Law Clerk Addict's Blog
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.
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.
Gerard Lynch, formerly of the Southern District of New York, was officially confirmed to the Second Circuit on September 18, 2009.
Various media sources are reporting that President Obama will likely nominate Judge Denny Chin (S.D.N.Y.) to a vacancy on the Second Circuit. Please note that while some articles are treating this nomination as a done deal, nominations are never official until formally made by the President.
Appellate Judges
Newman, Jon (2d Cir.)
Location: Hartford, CT
Term: 8/1/2010 to 7/1/2011
Kennedy, Cornelia (6th Cir.)
Location: Detroit, MI
Term: 6/1/2010 to 6/1/2011
Newman, Jon (2d Cir.)
Location: Hartford, CT
Term: 8/1/2010 to 7/1/2011
District Judges
Adams, Henry (M.D. Fla.)
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2012
Coar, David (N.D. Ill.)
Location: Chicago, IL
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011
Magistrate Judges
mann, roanne (E.D.N.Y.)
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Term: 8/23/2010 to 9/2/2011
Brennan, Edmund (E.D. Cal.)
Location: Sacramento, CA
Term: 9/27/2009 to 9/30/2010
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is currently seeking deferred associates to fill several unpaid 2009-10 volunteer clerkship positions. Each applicant should submit a form (obtained from human resources), a cover letter with three listed references, an unedited writing sample not to exteed ten pages, and college and law school transcripts.
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.
Appellate Judges
Leval, Pierre (2d Cir.)
Location: New York, NY
Term: 6/1/2010 to 6/1/2011
Suhrheinrich, Richard (6th Cir.)
Location: Lansing, MI
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011
McKeown, M. (9th Cir.)
Location: San Diego, CA
Term: 8/15/2011 to 8/31/2012
Roth, Jane (3d Cir.)
Location: Wilmington, DE
Term: 9/1/2011 to 8/31/2012
Notes: Moving chambers to Philadelphia, PA in late 2009.
Hardiman, Thomas (3d Cir.)
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Term: 9/1/2011 to 8/31/2012
District Judges
Covello, Alfred (D. Conn.)
Location: Hartford, CT
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/13/2011
Wigenton, Susan (D.N.J.)
Location: Newark, NJ
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2011
Jackson, Raymond (E.D. Va.)
Location: Norfolk, VA
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/17/2011
Lee, Gerald (E.D. Va.)
Location: Alexandria, VA
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/20/2012
Faber, David (S.D. WVa.)
Location: Bluefield, WV
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011
Duggan, Patrick (E.D. Mich.)
Location: Detroit, MI
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2012
O'Malley, Kathleen (N.D. Ohio)
Location: Cleveland, OH
Term: 9/13/2010 to 9/14/2012
Campbell, David (D. Ariz.)
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/2/2011
Wilson, Stephen (C.D. Cal.)
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Term: 8/9/2010 to 8/5/2011 and 8/16/2010 to 8/12/2011
Alsup, William (N.D. Cal.)
Location: San Francisco, CA
Term: 9/1/2011 to 8/31/2012 and 11/19/2011 to 11/13/2012
Huff, Marilyn (S.D. Cal.)
Location: San Diego, CA
Term: 9/7/2010 to 8/27/2011
Smith, C. (N.D. Ala.)
Location: Huntsville, AL
Term: 8/1/2010 to 8/1/2011
Magistrate Judges
Hayes, Karen (W.D. La.)
Location: Monroe, LA
Term: 8/30/2010 to 8/26/2011
Miller, Tommy (E.D. Va.)
Location: Norfolk, VA
Term: 8/22/2010 to 8/14/2011
Gold, Steven (E.D.N.Y.)
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Term: 9/1/2010 to 8/31/2011
Bankruptcy Judges
Barbosa, Manuel (Bankr. N.D. Ill.)
Location: Rockford, IL
Term: 8/17/2009 to 8/18/2010
This site has largely avoided discussing the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor (2d Cir.) to the United States Supreme Court, if only because there are numerous other websites providing far more coverage. However, those interested in the Sotomayor nomination or Sotomayor's confirmation hearing might find this list of primary sources compiled by the now-ironically-named ConfirmThem useful. The resources include not only documents Judge Sotomayor has submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee, but materials related to her previous Second Circuit and Southern District of New York nominations as well.
Appellate Judges
Pooler, Rosemary (2d Cir.)
Location: Syracuse, NY
Term: 8/24/2011 to 8/25/2012
Straub, Chester (2d Cir.)
Location: New York, NY
Term: 7/1/2010 to 7/1/2011
Posner, Richard (7th Cir.)
Location: Chicago, IL
Term: 8/24/2011 to 8/25/2012
District Judges
Davis, Leonard (E.D. Tex.)
Location: Tyler, TX
Term: 8/16/2010 to 8/12/2011
Damich, Edward (Fed. Cl.)
