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Law Teaching Market Timeline

The Ideal Schedule

This schedule and timeline represent the ideal. While it is best to finish your job talk paper in early summer in order to have time to gather and incorporate feedback (which is often substantial) before Moot Camp, many ultimately successful candidates did not have a complete draft in May. In particular, clinical candidates may or may not need completed papers (although some scholarship is increasingly the norm).

Law Teaching Market Timeline

Early May

Finish Draft of Job Talk Paper To Send to Recommenders1

Late May/Early June

Contact Law Teaching Placement Committee & Your Recommenders
Even if you are only tentatively interested in entering the law teaching market, you should email the Law Teaching Placement Committee at lawteaching@yale.edu expressing your interest. Please send a one-page abstract, and if possible, a draft of your job talk paper.

Candidates should also contact their faculty mentors to confirm that they are prepared to serve as recommenders and to request feedback on the abstract and/or draft of their job talk paper. The goal of the first exchange with your faculty recommenders is to determine whether you are prepared to go on the job market this year. If you and your recommenders agree that you are prepared, your initial conversations with them should help you clarify your short term priorities. If your recommenders believe you should wait to go on the market, these conversations should help you determine the appropriate next steps, including applying for interim positions or advancing your writing projects.

If you decide after this date that you are interested in going on the market, your first step should still be to contact the Law Teaching Placement Committee.

June 30

Deadline for Scheduling Review of Materials with Law Teaching Placement Committee
Please email your annotated CV, your research agenda, and draft of your job market paper to Professor William Eskridge, Jr., the Chair of our Law Teaching Committee this year. (william.eskridge@yale.edu) NOTE: These documents should be in WORD format so that Prof. Eskridge can annotate or make editorial suggestions. Doing this as soon as you can will give you time to make important revisions before your CV and research agenda must be turned in for inclusion in the Yale Law School CV book which is distributed to all hiring committees. (The deadline to submit your CV for this book is July 6)

July 6

Deadline for Submitting CV for Inclusion in YLS Candidate Book
We strongly suggest you include your CV in the Yale teacher candidate book. This book is sent to every law school in the United States in early August. To do so, you must send your CV to lawteaching@yale.edu with "CV Book" in the subject line. More information and instructions will be distributed through the Law Teaching Committee email list. (Note: Candidates often send updated versions of their CV to individual schools later in the year; the dealine is just for inclusion in the Yale teacher candidate book.)
 

July 7

Deadline for Applying To Present Job Talk Paper at Moot Camp
Moot Camp, held annualy at the beginning of the hiring season, provides candidates an opportunity to moot their job talk papers and get advice from alumni and professors about the law teaching market that they are preparing to enter. Many candidates report that Moot Camp is extremely helpful in preparing them for the hiring process and improving their job talk. This has been especially true for clinical candidate, especially those in practice who may have fewer opportunities to present their scholarship in an academic setting.

August 1

Recommended Deadline for Sending Pre-Moot Camp Draft of Job Talk Paper to Faculty Recommenders
Candidates are strongly encouraged to work out a schedule that will allow time to revise job talk paper based on comments and suggestions from advisors These can then be incorporated in the paper before the deadline for the submission to Moot Camp. This deadline should be individually arranged with faculty advisors, but in all cases, it should be set for a date no later than August 1.

August 11

First FAR Submission Deadline
The Faculty Appointment Register (FAR) is available online to all AALS law schools and is the primary way in wich schools search for applicants. To be listed in the register you must register online under "FAR Information". A schedule of fees and registration deadlines is also posted there. Although there are two FAR distributions and deadlines this year, it is very advantageous to be included in the fist distribution. You should also upload a PDF version of your annotated CV as part of your online registration.

August 15

Deadline for Signing Up To Attend Moot Camp (Without Presenting a Paper)

August 18

Moot Camp Presenters Must Submit Their Papers

August 18

Recommended Deadline for Applying Directly to Targeted Schools
Candidates are encouraged to send their materials to the chairs of the hiring committees of schools in which they are especially interested by this date. In mid-August, the Law Teaching Committee will provide YLS candidates with contact information for hiring committees at a variety of schools. Candidates should be in touch with their recommenders and the Law Teaching Committee to help select the schools to which they will apply directly. Candidates can also ask their recommenders to contact colleagues at a small number of schools.

September 8

Moot Camp

August and September

          Hiring committees will be contacting individual candidates to set up first-round interview appointments.

September/October

Law Teaching Placement Committee Conducts Phone Moots of Job Talk Paper

November-April

Callback Interviews

1This schedule and timeline represent the ideal. While it is best to finish your job talk paper in early summer in order to have time to gather and incorporate feedback (which is often substantial) before Moot Camp, many ultimately successful candidates did not have a complete draft in May. In particular, clinical candidates may or may not need completed papers (although some scholarship is increasingly the norm).