Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: OT 2008 (Update #5)
Not too long ago, we said we had a "gut feeling" that some Supreme Court clerk hiring was going on (despite the Court being in recess). We were right.
Meet Porter Wilkinson. And don't hate her because she's beautiful. Or brilliant. Or rich. Or the daughter of a top feeder judge and frequent Supreme Court short-lister, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson (4th Cir.).
Or, for that matter, a future Supreme Court clerk. We hear that Judge Wilkinson's daughter -- yes, Porter is a girl's name, if you're a WASP -- just landed an October Term 2008 clerkship with Chief Justice John Roberts. Congratulations, Porter!
Not surprisingly, we hear that the young Ms. Wilkinson is fairly conservative -- in case you couldn't have guessed that from the fact that she's currently clerking for Judge Brett Kavanaugh (D.C. Cir.) (alongside the lovely, and recently married, Zina Gelman).
And where did we hear about Porter's politics? From Judge Wilkinson himself!
In late July, we attended the excellent national convention of the American Constitution Society, in Washington, DC. Judge Wilkinson was on one of the panels. In thanking the ACS for inviting him, he noted that his son is a member of the liberal organization -- but that he's balanced out by his sister Porter, a card-carrying member of the Federalist Society. We bet the Wilkinsons must have interesting dinner table conversations.
Porter Wilkinson continues the trend of fathers and daughters who both clerked for the Court (as noted by Tony Mauro). See here.
Update: A tipster tells us, "FYI, Porter was an All-American lacrosse player at UNC. See here. Her husband [Christian Cook] was lacrosse Defenseman of the Year at Princeton and three-time national champion. Formerly of the Secret Service. See here. They got married this past summer in Charlottesville."
With Porter Wilkinson added, the current list of OT 2008 clerks thus far appears after the jump.
Graduation Awards: Four in the Class of 2007: Porter Wilkinson [Virginia Law]
Carter Phillips' Kin Is Alito Clerk [Legal Times]
Have you heard any Supreme Court clerk hiring news that hasn’t already appeared on ATL? If so, please contact us, by email (subject line: "Supreme Court clerk hiring"). (You can also post a comment, but we prefer email for this subject, so we can pose follow-up questions to you if we have them.)
Thanks for any and all info!
OCTOBER TERM 2008 SUPREME COURT CLERK HIRES (as of September 5, 2007)
Chief Justice John G. Roberts
1. Porter Wilkinson (UVA 2007 / Kavanaugh)
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?
Justice John Paul Stevens
1. Jessica Bulman-Pozen (Yale 2007 / Garland)
2. Cecelia Klingele (University of Wisconsin 2005 / B. Crabb (W.D. Wis.) / S. Black (11th Cir.))
3. Lindsey Powell (Stanford 2007 / Garland)
4. Damian Williams (Yale 2007 / Garland)
Justice Antonin Scalia
1. Jameson Jones (Stanford 2007 / Sutton)
2. Yaakov Roth (Harvard 2007 / Boudin)
3. David Thompson (Stanford 2007 / Kozinski)
4. ?
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy
1. Chris Walker (Stanford 2006 / Kozinski)
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?
Justice David H. Souter
1. ?
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?
Justice Clarence Thomas
1. William S. Consovoy (GMU 2001 / E. Jones)
2. Jennifer Mascott (GW 2006 / Kavanaugh)
3. Patrick Strawbridge (Creighton 2004 / M. Arnold)
4. ?
Bonus hire, for October Term 2009: Marah Stith (Yale 2006 / O'Scannlain)
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
1. Sue-Yun Ahn (Columbia 2006 / Cote (S.D.N.Y.) / Tatel Tot)
2. Miriam Seifter (Harvard 2007 / Garland)
3. Kevin Schwartz (Yale 2006 / Calabresi)
4. Rob Yablon (Yale 2006 / W. Fletcher)
Bonus hire, for October Term 2009 (and RBG is telling you she's not going): John Rappaport (Harvard 2006 / Reinhardt)
Justice Stephen G. Breyer
1. Seth Grossman (Yale 2005 / Reinhardt / Calabresi)
2. Matthew E. Price (Harvard 2006 / Boudin)
3. ?
4. ?
Justice Samuel Alito
1. Dana R. Irwin (Yale 2002 / Scirica)
2. Jack L. White (Pepperdine 2003 / Alito)
3. ?
4. ?
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (retired):
1. ?
