WASHINGTON — Julia Kiraly doesn’t fit the profile of a judicial clerk, the Ivy Leaguer who jumps directly from law school to a judge’s chambers. After hopscotching from Venable to Hogan & Hartson and back to Venable in her first four years of practice as a litigator in the District, Kiraly did the unthinkable for many young lawyers looking to scale the law firm ladder: She passed up a growing six-figure salary to clerk for Chief Judge Thomas Hogan of the U.S. District Court for the Dis-trict of Columbia.
However unconventional, Kiraly, now entering her second year clerking for Ho-gan, is emblematic of a growing number of lawyers leaving private practice to clerk on one of the most competitive circuit courts.
