Law Clerk Addict's Blog
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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!).
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.
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
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
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.
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!