Law Clerk Addict's Blog
I apologize for all the spam that has accumulated. I have neither the administrative permission nor the technical ability to improve the site's spam filtering software. So I am manually removing all of the spam comments. This will take me a while. I spent the morning removing the spam from the appellate court listings (the spammers took a particular liking to the 8th Circuit). I'll start working on the district court listings next; that will probably take longer.
Sorry for the prolonged absence. Life and work got in the way (as did losing my login password). I'd like to update the site, but I have limited administrative capabilities (I'm not sure whether I can add new judges). So please bear with me - I am doing this as a volunteer and my day job continues to be quite busy. I hope to begin updating this week. Feel free to send any tips to clerking.info.guy@gmail.com.
We're receiving many reports of judges partially or fully hiring in June and July (particularly in the Second, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits). I'm told that August generally is not very active for clerkship hiring, but let me know if that's not the case. E-mail me at clerking.info.guy@gmail.com. If you're a rising 3L, you should have all of your materials ready to send out by now. By all indications, many judges who typically hire in September have hired early this year. And because of the decrease in law firm jobs, there are more applicants than ever. So apply broadly. Good luck!
I'd like to update our list of Supreme Court clerk hires for OT 2010 and OT 2011. Please e-mail me at clerking.info.guy@gmail.com, and I'll post an updated list when I receive some new information.
Many clerkships will be ending in the next few months. I thought it would be helpful to start an open thread about the job market for lawyers after their clerkships. I'd imagine that it isn't as strong as it was in 2007, but has clerk hiring picked up from this time last year? Are many firms or government agencies recruiting clerks specifically? Have your judges been helpful in finding you jobs? Any tips for people looking for post-clerkship jobs?
Thanks for e-mailing hiring me with hiring news. I've been attempting to add all the new tips, and I'm slowly going through the comments from the past six months to add that news as well. Please e-mail me with any hiring news at clerking.info.guy@gmail.com.
Thanks so much for sending in the news about clerkship hires. I am updating all of the pages, with an emphasis on 2011-12 hires. Please e-mail me the names of the clerks' schools, the term in which they will clerk, and the year they graduated. My e-mail address is clerking.info.guy@gmail.com. I received an e-mail question that I thought I'd ask our expert readers to answer.
I'm slowly but surely going through the comments of the past six months and updating the site. Unfortunately, there are more than 100 courts and just one of me. If you see gaps in the 2011-12 or 2010-11 clerkship listings, feel free to post a new comment in the thread or e-mail me at clerking.info.guy@gmail.com. My primary goal is to update information for the 2011-12 hiring season, since there will be a lot of activity in the next few months, and I want to provide updated and accurate information for clerkship seekers. Also feel free to suggest blog posts the could contain helpful information about clerkship searches.
The University of Michigan's Career Services office has posted a very helpful list of pending and recently confirmed judicial nominees and their contact information.
Which judges have already hired clerks for 2011-12? Of those judges, who is hiring 3L's off-plan? I've also received word of a few judges hiring for 2012-13. So far, much of the early hiring appears to be in the D.C., Second, and Ninth Circuits. Let me know what you're hearing in the comments, or e-mail me at clerking.info.guy@gmail.com.
Greetings. I'm Clerking Info Guy, and I'll be updating Law Clerk Addict for the 2011-12 hiring season. Please send me any tips about recent hires. My e-mail address is clerking.info.guy@gmail.com. I'll also attempt to blog somewhat regularly with clerkship news and tips.
I'm going to be updating the new hire listings over the next week or two, and I will attempt to include any information that has been posted in the comments over the past few months. I'll also add newly confirmed judges. Please let me know if any information is missing or incorrect. And good luck on your clerkship searches!
After a longer than expected delay, we hope to get the 2011-12 cycle upgrades up and running in the near future.
Back in February, we inquired whether the economic climate would lead to fewer candidates applying for judicial clerkships. As we noted:
[W]ith firms laying off by the dozen and swelled profits drying up, can anyone comfortably state that clerks will continue to receive BigLaw's "most favored associate" status? Probably not. In fact, it is entirely conceivable that clerking could pose an affirmative disadvantage for students with respect to firm employment: offers can be revoked, bar expenses unpaid…the potentially adverse consequences of choosing to clerk rather than go straight to a firm are plentiful.
Nearly a month ago, we noted in a clerkship series post that the Senate Judiciary Committee had sent four federal judicial nominations to the Senate for a vote, encouraging prospective clerkship applicants to polish their applications off to receive a federal clerkship in October or beyond. So far, it looks like we chose the word "beyond" wisely--opportunities may extend well into the spring given the current pace of things.
Notably, however, this was a good week for Obama judicial nominees: two district judges, Irene Cornelia Berger (S.D. W. Va.) and Roberto Lange (D.S.D.) were confirmed. For context, these two confirmations reflect a staggering one-half of the lower federal judges who have been confirmed since President Obama took office last January.
Judge Berger was confirmed on October 27, and Judge Lange was confirmed on October 21.
The Blackbook Legal Blog is teaming up with Law Clerk Addict in its coverage of the clerkship process by cross-posting its "Clerkship Series" posts on Law Clerk Addict. Check out our Day 3 posting.
Today President Barack Obama nominated O. Rogeriee Thompson--a judge on the Rhode Island Superior Court--to a vacant seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and Denny Chin (S.D.N.Y.) to a vacancy on the Second Circuit.
Biographical information about both nominees is available below the jump.
Some of you may have noticed that certain comments on the judge and court comment pages were being posted multiple times. This bug was caused by one of the changes from the updates the other day and has been fixed.
* The Associated Press reports on President Barack Obama's efforts to transform the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
* Affected by the economic downturn? Justice Sonia Sotomayor is also a victim.
* Is the Supreme Court irrelevant? One law professor thinks so.
* Justice Clarence Thomas comments on his silence during oral arguments.
* Eleven attorneys, judges, and law professors are hoping to replace Judge Terence Evans (7th Cir.), who will be assuming senior status in January 2010.
This past Tuesday Jeffrey Viken (D.S.D.) earned the distinction of becoming President Barack Obama's first district judge nominee to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
As promised, the pages for appellate judges have been drastically redesigned. For an example, check out our page for Alex Kozinski.
Below is a summary of what changed:
The Blackbook Legal Blog is teaming up with Law Clerk Addict in its coverage of the clerkship process by cross-posting its "Clerkship Series" posts on Law Clerk Addict. Check out our Day 2 posting.
The Blackbook Legal Blog is teaming up with Law Clerk Addict in its coverage of the clerkship process by cross-posting its "Clerkship Series" posts on Law Clerk Addict. Check out our Day 1 posting.
As mentioned earlier this month and again in the comments to Friday's post, Law Clerk Addict will be getting an update for the 2011-12 cycle, which will likely launch within the next month or two. Things are still fluid and subject to change, but here is what we're considering, in descinding likelihood:
Although the lack of any formal data from this time last cycle makes a comparison difficult, eyeballing the new 2011-12 early hiring list gives the impression that a higher-than-normal amount of hiring activity is currently going on for 2011-12 clerkships (and, in some cases, even 2012-13 clerkships, see, e.g., Chester Straub and Theodore McKee). Notably, virtually all of this early hiring is concentrated on the Second, Third, and D.C. Circuits. Furthermore, many circuit judges (such as Andrew Kleinfeld, Catharina Haynes, and Edith Clement) have recently begun to accept 2011-12 applications on OSCAR. 9/27/09 Update: A commenter notes that Haynes and Clement have both partially hired for 2011-12.
Given the record of number of applicants this year, I wonder if some judges who traditionally do not hire this early are hoping to take advantage of a higher quality, more risk-averse applicant pool that may not be around next cycle.
Magistrate Judges Richard Seeborg (N.D. Cal.) and Edward Chen (N.D. Cal.), who have both been nominated to district judgeships on their court, received a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday.
Those who have been applying for 2010-11 clerkships may find this post by Orin Kerr on the Volokh Conspiracy interesting, particularly the comments section.
Gerard Lynch, formerly of the Southern District of New York, was officially confirmed to the Second Circuit on September 18, 2009.
Appellate Judges
Kleinfeld, Andrew (9th Cir.)
Location: Fairbanks, AK
Term: 8/9/2011 to 8/8/2012 or 8/16/2011 to 8/17/2012 or 8/23/2011 to 8/24/2012
Notes: Three positions available, with different term dates.
Tatel,David (D.C. Cir.)
Location: Washington, D.C.
Term: 8/4/2011 to 7/30/2012
District Judges
None.
Magistrate Judges
None.
Bankruptcy Judges
Drain, Robert (Bankr. S.D.N.Y.)
Location: New York, NY
Term: 8/30/2010 to 8/31/2011 and 8/30/2010 to 8/30/2012
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
It looks like we have finally managed to code a spam filter that automatically eliminates virtually all spam before with little or no inconvenience to users. To make sure your comment isn't caught in our filter, don't try to link to another website through HTML or other means (the filter is a tad more sophisticated than that, but since virtually no legitimate user has posted links in a comment this cycle we recommend that users err on the side of caution).
The Washington Post reports that President Obama has nominated Virginia Supreme Court Justice Barbara Milano Keenan to a vacant position on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Various media sources are reporting that President Obama will likely nominate Judge Denny Chin (S.D.N.Y.) to a vacancy on the Second Circuit. Please note that while some articles are treating this nomination as a done deal, nominations are never official until formally made by the President.
Well, as most of you know, this is a very big week in the hiring season: 3Ls can finally apply for 2010-11 clerkships beginning tomorrow morning, and on Friday judges will be able to contact those 3Ls to set up interviews. Here is what you can expect on Law Clerk Addict in the near future:
* Because of the sheer volume of expected activity this week and next, expect updates to be relatively sporadic. As promised, the 2010-11 early hiring list will become semi-retired, though some updates will still be made. The best source of breaking news will likely be the individual court pages, which you can access through both the left and right sidebars.
* Although early hiring for 2010-11 is officially over, early hiring has now begun for 2011-12. If last year is any indication, some judges who are interviewing for 2010-11 may extend offers for 2011-12 as well. Accordingly, the 2011-12 early hiring list has now launched, and will be updated until next Labor Day. So, if you are aware of a judge interviewing or otherwise extending offers for 2011-12, please email us or let us know on the court pages.
* While this site launched relatively late this year, we intend to operate year-round. At some point after the 2010-11 season grinds to a halt--probably sometime in October, November, or December--the site will update cycles and primarily cover 2011-12 hiring. We are still not sure about the logistics of this, but it will likely involve resetting the comments and color codes (but all 2010-11 content will be archived and continue to be accessible). More details about this will be posted as the time draws nearer.
In order to try to reduce the amount of spam attacks, the Supreme Court and Court of Federal Claims pages, which have been the subject of daily automated spam attacks for the past couple of months, have had their URLs slightly changed.
UPDATE #1: It seems this might have done the trick for the SCOTUS spam, but not for Federal Claims. But don't worry, we have another idea to stop the Federal Claims spam that we'll try out in a bit.
UPDATE #2: It looks like the second idea worked and the spam runs have stopped (for now at least).
The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has circulated the following brief job announcement to certain law schools for unpaid "internships" to start in Fall 2009:
***
Employer: U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
Title: Judicial Internship
Description: Judicial interns will be actively engaged in all aspects of a federal appellate judge's chambers (bench memos, opinions, etc.). Interns will gain experience in legal research and writing and exposure to the inner workings of a federal appellate court. Both current law sdhool students and recent law school graduates are elibible to apply. The internship is unpaid.
***
Given that there is only one federal appellate judge based in Puerto Rico, it appears that Judge Juan Torruella is the unnamed judge seeking these unpaid interns.
Appellate Judges
Gorsuch, Neil (10th Cir.)
Location: Denver, CO
Term: 8/1/2011 to 8/31/2012
District Judges
Sullivan, Emmet (D.D.C.)
Location: Washington, DC
Term:4/15/2010 to 4/15/2011 and 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2012
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Chatigny, Robert (D. Conn.)
Location: Hartford, CT
Term:1//1/2010 to 8/31/2011 and 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Greenaway, Joseph (D.N.J.)
Location: Newark, NJ
Term:9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011
Magistrate Judges
None.
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
Roll Call reports that the Senate expects to act on several of President Obama's lower court nominees in September.
NOTE: This was originally posted on April 27, 2009 but has been bumped to the main page to inform new readers that this site is still looking for bloggers.
As explained in this morning's post, the Law Clerk Addict has moved beyond his initial mission of providing federal appellate clerkship stats. As part of this expanded mission, I hope to eventually transition the LCA blog into a group blog. A small number of these new bloggers will start posting relatively soon, but I hope to hear from others who would like to help contribute to this site.
If you think you might have an interest in blogging here, please email lawfirmaddict@gmail.com with some information about yourself or your interests. Of course suggestions and comments are always welcome!
Appellate Judges
Newman, Jon (2d Cir.)
Location: Hartford, CT
Term: 8/1/2010 to 7/1/2011
Kennedy, Cornelia (6th Cir.)
Location: Detroit, MI
Term: 6/1/2010 to 6/1/2011
Newman, Jon (2d Cir.)
Location: Hartford, CT
Term: 8/1/2010 to 7/1/2011
District Judges
Adams, Henry (M.D. Fla.)
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2012
Coar, David (N.D. Ill.)
Location: Chicago, IL
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011
Magistrate Judges
mann, roanne (E.D.N.Y.)
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Term: 8/23/2010 to 9/2/2011
Brennan, Edmund (E.D. Cal.)
Location: Sacramento, CA
Term: 9/27/2009 to 9/30/2010
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
Obviously, spam has become a major problem on Law Clerk Addict. We apologize for any inconvenience and are working hard to fix the situation. We likely will not be able to address the problem for a week or two but, in the mean time, we will work hard to keep the site as spam free as possible.
Thank you for understanding.
Appellate Judges
Milan Smith (9th Cir.)
Location: El Segundo, CA
Term: 8/30/2011 to 8/30/2012 or 9/8/2011 to 9/8/2012 or 9/13/2011 to 9/13/2012 or 9/17/2011 to 9/17/2012
Notes: Four positions available, with different term dates.
District Judges
Africk, Lane (E.D. La.)
Location: New Orleans, LA
Term: 8/23/2010 to 9/2/2011
Ellison, Keither (S.D. Tex.)
Location: Houston, TX
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Magistrate Judges
Mann, Roanne (E.D.N.Y.)
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Term: 8/23/2010 to 9/2/2011
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
President Obama has nominated district judge Thomas Vanaskie (M.D. Pa.) and law firm partner Jane Stranch, respectively, to vacant positions on the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the Sixth Circuit.
President Obama has nominated Magistrate Judges Edward Chen and Richard Seeborg to vacant district judgeships on the Northern District of California and nominated law firm partner Dolly Gee to a vacant judgeship on the Central District of California.
Appellate Judges
Griffith, Thomas (D.C. Cir.)
Location: Washington, DC
Term: 8/1/2010 to 7/31/2011
District Judges
King, George (C.D. Cal.)
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011
Alsup, William (N.D. Cal.)
Location: San Francisco, CA
Term: 9/1/2011 to 8/31/2012 or 11/19/2011 to 11/13/2012
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Magistrate Judges
Daniel, David (E.D.N.C.)
Location: Greenville, NC
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011
Bankruptcy Judges
Gerber, Robert (Bankr. S.D.N.Y.)
Location: New York, NY
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
There's been relatively little on the judicial nomination front (outside of the Supreme Court, that is), but here are a few items of note:
* Federal public defender Jeffrey Viken, one of President Obama's nominees to the District of South Dakota, had his Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week.
* University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias discusses a vacanacy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit that has gone unfilled for more than 15 years.
* The St. Petersburg Times provides an overview of the very slow pace of President Obama's judicial nominations, with a particular focus on the impact on the Middle District of Florida, which has called in 20 judges from other district courts across the country to help manage a heavy backlog of civil cases.
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Max Baer is currently accepting applications for a 2010-11 clerkship, potentially renewable for a second year. To apply, second a resume, transcript, writing sample, and cover letter to:
The Honorable Max Baer
One Oxford Centre, Suite 2525
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Today President Barack Obama nominated Abdul K. Kallon and Jacqueline H. Nguyen, respectively, to vacant district judgeships on the Northern District of Alabama and the Central District of California.
Biographical information for each of these nominees can be found below the fold.
For those interested in volunteer / deferred associate state court clerkships for 2009-10, a large number have been added to NALP's PSLawNet.org website, including prime locations such as New York and Hawaii.
