A law clerk, judicial clerk or judicial assistant is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant roles in the formation of case law through their influence upon judges' decisions and perform some quasi-secretarial duties. Judicial clerks should not be confused with legal clerks/paralegals (also called "law clerks" in Canada), court clerks (clerks of the court), or courtroom deputies who perform other duties within the legal profession and perform more quasi-secretarial duties than law clerks, or legal secretaries that only provide secretarial and administrative support duties to attorneys and/or judges. In the United States, judicial law clerks are usually recent law school graduates who performed at or near the top of their class and/or attended highly ranked law schools. Serving as a law clerk, especially to a U.S. federal judge, is considered to be one of the most prestigious positions in legal circles, and tends to open up wide-ranging opportunities in academia, law firm practice, and influential government work. In some countries, judicial clerks are known as judicial associates or judicial assistants. In many nations, clerk duties are performed by permanent staff attorneys or junior apprentice-like judges, such as those that sit on France's Conseil d'État. In English and Hong Kong courts, they are known as judicial assistants. The European Court of Justice uses permanent staff attorneys (référendaires) and stagiaires (young law graduates). Australia, Canada, Sweden, and Brazil have notable clerk systems. Australia See Judge's associate and Tipstaff. Canada Most Canadian courts accept applications for judicial clerkships from graduating law students or experienced lawyers who have already been called to the Bar in Canada or abroad (typically in the United States or the United Kingdom). Most provincial superior and appellate courts hire at least one clerk for each judge. Typically students in their last two years of law school are eligible to apply for these positions, but increasingly, experienced practicing lawyers are also considered for these positions. The term typically lasts a year and generally fulfills the articling requirement for provincial law societies, which qualifies a person to become a practicing lawyer in a Canadian jurisdiction. The most prestigious clerkship available is with the country's highest court, the Supreme Court of Canada, followed by the Federal and provincial Courts of Appeal. Each Justice of the Supreme