Law Clerk Addict's Blog



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



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 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].




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



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.