are valuable to the public we serve. The MCB encourages all of its members to volunteer and seek leadership opportunities within the Bar so that our organization reflects the full diversity of our community.
Q: Is three days sufficient for a student to decide on an offer? Do NALP guidelines require 14 days?
A: Employers may provide more than three days; recruitment policies vary among schools. The CLDC opportunity will be posted in Symplicity, a platform used by over 130 law schools. For multiple schools, because the job is posted in Symplicity and not as part of their on-campus interviewing, the 14-day rule does not apply.
Q: How can an employer or firm/corporate pair host a CLDC event?
A: Contact CLDC leadership to discuss a date, planning ideas, a venue, your budget, the guest list, and the invitation. CLDC leadership will be happy to collaborate with you.