Law Clerk Addict's Blog
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.).
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
District Judge Samuel J. Kent (S.D. Tex.) was sentenced today to 33 months in prison for obstruction of justice.
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.