Multiple unpaid deferred associate positions are available with the Supreme Court of Kansas through the American Bar Association Judicial Division - Deferred Associates Judicial Clerkship Project. Job descriptions and information on how to apply is below the fold.
The Detroit Free Press reports that President Barack Obama is likely to nominate two Michigan state trial court judges to vacancies on the Eastern District of Michigan.
Now that we are about a month and a half before the official start of the 3L rush, it is a pretty good time to examine the state of pre-plan hiring.
Let's start with the bad news (well, for 3Ls at least): a whopping 47% of active federal court of appeals judges have engaged in at least some pre-plan hiring activity, with 20% of all COA judges being either completely done with hiring or not hiring at all.
Additional charts and commentary below the fold.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is currently seeking deferred associates to fill several unpaid 2009-10 volunteer clerkship positions. Each applicant should submit a form (obtained from human resources), a cover letter with three listed references, an unedited writing sample not to exteed ten pages, and college and law school transcripts.
Appellate Judges
O'Scannlain, Diarmuid (9th Cir.)
Location: Portland, OR
Term: 8/18/2011 to 8/18/2012
District Judges
Bunning, David (E.D. Ky.)
Location: Covington, KY
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/2/2011
Mihm, Michael (C.D. Ill.)
Location: Peoria, IL
Term: 8/30/2010 to 9/2/2011
Pallmeyer, Rebecca (N.D. Ill.)
Location: Chicago, IL
Term: 9/7/2010 to 10/11/2011
Magistrate Judges
Pollak, Cheryl (E.D.N.Y.)
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Term: 9/1/2009 to 8/31/2010
NOTE: This is an unpaid position!
Dohnal, Dennis (E.D. Va.)
Location: Richmond, VA
Term: 8/31/2010 to 9/3/2011
Kurren, Barry (D. Haw.)
Location: Honolulu, HI
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Bankruptcy Judges
Opel, Robert (Bankr. M.D. Pa.)
Location: Willkes Barre, PA
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/31/2012
Whitley, J. (Bankr. W.D.N.C.)
Location: Charlotte, NC
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Magner, Elizabeth (Bankr. E.D. La.)
Location: New Orleans, LA
Term: 8/1/2009 to 8/1/2010
Appellate Judges
Kearse, Amalya (2d Cir.)
Location: New York, NY
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
District Judges
Burns, Ellen (D. Conn.)
Location: New Haven, CT
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011
Crane, Randy (S.D. Tex.)
Location: McAllen, TX
Term: 8/15/2009 to 8/15/2010
NOTE: This is a 2009-10 clerkship.
Bucklo, Elaine (N.D. Ill.)
Location: Chicago, IL
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/2/2011
Lawrence, William (S.D. Ind.)
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Term: 8/3/2010 to 8/3/2012
Magistrate Judges
Pollak, Cheryl (E.D.N.Y.)
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/15/2011
Buchanan, Theresa (E.D. Va.)
Location: Alexandria, VA
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
Judge Francisco A. Besosa (D.P.R.) is accepting applications for an unpaid clerkship beginning in the fall of 2009. (The exact start and end dates are negotiable.) Applicants should send a resume, cover letter, and writing sample to Sean Peterson at Sean_Peterson@prd.uscourts.gov or to Brunny Rodriguez at Brunny_Rodriguez@prd.uscourts.gov.
Appellate Judges
None.
District Judges
Martinez, Jose (S.D. Fla.)
Location: Miami, FL
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2012
Magistrate Judges
None.
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
This blog doesn't generally cover administrative law judge clerkships, but given the state of the market some of you, particularly those with technical backgrounds, may find the following job announcement from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Atomic Safety & Licensing Board Panel interesting.
Appellate Judges
VanAntwerpen, Franklin (3d Cir.)
Location: Easton, PA
Term: 9/13/2010 to 9/9/2011
District Judges
Ditter, J. (E.D. Pa.)
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Term: 8/25/2010 to 8/20/2012
McDade, Joe (C.D. Ill.)
Location: Peoria, IL
Term: 8/23/2010 to 9/2/2011
Hamilton, David (S.D. Ind.)
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011
Note: Judge Hamiltion has been nominated to the Seventh Circuit and will likely be confirmed by the time this clerkship starts.
Armijo, M. (D.N.M.)
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Term: 8/17/2009 to 8/18/2010
Note: This is a 2009-10 clerkship.
Marra, Kenneth (S.D. Fla.)
Location: West Palm Beach, FL
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/2/2011
Caldwell, Karen (E.D. Ky.)
Location: Lexington, KY
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Pfaelzer, Mariana (C.D. Cal.)
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Term: 10/1/2009 to 10/1/2010
Notes: The Judge handles almost exclusively securities, antitrust, and medical patent (biotech, pharmaceutical, and medical device) cases. She also has some general business litigation and some engineering- and computer-related patent cases. The Judge takes a small number of cases, but those cases are large and complex. The Judge does not generally take criminal cases.
Gardephe, Paul (S.D.N.Y.)
Location: New York, NY
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011 and 10/1/2010 to 9/30/2011
Gertner, Nancy (D. Mass.)
Location: Boston, MA
Term: 8/3/2010 to 8/8/2011
Magistrate Judges
Pitman, Henry (S.D.N.Y.)
Location: New York, NY
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011
Levy, Robert (E.D.N.Y.)
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/10/2012
Love, John (E.D. Tex.)
Location: Tyler, TX
Term: 8/2/2010 to 8/5/2011
Bankruptcy Judges
Stone, William (Bankr. W.D. Va.)
Location: Roanoke, VA
Term: 8/9/2010 to 8/12/2011
Agresti, Thomas (Bankr. E.D. Pa.)
Location: Erie, PA
Term: 9/1/2009 to 8/31/2010
UPDATE 4:55PM: According to Above the Law, the University of Virginia has adopted the same policy "[i]n light of what promises to be a competitive clerkship season."
If anyone still possessed any residual doubts that this cycle will be a very tough time to apply for federal clerkships, the following email from the University of Pennsylvania Law School raising clerkship application limit from 100 OSCAR or paper judges to unlimited OSCAR judges and 75 paper judges should eliminate any remaining uncertainty:
JUDGE LIMIT POLICY
In light of the current market conditions and the expectation that the competition for clerkships this year will be greater than in the past, CPP and the Faculty Clerkship Committee decided to reconsider the 100 judge limit and have agreed to the following new limit: Applicants will be limited to 75 paper applications. There is no limit on the number of OSCAR judges you may apply to.
The committee expects that you will keep the number of your applications at a reasonable level, that you will do appropriate research before adding a judge to your list, and that you will not apply to a judge for whom you would not be willing to clerk (based on what you can discern from the paper record).
Justices John A. Dooley, Denise R. Johnson, and Brian L. Burgess are considering applications for a one-year judicial clerkship from August 9, 2010 to August 12, 2011.
Location: Montpelier, Vermont
Salary: $43,264.00, anticipated rate of pay
Duration: One-Year Term
Deadline: September 2, 2009 at 1:00 p.m.
Submit one application, which will be considered by all three justices, by email in "PDF" format to:
* One Cover letter
* Resume
* Sample of legal writing
* Transcript (official or unofficial accepted), indicating academic standing if available
* Two or more letters of recommendation from present or former employers or law professors.
The above items can be sent separately, and, if any are unavailable electronically, please mail to:
Attn: Monica Bombard
Vermont Supreme Court
109 State Street
Montpelier, VT 05609-0801
For questions, please contact Monica Bombard at 802-828-4784 or by email (monica.bombard@state.vt.us).
Philly.com reports that District Judge Bruce Kauffman (E.D. Pa.) will resign from the bench effective Monday, July 20, 2009 in order to return to private practice.
The Martinsburg Journal reports that, in a sign of potential bipartisanship, West Virginia Senators Robert Byrd (D) and Jay Rockefeller (D) have recommended that President Barack Obama re-nominate failed Bush district court nominee William J. Powell, a Republican, to a seat on the Northern District of West Virginia.
Appellate Judges
Leval, Pierre (2d Cir.)
Location: New York, NY
Term: 6/1/2010 to 6/1/2011
Suhrheinrich, Richard (6th Cir.)
Location: Lansing, MI
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011
McKeown, M. (9th Cir.)
Location: San Diego, CA
Term: 8/15/2011 to 8/31/2012
Roth, Jane (3d Cir.)
Location: Wilmington, DE
Term: 9/1/2011 to 8/31/2012
Notes: Moving chambers to Philadelphia, PA in late 2009.
Hardiman, Thomas (3d Cir.)
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Term: 9/1/2011 to 8/31/2012
District Judges
Covello, Alfred (D. Conn.)
Location: Hartford, CT
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/13/2011
Wigenton, Susan (D.N.J.)
Location: Newark, NJ
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011
Jackson, Raymond (E.D. Va.)
Location: Norfolk, VA
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/17/2011
Lee, Gerald (E.D. Va.)
Location: Alexandria, VA
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/20/2012
Faber, David (S.D. WVa.)
Location: Bluefield, WV
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011
Duggan, Patrick (E.D. Mich.)
Location: Detroit, MI
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2012
O'Malley, Kathleen (N.D. Ohio)
Location: Cleveland, OH
Term: 9/13/2010 to 9/14/2012
Campbell, David (D. Ariz.)
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/2/2011
Wilson, Stephen (C.D. Cal.)
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Term: 8/9/2010 to 8/5/2011 and 8/16/2010 to 8/12/2011
Alsup, William (N.D. Cal.)
Location: San Francisco, CA
Term: 9/1/2011 to 8/31/2012 and 11/19/2011 to 11/13/2012
Huff, Marilyn (S.D. Cal.)
Location: San Diego, CA
Term: 9/7/2010 to 8/27/2011
Smith, C. (N.D. Ala.)
Location: Huntsville, AL
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011
Magistrate Judges
Hayes, Karen (W.D. La.)
Location: Monroe, LA
Term: 8/30/2010 to 8/26/2011
Miller, Tommy (E.D. Va.)
Location: Norfolk, VA
Term: 8/22/2010 to 8/14/2011
Gold, Steven (E.D.N.Y.)
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Bankruptcy Judges
Barbosa, Manuel (Bankr. N.D. Ill.)
Location: Rockford, IL
Term: 8/17/2009 to 8/18/2010
This site has largely avoided discussing the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor (2d Cir.) to the United States Supreme Court, if only because there are numerous other websites providing far more coverage. However, those interested in the Sotomayor nomination or Sotomayor's confirmation hearing might find this list of primary sources compiled by the now-ironically-named ConfirmThem useful. The resources include not only documents Judge Sotomayor has submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee, but materials related to her previous Second Circuit and Southern District of New York nominations as well.
Two days ago we reported that President Barack Obama's decision to delegate the selection of a nominee to replace disgraced former judge Samuel Kent (S.D. Tex.) to Congressional Democrats rather than Texas's two Republican home-state Senators set the stage for a potential conflict between President Obama and Senators Kay Bailey Hutchinson and John Cornyn that, if taken to its natural conclusion, could significantly delay confirmation of nominees to these Texas seats.
Now, it appears that delay will be inevitable, with Texas Senate Republicans and Texas Congressional Democrats conducting parallel nominee screening processes to determine a potential replacement for Chief Judge Hayden Head (S.D. Tex.), who intends to assume senior status in November. Although it is true that Republicans are a minority in the Senate, there are many instances in which home-state minority senators have been able to successfully obstruct district judge nominees that lack their approval. See, e.g., Carl Levin's (D-MI) obstruction of President George W. Bush's nominees to the Western District of Michigan for more than six years until Bush agreed to nominate some Democrats to the seats.
On a related note, those interested in biographical information about potential nominees to replace Chief Judge Head may find this article useful.
By request, the most recently commented courts sidebar and section, as well as its accompanying RSS feed, now list the total number of posts/comments for that particular court.
UPDATE: The court links in the right sidebar have been changed to jump to the most recent comment instead of the top of the comments section. If you don't like this change please post in the comments to this blog post.
It has been a pretty active day with respect to federal district court nominations, even though President Barack Obama has not actually made any judicial nominations today.
* Dave Freudenthal, the Democratic governor of Wyoming, has been lobbying President Obama since March to nominate his wife, attorney Nancy Freudenthal, to a vacant position in the District of Wyoming. To his credit, it does not appear that President Obama intends to act on the governor's recommendation.
* Freshman Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) has submitted recommended nominees to President Obama for vacant judgeships in the Eastern District of North Carolina and the Middle District of North Carolina. It does not appear that Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) participated in this process.
* While on the subject of excluding Republicans from the judicial nomination process, President Obama announced today that, when it comes to filling the vacancy created by the resignation of disgraced former judge Samuel Kent (S.D. Tex.), he intends to ignore the recommendations of Senators Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX) and John Cornyn (R-TX) unless their proposed nominees are approved by Texas's Democratic Congressmen.
* In related Southern District of Texas news, Chief Judge Hayden Head has announced that whoever replaces former Judge Kent will be based in McAllen rather than Galveston due to the ever growing McAllen docket.
* Although no judges were nominated today, President Obama did nominate U.S. Attorneys for Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Ohio, and South Dakota. While not directly related to judicial nominations, even the most cursory examination of district court judge biographies on this site will quickly reveal that service as a U.S. Attorney, particularly in a President's first term, often leads to a district court nomination down the road.
Virginia Senators Jim Webb (D-VA) and Mark Warner (D-VA) have recommended that President Barack Obama nominate Virginia Supreme Court Justice Barbara Milano Keenan to a vacant Virginia seat on the Fourth Circuit. Those who followed the judicial nomination battles during the George W. Bush presidency may remember that all three of President Bush's nominees to this particular seat on the Fourth Circuit--Defense Department General Counsel William Haynes II, McGuireWoods partner E. Duncan Getchell, and district judge Glen Conrad (W.D. Va.)--were filibustered or otherwise obstructed since the seat became open in 2001.
As usual, the final decision of who to nominate rests solely with President Obama, so those wishing to send clerkship applications to Justice Keenan this summer in hopes of her being on the Fourth Circuit by fall 2010 should do so at their own risk. This advice is particularly apt for this seat, given its long history of obstruction and that the primary reason Getchell's nomination failed was due to President Bush's refusal to select a nominee approved by both Senator Webb and former Senator John Warner (R-VA).
In a stunning piece of news, the ABA Journal reports that Chief Judge Karen Williams (4th Cir.), who had been on former President George W. Bush's short-list for a Supreme Court appointment and often been called the most conservative judge on the most conservative circuit, retired from the bench yesterday due to an illness. Note that former Judge Williams had to retire, as opposed to taking senior status, because she had not yet attained the minimum age to assume senior status. As a result of this development, Judge William Traxler (4th Cir.) has become the new Chief Judge of the Fourth Circuit.
On a related note, this resignation, as well as the four other vacancies on the Fourth Circuit, all but guarantees that the Fourth Circuit will attain a liberal majority during the Obama presidency.
UPDATE #1: More information, including a quote from Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, is available here.
UPDATE #2: The Wall Street Journal reports that Judge Williams resigned because she was recently diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease and did not wish to have her future decisions questioned.
This afternoon President Barack Obama nominated Irene Berger to a vacant distrit judgeship in the Southern District of West Virginia and Roberto Lange to a vacant district judgeship in the District of South Dakota. It seems Obama has a particular interest in South Dakota, for, as you may recall, Obama nominated Jeffrey Viken for another vacancy on that court a mere week and a half ago. Significantly, with the exception of Obama's nomination of Charlene Honeywell to the Middle District of Florida, none of Obama's district court nominees have been to courts designated by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts as judicial emergencies.
In related judicial nominations news, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt) announced today that he has recommended that President Obama nominate state Judge Christina Reiss to a vacancy in the District of Vermont. Although the final decision on who to nominate always rests with President Obama, it would be highly surprising if Obama did not nominate Judge Reiss given Senator Leahy's status as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
* A Denver Post editorial laments President Barack Obama's failure to timely nominate individuals for two vacant positions in the District of Colorado, which the paper fears will result in that court becoming bogged down.
* Ohio's senators have recommended that Magistrate Judge Timothy Black (S.D. Ohio) be promoted to a district judgeship on his court. Of course, this is merely a recommendation (albeit one that will carry significant weight) and the decision of who to nominate for this post ultimately rests with President Obama.
Judge Frederick Weisberg of the D.C. Superior Court is currently seeking a 2009-10 law clerk. The job description and information on how to apply can be found after the jump.
Appellate Judges
Duncan, Allyson (4th Cir.)
Location: Raleigh, NC
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011
District Judges
Davis, Mark (E.D. Va.)
