Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: Justice Breyer’s 2010 Hires
With Barack Obama about to assume the presidency, alongside a heavily Democratic Senate, the justices in the liberal wing of the Supreme Court are free to retire if they like. Don’t be surprised if Justice David Souter, never a fan of life at One First Street, heads for the exit early in the Obama presidency.
But Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Stephen Breyer plan to stick around for a bit, at least based on their law clerk hiring. Justice Ginsburg has hired all of her October Term 2009 clerks, as well as at least two for October Term 2010. And Justice Breyer, in addition to filling all his OT 2009 spots, has hired at least three for OT 2010.
We previously reported on Justice Breyer’s hiring of Erika Myers (Stanford 2008 / Kozinski). Today we bring you two more SGB clerks for OT 2010:
1. Natalie Ram (Yale 2008 / Calabresi)2. David Zionts (Harvard 2008 / Garland)
In addition, here’s another hire by Justice Clarence Thomas, for OT 2009:
Elizabeth Papez (Harvard 1999 / Boggs)
Papez is no stranger to these pages. We previously mentioned her move from Kirkland & Ellis, where she was a partner, to the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (where she entered as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General, and currently serves as Deputy Assistant Attorney General). Papez’s career trajectory — from K&E partner, to high-ranking DOJ official, to Supreme Court law clerk — is a sign of just how coveted a SCOTUS clerkship is, as both a credential and a life experience.
Updated lists of Supreme Court clerks, for OT 2009 and OT 2010, after the jump.
If you’re aware of some SCOTUS clerk hiring news not previously reported in these pages, please share what you know, by email (subject line: “Supreme Court clerk hiring”). Thanks.
OCTOBER TERM 2009 SUPREME COURT CLERK HIRES (as of December 3, 2008)
Chief Justice John G. Roberts
1. Roman Martinez (Yale 2008 / Kavanaugh)
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?
Justice John Paul Stevens
1. Hyland Hunt (U. Michigan 2008 / D. Ginsburg)
2. Adam Jed (Harvard 2008 / Calabresi)
3. Merritt McAlister (University of Georgia 2007 / Anderson (11th Cir.))
4. David Pozen (Yale 2007 / Garland)
Justice Antonin Scalia
1. Jonathan Bond (GWU 2008 / Sutton)
2. Steven Lehotsky (Harvard 2002 / D. Ginsburg)
3. Daniel M. Sullivan (Chicago 2008 / O’Scannlain)
4. Katherine Twomey (UVA 2008 / Wilkinson)
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy
1. Scott Keller (University of Texas 2007 / Kozinski)
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?
Justice David H. Souter
1. ?
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?
Justice Clarence Thomas
1. Elizabeth Papez (Harvard 1999 / Boggs)
2. Marah Stith (Yale 2006 / O’Scannlain)
3. ?
4. ?
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
1. Elizabeth Barchas (Harvard 2008 / Garland)
2. Pamela Bookman (UVA 2006 / Sack)
3. Vincent Levy (Columbia 2007 / D. Ginsburg)
4. John Rappaport (Harvard 2006 / Reinhardt)
Justice Stephen G. Breyer
1. Andrew Crespo (Harvard 2008 / Reinhardt)
2. Bessie Dewar (Yale 2006 / W. Fletcher / L. Pollak (E.D. Pa.))
3. Chris Fonzone (Harvard 2007 / Wilkinson)
4. Jennifer Nou (Yale 2008 / Posner)
Justice Samuel Alito
1. Jaynie Randall (Yale 2006 / M. Patel (N.D. Cal.) / Cabranes)
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (retired):
1. Joshua Deahl (U. Michigan 2006 / Benavides)
OCTOBER TERM 2010 SUPREME COURT CLERK HIRES (as of December 3, 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. ?
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
1. Amy Bergquist (U. Minnesota 2007 / W. Fletcher / J. Tunheim (D. Minn.))
2. David Newman (Yale 2006 / Katzmann / Rakoff (S.D.N.Y.))
3. ?
4. ?
Justice Stephen G. Breyer
1. Erika Myers (Stanford 2008 / Kozinski)
2. Natalie Ram (Yale 2008 / Calabresi)
3. David Zionts (Harvard 2008 / Garland)
4. ?
Justice Samuel Alito
1. ?
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (retired):
1. ?
SCOTUS Clerk Hiring [Clerkship Notification Blog]
List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States [Wikipedia]
Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Supreme Court clerks (scroll down)
(41) 
Comments
First!!! MILBANK RULES
Please immediately update with a photo and bio of Eliza Gray.
SCROTUS. Heh.
Wait, is that "SCOTUS"? My bad.
natalie ram:
oh, my.