Location: Washington, DC
Term: 9/7/2010 to 8/31/2012
Braden, Susan (Fed. Cl.)
Location: Washington, DC
Term: 9/2/2010 to 9/7/2011
Davis, Leonard (D.N.H.)
Location: Concord, NH
Term: 8/30/2010 to 8/26/2011 or 9/10/2010 to 9/10/2011
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
Magistrate Judges
Brown, Joe (M.D. Tenn.)
Location: Nashville, TN
Term: 10/8/2009 to 10/8/2010
Bankruptcy Judges
None.
Today's New York Times has a very interesting article discussing the relationship between Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor (2d Cir.) and Judge Jose Cabranes (2d Cir.), which started twenty years before they became colleagues on the Second Circuit.
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.
Appellate Judges
Walker, John (2d Cir.)
Location: New Haven, CT
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/15/2011 or 8/15/2011 to 8/15/2012
Notes: Two positions available, with different term dates.
District Judges
O'Toole, George (D. Mass.)
Location: Boston, MA
Term: 9/1/2010 to 9/1/2012
Posnor, Michael (D. Mass.)
Location: Springfield, MA
Term: 9/7/2010 to 9/7/2011
Underhill, Stefan (D. Conn.)
Location: Bridgeport, CT
Term: 8/15/2010 to 8/15/2012
Magistrate Judges
Lopez, Marcos (D.P.R.)
Location: San Juan, PR
Term: 9/20/2010 to 9/20/2011
Conroy, John (D. Vt.)
Location: Burlington, VT
Term: 9/20/2010 to 9/20/2011
Bankruptcy Judges
Davis, Diane (Bankrpt. N.Y.)
Location: Utica, NY
Term: 10/1/2009 to 9/30/2010
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
Because retiring Justice David Souter chose not to hire any law clerks for the 2009-10 term, there are no jobless Supreme Court clerks for soon-to-be-Justice Sonia Sotomayor (2d Cir.) to inherit (provided that she isn't filibustered). Like most federal judges, Judge Sotomayor has already hired a full complement of law clerks for the 2009-10, but since it is almost unheard of for someone to clerk directly for the Supreme Court without prior clerkship experience, it is unlikely that these individuals will be joining Judge Sotomayor at One First Street this fall. Given that President Obama has been rather dilatory with judicial nominations and his only pending nomination to the Second Circuit is District Judge Gerard Lynch (S.D.N.Y.)--who has 2009-10 clerks of his own lined up--it is not likely that all of the 2009-10 clerks Judge Sotomayor hired last fall can readily get placements with other Second Circuit judges. Given the rather unique situation, it will be interesting to see what happens to these already-hired clerks in the coming months, and who will clerk for Judge Sotomayor this fall.
Numerous media outlets are reporting that President Barack Obama will announce at 10AM that he will nominate Judge Sonia Sotomayor (2d Cir.) to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter.
Because I have received a lot of emails asking for more detailed law clerk demographics--particularly, whether the clerks listed are term, or career clerks, and whether they were hired as law students or alumni--the judge pages have been redesigned to provide all of this information. For example, check out the profile pages for Judge Charles Smith (N.D. Ala.) and Judge Sonia Sotomayor (2d Cir.).
The law clerk demographics tables for the full court remain unchanged.
The 2010-11 early hiring list has been updated to reflect tips we have received that Judge Guido Calabresi (2d Cir.) has partially hired and that Judge Richard Tallman (9th Cir.) is currently conducting interviews. Judge Calabresi is rumored to have hired from Duke and Yale.
On the district court front, rumor has it that Judge Renee Bumb (D.N.J.) is done for 2010-11.
8:05PM UPDATE: According to our notifications section, it appears that libertarian Judge Andrew Kleinfeld (9th Cir.), who has the distinction of being the northern-most federal judge in the nation, may have also began the interviewing process.
The following judges currently have five or more clerks listed for a particular term in the Law Clerk Addict database:
Fortunato Benavides (5th Cir.)
Absent some unusual circumstances, like Judge Gerald Tjoflat (11th Cir.), who gets to hire a fifth elbow clerk through staff attorney appropriations, a judge should not have more than four clerks for a given term. Accordingly, it is almost certain that Law Clerk Addict's listings for the above judges have at least one error (most likely a hire being reported for the wrong term). If anyone with insider knowledge can provide corrected information for any of these judges (or confirm that they actually will have five clerks for the listed terms) please email Law Clerk Addict at lawfirmaddict@gmail.com or post a comment.
A large number of court and judge pages were updated today to reflect several judges who have assumed senior status over the past few weeks, including Judge Robert Gettleman (N.D. Ill.), who assumed senior status today. Note that as a matter of policy we will only update senior status after it has been formally assumed, so judges who have announced an intent to assume senior status in the future, like Judges Guido Calabresi (2d Cir.) (July 21, 2009) and Rhesa Barksdale (5th Cir.) (August 8, 2009), will not be updated until those dates have passed.
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!