Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: Saved By the Bell Star To Clerk for Justice O'Connor!(And another OT 2009 hire, by Justice Breyer)

Taken as a group, Supreme Court clerks can claim pretty much every honor under the sun. At One First Street, Rhodes and Marshall scholars are commonplace, law review editors-in-chief are a dime a dozen, and law school valedictorians abound.
But how many SCOTUS clerks have their own IMDb entry? Meet Isaac Lidsky (Harvard 2004 / Ambro), an attorney at the Department of Justice (Civil Appellate), who was selected last week by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor as her law clerk for October Term 2008. He founded the non-profit Hope for Vision, and his bio there reads:

[Isaac] is an honors graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, and he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Judge Thomas Ambro of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Before law school, Isaac founded Poindexter Systems, a now thriving internet advertising technology company in Manhattan. Isaac has been involved in raising awareness and funding for vision research for many years. He has organized several fundraising events, has appeared in the national media to promote awareness of the cause, has testified about the need for scientific funding before Congressional bodies on numerous occasions, and has served as a mentor to younger individuals afflicted with eye diseases. He has retinitis pigmentosa.

From a tipster:

I wonder if he is the first blind law clerk on the Supreme Court. I also wonder whether he’s the first clerk to have thrown out the first pitch at an MLB game.

[Before law school,] Isaac had a prior life as a child actor. His most notable role, I believe, was as Barton “Weasel” Wyzell (the new Screech) on Saved by the Bell: The New Class.

Awesome. Fay Diplomas and Sears Prizes pale in comparison next to the experience of having acted opposite Dennis Haskins (aka “Mr. Belding”).
Also hired as a Supreme Court clerk, but for October Term 2009: Bessie Dewar (Yale 2006 / W. Fletcher / L. Pollak (E.D. Pa.)). She’s been described to us as “brilliant,” “wonderfully charismatic,” and “one of nicest, most smiling people to grace the halls of the Yale Law School.”
The current tally of OT 2008 and OT 2009 SCOTUS clerks, with Isaac Lidsky and Bessie Dewar added, appears after the jump.


Are you aware of an OT 2008 or OT 2009 clerk who isn’t listed below? If so, please contact us, by email (subject line: “Supreme Court clerk hiring”).
You can also post a comment to this post. But we prefer email for this subject, for verification and possible follow-up. Thanks.
OCTOBER TERM 2008 SUPREME COURT CLERK HIRES (as of February 4, 2008)
Chief Justice John G. Roberts
1. William Baude (Yale 2007 / McConnell)
2. Jeffrey Harris (Harvard 2006 / Sentelle / Silberman)
3. Erin Murphy (Georgetown 2006 / Sykes)
4. Porter Wilkinson (UVA 2007 / Kavanaugh)
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. Moshe Spinowitz (Harvard 2006 / Boudin)
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy
1. Ashley Keller (University of Chicago 2007 / Posner)
2. Travis Lenkner (Kansas 2005 / Kavanaugh)
3. Steven Shepard (Yale 2007 / Kozinski)
4. Chris Walker (Stanford 2006 / Kozinski)
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. Claire Evans (Rutgers – Camden 2002 / Simandle (D.N.J.) / Chertoff (3d Cir.) / Sentelle)
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)
Justice Stephen G. Breyer
1. Brianne Gorod (Yale 2005 / Rakoff (S.D.N.Y.) / Katzmann)
2. Seth Grossman (Yale 2005 / Reinhardt / Calabresi)
3. Aileen McGrath (Harvard 2007 / Boudin)
4. Matthew E. Price (Harvard 2006 / Boudin)
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. Isaac Lidsky (Harvard 2004 / Ambro)
OCTOBER TERM 2009 SUPREME COURT CLERK HIRES (as of February 4, 2008)
Chief Justice John G. Roberts
1. ?
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?
Justice John Paul Stevens
1. ?
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?
Justice Antonin Scalia
1. ?
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy
1. ?
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?
Justice David H. Souter
1. ?
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?
Justice Clarence Thomas
1. Marah Stith (Yale 2006 / O’Scannlain)
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
1. Pamela Bookman (UVA 2006 / Sack)
2. John Rappaport (Harvard 2006 / Reinhardt)
3. ?
4. ?
Justice Stephen G. Breyer
1. Bessie Dewar (Yale 2006 / W. Fletcher / L. Pollak (E.D. Pa.))
2.
3.
4.
Justice Samuel Alito
1. ?
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (retired):
1. ?
Please bring errors or omissions to our attention by email (subject line: “Supreme Court clerk hiring”). Thanks.
Isaac Lidsky [IMDb]
Isaac Lidsky [Berkman Center for Internet & Society]
Issac J. Lidsky bio [Hope for Vision]
List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States [Wikipedia]
Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Supreme Court clerks (scroll down)

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