Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: A First for Seton Hall

We take back what we previously wrote about Justice Samuel Alito being “a bit secretive about his clerk hiring.” Presumably Justice Alito signed off on this press release issued by Seton Hall Law School, announcing the hiring of Lucas Townsend (Seton Hall 2004 / Ackerman (D.N.J.) / Trump Barry) as an Alito clerk for October Term 2009.

Congratulations to Townsend and to Seton Hall, which has placed its first graduate into a SCOTUS clerkship. From a tipster:

We just got this email [a slightly tweaked version of the press release] from the dean. Not bad for a school that most of the elitists on ATL would consider a TTT. Although SHU will never sniff the T-14, the school has been steadily climbing the U.S. News rankings, and I think this alum’s accomplishment might help that cause.

We also had the best showing of New York Vault 100 placement ever by this year’s 2L class. Things are looking good on this side of the Hudson.

Additional Supreme Court clerk hiring news, plus updated lists of Supreme Court clerks for OT 2009 and OT 2010, after the jump.


In other SCOTUS clerk hiring news, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy joins the “finished for OT ’09” club, with these three hires:

— Daniel Epps (Harvard 2008 / Wilkinson)

— Allon Kedem (Yale 2005 / Leval)

— Misha Tseytlin (Georgetown 2006 / Kozinski / Brown (D.C. Cir.))

They join Scott Keller (University of Texas 2007 / Kozinski), whose hiring was previously reported here.

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Most of the justices are done hiring their October Term 2009 law clerks, except for Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice David Souter. Justice Souter traditionally hires last, so it’s not surprising that he still has open spots. But one can’t help wondering whether DHS, never a fan of life in D.C., might be considering stepping down from the Court, now that President Obama has taken over. As for Justice Thomas, we suspect that perhaps he has hired all his clerks, and we just haven’t heard about it. If you can help, please email us (subject line: “SCOTUS clerk hiring”).

More justices are venturing into October Term 2010. Note these additional OT 2010 clerks:

— by Justice Kennedy: Richard Re (Yale 2008 / Kavanaugh)

— by Justice Breyer: Brian Netter (Yale 2006 / Rogers (D.C. Cir.))

If you’re aware of some SCOTUS clerk hiring news not previously reported in these pages, or if you notice something erroneous, please email us (subject line: “SCOTUS clerk hiring”). Thanks.

OCTOBER TERM 2009 SUPREME COURT CLERK HIRES (as of February 3, 2009)

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Chief Justice John G. Roberts

1. Roman Martinez (Yale 2008 / Kavanaugh)

2. James M. McDonald (UVA 2007 / Sutton)

3. Stephen Sachs (Yale 2007 / S. Williams)

4. Erik Zimmerman (Stanford 2007 / Wilkinson)

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. Daniel Epps (Harvard 2008 / Wilkinson)

2. Allon Kedem (Yale 2005 / Leval / Kravitz (D. Conn.))

3. Scott Keller (University of Texas 2007 / Kozinski)

4. Misha Tseytlin (Georgetown 2006 / Kozinski / Brown (D.C. Cir.))

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. Amit Agarwal (Georgetown / Kavanaugh)

2. K. Winn Allen (UVA / Sutton)

3. Jaynie Randall (Yale 2006 / M. Patel (N.D. Cal.) / Cabranes)

4. Lucas Townsend (Seton Hall 2004 / Ackerman (D.N.J.) / Trump Barry)

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (retired):

1. Joshua Deahl (U. Michigan 2006 / Benavides)

OCTOBER TERM 2010 SUPREME COURT CLERK HIRES

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. Richard Re (Yale 2008 / Kavanaugh)

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. Brian Netter (Yale 2006 / Rogers (D.C. Cir.))

3. Natalie Ram (Yale 2008 / Calabresi)

4. David Zionts (Harvard 2008 / Garland)

Justice Samuel Alito

1. ?

2. ?

3. ?

4. ?

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (retired):

1. ?

Seton Hall Law Graduate Earns U.S. Supreme Court Clerkship [Seton Hall Law School]

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)