Location: Norfolk, VA
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/15/2011 and 9/15/2010 to 9/15/2011
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Hoyt, Kenneth (S.D. Tex.)
Location: Houston, TX
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Zagel, James (N.D. Ill.)
Location: Chicago, IL
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/6/2012
Magistrate Judges
None.
Bankruptcy Judges
Burns, Gloria (Bankr. D.N.J.)
Location: Camden, NJ
Term: 8/3/2010 to 8/26/2011
The Honorable Burton R. Lifland, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, is accepting applications from deferred 3Ls/recent graduates for an unpaid potentially 1-year judicial clerkship position to begin fall 2009. The judge is very flexible in terms of time commitment and start date.
To apply, send a cover letter, resume, law school transcript, writing sample, and 2 or 3 letters of recommendation to:
United States Bankruptcy Court
Southern District of New York
One Bowling Green
New York, NY 10004-1408
Thanks to an extremely generous tipster, Law Clerk Addict now has complete term law clerk information for the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.
Although one may not traditionally think of the federal judicial nomination process as a "campaign," it appears that one local attorney has formally announced his candidacy to replace former Judge Samuel Kent (S.D. Tex.).
* To reduce clutter and confusion, career clerks have been removed from the demographics listings on court pages, but remain on individual judge pages.
* Judge links on court pages are now color coded based on how far along they are in the 2010-11 hiring process. Judges who are interviewing are listed in green, those who have hired are purple, those who are done are in red, those who are not hiring are in gray, and those who have not done anything or whose status is unknown are in blue.
These changes were based on user suggestions, but we understand that users who comment might not always be representative of users in general. So, if you dislike the changes, please let us know and if there is enough demand we will change things back to how they were before (or try something different).
Senators George Voinovich (R-OH) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) have announced three finalists to receive their joint recommendation to replace Judge Peter Economus (N.D. Ohio), who has announced his intent to retire next year. After conducting personal interviews with each candidate, the senators expect to announce their selection within the next few weeks.
Of course, the decision of who to nominate rests solely with President Obama, who, like his predecessors, is free to completely disregard the home state senators' recommendations and nominate someone else.
* Should career clerks be removed from the demographics listings on the court pages (but still appear on individual judge listings)?
* Should bankruptcy courts receive their own section and court pages, or should bankruptcy judges be listed on district court pages (like magistrate judges)?
Please post your thoughts in the comments or send an email to lawfirmaddict@gmail.com.
Appellate Judges
Hull, Frank (11th Cir.)
Location: Atlanta, GA
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011
District Judges
Dorsey, Peter (D. Conn.)
Location: New Haven, CT
Term: 8/23/2010 to 8/24/2012
Coar, David (N.D. Ill.)
Location: Chicago, IL
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011
Magistrate Judges
None.
Bankruptcy Judges
Cangilos-Ruiz, Margaret (Bankrpt. N.Y.)
Location: Syracuse, NY
Term: 10/1/2009 to 9/30/2010 and 10/1/2009 to 9/30/2011
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Although it is relatively old (published in January 2008), those considering federal district court clerkships may find this Legal Times article identifying district judges with the biggest case backlogs very interesting.
Hat Tip: LCA Forum
The Denver Post reports that, although President Barack Obama has begun the process of sending district court nominations to the U.S. Senate, it is highly unlikely that any of the vacant judgeships in the District of Colorado will be filled by the end of this year.
According to Above the Law, Chief Judge Alex Kozinski (9th Cir.) has been cleared of judicial misconduct charges stemming from an incident last year involving content on a personal website.
President Barack Obama has announced his first two district court nominations: federal public defender Jeffrey Viken to the District of South Dakota and Florida state circuit judge Charlene Honeywell to the Middle District of Florida.
As usual, the end of the month brings about a flurry of retirements and elections to senior status. Today represents the last day of active service for the following federal district judges:
* Maxine Chesney (N.D. Cal.) (senior)
* Helen Gillmor (D. Haw.) (senior)
* Richard Webber (E.D. Mo.) (senior)
* Garvan Murtha (D. Vt.) (senior)
* Lawrence Piersol (D.S.D.) (senior)
* Samuel Kent (S.D. Tex.) (resignation)
In addition, Judges Peter Economus (N.D. Ohio) and Larry McKinney (S.D. Ind.) will take senior status on July 3 and July 4, respectively.
As expected, the close of the 2008-09 Supreme Court term has resulted in a flurry of news articles about the Court. Below are some recent articles about the United States Supreme Court that are worth noting but are too short to justify full posts of their own:
* The L.A. Times reports that the Ninth Circuit is no longer the most reversed geographic circuit, at least this term.
* As everyone knows by now, yesterday marked Justice David Souter's official last day as an active justice.
* Chief Justice John Roberts believes that appellate briefs have become far too long.
* The New Yorker pokes fun at Justice Clarence Thomas's history of being silent during oral arguments.
Harper's Magazine reports that Chief Judge Alex Kozinski (9th Cir.) has issued an order, apparently in response to recent attempts to investigate or discipline fellow Judge Jay Bybee (9th Cir.), holding that the Ninth Circuit's internal disciplinary mechanisms cannot be used to punish a judge for conduct that has occurred prior to the judge's ascension to the bench.
By popular demand, we have added a chart keeping track of federal judges who hire law students before Labor Day. Unlike the early hiring list, this list 1) is limited to interviews and offers extended to law student applicants and 2) judges are listed regardless of cycle, whereas the early hiring list only lists activity from the current cycle. As usual, please send any additional tips or corrections to lawfirmaddict@gmail.com.
Several Montana state trial court judges are seeking clerkship applicants for the 2009-10 term. For information on how to apply, visit the Montana Judicial Branch's employment page.
Appellate Judges
Kravitch, Phyllis (11th Cir.)
Location: Atlanta, GA
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011 or 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Barkett, Rosemary (11th Cir.)
Location: Miami, FL
Term: 8/31/2010 to 8/31/2011
Boudin, Michael (1st Cir.)
Location: Boston, MA
Term: 6/1/2010 to 6/1/2011
District Judges
Lasnick, Robert (W.D. Wash.)
Location: Seattle, WA
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/5/2011
Conti, Joy (W.D. Pa.)
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2012
Magistrate Judges
Denlow, Morton (N.D. Ill.)
Location: Chicago, IL
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011
Davison, Paul (S.D.N.Y.)
Location: White Plains, NY
Term: 9/15/2010 to 9/15/2012
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
Below are a few interesting articles about federal appellate courts that are too short to justify their own posts:
* The American Constitution Society held an interesting appellate judge panel on the topics of caseload, attorney quality, and judicial pay.
* Where will Supreme Court justices spend their summer vacation? The Legal Times has the answer.
* Speaking of the Supreme Court, retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor made a rare appearance on the David Letterman show the other night to promote her new book.
The Houston Chronicle reports that Judge Samuel Kent (S.D. Tex.), faced with the prospect of a trial in the Senate to remove him from office, has formally resigned from the bench effective June 30, 2009.
The New Jersey Judicial Branch is currently seeking applicants for approximately 480 open law clerk positions in the state judiciary. For information on these positions and how to apply, view the job announcement here.
The Chicago Tribune reports that a blogger has been arrested for making death threats against three Seventh Circuit judges. The judges? Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook, Judge Richard Posner, and Senior Judge William Bauer.
As you can tell from browsing through the comments on the court pages, early hiring is really kicking into high gear, with lots of movement this past week, particularly at the appellate level. Again, for those of you who don't have the time to shift through dozens of comments to get the latest news, you can get a summary of all rumored and confirmed pre-plan hiring at the early hiring page.
The ABA Journal reports that Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), a former prosecutor, has been appointed to chair the Senate committee handling the prosecution of District Judge Samuel Kent (S.D. Tex.). According to the journal, the Senate is expected to start Judge Kent's trial within a few weeks.
Appellate Judges
Pooler, Rosemary (2d Cir.)
Location: Syracuse, NY
Term: 8/24/2011 to 8/25/2012
Straub, Chester (2d Cir.)
Location: New York, NY
Term: 7/1/2010 to 7/1/2011
Posner, Richard (7th Cir.)
Location: Chicago, IL
Term: 8/24/2011 to 8/25/2012
District Judges
Davis, Leonard (E.D. Tex.)
Location: Tyler, TX
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/12/2011
Damich, Edward (Fed. Cl.)
Location: Washington, DC
Term: 9/7/2010 to 8/31/2012
Braden, Susan (Fed. Cl.)
Location: Washington, DC
Term: 9/2/2010 to 9/7/2011
Davis, Leonard (D.N.H.)
Location: Concord, NH
Term: 8/30/2010 to 8/26/2011 or 9/10/2010 to 9/10/2011
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Magistrate Judges
Brown, Joe (M.D. Tenn.)
Location: Nashville, TN
Term: 10/8/2009 to 10/8/2010
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
As many of you may know, yesterday Howrey delivered a bit of bad news to law students and incoming first year associates by announcing that it would reduce first year associate salaries to $100,000 and second year associate salaries to $125,000. However what has apparently got lost in the shuffle is that the Howrey pay cut is not limited to those who join the firm as entry-level associates, but also applies to associates who join the firm after a judicial clerkship or a stint in a U.S. Attorney's Office. From yesterday's Legal Times:
The firm will be recruiting a smaller class this year, he said, with the goal of making sure that the associates who are hired are joining the firm for the long haul. In the first year, the firm will hire 20 associates and then bring on another 10 from judicial clerkships or from U.S. attorney’s offices during the second year. “Clerkships and the U.S. attorney’s office are great because you’re learning how trials work. You’re learning what the rules are,” Ruyak said. “But there just aren’t enough clerkships to go around because there are only so many federal judges. This allows us to give associates the experience they need in a much more organized fashion than the way most firms use younger lawyers.”
Ruyak said the firm plans to pay associates slightly more than the $80,000 or so they would be making as a clerk but less than the $160,000 many top law firms currently pay.
Although not expressly stated, the natural implication from including judicial law clerks in the program is that Howrey will not be paying a clerkship bonus either. Furthermore, it is not clear whether individuals who have clerked for two years (or spent a year clerking and another year as an AUSA) will be required to go through the "program" as well. Hopefully these questions will be answered in the relatively near future.
Today's New Jersey Law Journal contains a very detailed profile of Judge Thomas Greenaway, Jr., (D.N.J.). As you may recall, President Obama recently nominated Judge Greenway to the vacant New Jersey seat on the Third Circuit. The NJLJ describes Judge Greenaway as a "centrist," and, in addition to providing some information about his personal background, examines some of the most prominent cases in which his opinions have been affirmed or reversed.
Those looking for a carefree, low-stress clerkship with very low work hours might want to think twice about applying to the District of Maryland, if a recent Baltimore Sun article about the increasing workload of judges at the court is correct. According to the newspaper, the court, which it already characterizes as one of the busiest federal district courts in the nation, is going to face a significant setback if Obama Fourth Circuit nominee Judge Andre Davis (D. Md.) is confirmed, and may face even greater challenges if more district judges take senior status (which every sitting D. Md. judge will be eligible for within the next seven years) and reduce their caseload.
Unfortunately it appears that the comment spam bot has made a return visit. Although the spam is a lot less excessive than last time, it is still annoying. While not ideal, we are working on installing a CAPTCHA system to try to keep the bots out.
As I mentioned both last month and the month before that, the the job announcements page at the U.S. Courts website is perhaps the most underutilized resource for finding judicial clerkship positions, particularly those that have opened up at the last minute. This month, the U.S. Courts website brings us a full four clerkship opportunities for the 2009-10 term:
* Term Law Clerk (W.D. Okla.) NOTE: June 24, 2009 deadline!
President Obama has officially nominated District Judge Thomas Greenaway, Jr., (D.N.J.) to the Third Circuit seat held by Justice Samuel Alito prior to his elevation, and has also nominated District Judge Beverly Martin (N.D. Ga.) to the Eleventh Circuit. The official White House press release, which contains additional information about the nominees, is available here. Those following judicial nominations will recognize that these two nominations are consistent with President Obama's previous appellate nominations, which have all entailed elevating sitting judges to higher courts.
Clerkship applicants should note that both Judge Greenaway and Judge Martin are (or soon will be) taking applications for 2010-11 clerkships, so those interested in a federal appellate clerkship might benefit from submitting applications to them now since, given the Democratic tilt of the Senate, both nominees will almost certainly be elevated to their respective circuit courts prior to 2010.
Now that an increasing number of judges are beginning to contact applicants, there has been a lot of interest in finding out how to prepare for an interview with a judge. Below are some useful recent (and some not-so-recent) forum threads about the clerkship interview process:
* how do judges evaluate clerk candidates at the interview stage?
* calling courts for interviews
* state supreme court and federal district court interview, prep?
* clerkship interview to offer ratio
* Clerkship interviews in June: On-spot offers? Exploding?
Today's Boston Globe has a pretty detailed article about the ongoing controversy surrounding clerkships at the Massachusetts Superior Court. For those who are unaware, the court publicly rescinded all clerkship offers in May, and then the following month replaced the paid positions with volunteer deferred associates, drawing some vocal criticism.
Today's New York Times has a very interesting article discussing the relationship between Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor (2d Cir.) and Judge Jose Cabranes (2d Cir.), which started twenty years before they became colleagues on the Second Circuit.
It's been a few weeks since we have updated our district court clerk database, but we've made up for it with a pretty big update. District court clerk data for courts in Illinois through Michigan have been uploaded. As usual, if you have any additional information that can fill in the gaps in LCA's data please post a comment or email Law Clerk Addict at lawfirmaddict@gmail.com.
It appears that Georgetown has to decided to join Harvard in sending a mass email advising its entire 3L class to apply to clerkships. Why the doom and gloom? Unlike the Harvard email, which was clearly spurred by the Cravath and Skadden deferrals, Georgetown appears just as concerned about very low summer associate offer rates, offer decisions being made months after the summer program has ended, and a non-existent 3L OCI market:
I have been speaking with many of our close contacts in law firms across the country to assess what firms are planning in terms of post-graduate offers to their summer associates. Most firms indicate that they are waiting until the latest possible date to finalize their strategy so as to take into account as much market information as possible, but a few themes are emerging:
1. Unlike past years, many firms will not be making offers to all or almost all their summers. I hear of offer rates that range from 80% at the high end to 50% at the low end. Note that there is significant variation from firm to firm and region to region, and all the firms I speak with are trying their best to make offers to as many of their summer associates as possible.
2. Many firms are considering making deferred offers to some or all of their current summer associates to begin work sometime in 2011, and some have already announced that they will do so. Firms are not clear as to what stipend, if any, they will pay deferred associates in the coming year, and what conditions (e.g. working in the public sector) must be met to receive a stipend.
3. Offer decisions will likely be made late this year, some weeks or months after the summer program ends, as firms assess their needs.
4. There will be very little opportunity to interview with a large firm as a 3L/4E. While 3L/4E interviewing at EIW is low even in strong markets, it is even lower in the current economic climate. If you review the list of firms currently registered to interview 3Ls during EIW 2009 on Symplicity, you will note that there are few employers and interview slots available for 3Ls/4Es.
Of course, Georgetown recommends that the best thing a 3L can do in this economy is to apply for clerkships--even before you find out your job is in danger:
Consider a judicial clerkship. State and federal judicial clerkships present excellent professional opportunities but will be more competitive this year than last. Waiting until you need a job to apply may prove too late - the first Law Center deadline for participating in the federal and relevant state court application process is July 15. Don't overlook the D.C. local courts, specialty federal courts or other unusual but valuable opportunities like the 7th circuit staff attorney's office clerkships. For detailed information access our clerkship resources at the OCS home page, and consult with your OCS counselor as soon as possible.
The full Georgetown email is available here.
I think it is pretty safe to say that the judicial clerkship crunch has begun, and any non-3L who hasn't already sent out his applications is taking a pretty big risk by waiting any longer.
The Houston Chronicle reports that the House of Representatives has unanimously voted to impeach District Judge Samuel Kent (S.D. Tex.). The newspaper further reports that the Senate is likely to hold Judge Kent's trial next month.
Appellate Judges
King, Robert (4th Cir.)
Location: Charleston, WV
Term: 8/9/2010 to 8/5/2011
District Judges
Trager, David (E.D.N.Y.)
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Term: 9/1/2011 to 8/31/2012
Magistrate Judges
None.
Bankruptcy Judges
Wedoff, Eugene (Bankr. N.D. Ill.)
