question about court employees and such

[dani4450]

I know all the court info in Sweden but am totally lost when it comes to district courts in L A. I'm therefor hoping that someone can answer these questions:

* when you are right out of law school what positions are available to you in a district court? (Do you for instance need a legal degree to become a court clerk or recording clerk?)

*Do judges specialize in family, civil or criminal court or do they judge in every type of court case?

Thank you in advance!

[Zelenka]

I have no idea about US legal positions, but I thought of something that might be of use - there are a lot of websites here like Legal People listing jobs within the law, and if there's the equivalent for the US, they might list the qualifications needed for the posts you need to know about?

Sorry I can't be more help.

[SmartAsh]

Typically you don't need a law degree to be a clerk. A lot of people do these jobs while still in law school or fresh from law school. Keep in mind that there are different types of "clerks" however. A lot of circuit court judges and federal court judges prefer actual lawyers to be their personal clerks. It's not as often required in District Court (provided "district court" in California means the same thing as it does in most states... I don't live in California, so can't be sure about the terminology).

Also keep in mind that having a law degree does not make you a lawyer... you still have to be licensed to practice law in that state, generally either by taking the bar exam or through reciprocity with another state (and most of the time, reciprocity is only granted after you've been a practicing attorney in good standing in a different state for a specified period of time; also, not all states have reciprocity with other states, or may only have reciprocity with specific sister states).

[SmartAsh]

Oops, I only answered half your question.

Judges do specialize in one particular court system. Federal or state. Circuit or District. Criminal or Civil courts are separate. And some cities/states have Family courts; they are becoming more and more popular throughout the US, but are not present everywhere.

Most courts have online resources: forms, docket info, etc. I would start there. I would imagine a quick google search would take you to the specific court you needed and by fishing around a bit, you could probably easily find out what types of cases the court has subject matter jurisdiction over. A court also needs to have personal jurisdiction over the particular parties, as well...

Without more details, it's difficult to provide much help...

[Horseshoes]

That's OK. Yak ken inte talle svenska.

As noted, recent law school grad is just a nice post grad degree until the person passes the bar. Recent grads do often get the job of clerking for a judge, often striving for a particular judge.

Ya don't need a degree to be a court clerk or recording clerk.
Judges do tend to specialize, however, it is not always by choice. A junior judge may get the entry level district judge position and be hearing routine cases or family court or even traffic court. That person may want to be a family court judge or want to get a Federal appointment.

[Tsu Dho Nimh]

What do you need for the plot ... it's easier to say "yes, possible" or no, doesn't work that way than to try to explain 50 different states' court systems ... and the federal system. (we're nothomogenous)

* when you are right out of law school what positions are available to you in a district court? (Do you for instance need a legal degree to become a court clerk or recording clerk?)

There are different "clerks":

The "clerk of the court" is like the judge's office administrator who handles the paperwork, schedules the trials (you will see them ask the clerk when they have time, hand the clerk paperwork to file, etc.) This"clerk" may have a staff helping him or her.

The "judge's clerk" is a legal assistant looks up cases and helps write decisions. This clerk can be a "paralegal", high-grades law student, or an extremely experienced lawyer.

*Do judges specialize in family, civil or criminal court or do they judge in every type of court case?

[Fern]

In my state court clerks are elected. They do not have to have a law degree. The one we presently have worked for years in a fruit/vegetable stand prior to being elected as court clerk.

The Judge (also elected) has a secretary/assistant that is paid through the court clerk's office, but her office is on a different floor of the court house and adjoins the Judge's office (not a part of the court clerk's office).

Seems like around here the people just coming out of law school are going into practice many times with an older, established attorney or group of attorneys. You sometimes see them go to work as a "legal aid" attorney, (legal assistance for indigent people where they are paid a set monthly rate by the state).

[jclarkdawe]

You really need to find someone from California to ask this question, although if you made it more specific it would help.

First off, are you talking about the County of Los Angeles or the City of Los Angeles? There's a great deal of difference and my guess is you're thinking of the county. For example, I believe Hollywood is in the County, but isn't part of the city. What most people think of as the city is actually the county.

There is a Federal District Court in LA, and a Superior Court for the county. I'm not sure if there are district courts within the county. I believe there are municipal courts.

My guess is that if there are municipal or district courts that they deal with small claims, misdemeanors, and violations like speeding tickets. Felonies and murder cases are heard in the superior court.

Confused? Well, it gets worse. I believe California has family courts, I believe there is a bankruptcy court in LA, and there may be others.

And then there are the clerks. These range from file clerks (who are most assuredly not graduates of law schools) to judge's clerk (who are nearly always graduates of law schools). Clerks of the court may or may not be attorneys, depending on the state. And to provide an interesting side note, judges are not always graduates of law schools (New Hampshire had one until a few years ago). Judges in California for state courts are elected, I believe.

I'd suggest contacting the superior court for LA or the LA bar association is you want accurate information. If you want to make sure you're making sense, give us your scenario.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe

[dani4450]

Wow,this really is confusing.

In Sweden there is only the law clerk, who helps the judge with writing decisions, researches pre-trial stuff, sits in on trials and calls out cases and parties, takes notes, records the statements on a CD. They can also take smaller cases like petty theft on their own. You have to have a law degree to be called a law clerk and in order to become a judge you have to be a law clerk for two years and get very good grades for doing that job. Otherwise you wont be able to make it to the next level.

My scene is pretty small and deals with a domestic violence case and a custody case.

I'm just wondering if the two judges from those cases realistically could meet in the same building and if the law clerk would be able to know both judges.
I'm also after a court position that would signify a pretty newly graduated law student's want to become a judge, similar to the law clerk position in Sweden.

[jclarkdawe]

Wow,this really is confusing. Welcome to the American judicial system. This is one of the reasons attorneys in the US can only practice in one state.

In Sweden there is only the law clerk, who helps the judge with writing decisions, researches pre-trial stuff, sits in on trials and calls out cases and parties, takes notes, records the statements on a CD. They can also take smaller cases like petty theft on their own. You have to have a law degree to be called a law clerk and in order to become a judge you have to be a law clerk for two years and get very good grades for doing that job. Otherwise you wont be able to make it to the next level. In the US, such a law clerk would probably be fresh out of law school, and work in the position for one year before going on to another job. In Superior Court one law clerk would probably work for quite a few judges, and would mainly assist the judge in researching law and helping write decisions. They probably would not call the case. They would only sit in on a trial when the trial is really interesting. They would never take a case on their own.

The following thread might help you with understanding how to become a judge in California: http://ca.lwv.org/lwvc.files/judic/. What the article doesn't mention is that judges are going to have some level of involvement with either the Republican or Democratic party and will probably know the governor.

My scene is pretty small and deals with a domestic violence case and a custody case. I'd put it in the family branch of the county Superior Court. It could also possibly be heard in the municipal court. And to further complicate matters, I believe Britney Spears' family woes are being heard in the Federal District Court, although I do not understand how it has jurisdiction.

I'm just wondering if the two judges from those cases realistically could meet in the same building and if the law clerk would be able to know both judges. Definitely possible for judges to know other judges in superior court, as that's a big building. I don't know how many superior court judges LA county has, but it's going to be at least 10. This is one of the busiest courts in the country. You might want to look at http://www.lasuperiorcourt.org/aboutcourt/.

The law clerk could be assigned to both judges, as there usually is not enough work for one judge at the superior court level to justify a law clerk to be dedicated to the judge. Most cases don't involve much new and different law.

I'm also after a court position that would signify a pretty newly graduated law student's want to become a judge, similar to the law clerk position in Sweden.

Hope this helps.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe