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Judicial Law Clerks

Assist judges in court or by conducting research or preparing legal documents.

U.S. Workers

13,220

Median Salary

$60,400

10-Year Growth

+2.5%

Annual Openings

1,000

Typical entry: Doctoral or professional degree

Minimal RiskImminent Risk81%HIGH

19 of 19 tasks have some AI capability

Exposure Trend

Mar80.79%Apr80.79%May80.79%Jun80.79%

This score reflects estimated AI technical capability for tasks in this occupation. It does not predict employment changes, and it does not account for company-specific constraints, regulation, or adoption barriers.

Fully Automatable (11)

AI could handle these end-to-end

Research laws, court decisions, documents, opinions, briefs, or other information related to cases before the court.

AI: Fully automatable - AI systems in 2025 can comprehensively perform legal research across statutes, case law, and documents at scale and with high accuracy for clerkship tasks.

imp: 4.8

Prepare briefs, legal memoranda, or statements of issues involved in cases, including appropriate suggestions or recommendations.

AI: Fully automatable - AI can draft briefs, legal memoranda, and issue statements with suggested recommendations and legal reasoning sufficiently well for use by clerks and attorneys with normal review.

imp: 4.7

Draft or proofread judicial opinions, decisions, or citations.

AI: Fully automatable - AI can draft and proofread judicial opinions, decisions, and citations accurately and quickly, producing polished drafts suitable for judicial review and editing.

imp: 4.6

Review complaints, petitions, motions, or pleadings that have been filed to determine issues involved or basis for relief.

AI: Fully automatable - AI can reliably review filings to identify legal issues, factual predicates, and possible bases for relief, enabling rapid triage and substantive analysis.

imp: 4.5

Keep abreast of changes in the law and inform judges when cases are affected by such changes.

AI: Fully automatable - AI can continuously monitor statutory and case-law changes and automatically flag affected cases or legal points for judges and staff in real time.

imp: 4.2

Verify that all files, complaints, or other papers are available and in the proper order.

AI: Fully automatable - Structured verification of files and ordering can be fully automated by systems that compare document inventories, metadata, and formatting against checklists.

imp: 3.5

Enter information into computerized court calendar, filing, or case management systems.

AI: Fully automatable - Automated extraction and integrations (RPA/APIs) can reliably enter information into court calendars and case management systems.

imp: 3.5

Coordinate judges' meeting and appointment schedules.

AI: Fully automatable - Scheduling, conflict resolution, and appointment coordination are rules-based tasks that AI and automation tools can fully manage.

imp: 3.0

Prepare periodic reports on court proceedings, as required.

AI: Fully automatable - AI can compile transcripts, analytics, and summaries into periodic reports automatically from case data and hearing records.

imp: 2.8

Maintain judges' law libraries by assembling or updating appropriate documents.

AI: Fully automatable - Assembling, indexing, and updating law library materials is a document-management activity that AI can reliably perform.

imp: 2.7

Compile court-related statistics.

AI: Fully automatable - As of 2025, AI systems can reliably ingest court records and produce statistical reports and summaries from structured and semi-structured data with minimal human intervention.

imp: 2.7

Human in the Loop (8)

AI could assist, human oversight required

Confer with judges concerning legal questions, construction of documents, or granting of orders.

AI: Partial - AI can prepare analyses, suggested language, and responses for judges but cannot directly fulfill the confidential, interpersonal, and discretionary role of personally conferring with a judge.

imp: 4.7

Attend court sessions to hear oral arguments or record necessary case information.

AI: Partial - AI can transcribe hearings and extract case information but cannot fully replicate human presence, real-time judgment, and assessment of credibility in court.

imp: 3.6

Review dockets of pending litigation to ensure adequate progress.

AI: Partial - AI can monitor dockets, detect delays, and flag cases that are not progressing, but cannot itself take enforcement actions or make complex case-priority judgments.

imp: 3.3

Respond to questions from judicial officers or court staff on general legal issues.

AI: Partial - AI can answer general legal questions and cite authorities, but cannot fully replace clerks for nuanced interpretation, ethical judgment, or confidential advice.

imp: 3.3

Communicate with counsel regarding case management or procedural requirements.

AI: Partial - AI can draft and automate routine communications with counsel, but lacks the discretion and accountability required for sensitive or strategic negotiations.

imp: 3.1

Participate in conferences or discussions between trial attorneys and judges.

AI: Partial - AI can summarize and support conferences by providing briefs and notes, but cannot actively negotiate or exercise the judiciary's discretionary decision-making in discussions.

imp: 3.0

Supervise law students, volunteers, or other personnel assigned to the court.

AI: Partial - AI can assist with scheduling, training materials, and monitoring, but cannot fully replace human judgment and legal/ethical supervision required for managing law students and volunteers.

imp: 2.6

Perform courtroom duties, including calling calendars, administering oaths, and swearing in jury panels and witnesses.

AI: Partial - AI can automate administrative aspects like calling calendars or reminders, but administering oaths and formally swearing jurors/witnesses remains a legally and procedurally human role.

imp: 2.2

Skills for this role (35)

Reading ComprehensionEssentialActive ListeningEssentialCritical ThinkingEssentialWritingEssentialSpeakingCoreActive LearningCoreJudgment and Decision MakingCoreTime ManagementCoreComplex Problem SolvingCoreSocial PerceptivenessCore
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