As always, please bring errors or omissions to our attention by email (subject line: "Supreme Court clerk hiring"). Danke.
List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States [Wikipedia]
Earlier: Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: OT 2008 (Update #2)
Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: OT 2008 (Update #1)
Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: October Term 2008
(30) 
YEAH!!!!
FIRST!!!!
I'm confused. Porter isn't a fat bitch at all. She's a beautiful, accomplished young lady. Why would anyone slap her?
4:28 - Are you a COMPLETE MORON??? That was a totally separate post!!!!! LEARN TO READ AND DISTINGUISH BETWEEN POSTS. Porter has nothing to do with the BBC POST!!!!!
UGGGGGGGGG !!!!!!
LATTTTTTT DO SOMETHING ABOUT THESE TROLLS
Dipshit, I'm sure Huh?'s post was a JOKE. I know you're too engorssed in your TTT odc review to be paying attention to anything (much less that privileged doc you just put in the "produce" pile, asshole), but you may want to have that lack of a sense of humor looked at.
On another note, this entry (regarding P.W.) just shows that you gotta know people to know people. Total bullshit.
4:31
Yes, I do so wish
FIRST, beeatchays!!!
4:35(1): You sir - are an ass.
4:35(1): A careful and sensible lawyer goes far in his/her career.
You will not.
@4:31 - But is she a winner? Does she have a theme song proclaiming her a winner?
Arf arf!
It's interesting how the republican judges are less elitist. All the liberal judges seem to hire only from HYS.
I wonder if liberals are inherently more elitist. I'm not a republican or anything. Just making an observation and asking a question.
Her husband (see link in the Update) is HOT. I'd meet him in a bathroom stall anytime!
I think she's cute. I mean not hot or anything but cute. Plus, she went to Carolina and Virginia. She can't be all bad if she went to ACC schools! I bet she can at least engage in Monday Morning Quarterbacking more than I can say for the Harvard/Yale crowd.
The commentators on this thread should be ashamed of themselves. Porter is indeed beautiful, but more than that she is completely deserving of this clerkship irrespective of who her father is. She is extremely intelligent, a wonderful person, and it is a shame that some people will always assume that this was handed to her because of her lineage.
5:00 -- seriously! and all-american lacrosse? that makes her so much more interesting and well-rounded than so many of the HYS people.
5:02 = Porter's Dad
5:02: Do you honestly believe she's the most qualified applicant for the position and didn't get hired by dint of her lineage? She may be smart, but there are lots of smart people out there.
I meant 5:02(1) - Obviously -
She wasn't at the top of her class at the end of first or second years. Maybe at the end of third? Usually, UVA SCOTUS clerks are #1 or 2.
At least she's not a fat latina bitch who can't take a joke. My jaw still hurts from what those SAs did to me. How comes no one ever talks about that? THERE's your story, Lat. Follow the money. (I don't know what that last line means.)
K&E SA: ARE YOU KIDDING ME????? THEY WERE NOT ----- REPEAT ------- NOT SUMMERS!!!!!
LLLLLAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!
STOP THE TROLLS!!!!!
He's kind of cute. The hair makes him look like one of the kids from Hanson, but overall, he's got kind of a soccer-player hotness about him.
I don't understand. The WSJ law blog didn't post this as news two days ago, so where are you getting this story from? How do we even know it's true?
OMG, 5:21, you freakin' retarded douchebag. IT WAS A JOKE!!! I hope you idiot's realize how stupid your looking to those of us with a sense of humor.
I hope I'm never, ever, ever, ever, selected for "praise" on Lat's blog.
God bless John Roberts, Sam Alito, Clarence Thomas and Antonio Scalia. The conservative movement within the court system is the best thing to happen to justice and democracy in 200 years. Here is hoping Ron Paul or Fred Thompson wins the 2008 presidential election.
5:26 - awesome. You made my day.
Lat won't get it, though.
I like the hire of Porter. She is amply qualified to have landed one of the plum positions within the entire legal profession. Many of you are jealous because you are destined to a career of doing third rate legal work whereas Porter will likely be among the true elite within our profession for decades.
5:26, 5:39: Why do you bother coming here if it's just recycled material from the WSJ law blog?
In case you haven't noticed, it is common practice for bloggers (Above the Law) to piggyback on the mainstream media (Wall Street Journal). There is nothing unusual about that. Look at how many Huffington Post or Gawker items come from the New York Times or how many Wonkette items come from the Washington Post.