Location: Chicago, IL
Term: 9/1/2011 to 8/31/2012
The Supreme Court of Israel is currently looking to hire foreign law clerks to serve terms ranging from three months to one year. Likewise, the Constitutional Court of South Africa is seeking foreign law graduates to serve judicial clerkships ranging from six months to one year.
The catch? Positions with both courts are unpaid (except for a small commuting allowance offered by the Israeli high court). However, such a position might be an absolutely perfect match for a rising Harvard 3L or a deferred Cravath associate.
A poster on the TLS board has compiled a list of clerkship placement statistics based on self-reported data law schools provided to U.S. News. As I mentioned in this forum thread, I have multiple problems with this ranking system (both with how the poster interpreted the data and with the way U.S. News gathered the data), which I hope to discuss in more detail in a future post.
The state supreme court clerk salary chart has been slightly updated to correct salary data for the Texas Supreme Court, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, and the Supreme Court of Mississippi.
Appellate Judges
Briscoe, Mary (10th Cir.)
Location: Lawrence, KS
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/1/2011
Prost, Sharon (Fed. Cir.)
Location: Washington, DC
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/15/2011 or 1/15/2011 to 1/15/2012
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Higginbotham, Patrick (5th Cir.)
Location: Austin, TX
Term: 8/2/2010 to 8/9/2011
Pergerson, Harry (9th Cir.)
Location: Woodland Hills, CA
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/15/2011
District Judges
Bennett, Richard (D. Md.)
Location: Baltimore, MD
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/11/2012
Davis, Andre (D. Md.)
Location: Baltimore, MD
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/19/2011
Moon, Norman (W.D. Va.)
Location: Lynchburg, VA
Term: 8/31/2010 to 8/31/2011
Collier, Curtis (E.D. Tenn.)
Location: Chattanooga, TN
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011 or 8/17/2010 to 8/19/2012
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Fogel, Jeremy (N.D. Cal.)
Location: San Jose, CA
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/2/2011
Magistrate Judges
Callahan, William (E.D. Wisc.)
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Term: 8/1/2010 to 7/31/2012
Bankruptcy Judges
Carruthers, Catherine (Bankr. N.C.)
Location: Winston Salem, NC
Term: 8/23/2010 to 8/22/2011
Carruthers, Catherine (Bankr. E.D. Cal.)
Location: Sacramento, CA
Term: 9/5/2010 to 9/5/2012
Two weeks ago when I announced, the new data section, I promised that more charts and statistics would be added over the coming months. Now, after providing forum readers with a sneak preview last night, I am proud to officially launch my State Supreme Court Law Clerk Salary Chart. In the future, I expect to add federal salary charts that adjust for cost of living allowances, and, once the market sorts itself out, a law firm clerkship bonus chart.
Why start with this salary chart, even though the state court section is not yet complete? No particular reason, except that the data is pretty interesting, and the compensation is a lot more variable than one would ever expect, with several state courts paying salaries that eclipse the federal payscale. Given that clerkships have a reputation as being very low paying, particularly for recent graduates, applicants might be surprised to see some of these numbers.
Unfortunately, there is still data missing for some state courts, so as usual please email me at lawfirmaddict@gmail.com if you can help fill in any gaps or provide additional information.
So says Drexel Professor Dan Filler. Professor Filler, as you may remember, initially predicted the crash of the 2010-11 clerkship market two weeks ago. Not surprisingly, Professor Filler credits the Cravath deferrals and the Harvard email for his latest prediction of doom and gloom.
What should 2010-11 clerkship applicants do to get a competitive edge in this tough environment? Professor Filler recommends that they read Law Clerk Addict.
The Houston Chronicle reports that Judge Samuel Kent (S.D. Tex.), the first federal judge to be convicted of a sex crime, has surrendered to authorities and begun to serve his 33-month prison sentence. In related news, the House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved articles of impeachment, which have been forwarded to the full House for a vote. As reported earlier, this impeachment vote is necessary because Judge Kent has refused to resign so that he may continue to earn his judicial salary while in prison.
A little more than a month ago we posted about how certain judges require their law clerks to obtain a security clearance before beginning their clerkship. However, as one applicant who emailed us has noted, there is a complete derth of information out there about which judges require one of more of their clerks to obtain a security clearance. Although (top) law schools are usally pretty good at compiling this sort of miscellaneous information, "[l]aw schools do not have good information on this subject as the security clearance is a relatively recent phenomenon." Hence, we received this request:
Can we get a definitive list going on lawclerkaddict about which clerkships require Secret and Top Secret security clearances?
Why does this matter? As our commenter notes:
You can be denied these clearances for relatively innocuous things like extensive foreign contacts/travel, psychiatric treatment, a DUI when you were younger, etc. It would be helpful to generate a list of clerkships that require this clearance (especially since many equally good/interesting clerkships do not require clearance).
Unfortunately, because this issue is so new, we don't have any information on it either, except to note that Senior Judge Thomas Hogan (D.D.C.) stated in his OSCAR profile last year that one of his clerks required a security clearance. Based on our previous post, it seems that most of these positions are likely found in the D.C. Circuit, 4th Circuit, D.D.C., and E.D. Va. However, one could also reasonably speculate that the judges who have been appointed to the FISA Court (and to a lesser extent, the FISA Court of Review) might require at least one clerk to get a security clearance to assist with those matters.
Of course, all of the above (except for Judge Hogan) is pure speculation and not a substitute for reliable information. So, if you are aware of any judges who require one or all of their law clerks to obtain a security clearance before starting their clerkship, please post a comment about it or send an email to lawfirmaddict@gmail.com so that we may (hopefully) develop a reliable list for future applicants.
For those interested in how federal district court clerks are hired, as well as their substantive job duties, you might want to check out this very interesting article on that subject. Here is the abstract:
While a number of recent books and articles have closely examined the hiring and utilization of United States Supreme Court law clerks, much less is known about the selection and employment of lower federal court law clerks. This lack of knowledge is particularly pronounced for federal district court law clerks, and the shortage of basic information about such law clerks, combined with the large number of cases processed each year by the federal district courts, suggests that a careful study of federal district court law clerks is long overdue. Using original survey data of 311 active and senior federal district court judges, we take the first step in delineating the institutional rules and norms surrounding the selection and use of law clerks in the federal district courts. Our findings reveal that federal district court judges assign their law clerks a number of substantive job duties, findings which raise important new questions about law clerk influence in the lower federal courts.
A blogger on the progressive Blue Mass Group blog expresses her disagreement with the recent Massachusetts Committee on Judicial Ethics advisory opinion permitting Massachusetts judges to hire deferred associates as unpaid "judicial interns."
See here for the details.
Ever wonder which United States Supreme Court justices are living the high life and which are living paycheck to paycheck? Clerquette has the scoop at Underneath Their Robes.
Appellate Judges
Higginbotham, Patrick (5th Cir.)
Location: Austin, TX
Term: 8/2/2010 to 8/9/2011
Pregerson, Harry (9th Cir.)
Location: Woodland Hills, CA
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/15/2011
District Judges
Ellison, Keith (S.D. Tex.)
Location: Houston, TX
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Roberts, Victoria (E.D. Mich.)
Location: Detroit, MI
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011
Magistrate Judges
None.
Bankruptcy Judges
Walrath, Mary (Bankr. D. Del.)
Location: Wilmington, DE
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/9/2011
Holman, Thomas (Bankr. E.D. Cal.)
Location: Sacramento, CA
Term: 9/5/2010 to 9/5/2012
It looks like the $250,000 bonuses biglaw doled out to outgoing United States Supreme Court law clerks may now be a thing of the past, thanks to the economic recession.
Last week we made several blog posts about the impact law firm deferrals and layoffs may have on the 2010-11 clerkship market (see here, here, and here). Below are some useful recent forum threads considering similar issues relating to the current economy and the clerkship market:
* better for deferred corp atty: DE chancery or CoA clerkship?
* Wise to pursue clerkships ITE?
* Take firm offer @ OCI then go clerk - still have offer?
* Clerkship: any point for those not interested in lit or academia
One of our observant commenters on the 10th Circuit page correctly notes that (soon-to-be-former) Judge Michael McConnell (10th Cir.) is still actively maintaining an OSCAR listing for 2010-11 clerkships, even though he announced more than a month ago that he was resigning effective this August to join the Stanford Law School faculty. While the commenter speculates that Judge McConnell might be maintaining the listing for his successor, I find it highly unlikely, given that whoever President Obama nominates to replace Judge McConnell will almost certainly have a very different judicial philosophy and, assuming a timely nomination and confirmation, will likely have more than enough time to hire 2010-11 clerks on his own.
However, it is hard to think of any other plausible reasons why a judge who has publicly announced a resignation in the extremely near future is still actively soliciting clerkship applications. Of course, it is possible that he might be doing it for a future law review article on the clerkship application process... after all, it would be very interesting to know just how many people will apply to a judge on OSCAR without doing even a modicum of research about the judge beforehand.
Senior Judge Ruggero Aldisert (3d Cir.) and two of his former law clerks have published a very interesting article in the Penn State Law Review about the law clerk application process and what factors judges use to evaluate applicants. While this article was originally written in 2006, I expect much of its advice and information remains relevant to current applicants.
According to Above the Law, Harvard Law School sent out an email this afternoon to its entire 3L class strongly advising all of them to apply for clerkships this fall. In fact, to make it particularly easy for 3Ls to apply this fall, HLS has extended its internal clerkship administration deadlines until late summer so that rising 3Ls can get faculty recommendations and generate judge lists.
So, to answer rezclerk's question below, yes, the 2010-11 clerkship application cycle is going to leave lots of people high and dry. Thanks Cravath!
EDIT: It would be great if people would discuss these blog posts in the comments, but for those who don't like the blog format, you can follow the discussion on these forum threads:
With Skadden, Morgan Lewis, and, now, Cravath deferring rising 3L's until 2011, there is no doubt there will be more judicial clerkship applications in 2010. There is also little to no doubt that more firms will delay the start dates for the class of 2010.
If you want to clerk in 2010 but are afraid the probable flood of clerkship applications will leave you high and dry, please comment.
This might come as relatively old news to some, but for those who don't know, the University of Virginia School of Law has launched a great new blog, The 'Shipping News, devoted to judicial clerkships. While several law schools have launched such blogs in recent months, the content of this blog is surprisingly good relative to similar "official" sites. Below are some particularly interesting posts worth checking out:
* Clerking for Non-Litigators: a post explaining why transactional attorneys should consider clerkships too.
* Think Local: a post about how one should not rule out state clerkships, particularly in this economy.
* Clerking as an Alum: discussing the benefits of applying as a graduate instead of a student.
Unfortunately it seems UVA is only adding a new post once every month or so, but quality is better than quantity.
Yesterday we posted about a Massachusetts Committee on Judicial Ethics advisory opinion about the propriety of a judge employing a deferred law firm associate as a volunteer judicial intern. Now, the AmLaw Daily provides even greater detail about the ethical implications of such an arrangement, including details about the procedures both judges and law firms must implement to ensure no appearance of impropriety.
We have received a very small number of emails about individuals trying to post comments on court pages but not being able to for unknown reasons. If you have experienced this bug please send an email to lawfirmaddict@gmail.com or clurker.lca@gmail.com so that we can try to figure out what went wrong and replicate the bug on our end so we can fix it. If you have never been able to post on a court comments section because of this bug we are particularly interested in hearing from you.
Appellate Judges
Ambro, Thomas (3d Cir.)
Location: Wilmington, DE
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Nelson, Dorothy (9th Cir.)
Location: Pasadena, CA
Term: 8/17/2010 to 8/14/2011
Linn, Richard (Fed. Cir.)
Location: Washington, DC
Term: 3/1/2011 to 8/1/2012
District Judges
James, Robert (E.D. La.)
Location: Monroe, LA
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/2/2011
Cogan, Brian (E.D.N.Y.)
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011
Lefkow, Joan (N.D. Ill.)
Location: Chicago, IL
Term: 9/7/2010 to 8/31/2012
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Magistrate Judges
Pohorelsky, Viktor (E.D.N.Y.)
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2012
Jones, Thomas (E.D. Va.)
Location: Alexandria, VA
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/15/2011
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
It seems that 2010-11 hiring on the Ninth Circuit is really starting to pick up, with rumors that Judges John Noonan and James Browning are done and that Judge Ronald Gould has made at least one hire. This is in addition to yesterday's news that Judge Arthur Alarcon is done and last week's news that Judge Consuelo Callahan is done, Judge Stephen Reinhardt has partially hired, and that Judges Dorothy Nelson and Milan Smith are interviewing (in Judge Smith's case, for the last 2010-11 position available).
In related prestigious clerkship news, we received a tip today that Judge Marjorie Rendell (3d Cir.), one of the most sought after clerkships in the Third Circuit, has recently hired a University of Chicago graduate. As usual, please feel free to publicly post your tips on the court comment pages or the notifications page, or to privately submit them by sending an email to lawfirmaddict@gmail.com.
Although to date we've managed to filter out 99% of the comment spam, it seems one spam bot has found a way around it and been extensively targeting the D.C. Circuit comment page today. While we are working on updating our code to keep this bot out, and have manually deleted the spam that has already been posted, it is likely that the bot will come back for another spam run before the code is changed, so please bear with us for the time being.
UPDATE: Well, that was fast. Four minutes after posting this, it seems that the problem has been fixed, at least for the time being.
Here are a few interesting tidbits relating to state court clerkships that are too short to justify posts of their own:
* The Massachusetts Committee on Judicial Ethics has issued an advisory opinion informing Massachusetts judges that they are not violating ethical rules by hiring deferred law firm associates as unpaid judicial interns. Hat Tip: Legal Profession Blog.
* A New York law clerk's unilateral decision to require a juror to return to deliberations has resulted in an appellate court reversing a defendant's criminal conviction.
The past couple of days have seen some additional movement on the circuit court clerk hiring front. Some highlights:
* Based on notifications, comments, and other tips, the early hiring list has been updated to indicate that Judges Roger Gregory (4th Cir.) and Arthur Alarcon (9th Cir.) are done, while Rosemary Barkett (11th Cir.), Amalya Kearse (2d Cir.) and Jane Roth (3d Cir.) have partially hired.
* An observant tipster on our Ninth Circuit comments page notes that Judge Marsha Berzon (9th Cir.) updated her OSCAR profile to narrow her class rank requirement from top 10% to top 5%. Perhaps this sudden change is another sign that Dan Filler's prediction about very bad days for 2010-11 clerkship applicants will indeed come to pass.
* Commenters on the Fourth Circuit and Seventh Circuit comment pages have indicated that Judge Paul Niemeyer (4th Cir.) will begin interviewing in July and that Judge Diane Sykes (7th Cir.) will begin reviewing applications later this month. However, given that these tips are anonymous, feel free to take them with a grain of salt.
Associate Justice Mark E. Recktenwald of the Supreme Court of Hawai'i is currently accepting clerkship applications for the year commencing in September 2010. Justice Recktenwald is the newest member of the Supreme Court of Hawii. Prior to becoming an associate justice, he served as Chief Judge of the Intermediate Court of Appeals from April 30, 2007 to May 11, 2009.
Information on how to apply is available below the fold.
Appellate Judges
Siler, Eugene (6th Cir.)
Location: London, KY
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/12/2011 or 8/16/2010 to 8/19/2011
Notes: Three positions available, with different term dates.
Gruender, Raymond (8th Cir.)
Location: St. Louis, MO
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/14/2012
Goodwin, Alfred (9th Cir.)
Location: Pasadena, CA
Term: 8/2/2010 to 8/2/2011
Thompson, David (9th Cir.)
Location: San Diego, CA
Term: 8/25/2010 to 8/25/2011
Ginsburg, Douglas (D.C. Cir.)
Location: Washington, DC
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011
District Judges
Williams, Alexander (D. Md.)
Location: Greenbelt, MD
Term: 9/7/2010 to 8/26/2011
Notes: Two positions available.
Vance, Sarah (E.D. La.)
Location: New Orleans, LA
Term: 6/5/2010 to 6/10/2011 or 6/21/2010 to 6/24/2011 or 8/9/2010 to 8/12/2011
Notes: Three positions available, with different term dates.
Martinez, Philip (W.D. Tex.)
Location: El Paso, TX
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011
Breen, J. (W.D. Tenn.)
Location: Jackson, TN
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/15/2011
Sleet, Gregory (D. Del.)
Location: Wilmington, DE
Term: 9/8/2010 to 9/6/2011
Lake, Simeon (S.D. Tex.)
Location: Houston, TX
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Fairbank, Valerie (C.D. Cal.)
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011 or 2/1/2011 to 2/1/2012
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Magistrate Judges
None.
