3Ls: Postgrad Judicial Clerkship in Chattanooga
Eleventh Judicial District of Tennessee (Chattanooga)
Chancery Court 2026-2027 Judicial Clerkships
The position of Law Clerk is a full-time, one-year paid position in the Chancery Court and Office of the Clerk and Master. The clerk works under Chancellors Pamela A. Fleenor and Jeffrey M. Atherton, as well as the Hamilton County Clerk and Master, Robin L. Miller. The clerk performs a wide range of tasks, including: attending docket hearings, attending oral arguments on various motions to the court, engaging in extensive legal research for the Chancellors (and occasionally the Clerk and Master), and drafting memoranda and court opinions. The clerk obtains unparalleled access to and knowledge about the judicial process from the perspective of the decision-maker, and will be exposed to a wide array of legal issues and areas of practice. Likewise, the clerk is in the unique position to glean critical and otherwise inaccessible information about the legal community in and around Chattanooga (e.g. the variety of work and style of litigation of most firms in the area).
The position lasts for one year, beginning on or around August 01, 2026, and ending on or around July 31, 2027. The judicial clerk will earn an annual salary of approximately $53,260 payable biweekly. Upon passage of the Tennessee Bar examination, the annual salary will increase to a total salary of approximately $58,260, with the additional $5,000 to be paid out bi-weekly during the remainder of the clerkship. Additional benefits include: eligibility to receive health and retirement benefits available to new Hamilton County employees, free parking, membership dues for one year in the Chattanooga and Tennessee Bar Associations (as well as those for the Young Lawyers’ Division of the Chattanooga Bar Association), and fees for up to 15 hours of approved CLE.
Interested candidates should send their (1) cover letter, (2) résumé, (3) unofficial transcript, (4) writing sample, and (5) any letters of recommendation to Elizabeth Wheeler by 4:00 PM (ET) on January 15, 2026. Letters of recommendation are encouraged but not required. Incomplete applications (applications missing any of items 1-4) will not be considered.
Materials can be sent by email or mail to:
Current Clerk: Elizabeth Ashley Wheeler
Office phone: (423) 209-6637
E-mail: ElizabethW@HamiltonTN.gov
Elizabeth Ashley Wheeler, Law Clerk
Hamilton County Chancery Court
Courthouse, Ste. 300
625 Georgia Avenue
Chattanooga, TN 37402
If an applicant has any questions, please feel free to reach out to Ms. Wheeler via email or telephone.
