A clerkship for the U.S. Court of Appeals or state appellate court requires much research and writing. When a case comes to the appellate court, most of the routine questions have already been ironed out in the district court, and the difficult questions are left for the appellate court to consider. In addition, a federal court encounters the normal range of common law matters, including contracts, torts and property matters. The duties of a clerk for a trial judge are somewhat different from those of an appellate clerk. Beyond the traditional research and writing of draft opinions, they are exposed to varied pretrial and trial procedures and evidentiary problems.
Most judges utilize a law clerk as a valuable adjunct in the decision-making process.
Clerks will spend some time in the courtroom actually hearing the evidence and will assist in the preparation of memoranda, opinions or judgements. Judicial proceedings include civil and criminal matters, as well as specialized law such as admiralty, patent, and bankruptcy litigation. Recent law school graduates are hired as associates and spend much of their time in providing background research for more senior members. They are usually not given primary responsibility in a case for a year or more. Recent law school graduates are often given more responsibility and higher visibility than their counterparts in the larger firms.