Federal judges have already begun to drift away from hiring Yale Law clerks

The truth is, Yale Law has already seen falling clerkship placement numbers in recent years.

Chicago’s climb, from 10% of the class in 2013 to a whopping 27.6% in 2020, for the first time in recent memory besting Yale.

University of Virginia placing fourth with 17.5% placement. It’s done well in recent years, including occasionally edging out Harvard, but (apart from a 2017 dip) shows a trendline of consistent and perhaps improving placement.