Papez' career trajectory? I would rather stab my eyeballs out with a rusty nail than go back to working with a bunch of snooty law school grads who don't know their ass from their elbows.
scotumnus unt arresticadum
Who is this "David Lat" guy? What are you doing on Elie's blog? Also, can you maybe post about something important, like layoffs or bonuses?
why is o'connor still on the list? how long after retirement does she get to have clerks? and how competitive are these positions?
8 - retired justices get clerks because they can ride the circuit. They can also keep their office in the SCOTUS building and have clerks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associate_Justice_of_the_Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States#Retired_Associate_Justices
Clerks to retired justices are often "farmed out" to active justices, so they still get to work on active, interesting matters.
They also assist their retired bosses with speechwriting and book projects (in addition to circuit cases).
I am just glad to see that Community Day School is well represented at the High Court. Well done David!
9, 10 - you didn't answer my second and third question.
- 8
"We previously reported on Justice Breyer's hiring of Erika Myers (Stanford 2008 / Kozinski). Today we bring you two of her SGB co-clerks for OT 2010"
Um, last time I checked, Breyer was male.
13 - the "her" pronoun is modifying "erika myers." a hint is how the sentence refers to "co-clerks." think it over
peace and love,
14
5:02 - "Her" refers to Erika, not SGB.
Rendered moot by Lat's revision of the sentence:
"We previously reported on Justice Breyer's hiring of Erika Myers (Stanford 2008 / Kozinski). Today we bring you two more SGB clerks for OT 2010...."
Hiring former law firm PARTNERS as clerks?
Wow. Just seems wrong on so many levels.
12 --
Ummm, l'm going to say not as competitive as the active SCOTUS positions and oh, say a little more competitve that a COA clerk. And no TTT applicants. Were you looking for a precise mathematical formula?
13 commented on "We previously reported on Justice Breyer's hiring of Erika Myers (Stanford 2008 / Kozinski). Today we bring you two of her SGB co-clerks for OT 2010"
With the genius comment of "Um, last time I checked, Breyer was male."
UM, last time I checked, the word "co-clerks would refer to the clerk, Erika Myers, a female.
See what you get for being a tool??
Do clerks to retired justices get the $250,000 hiring bonuses for SCOTUS clerks after they leave the Court?
12 --
If you're on the fence, you should just apply. Look what happened to Monica Lewinksy. I'm sure the application didn't state "chunky whore-type required" yet she got the job. Good luck.
are those hiring bonuses still in the cards anyway? look what happened to the other bonuses.
Milbank bonus announced - same as Cravath, Simpson and co.
I agree 17. It's not like Thomas is going to demand a conflict sheet, not that he would ever read it.
Hellooo Newman!
Has anyone else noticed that "tool" is "loot" spelled backwards?
21 - the position may not be prestigious enough. it's like going to harvard extension (or KSG) to say you went to harvard.
Section 4 got two :) Go Barchas and Zionts.
Section 4 got two :) Go Barchas and Zionts.
What are the names of the SCOTUS Clerks from NYU?
- CLS 2L Stud
Paul Weiss attorney gets shot to death.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20081203_Lawyer_was_victim_of_murderous_jealousy__friends_say.html
Breyer is the name of an ice cream brand.
ke partner = every fifth year associate at that firm
htmfh
28/29 - at graduation, I predicted that we (i.e. Section 4) would end up with four SCOTUS clerks when all is said and done. Just off the top of my head, I can think of three other very legitimate candidates, and a few others who have a very decent shot. Thoughts?
Thanks for the update, Lat.
What? They haven't announced a Pepperdine grad as a 2010 clerk?
I like the twist in post 30 by the NYU student who keeps posting as CLS 2L. Tricky.
Charlotte School of Law will have 2 SCOTUS clerks. You heard it here first.
People who actually spent time during law school discussing how many people from their section would be SC clerks confirms that law school is full of a bunch of douchebags. I mean really.
I wonder if these kids actually know how to do legal research. And, if not, what does this mean for the outpout of the SCOTUS. Honestly, what a silly system. Everyone recognizes it, but no one wants to admit that these dateless tools have undue, unjustified influence within the halls of the highest court in the land. It's sad. We really do lag behind the rest of the "first world" in this regard. To think that the feeder judges and profs who recommend these people to Supreme Court clerks are simply the best of the second-rate intellectuals who were granted tenure by begging novice student law review editors to publish their half-ass written pieces compiled mostly by librarians charged with tasks like "find me all the federal cases in the last two years that have the text 'human rights' within the full-text----i'm gonna use that data for an article." how pathetic. we can do better!!!
40 - um, jealous much?