May 9, 2025
Michigan State University College of Law’s judicial clerkship program has experienced notable growth and success in the last few years, preparing students for prestigious legal careers.
Federal judicial clerkships, often considered among the most prestigious post-graduate positions in the legal field, remain highly competitive.
Three class of 2025 graduates have earned placement in four federal courts.
Anna Maxwell, ’25, of Richmond, Michigan, will clerk for the Hon. Judge Rebecca Beach Smith of the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in 2025; and Hon. Judge Richard Griffin for U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in 2027.
Nicholas Langenberg, ’25, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, will serve as a judicial ethics clerk to the Hon. Judge Robert J. Jonker, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.
Thomas Gliniecki, ’25, of Dimondale, Michigan, will clerk for the Hon. Judge Paul L. Maloney, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.
(According to the ABA, only 3.36 percent of 2024’s JD grads in the U.S. landed such positions. And majority of those jobs go to graduates of the nation’s top ranked law schools.)
In recent years, MSU Law students have been rising to the challenge with impressive results:
- Preliminary numbers for class of 2025 includes eight students to receive judicial clerkships positions, three in federal courts and five in state and local.
- Class of 2024 includes 11 clerkships: two federal and nine state and local clerkships.
- Class of 2023 secured 13 clerkships, three federal and ten state and local roles.
While these data represent the number of students to have received judicial clerkships, some, like Anna Maxwell, have received more than one.
“Judicial clerkships are a priority at MSU Law, and we have been building out the program in the past several years,” said Kristina Bilowus, MSU Law’s Assistant Director of Career Development and Judicial Clerkship Coordinator.
MSU Law’s approach is notably hands-on, with resources tailored specifically for aspiring clerks. The program actively engages students through one-on-one advising and brings in judges, current clerks, and alumni for speaking engagements.
Plans to grow the program include expanding the role of faculty in federal judiciary placements and launching exclusive MSU Law-only clerkship initiatives, Bilowus said.
Further enhancing MSU’s clerkship efforts, Bilowus was recently appointed as co-chair for the National Association for Law Placement’s (NALP) Judicial Clerkship Section. This provides for even more opportunity to grow MSU Law’s program.
Professor David Blankfein-Tabachnick said students who rise as leaders in law school in various programs and opportunities are more likely to win federal clerkships.
“Michigan State Law Review has a long history of providing its student editors with world-class experience,” Professor Blankfein-Tabachnick said. “The Law review has an extraordinary record of placing its members in highly prestigious federal clerkships and in elite law firm positions.”
The three 2025 graduates were on staff of the student-run flagship journal. Maxwell was editor in chief.
Maxwell was voted by class officers to deliver the student address to her classmates at their 2025 Commencement Ceremony on May 9. Read Maxwell’s speech.
