Because each judge functions independently, he or she can add to the qualification requirements for law clerks within the parameters mandated by the Judicial Conference of the United States. A judge's specific qualifications for a position are listed in the position announcement accessible in the OSCAR system. There are, however, general requirements for employment as a federal law clerk that must be satisfied by all appointees. By the time of appointment to a law clerk position, the candidate must be a law school graduate or be certified as having completed all law school studies and requirements and merely awaiting conferment of degree. As of May 16, 2005, newly hired law clerks must undergo a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) fingerprint check. A judge also has the option of requiring a new law clerk to undergo a FBI Central Records Systems name check and a credit check. An employment appointment is provisional and contingent upon the satisfactory completion of the required fingerprint check and other option checks, if required. The court will arrange processing the background checks upon notification of an applicant's selection for a position. Under an appropriations act restriction that is codified annually in a note to 5 U.S.C. 3101, Congress has prohibited the use of appropriated funds to pay federal employees whose post of duty is in the continental United States unless they are United States citizens or meet one of several exceptions. The limited exceptions to this prohibition permit government agencies to pay citizens of countries that are allied with the United States in a current defense effort and, under limited conditions, citizens of certain other countries. See 5 U.S.C. 3101 note (2005). In addition to the appropriations act restriction, all non-citizens must be eligible for employment under U.S. immigration law. Law clerk applicants may be required to provide citizenship information and proof of eligibility to work in the United States as part of the clerkship application. For additional information regarding the employment of non-United States citizens consult the United States Office of Personnel Management web site at www.opm.gov/employ/html/non_cit.htm or call the Office of General Counsel at the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts at (202)502-1100. The salary and benefits available to a law clerk depend upon the type of appointment. There are three different types of law clerk appointments in the federal judiciary.

• Term Appointment

Term appointments are the most common. Term federal judicial law clerks serve on an appointment limited to a total of four years, but are generally one or two years in duration. Some judges appoint term law clerks for eighteen months. The length of the term for a position listed in the OSCAR system is indicated in the "term dates" field in the position announcement. Term appointment law clerks are covered by Social Security and are eligible for health, dental, vision and life insurance coverage, and participation in judiciary supplemental benefits programs. If, however, the expiration date of the appointment does not extend to the end of the calendar year, and the law clerk has fewer than four years of service with the Federal Judiciary, he/she is not eligible to enroll in the Heath Care Reimbursement Account the last year of the appointment. Term law clerks are not eligible to participate in the federal employee retirement systems or the Thrift Savings Plan.

• Career Appointment

Career judicial law clerks are appointed for four or more years. The minimum length of the commitment that a judge expects is indicated on the position announcement. Career law clerks are eligible to participate in all benefit programs offered to judiciary employees, including health, dental, vision, and life insurance coverage, retirement benefits, judiciary supplemental benefit programs and the Thrift Savings Plan.

• Temporary Appointment

The third type of law clerk appointment is a temporary appointment. Occasionally, emergency situations require a judge to obtain additional law clerk assistance for a limited period of time and with a specific termination date. This is a temporary appointment. If the appointment is for one year or less, the law clerk will not be eligible for health, dental, vision and life insurance coverage, retirement, participation in the judiciary flexible spending accounts, or the Thrift Savings Account. A temporary law clerk appointed for more than one year is eligible for health, dental, vision and life insurance coverage, and participation in judiciary supplemental benefit programs, but is not eligible to participate in the retirement system or the Thrift Savings Plan. All temporary law clerks are subject to social security deductions. If the expiration date of the appointment does not extend to the end of the calendar year and the law clerk has fewer than four years of service with the Federal Judiciary, he/she will not be eligible to enroll in the Health Care Reimbursement Account the last year of the appointment.

• Salaries Available to Law Clerks

The salary available to a law clerk depends upon legal work experience subsequent to graduation from law school, bar membership and applicable locality pay adjustments. The federal judiciary uses the same locality rate as the executive branch. Current differential locality rates are available at http://www.opm.gov/oca/08tables/indexGS.asp. The hiring judge, as the appointing authority, certifies a law clerk's actual grade and step, and thus sets the salary, at the time of appointment. Most recent law school graduates with academic excellence qualify for an appointment at least at grade JSP-11, step 1 (annual base salary of $48,148). One year of post-graduate legal experience and bar membership qualifies the appointee for grade JSP-12, step 1, appointment with an annual base salary of $57,709. If an appointee has two years of post-graduate work experience, plus bar membership, he or she qualifies for appointment at JSP-13, step 1, with an annual base salary of $68,625. If an appointee has three years of post-graduate work experience (with at least two years as a judicial law clerk, staff attorney, pro se law clerk, death penalty law clerk, or bankruptcy appellate panel law clerk, in the federal judiciary, plus bar membership, he or she qualifies for appointment at JSP-14, step 1, with an annual base salary of $81,093. Incoming law clerks who have prior federal experience may be eligible to match their highest previous rate of federal pay within the grade for which they qualify. Specific information about salary can be made available prior to accepting an offer from the employing court's personnel representative.