ANNOUNCEMENT NUMBER ANNOUNCEMENT DATE 

CLOSING DATE 

REPRESENTATIVE DUTIES QUALIFICATIONS 

SALARY RANGE 

BENEFITS 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 

LAW CLERK TO 

U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE TANA LIN 

24-WAW-11 

December 1, 2023  

Open until filled; interviews anticipated to occur beginning in March 2024.  

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington is seeking qualified candidates  from all backgrounds for the position of Career Law Clerk or Term Law Clerk for United States  District Judge Tana Lin in Seattle, Washington. Please indicate in your letter of interest if you  want to be considered for a term clerkship, career clerkship, or both. The term clerkship will  

be for a minimum one-year term but may be extended by mutual agreement. Judge Lin  prefers term clerks willing to serve for 18 to 24 months but this is not a mandatory  requirement. The start date for this position is anticipated to be in or around October 2024.  

All law clerks work closely with Judge Lin on civil and criminal litigation filed in District  Court. Law clerks conduct research and prepare drafts of opinions and orders. Law clerks will be involved in courtroom proceedings, help administer a judicial extern program, and  may have the opportunity to work on various long-term projects. Law Clerks are also  responsible for some administrative duties in chambers. A Career Law Clerk may take on  additional administrative responsibilities in chambers, generally assist in running chambers,  and provide oversight for term law clerks and externs. 

Candidates must be law school graduates from an accredited law school; be organized  and work well independently; possess excellent research and writing skills; be  experienced with Word, Westlaw, Lexis, and related software; and must have a  demonstrated commitment to diversity and an inclusive work environment. Candidates  for the Term Law Clerk position must have at least one year of federal clerkship  experience or two years of litigation experience. Candidates for the Career Law Clerk  position must have at least two years prior federal judicial clerkship experience or three  years of litigation experience.  

Judiciary Salary Plan (JSP) Grade 11 – 14, depending on experience, qualifications, and bar  membership. 

Salary range: $76,860 to $129,451 annually, full-time  

The U.S. District Court provides a generous benefits package, competitive salary, ORCA  transit pass and a dedication to work/life balance, including flexible schedules and  telework opportunities. All law clerks are eligible for health and life insurance benefits,  long term care options, annual and sick leave accrual, and eleven paid holidays per year. Judiciary employees are not covered by the Office of Personnel Management’s civil service  classification system or regulations. For additional information on employment with the  federal courts, please visit www.uscourts.gov.

INFORMATION FOR  

APPLICANTS 

STATEMENT OF  

QUALIFICATIONS

Qualified applicants should submit the following: 

• A letter of interest (Cover Letter) 

• A current resume 

• A response to the Statement of Qualifications, below 

• A minimum of three professional references. Applicants with prior clerkship  experience should include contact information for all judges for whom the applicant  has clerked. 

• A writing sample that is five to ten pages in length 

Applications submitted via e-mail and/or OSCAR are preferred. Attachments must be  submitted as Microsoft Word (DOC) or Adobe Acrobat (PDF) files. Other formats are not  acceptable. Applications will only be considered complete when the required attachments,  with the required information in the appropriate format, are received. Incomplete  applications may not be considered in the recruitment process. 

Any application materials not submitted through OSCAR may be submitted via e-mail to:  LinClerkApps@wawd.uscourts.gov 

or mailed to:  

The Honorable Tana Lin 

U.S. District Court 

700 Stewart Street, Suite 13229 

Seattle, WA 98101  

The Statement of Qualifications must address the following and be 12-point font, single spaced, minimum one-inch margins, and no more than three pages.  

1. Judge Lin has a strong commitment to fostering the development of lawyers who  contribute to the diversity (broadly defined) of the legal profession. What unique  background or experience (personal and/or professional) do you have that will  contribute to the environment and work of Judge Lin’s chambers? 

2. Provide an example of a public service or volunteer experience you have engaged in,  why you chose to pursue it, and how it has shaped the lawyer you are today. 3. Explain why you think who you will be compatible with Judge Lin as a person and as  a judge. Please use publicly available information to respond to this question.  4. For applicants for the Career Law Clerk position: Why do you want to be a career law  clerk? 

Only qualified applicants will be considered for this position. Applicants must be United  States citizens or eligible to work in the United States. Employees of the United States  District Court are considered “at will” employees. Applicants selected for interviews must  travel (for in-person interviews) or connect via Zoom (for remote interviews) at their own  expense. 

The United States District Court requires employees to follow a code of conduct which is  available upon request. Reference checks with current and former employers will be  conducted on top candidates. A background investigation with law enforcement agencies,  including fingerprint and criminal record checks, will be conducted as a condition of  employment. Any applicant selected for a position will be hired provisionally pending  successful completion of the investigation. Unsatisfactory results may result in termination  of employment. 

The Federal Financial Management Reform Act requires direct deposit of federal wages.

The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington is an Equal  Opportunity Employer. We encourage applications from all qualified individuals and seek a  diverse pool of applicants in terms of race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender identity and  expression, sexual orientation, age, languages spoken, veteran’s status, disability, religion,  and socio-economic circumstance. 

The Court provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. If you need a  reasonable accommodation, please notify human resources. The decision on granting  reasonable accommodations will be made on a case by case basis. 

The Court reserves the right to modify the conditions of this job announcement, to withdraw  the announcement, or to fill the position sooner than the closing date, any of which may  occur without prior written or other notice. If a position becomes vacant in a similar  classification, within a reasonable time from the original announcement, the court may  select a candidate from the applicants who responded to the original announcement without  posting the position. More than one position may be filled from this announcement.