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
In belated judicial nomination news, Judges Andre Davis (D. Md.) and David Hamilton (S.D. Ind.), President Obama's respective nominees to the Fourth Circuit and Seventh Circuit, have been voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee and referred to the full Senate.
Drexel law professor Dan Filler predicts very dark days for 2010-11 judicial clerkship applicants.
As federal court watchers know, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit currently has two vacancies, one of which has been unfilled since 2005 (and created upon the elevation of John Roberts to the U.S. Supreme Court) and the other recently opening up after Judge Raymond Randolph took senior status in November 2008. While many continue to advocate that President Obama re-nominate failed Bush nominee Peter Keisler to one of the vacant seats (see, e.g., here, here, and here), a recent report from the Indianapolis Times blog indicates that Obama may be vetting Indiana Supreme Court Justice Frank Sullivan for a spot on the D.C. Circuit.
What do we know about Justice Sullivan? Here are some basic tidbits from his Indiana Supreme Court biography:
Frank Sullivan, Jr., was appointed to the Indiana Supreme Court effective November 1, 1993, by Governor Evan Bayh. Sullivan came to the state's highest court with a background in government service and private law practice. He served as Indiana State Budget Director from 1989 through 1992. Prior to state service, he practiced law in the Indianapolis office of Barnes & Thornburg.
Sullivan is a native of South Bend. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College (A.B. cum laude in 1972), Indiana University School of Law – Bloomington (J.D. magna cum laude in 1982), and the University of Virginia School of Law (LL.M. in 2001).
Appellate Judges
Walker, John (2d Cir.)
Location: New Haven, CT
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/15/2011 or 8/15/2011 to 8/15/2012
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
District Judges
O'Toole, George (D. Mass.)
Location: Boston, MA
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2012
Posnor, Michael (D. Mass.)
Location: Springfield, MA
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/7/2011
Underhill, Stefan (D. Conn.)
Location: Bridgeport, CT
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/15/2012
Magistrate Judges
Lopez, Marcos (D.P.R.)
Location: San Juan, PR
Term: 9/20/2010 to 9/20/2011
Conroy, John (D. Vt.)
Location: Burlington, VT
Term: 9/20/2010 to 9/20/2011
Bankruptcy Judges
Davis, Diane (Bankrpt. N.Y.)
Location: Utica, NY
Term: 10/1/2009 to 9/30/2010
This weekend has been rather active on the circuit court judge hiring front, with reports of hires by Judges Stephen Reinhardt (9th Cir.), Consuelo Callahan (9th Cir.), Eugene Davis (5th Cir.), and Roger Gregory (4th Cir.), and scheduled interviews by Dorothy Nelson (9th Cir.) and Harris Hartz (10th Cir.).
For more information on who is hiring early for the 2010-11 term, check out the early hiring list.
For those who still aren't aware, Law Clerk Addict is tracking pre-September hires through a moderated early hiring list. As you can see, there has been a non-trivial amount of 2010-11 hiring activity over the past week or so. Some selected highlights:
* Judge Jerry Smith (5th Cir.) is completely off-plan and currently extending interview invitations to rising 3Ls.
* Judges Maryanne Barry (3d Cir.) and Milan Smith (9th Cir.), both of whom hired some alumni applicants for 2010-11 in mid to late 2008, are extending interview invitations to alumni again.
* Judge Joel Dubina (11th Cir.) is reported to be interviewing and allegedly has made at least one hire.
* On the district court front, Judge Charles Breyer (N.D. Cal.), brother to Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, is reportedly done for 2010-11.
Remember, early hiring updates are typically not announced on the front page, so be sure to visit the early hiring list directly to get the most up to date news on the 2010-11 hiring cycle.
Appellate Judges
Stahl, Norman (1st Cir.)
Location: Boston, MA
Term: 8/31/2010 to 8/31/2011
Wallace, J. (9th Cir.)
Location: San Diego, CA
Term: 8/18/2010 to 8/18/2011
Garjarca, Arthur (Fed. Cir.)
Location: Washington, DC
Term: 8/11/2010 to 8/11/2011
District Judges
Wood, Kimba (S.D.N.Y.)
Location: New York, NY
Term: 8/1/2011 to 7/31/2012
Goldberg, Mitchell (E.D. Pa.)
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2012
Hood, Joseph (E.D. Ky.)
Location: Lexington, KY
Term: 8/23/2010 to 8/19/2011
Cox, Sean (E.D. Mi.)
Location: Detroit, MI
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2012
Robinson, Sue (D. Del.)
Location: Wilmington, DE
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Stengel, Lawrence (E.D. Pa.)
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Term: 9/7/2010 to 8/31/2012
Boyle, Terrence (E.D.N.C.)
Location: Elizabeth City, NC
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011
Magistrate Judges
Dolinger, Michael (S.D.N.Y.)
Location: New York, NY
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/29/2011
Austin, Andrew (W.D. Tex.)
Location: Austin, TX
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/29/2011
Ericksen, Joan (D. Minn.)
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/15/2011
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
Some recent happenings from the Southern District of Texas:
* Judge Samuel Kent (S.D. Tex.), who was sentenced to 33 months incarceration last month for obstruction of justice, has announced that he intends to resign from the bench next June. The ABA Journal reports that Judge Kent has delayed his resignation "because it would take the Senate at least that long to conduct impeachment proceedings."
* Though somewhat overshadowed by his more newsworthy soon-to-be-former colleague, Judge George Kazen (S.D. Tex.) assumed senior status on May 31, 2009, creating a new vacancy for President Obama to fill.
* Thanks to an extremely generous tip (well, more like a minor data dump!), a significant number of law clerks for the 2009-10 term have been input into the database for the Southern District of Texas and the other federal district courts in Texas.
Ever since I started my first law clerk blog, I have made it a priority to gather the most comprehensive statistics on federal law clerk placement possible. Now, with the benefits of this new website, it will be easier than ever to bring you the latest aggregate data, updated in real time through the new data section!
The data section of the website is still heavily under construction, so expect new rankings and other statistics to be added semi-regularly over the next few months. In the meantime, you can check out the following statistics:
* Supreme Court Feeder Judges
* J.D. Institutions of Supreme Court Law Clerks
* Where Judges Went to Law School
As usual, please email me at lawfirmaddict@gmail.com or post a comment if you have any suggestions for new features.
Appellate Judges
Jordan, Kent (3d Cir.)
Location: Wilmington, DE
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/14/2011 or 10/4/2010 to 10/2/2011
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Cole, Ransey (6th Cir.)
Location: Columbus, OH
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/19/2011 or 1/1/2011 to 1/1/2012
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Aldisert, Ruggero (3d Cir.)
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Term: 8/9/2010 to 8/8/2011 or 8/23/2010 to 8/22/2011
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates. 3rd Cir. judge who sits in Santa Barbara.
Ryan, James (6th Cir.)
Location: Detroit, MI
Term: 8/7/2010 to 8/31/2011
District Judges
Rakoff, Jed (S.D.N.Y.)
Location: New York, NY
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Chesler, Stanley (D.N.J.)
Location: Newark, NJ
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Cooper, Mary (D.N.J.)
Location: Trenton, NJ
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Pollak, Louis (E.D. Pa.)
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011
Surrick, R. (E.D. Pa.)
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011 or 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2012
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Caldwell, William (M.D. Pa.)
Location: Harrisburg, PA
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/16/2012
O'Grady, William (E.D. Va.)
Location: Alexandria, VA
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/15/2011
Chin, Denny (S.D.N.Y.)
Location: New York, NY
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011 or 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011 or 10/1/2010 to 10/1/2011
Notes: Three positions available, with different term dates.
Magistrate Judges
None.
Bankruptcy Judges
Flately, Patrick (Bankr. W. Va.)
Location: Wheeling, WV
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2012
District court clerk data for courts in Florida through Idaho have been uploaded. Again, if you have any additional information that can fill in the gaps in LCA's data please post a comment or email Law Clerk Addict at lawfirmaddict@gmail.com.
One of the most popular requests so far has been for an RSS feed for the new blog. Well, not only have we added an RSS feed for the blog posts, but we have done one better and also made an RSS feed for the court discussions. Links to the RSS feeds are available on the sidebar. If there is interest, more RSS feeds could be added in the future.
None of us has coded an RSS feed before, so if there are any bugs, please let me know.
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court is now accepting clerkships for the 2010-11 term. The job announcement is below the fold.
Appellate Judges
Smith, N. (9th Cir.)
Location: Pocatello, ID
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/15/2011
Easterbrook, Frank (7th Cir.)
Location: Chicago, IL
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/12/2011
Norris, Alan (6th Cir.)
Location: Columbus, OH
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/12/2011
Cabranes, Jose (2d Cir.)
Location: New Haven, CT
Term: 7/11/2010 to 7/12/2011
Edmondson, J. (11th Cir.)
Location: Atlanta, GA
Term: 7/1/2010 to 6/30/2011 or 8/1/2010 to 7/31/2011 or 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Notes: Three positions available, with different term dates.
Cook, Deborah (6th Cir.)
Location: Akron, OH
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/15/2011
District Judges
Carmon, Gregory (C.I.T.)
Location: New York, NY
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2012
Lamberth, Royce (D.D.C.)
Location: Washington, DC
Term: 8/31/2010 to 9/3/2011
Fallon, Eldon (E.D. La.)
Location: New Orleans, LA
Term: 8/31/2010 to 9/3/2011
Gibson, Kim (W.D. Pa.)
Location: Johnstown, PA
Term: 6/15/2010 to 6/15/2011
Parker, James (D.N.M.)
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Magistrate Judges
Barfield, W. Leon (E.D. Ga.)
Location: Augusta, GA
Term: 8/31/2010 to 9/3/2011
Davis, Ivan (E.D. Va.)
Location: Alexandria, VA
Term: 9/27/2010 to 9/27/2011
Bankruptcy Judges
Teel, S. (Bankr. D.D.C.)
Location: Washington, DC
Term: 8/31/2009 to 8/31/2012
A relatively large number of judges have been added to the early hiring list tonight based on a combination of reader tips and OSCAR notices, and several additions previously listed as rumors have been upgraded to confirmed status. Note that the date on the early hiring list represents the approximate date of the listed event, and not the date the judge was added to the list, so the updated listings are scattered all over the list.
On court pages you can now designate your comment as pertaining to a speific judge. Likewise, if you post a comment on a judge page, your comment will be mirrored on the judge's corresponding court page, and the court page will identify the judge your comment is about even if you forget to mention his or her name in your post.
To see how this looks in practice, check out the comments section on the Third Circuit page.
Appellate Judges
Hall, Peter (2d Cir.)
Location: Rutland, VT
Term: 8/15/2011 to 8/12/2012
Seymour, Stephanie (10th Cir.)
Location: Tulsa, OK
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Wardlaw, Kim (9th Cir.)
Location: Pasadena, CA
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011
Williams, Stephen (D.C. Cir.)
Location: Washington, DC
Term: 8/16/2011 to 8/12/2012
District Judges
Bianco, Joseph (E.D.N.Y.)
Location: Central Islip, NY
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011 and 10/1/2010 to 10/1/2011
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Goldberg, Richard (C.I.T.)
Location: New York, NY
Term: 8/20/2010 to 8/20/2012
Gonzalez, Irma (S.D. Cal.)
Location: San Diego, CA
Term: 8/23/2010 to 8/19/2011
McKinley, Joseph (W.D. Ky.)
Location: Owensboro, KY
Term: 9/7/2010 to 8/31/2012
Thompson, Alvin (D. Conn.)
Location: Hartford, CT
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Magistrate Judges
Hagy, C. (N.D. Ga.)
Location: Atlanta, GA
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2012
Pham, Tu (W.D. Tenn.)
Location: Memphis, TN
Term: 8/23/2010 to 8/26/2011
Vescovo, Diane (W.D. Tenn.)
Location: Memphis, TN
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011
Bankruptcy Judges
Isgur, Marvin (Bankr. S.D. Tex.)
Location: Houston, TX
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2012
Lyons, Raymond (Bankr. D.N.J.)
Location: Trenton, NJ
Term: 8/23/2010 to 8/19/2011
Because retiring Justice David Souter chose not to hire any law clerks for the 2009-10 term, there are no jobless Supreme Court clerks for soon-to-be-Justice Sonia Sotomayor (2d Cir.) to inherit (provided that she isn't filibustered). Like most federal judges, Judge Sotomayor has already hired a full complement of law clerks for the 2009-10, but since it is almost unheard of for someone to clerk directly for the Supreme Court without prior clerkship experience, it is unlikely that these individuals will be joining Judge Sotomayor at One First Street this fall. Given that President Obama has been rather dilatory with judicial nominations and his only pending nomination to the Second Circuit is District Judge Gerard Lynch (S.D.N.Y.)--who has 2009-10 clerks of his own lined up--it is not likely that all of the 2009-10 clerks Judge Sotomayor hired last fall can readily get placements with other Second Circuit judges. Given the rather unique situation, it will be interesting to see what happens to these already-hired clerks in the coming months, and who will clerk for Judge Sotomayor this fall.
Numerous media outlets are reporting that President Barack Obama will announce at 10AM that he will nominate Judge Sonia Sotomayor (2d Cir.) to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter.
District court clerk data for courts in California through the District of Columbia have been uploaded. As usual, there are still lots of gaps, so if you have any information please post a comment or email Law Clerk Addict at lawfirmaddict@gmail.com.
The U.S. Courts jobs website (previously blogged about here) is advertising a temporary, emergency clerkship opening with Chief Judge Richard Arcara (W.D.N.Y.). This position is not being advertised on OSCAR.
For information on how to apply, see the job announcement.
Judge Charles E. Erdmann (C.A.A.F.) is currently in the process of hiring a career law clerk. According to the job announcement, Judge Erdmann is looking for someone with bar membership and 4-6 years of litigation experience. Interested applicants should apply before June 5.
As those of you who currently work for the government know, today is Memorial Day, meaning that clerks and other federal employees do not have to go to work (well, with some exceptions). But some of you may not know that while all federal courts observe the standard federal holidays, employees of some federal courts have local holidays off as well. Here is a small sampling of this year's bonus holidays for some courts:
D. Alaska - Seward's Day [source].
S.D. Cal. - Cesar Chavez Day, Day After Thanksgiving [source].
D. Del. - Good Friday [source].
D. Guam - Liberation Day [source].
D. Haw. - Prince Kuhio Day, King Kamehameha Day, Admissions Day [source].
D. Md. - Day After New Year, Day After Thanksgiving [source].
S.D.N.Y. - Lincoln's Birthday [source].
D.V.I. - Good Friday, Carnival [source].
The Pueblo Chieftain reports that District Judge Christine Arguello (D. Colo.), a protege of former Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO) nominated to the bench by President George W. Bush and only confirmed in October 2008, has been asked by the Obama administration if she would be interested in being considered to replace retiring Justice David Souter on the Supreme Court.
For some commentary as to Judge Arguello's chances of being nominated, see this post by Adam Brinkley of Race42012.
District court clerk data (well, what we have) has been uploaded for the Court of Federal Claims and the Tax Court. We uploaded Court of International Trade data a few weeks ago, so with this update all of the miscellaneous trial courts are covered (though as you can see, there are still significant gaps, so please keep those emails and comments coming!).
Because I have received a lot of emails asking for more detailed law clerk demographics--particularly, whether the clerks listed are term, or career clerks, and whether they were hired as law students or alumni--the judge pages have been redesigned to provide all of this information. For example, check out the profile pages for Judge Charles Smith (N.D. Ala.) and Judge Sonia Sotomayor (2d Cir.).
The law clerk demographics tables for the full court remain unchanged.
By popular demand, the main page now contains a sidebar that lists the ten most recently-discussed courts. This should make it a bit easier to tell if a new comment has been posted on a particular court's page. I hope to add other features to make the court discussion pages easier to follow once user registration is enabled.
UPDATE: You can view all courts by date of last user comment by clicking here.
Senator Ben Nelson (D-Ne.) announced this morning on Fox News Sunday that he may join in a filibuster of President Barack Obama's upcoming nominee to the Supreme Court. A video of Senator Nelson's comments is available here.
I made a similar point in a comment earlier today, but it's worth repeating on the main page, particularly given the large number of new visitors this week:
May 22 marks the first day that third year law students may register for an OSCAR account and begin building their applications. Of course, none of these applications will be released to judges before September 8. Nevertheless, once you have access to OSCAR it becomes a lot easier to find judges who do not follow the plan (well, besides the obvious ones everyone knows about).
