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