In recent years many areas of the legal profession have made pursuing diversity an objective. In judges' chambers, however, diversity among judicial clerks remains disproportionately low. To address this problem, the ABA launched the Judicial Clerkship Program (JCP) in February 2001.

A joint effort of the ABA Council for Diversity in the Educational Pipeline and the ABA Judicial Division, the intensive three-day program gives diverse law students the rare opportunity to experience the judicial decision-making process and the working relationship between judges and their law clerks. Students interact with judges who offer insight on how best to position themselves as clerkship applicants through legal problem-solving exercises, resume reviews, and panel discussions.

Data shows that there is a correlation between clerking for a judge and later becoming a member of the judiciary. JCP encourages students to pursue clerkship opportunities while introducing judges to students they might not ordinarily consider as potential clerks. More than four dozen federal and state appellate, trial, and administrative law judges from throughout the country take part in the program. JCP has put clerking on the radar screen of hundreds of minority law students, dozens of whom have successfully pursued clerkships.

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