The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts has issued a press release touting the benefits of the new OSCAR upgrade that took place this past weekend. So what changed? Apparently "judges now can look at a law school’s profile for its ranking and grading system," and official forums have been added, even though they are buried in a far corner of the interface and are less active than LCA's own forum.
All district court clerk data we have has been uploaded for courts in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, and Arkansas, with partial data added for Maryland. The bulk of of this data (except Maryland) reflects career clerks. As always, please email us your tips to lawfirmaddict@gmail.com or post the information in the comments to this post or on the individual court pages.
Appellate Judges
Bye, Kermit (8th Cir.)
Location: Fargo, ND
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/12/2011
Clifton, Richard (9th Cir.)
Location: Honolulu, HI
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011
Greenberg, Morton (3rd Cir.)
Location: Trenton, NJ
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/2/2011
Kelly, Paul (10th Cir.)
Location: Santa Fe, NM
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/2/2011
Murphy, Diana (8th Cir.)
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/12/2011 or 8/23/2010 to 8/19/2011
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Prado, Edward (5th Cir.)
Location: San Antonio, TX
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/16/2011
Pryor, William (11th Cir.)
Location: Birmingham, AL
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011
Sutton, Jeffrey (6th Cir.)
Location: Columbus, OH
Term: 6/1/2010 to 5/31/2011 or 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011 or 8/2/2010 to 8/2/2011 or 8/3/2010 to 8/3/2011
Notes: Four positions available, with different term dates.
Tjoflat, Gerlad (11th Cir.)
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Term: 7/31/2011 to 7/31/2012 or 8/7/2011 to 8/7/2012 or 8/14/2011 to 8/14/2012 or 8/21/2011 to 8/21/2012
Notes: Four positions available, with different term dates.
District Judges
Cummings, Samuel (N.D. Tex.)
Location: Lubbock, TX
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/15/2012
Feldman, Martin (E.D. La.)
Location: New Orleans, LA
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Fullam, John (E.D. Pa.)
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/5/2011
Kazen, George (S.D. Tex.)
Location: Loredo, TX
Term: 8/12/2010 to 8/12/2011 or 8/26/2010 to 8/26/2011
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Tagle, Hilda (S.D. Tex.)
Location: Brownsville, TX
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011
Magistrate Judges
None.
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
The 2010-11 early hiring list has been updated to reflect tips we have received that Judge Guido Calabresi (2d Cir.) has partially hired and that Judge Richard Tallman (9th Cir.) is currently conducting interviews. Judge Calabresi is rumored to have hired from Duke and Yale.
On the district court front, rumor has it that Judge Renee Bumb (D.N.J.) is done for 2010-11.
8:05PM UPDATE: According to our notifications section, it appears that libertarian Judge Andrew Kleinfeld (9th Cir.), who has the distinction of being the northern-most federal judge in the nation, may have also began the interviewing process.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, which was scheduled to vote today on President Barack Obama's nomination of Judge Andre Davis (D. Md.) to a vacancy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, has delayed its vote due to concerns about Judge Davis's reversal rate in criminal cases. Judge Davis has been nominated to fill the vacancy created by the August 31, 2000 death of Judge Francis Murnaghan. This seat has remained vacant for almost nine years primarily due to the successful obstruction of former President George W. Bush's nominees Peter Keisler, Claude Allen and Rod Rosenstein by Democratic senators.
A new date for the committee vote has not yet been set, although it will certainly take place after Congress's Memorial Day recess.
As many of you know, OSCAR was (purportedly) "upgraded" last weekend and, as part of the changes, one seemingly cannot apply to multiple clerkship openings with the same judge, even if the term dates are different. However, this seems to be a bug, rather than a feature. You can still apply for multiple terms through the following process:
1) Apply for one open position as usual.
2) Instead of going back to "Clerkship Details" and selecting another term, go back to "Judge List" and click on the judge's name again.
3) Now click on "Clerkship Details," select the other open position you want. Unlike before, you will be able to apply.
Hope this helps!
Appellate Judges
Southwick, Leslie (5th Cir.)
Location: Jackson, MS
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Thomas, Sidney (9th Cir.)
Location: Billings, MT
Term: 8/23/2010 to 8/19/2011 or 8/30/2010 to 8/26/2011 or 9/7/2010 to 9/2/2010 or 9/13/2010 to 9/9/2011
Notes: Four positions available, with different term dates.
Tymkovich, Timothy (10th Cir.)
Location: Denver, CO
Term: 8/31/2010 to 8/31/2011 or 1/2/2011 12/31/2011
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
District Judges
Schiller, Berle (E.D. Pa.)
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Term: 8/24/2010 to 8/25/2011 or 8/25/2010 to 8/26/2010
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Schroeder, Thomas (M.D.N.C.)
Location: Winston Salem, NC
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011 or 8/2/2010 to 8/2/2010
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Scullin, Frederick (N.D.N.Y.)
Location: Syracure, NY
Term: 8/23/2010 to 8/19/2011
Shubb, William (E.D. Cal.)
Location: Sacramento, CA
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/2/2011
Simandle, Jerome (D.N.J.)
Location: Camden, NJ
Term: 8/30/2010 to 8/31/2012
Smith, William (D.R.I.)
Location: Providence, RI
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011
Smith, G. Murray (D. Ariz.)
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Stamp, Federick (N.D. W. Va.)
Location: Wheeling, WV
Term: 8/30/2010 to 8/27/2012
Stein, Sidney (S.D.N.Y.)
Location: New York, NY
Term: 7/1/2010 to 6/30/2011 or 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Tauro, Joseph (D. Mass.)
Location: Boston, MA
Term: 8/23/2010 to 8/26/2011
Trenga, Anthony (E.D. Va.)
Location: Alexandria, VA
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Vitaliano, Eric (E.D.N.Y.)
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Term: 9/15/2010 to 9/15/2011
Ward, T. (E.D. Tex.)
Location: Marshall, TX
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011 or 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2012
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Weinstein, Jack (E.D.N.Y.)
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/7/2011
Welein, Ewing (S.D. Tex.)
Location: Houston, TX
Term: 9/6/2010 to 8/31/2014
Zobel, Rya (D. Mass.)
Location: Boston, MA
Term: 8/31/2010 to 8/31/2011
Magistrate Judges
Schulze, Jillyn (N.D. Ga.)
Location: Atlanta, GA
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2012
Segal, Suzanne (C.D. Cal.)
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Term: Beginning 9/1/2010
Notes: Career clerk position.
Bankruptcy Judges
St. John, Stephen (Bankr. E.D. Va.)
Location: Norfolk, VA
Term: 8/9/2010 to 8/12/2011
The new appellate judge and court layout that Law Clerk Addict adopted last month has been implemented for district courts and judges as well. The promised district court clerk data dump will also follow sometime in the near future, though given the sheer number of judges it will likely take a while to be completed.
I have added new law clerk information for Judge David Smith (3d Cir.), Judge Fortunato Benavides (5th Cir.) and Judge Kim Wardlaw (9th Cir.). Provided that this information is accurate, it would appear that Judge Smith is full for 2010-11, and the early hiring list has accordingly been updated.
Appellate Judges
Michael, M. Blane (4th Cir.)
Location: Charleston, WV
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/15/2011
Paez, Richard (9th Cir.)
Location: Pasadena, CA
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Randolph, A. (D.C. Cir.)
Location: Washington, DC
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011
Rawlinson, Johnnie (9th Cir.)
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/15/2011
Ripple, Kenneth (7th Cir.)
Location: South Bend, IN
Term: 8/9/2010 to 8/8/2011
Rymer, Pamela (9th Cir.)
Location: Pasadena, CA
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
District Judges
Messitte, Peter (D. Md.)
Location: Greenbelt, MD
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/15/2011
Messitte, Peter (D. Mont.)
Location: Missoula, MT
Term: 8/30/2010 to 8/24/2012
Morrow, Margaret (C.D. Cal.)
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Term: 8/2/2010 to 8/5/2011
Mosman, Michael (D. Or.)
Location: Portland, OR
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/6/2011
Nickerson, William (D. Md.)
Location: Baltimore, MD
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/6/2011
Oliver, Solomon (N.D. Ohio)
Location: Cleveland, OH
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/15/2012
Pratt, Robert (S.D. Iowa)
Location: Des Moines, IA
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/1/2012
Pro, Philip (D. Nev.)
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/15/2011
Quarles, Williams (D. Md.)
Location: Baltimore, MD
Term: 8/30/2010 to 8/29/2011
Robart, James (W.D. Wash.)
Location: Seattle, WA
Term: 9/10/2010 to 9/10/2012
Sammartino, Janis (S.D. Cal.)
Location: San Diego, CA
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Saris, Patti (D. Mass.)
Location: Boston, MA
Term: 9/7/2010 to 8/31/2011
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Magistrate Judges
Guave, Susan (D. Md.)
Location: Baltimore, MD
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/26/2011
Robinson, Deborah (D.D.C.)
Location: Washington, DC
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/19/2011
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
Appellate Judges
Graber, Susan (9th Cir.)
Location: Portland, OR
Term: 8/31/2010 to 8/31/2011
Hartz, Harris (10th Cir.)
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011
Hawkins, Michael (9th Cir.)
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/5/2011
Iukta, Sandra (9th Cir.)
Location: Pasadena, CA
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/15/2011
Jones, Edith (5th Cir.)
Location: Houston, TX
Term: 8/9/2010 to 8/8/2011
District Judges
Gilmore, Vanessa (S.D.T.X.)
Location: Houston, TX
Term: 8/25/2010 to 8/20/2012
Goodwin, Joseph (S.D. W.Va.)
Location: Charleston, WV
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011
Griesa, Thomas (S.D.N.Y.)
Location: New York, NY
Term: 8/9/2010 to 8/9/2011
Gutierrez, Philip (C.D. Cal.)
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011
Hinkle, Robert (N.D. Fla.)
Location: Tallahassee, FL
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/12/2011
Hughes, Lynn (S.D.T.X.)
Location: Houston, TX
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2012
Huvelle, Ellen (D.D.C.)
Location: Washington, DC
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/11/2011
Johnston, Thomas (S.D. W.Va.)
Location: Beckley, WV
Term: 8/23/2010 to 8/22/2011 or 8/23/2010 to 8/20/2012
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Kay, Allen (S.D. W.Va.)
Location: Honolulu, HI
Term: 10/4/2010 to 9/30/2011 or 1/10/2011 to 1/11/2012
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Kay, Allen (D. Haw.)
Location: Honolulu, HI
Term: 10/4/2010 to 9/30/2011 or 1/10/2011 to 1/11/2012
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Kiser, Jackson (W.D. Va.)
Location: Danville, VA
Term: 7/1/2010 to 7/1/2011 or 8/1/2010 to 7/31/2011
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Kravitz, Mark (D. Conn.)
Location: New Haven, CT
Term: 6/15/2010 to 6/14/2011 or 8/15/2010 to 8/14/2011
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Lemelle, Ivan (E.D. La.)
Location: New Orleans, LA
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/16/2011 or 9/16/2010 to 9/16/2011
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Martin, Beverly (N.D. Ga.>)
Location: Atlanta, GA
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/15/2011
McBryde, John (N.D.T.X.>)
Location: Ft. Worth, TX
Term: 8/23/2010 to 8/22/2011
Magistrate Judges
Guave, Susan (D. Md.)
Location: Baltimore, MD
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/26/2011
Goldman, Marc (C.D. Cal.)
Location: Santa Ana, CA
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/2/2011
Joel, David (N.D. W.Va.>)
Location: Martinsburg, WV
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011
Katz, Theodore (S.D.N.Y.>)
Location: New York, NY
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/17/2011
Lloyd, Howard (N.D. Cal.>)
Location: San Jose, CA
Term: 5/13/2010 to 5/15/2011
Lynch, William (D.N.M.>)
Location: Las Cruces, NM
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2012
Maas, Frank (S.D.N.Y.>)
Location: New York, NY
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/7/2011
Bankruptcy Judges
Kressel, Robert (Bankr. D. Minn.)
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/12/2012
Appellate Judges
Morris, Arnold (8th Cir.)
Location: Little Rock, AK
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011
Beezer, Robert (9th Cir.)
Location: Seattle, WA
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Benton, Duane (8th Cir.)
Location: Kansas City, MO
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/12/2011
Berzon, Marsha (9th Cir.)
Location: San Francisco, CA
Term: 6/14/2010 to 6/10/2011 and 8/16/2010 to 8/12/2011
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Brown, Janis Rogers (D.C. Cir.)
Location: Washington, DC
Term: 8/1/2010 to 7/31/2011
Carnes, Ed (11th Cir.)
Location: Montgomery, AL
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011 or 8/15/2010 to 8/15/2011
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Colloton, Steven (8th Cir.)
Location: Des Moines, IA
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/2/2011
Cudahy, Richard (7th Cir.)
Location: Chicago, IL
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/6/2011
Dennis, James (5th Cir.)
Location: New Orleans, LA
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2012
Dyk, Timothy (Fed. Cir.)
Location: Washington, DC
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011
Fisher, D. Michael (3rd Cir.)
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Term: 8/23/2010 to 8/19/2011 or 8/30/2010 to 8/26/2011
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Garwood, William (5th Cir.)
Location: Austin, TX
Term: 8/3/2010 to 7/31/2011
District Judges
Allegra, Francis (U.S. Court of Federal Claims)
Location: Washington, DC
Term: 8/30/2010 to 9/1/2011
Anderson, S. Thomas (W.D. Tenn.)
Location: Memphis, TN
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/15/2011
Arterton, Janet (D. Conn.)
Location: New Haven, CT
Term: 8/9/2010 to 8/7/2012
Barbier, Carl (E.D. La.)
Location: New Orleans, LA
Term: 6/15/2010 to 6/15/2011 and 8/15/2010 to 8/15/2011
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Baylson, Michael (E.D. Pa.)
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Brack, Robert (D.N.M.)
Location: Las Cruces, NM
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/8/2011
Cardone, Kathleen (N.D. Tex.)
Location: El Paso, TX
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/2/2011 or 9/7/2010 to 8/31/2012
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Carney, Cormac (S.D. Cal.)
Location: Santa Ana, CA
Term: 8/2/2010 to 8/27/2011
Cauthron, Robin (W.D. Okla.)
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2012
Chatigny, Robert (D. Conn.)
Location: Hartford, CT
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Chesney, Maxine (N.D. Cal.)
Location: San Francisco, CA
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011
Cohn, James (S.D. Fla.)
Location: Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Term: 8/25/2010 to 8/31/2012
Copenhaver, John (S.D. W.Va.)
Location: Charleston, WV
Term: 8/23/2010 to 8/26/2011
Currie, Cameron (D.S.C.)
Location: Columbia, SC
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/6/2011
Dalzell, Stewart (E.D. Pa.)
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Term: 8/23/2010 to 8/23/2012
Dimitrouleas, William (S.D. Fla.)
Location: Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2012
Downes, William (D. Wyo.)
Location: Casper, WY
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2012
Flanagan, Louise (E.D.N.C.)
Location: New Bern, NC
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011 or 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2012
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Frizzell, Gregory (N.D. Okla.)
Location: Tulsa, OK
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2012
Magistrate Judges
Ashman, Martin (N.D. Ill.)
Location: Chicago, IL
Term: 8/16/2010 to 9/1/2011
Barfield, W. Leon (S.D. Ga.)
Location: Augusta, GA
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2012
Bankruptcy Judges
Barfield, W. Leon (Bankr. D. Ariz.)
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/12/2012
Davlis, John (Bankr. S.D. Ga.)
Location: Brunswick, GA
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
It seems like no legal job offer is safe anymore.
New clerkship data has been added for every federal appellate court. Between this and the last appellate data dump, all data LCA has from 2008-09 to the present should now be accounted for on the new site.
Appellate Judges
None.
District Judges
Friedman, Jerome (E.D. Va.)
Location: Norfolk, VA
Term: 8/23/2010 to 8/19/2011
Notes: Graduates may apply beginning August 17, 2009. Law students may apply beginning September 8, 2009. The cutoff date for applications is September 11, 2009.
Oliver, Solomon Jr. (N.D. Ohio)
Location: Cleveland, OH
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/15/2012
Magistrate Judges
Lloyd, Howard R. (N.D. Cal.)
Location: San Jose, CA
Term: 5/13/2010 to 5/14/2011
Notes: Administrative Law Clerk position: Seeking bright, confident self-starter with good analytical skills, writing experience and common sense. Strong preference for someone with ties to this area. Would welcome applicant with a few years of litigation experience at high-quality firm.
Segal, Suzanne (C.D. Cal.)
