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