Program Overview

The HCBA 1L Diversity Clerkship Program places first-year law students attending a Minnesota law school with Minnesota legal employers for full-time, paid summer associate experiences. Ultimately, the program hopes to provide fair and equitable clerkship opportunities for law students, enriching future partners and leaders in Minnesota’s legal community. Any student may apply, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, or disability.

Information for Students

First-year law students attending a Minnesota law school may apply for the 1L Diversity Clerkship. Learn more about application materials and interviews and apply.

STUDENTS

Information for Employers

Learn more about partnering with the HCBA to hire a 1L clerk through our Diversity Clerkship program, including expectations and the employer commitment form.

EMPLOYERS

2026 1L Clerkship Program Timeline

• October 6–November 14, 2025: Employer Registration  
• November 10–December 8, 2025: Student Registration 
• January 5–16, 2026: First Round Interviews  
• February 17–February 27, 2026: Employer Interviews  
• March 9, 2026: Matching Preferences Due  
• Week of March 16, 2026: Student-Employer Match Reveals  
• April 2026 (TBD): Summer Orientation 

How It Works

• Each 1L law student who provides a complete application will be interviewed by members of the HCBA Diversity and Inclusion Committee and other volunteer attorneys during the last two weeks of January.

• A limited number of students (based on the number of participating employers) will be chosen for a second round of interviews. Those students chosen for the second round of interviews are guaranteed summer employment; however, they will still need to interview with participating employers via Zoom. In the past all students have interviewed all participating employers, but due to an incredible high employer participation rate, each student will be interviewing with 11 of the total participating employers.

• The employers and students will then rank their choices from first to last.  

• HCBA 1L Diversity Clerkship Subcommittee will then generate a blind match of employer and students, which will determine the employment matches for the clerkship program. Students may get anywhere from their first to last ranked choice and should take this into consideration for applying. We hope students are excited and open about the opportunity to work in a variety of firm/organization areas. 

• 1L students will coordinate with their employer match of start date and will start their clerkships in the summer.   

2026 Employers