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Term: 9/1/2009 to indefinite
Notes: Resume, law school transcript and two writing samples; references from employers are appreciated.
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
Appellate Judges
Cox, Emmett (11th Cir.)
Location: Mobile, AL
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Notes: Preference is given to applicants who plan to locate permanently within one of the states comprising the Eleventh Circuit.
Fisher, Raymond (9th Cir.)
Location: Pasadena, CA
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Notes: Exceptional writing or work experience (e.g., district court clerkship, post-graduate legal experience or fellowships) a plus. Below top 10% considered only on individual basis.
Gorsuch, Neil (10th Cir.)
Location: Denver, CO
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/13/2011
Owen, Priscilla (5th Cir.)
Location: Austin, TX
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Notes: Starting date is flexible depending on the Court's needs but must be in August 2010. End date will depend on start date. Class ranking in top 5% is preferred. Law review or other journal is preferred.
District Judges
Bates, John (D.D.C.)
Location: Washington, DC
Term: 9/6/2010 to 9/5/2011
Notes: Law journal and top 25 percent preferred.
Campbell, Tena (D. Utah)
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Term: 1/1/2011 to 12/31/2011
Notes: Only one clerkship available.
Magistrate Judges
None.
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
District Judge Samuel J. Kent (S.D. Tex.) was sentenced today to 33 months in prison for obstruction of justice.
The following judges currently have five or more clerks listed for a particular term in the Law Clerk Addict database:
Fortunato Benavides (5th Cir.)
Absent some unusual circumstances, like Judge Gerald Tjoflat (11th Cir.), who gets to hire a fifth elbow clerk through staff attorney appropriations, a judge should not have more than four clerks for a given term. Accordingly, it is almost certain that Law Clerk Addict's listings for the above judges have at least one error (most likely a hire being reported for the wrong term). If anyone with insider knowledge can provide corrected information for any of these judges (or confirm that they actually will have five clerks for the listed terms) please email Law Clerk Addict at lawfirmaddict@gmail.com or post a comment.
As implied from the previous Notices post, Judge Raymond Kethledge (6th Cir.) is not yet full for 2010-11, contrary to our report last week. However, given Judge Kethledge's popularity and penchant for hiring early, it is still recommended that you get your applications in as soon as possible!
Appellate Judges
Clement, Edith (5th Cir.)
Location: New Orleans, LA
Term: 6/1/2010 to 6/1/2011 and 8/27/2010 to 8/26/2011
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates. Two-year clerkship option available.
Kethledge, Raymond (6th Cir.)
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/6/2011
District Judges
Alvarez, Micaela (S.D. Tex.)
Location: Laredo, TX
Term: 8/23/2010 to 8/24/2011
Notes: Clerks must arrive for a two-day training prior to commencing clerkship.
Briones, David (W.D. Tex.)
Location: El Paso, TX
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/1/2012
Notes: Two-year commitment required. Must be able to work as a member of a well-functioning team. (Check your ego at the door.) El Paso (West Texas/Southern New Mexico) interest/connection considered.
Evans, Orinda (N.D. Ga.)
Location: Atlanta, GA
Term: 8/9/2010 to 8/12/2011
Martini, William (D.N.J.)
Location: Newark, NJ
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2012
Notes: Graduates with professional legal experience, such as a judicial clerkship or practice at a law firm, are encouraged to apply. Start/end dates approximate. Writing sample not to exceed 10 pages.
Magistrate Judges
None.
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
Although the feedback on the new Law Clerk Addict website has been overwhelmingly positive, we encountered a very negative comment about it on the old blog. It goes without saying that no design is ever going to make everyone happy, but we intend to try to address these concerns--significantly, having the charts distinguish between 3Ls and Alumni is something that was already in the works. However this redesign is an ongoing process, so if there is something missing or if parts of the site are hard to navigate please post a comment about it or send an email to lawfirmaddict@gmail.com about it.
Appellate Judges
None.
District Judges
Garaufis, Nicholas G. (E.D.N.Y.)
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Term: 9/1/2011 to 9/1/2011
Motz, J. Frederick (D. Md.)
Location: Baltimore, MD
Term: 8/30/2010 to 8/26/2011
Magistrate Judges
None.
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
Appellate Judges
None.
District Judges
Aycock, Sharion (N.D. Miss.)
Location: Aberdeen, MS
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011
Morgan, Henry (E.D. Va.)
Location: Norfolk, VA
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/12/2011 or 2/14/2011 to 2/10/2012
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Magistrate Judges
Schulze, Jillyn (D. Md.)
Location: Greenbelt, MD
Term: 8/23/2010 to 8/22/2011
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
The OSCAR listing for Judge Ann Williams (7th Cir.) has recently been edited to remove three of the four previously-listed 2010-11 clerkship positions, and rumor has it that these positions were removed because the positions have been recently filled. Accordingly, I have tentatively added Judge Williams to the early hiring list. If anyone can confirm, debunk, or otherwise comment on this rumor please leave a comment or email lawfirmaddict@gmail.com.
Below are a few random links relating to state supreme courts that are too short to justify posts of their own:
* Senator Mark Begich (D-AK) has submitted a letter to President Barack Obama requesting that the President consider nominating Dana Fabe, the Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court, to replace retiring United States Supreme Court Justice David Souter.
* Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer offered some insight about the benefits of state court clerkships at a recent speech at the University of Southern California School of Law.
* South Carolina Court of Appeals Judge Kaye Hearn is virtually guaranteed to become the newest member of the South Carolina Supreme Court and the second female justice in that court's history.
This is somewhat old news, but the Alabama Press Register reports that Kit Nelson, a career law clerk for Judge Kristi DuBose (S.D. Ala.) will be appointed to a new magistrate judgeship on the same court, pending a successful background check (which will take several months).
I post this not only to congratulate future-Judge Nelson, but to give potential law clerk applicants for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 term a heads-up about the forthcoming appointment. Within the next couple of weeks I hope this site will have a running list of pending nominations and future appointments to enable applicants to send in pre-appointment clerkship applications.
Appellate Judges
O'Brien, Terrence (10th Cir.)
Location: Cheyenne, WY
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/30/2011
District Judges
None.
Magistrate Judges
None.
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
Judicial conservatives have lost one of their most prominent and popular federal judges. In a stunning, unexpected announcement, Judge Michael McConnell (10th Cir.), one of the brightest, influential, and most academically accomplished federal judges (and on everyone's short list for a Supreme Court nomination) will resign from the bench effective August 31, 2009 in order to take a position on the Stanford Law School faculty. The official press release from the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit is available here.
Appellate Judges
Agee, G. Steven (4th Cir.)
Location: Richmond, VA
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/15/2012
Notes: Applicants with strong connections to Virginia should state so in the cover letter.
Howard, Jeffery (1st Cir.)
Location: Concord, ME
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011
District Judges
Browning, James (D.N.M.)
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Term: 9/6/2010 to 9/2/2011
Notes: Two positions available.
Magistrate Judges
None.
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
A large number of court and judge pages were updated today to reflect several judges who have assumed senior status over the past few weeks, including Judge Robert Gettleman (N.D. Ill.), who assumed senior status today. Note that as a matter of policy we will only update senior status after it has been formally assumed, so judges who have announced an intent to assume senior status in the future, like Judges Guido Calabresi (2d Cir.) (July 21, 2009) and Rhesa Barksdale (5th Cir.) (August 8, 2009), will not be updated until those dates have passed.
I can now confirm, again, from a very reliable source, that Judge Raymond Kethledge (6th Cir.) is not only completely full for the 2010-11 term, but has also partially hired for 2011-12 (a fact not reflected on OSCAR)! The early hiring list has been updated to reflect Kethledge's status, and I have also put up law school demographic information on his four 2010-11 clerks-to-be.
It should go without saying that if you're interested in Judge Kethledge, and are in the market for a 2011-12 clerkship, you might want to send your application materials in ASAP...
I have been able to confirm from a very reliable source that Judge Jerry Smith (5th Cir.) is now accepting paper clerkship applications for the 2010-11 term, even though (contrary to prior practice) this fact is not yet advertised on OSCAR. Judge Smith is notorious for not complying with the hiring plan and for interviewing law students well before September, so I would speculate that current 2Ls / rising 3Ls should send in their application materials as soon as possible to maximize their chances.
Appellate Judges
None.
District Judges
Vazque, Martha (D.N.M.)
Location: Santa Fe, NM
Term: 6/1/2009 to 5/31/2011
Notes: May extend clerkship up to four years. The position is available immediately. A minimum of one year of legal experience is required.
Magistrate Judges
None.
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
A very interesting discussion has emerged on the Prettier Than Napoleon blog regarding passing drug tests and obtaining security clearances as prerequisites to obtaining certain clerkships, particularly on the D.C. Circuit and the 4th Circuit. Here is one particularly interesting morsel of information:
To work on the Guantanimo cases, you have to get a security clearance. It is not a super-secret security clearance that requires a polygraph. There is NO drug test although as part of the clearance process you must describe your history with illegal drugs. Some judges require all their clerks to get a clearance, others have a designated Guantanimo clerk.
For more, read the original post and its comments!
Since we are in the midst of the traditional application season for United States Supreme Court clerkships for the 2010-11 term, I thought I would link to this very comprehensive post about how to apply for a SCOTUS clerkship.
A very large amount of law clerk data (primarily for the 2008-09 term) has been added for every federal appellate court (except for Armed Forces--if anyone knows where I can get clerk data for that court please email me). I have also slightly changed the layout to the appellate court and judges pages to reduce white space and to display more information (such as 2008-09 law clerk demographics and a list of recent blog posts about the court/judge).
I expect to do a similar data dump for district judges within the next few days (perhaps as early as tomorrow).
Appellate Judges
Sykes, Diane (7th Cir.)
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/12/2011
Notes: Four positions available. Officing in Chicago chambers may be permitted.
District Judges
None.
Magistrate Judges
None.
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
Two new features have been added to the site this afternoon:
* On the main page you can now do a quick jump to a specific court's page through a pull down menu on the left (provided you know the court's abbreviation!).
* You can now filter blog posts by a specific court through the new pull-down menus located on the blog section's sidebar.
Not surprisingly, speculation already abounds as to who President Barack Obama will select to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter. Here are some highlights from around the blogosphere:
* Orin Kerr guesses it will be Solicitor General and former Harvard Law School dean Elena Kagan, but he would prefer sitting judges Merrick Garland (D.C. Cir.) or Diane Wood (7th Cir.).
* Marc Randazza would like to see Alex Kozinski (9th Cir.), law professor (and former Kozinski clerk) Eugene Volokh, or former Jenner & Block partner Donald B. Verrilli.
* Scott Greenfield is hoping for Sonia Sotomayor (2d Cir.).
* Last but not least, several forum contributors (see, e.g., here and here) are fans of Kim McLane Wardlow (9th Cir.).
As I noted last night, this should make for a very interesting summer!
Mere hours after the AP alluded to the possibility, Supreme Court Justice David Souter has apparently confirmed his intent to retire at the end of the 2009-10 term.
Needless to say, this should make for a very interesting summer!
Some quick updates to the Law Clerk Addict's list of judges hiring before the Plan:
* The previously reported rumor that Theodore McKee (3d Cir.) has completed hiring for 2010 has been confirmed. Furthermore, though not reflected on the list (which only covers the 2010-11 hiring season), I have received a reliable tip that Judge McKee has already made one hire for 2011-12.
* These aren't based on new information, but I have updated the list to add older rumors that Allyson Duncan (4th Cir.) and Eugene Davis (5th Cir.) have partially hired and that Peter Fay (11th Cir.) is completely done for the 2010-11 term.
The Associated Press reports today that Supreme Court Justice David Souter has still not hired law clerks for the 2009-10 term. James Perkins at the Committee for Justice blog correctly notes that although Souter is usually late to hire, "this is really late, even for him."
It should go without saying that SCOTUS retirements are notoriously hard to predict, and for all we know Souter is getting a good laugh out of this. Of course, it also goes without saying that it would be great if you could email Law Clerk Addict at lawfirmaddict@gmail.com if you have any information about whether Justice Souter (or any other judge) is interviewing or hiring law clerks for any term.
I have noticed that there has been a large amount of discussion recently (see here, here, and here) in how one can obtain a clerkship in Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, and similar jurisdictions. Perhaps surprisingly, there are some resources out there examining this very question. Here are some of the better ones:
* Michael J. Keyser, The Best Kept Secret in the Law: How to Get Paid to Live on a Tropical Island, 15 J. TRANSNAT’L L.& POL’Y 219, 235 (2006) -- this law review article, available for download on the FSU website, provides perhaps the most comprehensive guide to obtaining a clerkship in American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, the Marshall Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands.
* Clerks in Paradise -- an article published last year in the American Lawyer discussing clerkships in tropical islands and mentioning what some clerks did after returning to the mainland United States. See also this Above the Law post about the article.
* Law Clerk on Gilligan's Island -- written by a former law clerk for the Supreme Court of Palau (yes, technically not a United States jurisdiction, but close enough to warrant inclusion), this website discusses the author's experience adjusting to both his clerkship and life on a tropical Pacific island.
Appellate Judges
Hug, Procter (9th Cir.)
Location: Reno, NV
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/20/2011
Notes: Two positions available.
District Judges
Burrell, Garland (E.D. Cal.)
Location: Sacramento, CA
Term: 5/18/2009 to 9/4/2009
Notes: Term Law Clerk position with three spots available. Completion of at least one year of post graduate legal work experience is highly preferred.
Mattice, Harry (E.D. Tenn.)
Location: Chattanooga, TN
Term: 8/30/2010 to 8/30/2012
Magistrate Judges
None.
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
I am pleased to announce a new tool, Federal Judges Hiring Before the Plan: 2010-11 Clerkship Season, which you can access through the new "hiring" tab.
Under the Law Clerk Hiring Plan, federal judges may not participate in the law clerk hiring process until after Labor Day. Nevertheless, some judges hire early. This page documents which judges interviewed applicants and/or partially or fully completed the 2010-11 hiring process before September 8, 2009. Unlike the notifications section, which operates year-round and is unmoderated, these charts are exclusively maintained by Law Clerk Addict and will not be updated after Labor Day.
For purposes of the chart, a judge's hiring practices are "confirmed" when I receive verifiable information from a reliable source (e.g. chambers, or a law school career services office). All other tips (e.g. anonymous emails)are deemed "rumors" until/unless they are verified. If you would like to report a pre-Plan interview or offer (and yes, we consider interviews with / offers to alumni prior to Labor Day as "pre-Plan" hiring even though such interactions do not violate the Plan) please send an email to lawfirmaddict@gmail.com. Likewise, please email me (or post in the comments section) if any information posted on the hiring table (or any other part of the site) is incorrect or if you can confirm a rumor.
I have input updated law clerk demographic data for every circuit court and several district courts, including (by popular demand) the Southern District of New York.
As always, if my data is incorrect, or (better yet) you would like to share new information that I missed, please email me at lawfirmaddict@gmail.com or post a comment on this blog post or with the respective court!
Appellate Judges
Tashima, A. Wallace (9th Cir.)
Location: Pasadena, CA
Term: 8/31/2010 to 9/1/2011
District Judges
Cote, Denise (S.D.N.Y.)
Location: New York, NY
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011 and 1/1/2011 to 1/1/2012
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Magistrate Judges
None.
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
Appellate Judges
None.
District Judges
Batts, Deborah (S.D.N.Y.)
Location: New York, NY
Term: 9/13/2010 to 9/7/2012
Notes: Two positions available.
Joyner, J. Curtis (E.D. Pa.)
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/3/2011
Notes: Law Schools considered: Columbia, Georgetown, Harvard, Howard, Michigan, Stanford, Temple, University of Pennsylvania, University of Virginia, Villanova and Yale.
Kessler, Gladys (D.D.C.)
Location: Washington, DC
Term: 8/28/2010 to 8/30/2012
Trauger, Aleta (M.D. Tenn.)
Location: Nashville, TN
Term: 8/31/2010 to 8/31/2012
Magistrate Judges
None.
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
Yes, I understand that in some circles a staff attorney position is not considered a "real clerkship." Nevertheless, while Law Clerk Addict does not collect data on staff attorneys (at least not yet), I thought this job announcement from the Atlanta-based United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit might be of interest to this blog's readers.
View the full job announcement below the fold.
In cast you might not have gotten the hint from yesterday's post, not all federal judicial clerkships are advertised on OSCAR, particularly those with relatively short application windows. A good place to find some of these non-OSCAR clerkships is to view the job announcements at the U.S. Courts website.
