How Clerkship Transparency Creates Stronger Lawyers feat. Aliza Shatzman

Aliza Shatzman is a judicial clerkship advocate. After a poor
clerkship experience, Aliza created the Legal Accountability
Project to bring transparency and accountability to the federal
clerkship process. Find out how this pioneer and founder ensures
the next generation of clerks is protected from bad judges. 


The Power of Judicial Clerkships


Clerkships are an important tool for lawyers interested in
working in academia, trial lawyers, and Big Law associates, and
they are a great way to hone your legal writing and reading
skills. During the spring semester of 1L year, many law students
participate in on-campus interviewing to work for large law firms
or with governmental agencies. Kyla Denanyoh was surprised to
learn that judicial clerkships are not “pitched” or hold job
fair-type events at law schools to find law students.


Whistleblowing in the Judiciary


Aliza told the HR department about the harassment and
gender-based discrimination she faced during her judicial
clerkship. The HR department didn’t do anything. Then Aliza
contacted her law school and was informed that the judge’s
conduct had not raised any flags or concerns.


There are multiple levels of harassment - Aliza received
harassment and a poor reputation with a job revoked. But there
are also issues that a lawyer would face when they appear before
a judge. Judges have enormous power, and judiciary workplaces are
exempt from Title VII of the Fair Employment practices that
regulate workplace conduct, which is backward and impractical.
There are state and federal bar rules and judicial rules of
conduct, but other judges need to enforce these rules. 





Despite her experiences, Aliza wants to maintain judicial
clerkships. Aliza created the Clerkships Database, which allows
law schools to pay to have their law school participate in the
database and leave true and honest references about 





What Can You Do with a Law Degree


Aliza Shatzman did not have a positive judicial clerkship
experience. Aliza received negative references when her clerkship
ended, and her employment position was revoked. However, Aliza
took the unfair situation and decided to rally for every future
judicial clerk. 





When Aliza Shatzman created the Legal Accountability Project, she
wanted to ensure that other clerks would learn from her terrible
clerkship experience. Aliza is frequently contacted by members
from affinity student bar associations, for example, LGBT,
Haitian-American, Arab-American, Deaf, and Hard of Hearing,
Japanese-American, and Black American bar members.





Lawyer Side Hustles


Although Aliza Shatzman has always enjoyed public speaking and
writing, traveling to law schools, teaching CLEs, and sharing her
experiences are valuable assets to revolutionizing the clerkship
process. There have been a few bumps and pivots in the
entrepreneurship process. Still, Aliza is grounded in reaching
every regional or top 5 law school to ensure that every law
student understands the clerkship process.





As Aliza tours different law schools and talks to students about
their experiences and the availability of clerkships, she finds
that the process varies wildly based on the law school's
resources.



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