What sort of positions can you find there? Currently, federal judges in Florida, Maryland, Nevada, and Ohio are advertising openings for 2009 clerkships.
Have you had your biglaw offer rescinded, your start date deferred, or been outright fired? Well, the good news is that you can clerk for a SDNY magistrate judge... well, provided you're willing to work for free for a year and are okay with the title "judicial intern" (but don't fret, for "the internships will be substantively similar to a clerkship").
Information on how to apply for one-year volunteer internships with Magistrate Judges Debra Freeman (SDNY) and James Francis (SDNY) are below the fold. For those who care less about job prestige and more about putting food on the table, a Manhattan-based 2009 clerkship is also available with state Judge Bernard J. Fried--provided, of course, that you can work part-time.
The Minnesota Supreme Court and the Minnesota Court of Appeals are, as of this week, accepting clerkship applications for the 2010-11 term.
Thinking about applying? Details are under the fold.
Appellate Judges
Barry, Maryanne (3d Cir.)
Location: Newark, NJ
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011
Moore, Karen (6th Cir.)
Location: Cleveland, OH
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011
Williams, Ann (7th Cir.)
Location: Chicago, IL
Term: 1/3/2011 to 12/31/2011
District Judges
Zloch, William (S.D. Fla.)
Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL
Term: 9/7/2010 to 8/31/2012
Magistrate Judges
Carter, Andrew (E.D.N.Y.)
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Term: 6/15/2009 to 6/15/2010
Notes: Newly appointed judge. Three years of civil litigation experience and bar admission required. Two positions available. Closes on May 7, 2009.
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
In conjunction with 4lawschool, AutoAdmit, and Law School Numbers, I'm pleased to roll out the brand new home for the Law Clerk Addict.
http://www.lawclerkaddict.com
What you'll find:
-Blog entries for LCA
-Mirror site for AutoAdmit clerk-related threads
-Notifications of recently-posted information on judges contacting or extending offers to applicants
-Full database of federal court of appeals judges, and expanded database of federal district court judges
-Law school demographics, archived annually, of the judges' clerks
-Career history, profile information, and anonymous commentary for each judge
-And more to come in the future!
Please, please, please visit, and help make the 2010-2011 clerkship season a rousing success for LCA!
I'm very happy to take any suggestions, comments, concerns, or thoughts you may have on the site.
Thank you!
Because of the format switch from Blogspot to this website, I have to manually re-input all the old blog posts from the 2007, 2008, and 2009 Law Clerk Addict blogs. Because of the sheer number of posts that have accumulated over the past three years, not all of my prior content has been imported yet. However, with any luck all of these old posts will be brought over to lawclerkaddict.com within the end of the month. In the meantime, you can visit the old blogs to access prior years' data.
As you can see, the Law Clerk Addict website has undergone some big changes. More details will be provided in a few days.
In all, there are 289 3Ls clerking, comprising about 56% of all clerks. About 35% of clerks are graduates, totaling 181 clerks. "Unknown" (47) comprises the remainder.
Two qualifications of this data.
First, "early" means pre-plan. Now, it's not technically "early" to hire graduates pre-plan, but it's a way of distinguishing when judges move and how quickly.
Second, a listing as "not early" may actually mean early. If a judge hires a clerk on August 1, but it is reported on this site on October 1, then it is recorded as "not early," even though it was an early hire. Note, however, that the converse cannot be true, which means that the "early" hiring statistics are a guaranteed minimum.
Here's a visual representation of the percentage of clerks from the Top 31 law schools. (I apologize for the abbreviations; however, they should be sufficiently readable.) Blue means the clerk will graduate in 2009; red means the clerk was a graduate with prior work experience; pale yellow means the clerk's graduate status is unknown.
Someone alerted me that at least one school's "class size" used for percentages is incorrect. I checked, and sure enough, a number of schools' denominators (i.e., class size) were incorrect. I'm in the process of updating them. My method takes the ABA 2008 report of matriculation, then subtracting transfers out and adding transfers in. While it isn't the precise Class of 2009 calculation, it approximates the class size post-transfers. I hope to finish that shortly.
I've created three lists out of whole cloth. The first are the dozen most prestigious judges, by my own estimation and a variety of factors (exclusivity, productivity, feedability, etc.).
The second and third lists are a bit more unique. They focus on the most ten prestigious appointees of the last two presidents, Bush and Clinton. These are generally younger judges who show signs of the factors of the most prestigious judges (or are on that list), have been mentioned as possible McCain or Obama Supreme Court nominees, and are the most "coveted" if you seek a "younger" judge (although not all are necessarily relatively "young," but might be, e.g., one who can serve as a mentor longer, one who still has significant connections in their prior field of work, etc.).
I've only included clerks hired this year. A two-year clerk in the second year of a clerkship for 2009-2010, for instance, would not be included [but a clerk working a second year would be bracketed]. A career clerk would not be listed.
Feel free to post anonymously. It's not the most readable format, but if you search using Ctrl+F, it makes it extremely easy to find the information you want, all on one page. It's also easy for me to edit, and I don't have to host a Web page.
Law Clerk Addict 2009 is now operating! Hard to believe that the hiring season has begun, but several judges hire two years in advance instead of just one year, and several others have begun searching this spring. Feel free to post any information you have (anonymously, of course) for the 2009-2010 clerkship year over there.
Here's a visual representation of the percentage of clerks from the Top 30 and Top 50 schools. (I apologize for the abbreviations; however, they should be sufficiently readable.)
Curious which schools place a plurality percentage of their clerks in a single circuit? Sorted below. (Minimum 10 clerks, ties so noted.)
To view the latest clerkship salary bonus for Vault 100 firms, click here.
Last updated March 19, 2008.
I've only included clerks hired this year. A two-year clerk in the second year of a clerkship for 2008-2009, for instance, would not be included [but a clerk working a second year would be bracketed]. Feel free to post anonymously. It's not the most readable format, but if you search using Ctrl+F, it makes it extremely easy to find the information you want, all on one page. It's also easy for me to edit, and I don't have to host a Web page.
Given the recent flurry of visitors, I want to restate a comment I made on the 2008 blog.
Do not tell me that I'm missing information or about how inaccurate my information is. If it's inaccurate and you can correct the errata, then tell me what to correct and I'll do so. If it's inaccurate but you have no factual information that can remedy the errata, save some anecdotal evidence of "at least a dozen" people who're clerking, or that "I can think of at least three that aren't listed," but you fail to name who they're clerking for, I'll ignore your comments. It's utterly unproductive. You must name the judge that a clerk from a given school is working for. I will not include generic tallies of reported clerks from a given school.
Check out http://lawclerkaddict2008.blogspot.com for this year's clerkship data.
Due to slow reporting, my own hectic schedule, and the inability to find a new primary source to aggregate information after the recent problems with AutoAdmit, updates will be rare. I'm putting the 2007 Summer Associate class statistics on hold until AutoAdmit cleans up its act, I find another source of information, or I find the time to contact recruiters directly. This page will be occasionally updated; see the comments if you'd like the uncollected data.
I wondered where the surge in posts came from, and I attribute it solely to the judicial diva (divo?) at Above the Law. A few comments.
First, this format is meant to be easy for me to do. Sorry, it's low-tech, but that's what you'll get from me. If you're capable of pressing Ctrl+F, you should find everything you need rather quickly and easily.
The chart below indicates the clerkship salary bonus that the Vault 100 (2008) firms offer federal COA clerks. Some notes:
-The chart uses the highest number for an office if different offices give different amounts.
-The chart uses only the official number of the firm, not the number that some may negotiate or that some clerks may receive for working for a particular judge or circuit.
-The second number indicates what, if anything, a two-year clerk receives (or "cbc" if case-by-case).
-Blanks are unknown data.
-All numbers are in thousands of dollars.
(The percentage represents the % of a given class that will be clerking for the 2007-2008 term. The denominators for class size include both full-time and part-time students. The numerators are not adjusted to exclude alumni who will clerk from current students, and include both alumni and current students.)
Comment: "How in the WORLD did you manage to get all of this inside information?!"
Answer: I've just been compiling it from this blog and comments posted, and from the Clerkship Notification Blog and comments posted there. That's it. Feel free to continue to share--many appreciate it.
Inactive judges and judges who did not hire any clerks this term (generally those with only career clerks) are so noted. A clerk serving a second or subsequent year in 2007-2008 is marked with [brackets].
I've only included clerks hired this year. A two-year clerk in the second year of a clerkship for 2007-2008, for instance, would not be included. I've been keeping some track of whether it's 3Ls or graduates, and I'll update that once we get some more data. Feel free to post anonymously. I'll add all the senior judges, and mark them as such, after I get more comfortable with the data and start getting wider results reported. Right now, I have absolutely zero data from any senior judge. Finally, I took most of my information from the Clerkship Notification Blog, linked in the sidebar, and for that I am truly grateful.
Howard: Cornell, Harvard
Lynch: Harvard, Harvard, Stanford
Selya: Duke, Harvard
Torruella: Columbia, Columbia, Columbia
Stahl (Sr.): NYU, Penn
Unavailable: Lipez, Campbell (Sr.), Coffin (Sr.), Cyr (Sr.)
Calabresi: Harvard, NYU, Penn, Yale
Hall: Brooklyn, NYU, Vermont
Jacobs: Columbia, Yale
Katzmann: Harvard, Harvard, NYU, Yale
Livingston: Columbia, Columbia
Pooler: Yale
Raggi: Harvard, NYU
Sack: Stanford, Yale
Straub: Chicago, Stanford
Sotomayor: Chicago, Stanford, Yale
Walker: Cornell, Texas, Yale
Wesley: Iowa, Penn, Yale
Cardamone (Sr.): Cornell
Feinberg (Sr.): Columbia
Kearse (Sr.): Columbia, Harvard, Harvard
Leval (Sr.): Columbia, Emory, Stanford
Newman (Sr.): Boston U, Duke
Miner (Sr.): none
Winter (Sr.): Yale
Unavailable: Parker, McLaughlin (Sr.), Meskill (Sr.), Oakes (Sr.)
Barry: Penn
Chagares: Brooklyn, Cornell
Fisher: Georgetown, Temple
Fuentes: Harvard, NYU
Hardiman: Duke
Jordan: Penn
McKee: Penn
Rendell: NYU, Penn
Scirica: Penn, Penn, Vermont
Sloviter: UCLA
Smith: Ave Maria, Dickinson, Georgetown, Harvard
Van Antwerpen: Temple, W&M
Aldisert (Sr.): Harvard, Oklahoma
Cowen (Sr.): Virginia
Greenberg (Sr.): Rutgers
Roth (Sr.): Duke, Texas
Stapleton (Sr.): Georgetown
Weis (Sr.): Columbia
Unavailable: Garth (Sr.), Nygaard (Sr.)
Gregory: Georgetown, Northwestern, Yale
King: Virginia, W&L, W&L, West Virginia
Michael: Georgetown
Motz: Michigan, NYU, Stanford, Virginia
Niemeyer: Notre Dame, Virginia, Yale
Shedd: Harvard, Harvard
Widener: Georgetown, Memphis, Tennessee
Wilkins: none
Wilkinson: Harvard, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Yale
Chapman (Sr.): Inactive
Phillips (Sr.): Inactive
Unavailable: Traxler, Williams, Hamilton (Sr.)
Benavides: NYU
Clement: Notre Dame, Richmond, Stanford
Davis: Emory, LSU
DeMoss: Texas
Dennis: Cleveland State, Stanford
Garza: Chicago, Georgetown, NYU
Jolly: Duke, Harvard, Stanford
Jones: Minnesota, Harvard, Texas
King: Houston, Texas
Owen: Harvard, Michigan, Texas, Yale
Prado: GWU, Texas
Smith: Texas, Virginia, Yale
Stewart: Tulane
Wiener: Columbia, LSU
Garwood (Sr.): Texas, Texas
Higginbotham (Sr.): Texas, Yale
Reavley (Sr.): Texas, Texas
Unavailable: Duhé (Sr.)
Boggs: Notre Dame, Virginia, Yale
Clay: Duke, UCLA
Cole: Boalt, Michigan, Yale
Cook: Akron, Columbia, Harvard, WUSTL
Daughtrey: Boalt, Chicago
Gibbons: Stanford, Stanford
Gilman: Boalt, Duke, Georgetown, NYLS
Martin: Boston U, Michigan, Virginia
McKeague: Ohio State
Evans: Virginia
Flaum: Northwestern, Northwestern
Kanne: Cornell, Michigan, Wisconsin
Manion: Ave Maria, Ave Maria, Notre Dame
Posner: Chicago, Stanford, Yale
Ripple: Fordham, Michigan, Virginia
Sykes: Harvard, Marquette, Notre Dame
Williams: Northwestern
Wood: Boalt, Chicago, Penn
Bauer (Sr.): Northwestern
Wood, Jr. (Sr.): Inactive
Benton: Duke, Missouri, WUSTL
Bye: Minnesota, UConn
Colloton: Chicago, Harvard, Iowa
Gruender: Duke, Notre Dame, WUSTL
Loken: Chicago, Minnesota, Yale
Melloy: Iowa, Iowa
Murphy: Duke, Michigan, Minnesota
Smith: Arkansas, Stanford
Wollman: Iowa
Bright (Sr.): Boston College, Georgetown, Penn
Hansen (Sr.): Minnesota
Magill (Sr.): Georgetown
Unavailable: Riley, Shepherd, Beam (Sr.), Bowman (Sr.), Fagg (Sr.), Gibson (Sr.), Lay (Sr.), Ross (Sr.)
Berzon: NYU, NYU, Stanford, Yale
Bybee: Columbia, Harvard, UCLA
Callahan: McGeorge
Clifton: Boalt, Hawaii, Stanford, Yale
Fisher: Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Yale
W. Fletcher: Boalt, Harvard, Minnesota, Yale
Gould: Georgetown, Michigan, UCLA
Hawkins: Columbia, Harvard, Stanford
Ikuta*: Columbia, Michigan, Stanford, USC, Vanderbilt
Kleinfeld: Harvard, Hastings
Kozinski: Stanford, Texas, Yale
Gorsuch: Boalt, Duke, Harvard, Stanford
Hartz: Harvard, Michigan, Stanford
Holmes: Georgetown, Harvard, Harvard
Kelly: Boston College, BYU, Fordham
Lucero: Duke, GWU, NYU, NYU
McConnell: Harvard, Northwestern, Yale, Yale
Murphy: Georgetown, Michigan
Tymkovich: Cornell, Harvard, Northwestern, Stanford
Baldock (Sr.): Seton Hall, W&L
Ebel (Sr.): Stanford, Stanford, Texas
Unavailable: Henry, O'Brien, Tacha, Anderson (Sr.), Barrett (Sr.), Brorby (Sr.), Holloway (Sr.), McKay (Sr.), McWilliams (Sr.), Porfilio (Sr.), Seymour (Sr.)
Barkett: Harvard, Stanford
Birch: Vanderbilt
Black: Duke, Notre Dame, Wisconsin
Carnes: Emory, Florida, GWU, Notre Dame
Dubina: Alabama, Alabama, Georgia
Edmondson: Stanford, Texas
Hull: Emory, Emory, GWU, Michigan
Marcus: Stanford
Pryor: Harvard, Notre Dame, Virginia
Tjoflat: Alabama, Duke, Harvard, Harvard, Texas
Wilson: Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Yale
Cox (Sr.): Alabama
Kravitch (Sr.): Texas, Tulane, Virginia
Unavailable: Clark (Sr.), Cox (Sr.), Fay (Sr.), Godbold (Sr.), Hill (Sr.)
Garland: Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Yale
Ginsburg: Columbia, Harvard, NYU
Griffith: Harvard, Harvard, Michigan
Kavanaugh: Harvard, Stanford, Virginia
Randolph: Chicago, Columbia, Yale, Yale
Rogers: Michigan, Stanford, Yale, Yale
Sentelle: North Carolina, Washington
Tatel: Columbia, Georgetown, Harvard, Stanford
Edwards (Sr.): NYU, Yale
Silberman (Sr.): Harvard
Williams (Sr.): Boalt, Virginia, Yale
Dyk: Harvard, Northwestern
Mayer: Michigan
Michel: Kent, Penn, Stanford
Moore: Harvard, Penn
Rader: George Mason, Washington
Schall: Duke, Vanderbilt, Virginia
Clevenger (Sr.): Penn
Archer (Sr.): None
Cowen (Sr.): Inactive
Plager (Sr.): None
Unavailable: Gajarsa, Linn, Lourie, Newman, Prost, Friedman (Sr.)