Good riddance to this guy. If only Bybee would follow Yoo to Berkeley.

Section 90 Promissory Estoppel
The ship be sinking
The dow is up/down
YOU ARE ALL IDIOTS
3500 sq ft, wife, etc.
Guys at my high school used to . . .
Asslobster.

Possibly no Partner Emeritus, however, after his jackass post earlier.

Not only had McConnell hired clerks for next year (what happens to them?), but he just put up clerkship listings for 2010-11 on OSCAR on March 25 — that's less than a month and a half ago. It's been no secret that Stanford has wanted him for some time (the last couple years he's traveled out to Stanford to teach a course in between sittings), so it's not like the position was offered to him unexpectedly. What could have led him to make such a sudden change of career, especially from such a cushy job now?

Unfortunate for his clerks. Had one of the best clerkships in the nation.

Congrats to Stanford! He'll be missed in the federal judiciary--McConnell has been an incredibly good judge (and his clerks all think the world of him).

Hmmm, I don't know... What could have possibly posessed him to leave 10th Circuit Flyover TTTerritory to go live in sunny Palo Alto, and work at another cushy job at SLS (which probably pays more)?

Remarkable news. Also remarkable that no one has (yet) asked whether the law clerks he hired for the 2009-10 year may have a valid claim under sec. 90 of the Restatement . . . .

Surely his replacement will have the professional courtesy to keep his clerks on board.

If he hasn't spoken with them about this, it is really a dick move on his part. People at his level rarely have any consideration for other human beings, so it would not be surprising.

More musical chairs... Another interesting part of this story is that Kathleen Sullivan is the current director of the Con Law Center. Perhaps she is the one dreaming of DC now.

I know you guys joke about Restatement 90, but in this situation, the clerks clearly have a promissory estoppel claim. And please don't flame me about being an idiot, I got an A on my contracts exam last semester so I KNOW what I am talking about.

Clerkship are NOT employment at will, they are a contract for a year of service!!!

But Irregardless, I am sure the 10th circuit is aware of this and those kids will get picked up somewhere to avoid an embarrassing suit.

McConnell has been known to teach at Stanford (and elsewhere) while on breaks from the 10th Circuit. His Creation of the Constitution class was one of my favorites from SLS. I suspect there are few people as passionate about the day-to-day nitty-gritty of the framing of the U.S. Constitution. A fantastic scholar and wonderful teacher. Exciting news from The Farm.

11-

don't say "irregardless." it makes people think your an idiiot.

i dont understand the entire promisSOry estopel business. promisory estoppel is a substitute for consideration-in an employment situation there is clearly consideration-its work for money.

but the problem is whether there would be significant damages in a contract at will situation or whether there was language in an offer that allowed the offer to be rescinded.

promissory estopple has nothing to do with it.

lol. i like how everything ATL posts can be a §90 claim.

*prepares §90 suit against michigan law in preparation for the upcoming oci season...does anyone know how to certify a class?*

-nervous T-10 1L
soon to be nervous 1L sa

Who quits on a Tuesday?

Latham Truth #3:

Although chairs at Latham's offices do move, they are extremely uncomfortable and it is impossible to get a new chair even in good times.

Please share your Latham or other firm truths.

Who leaves the bench to become a prof? Aren't all profs just wanna-be judges?

Weird.

Another notable Michigan State Madisonian doing well!

Latham truth #4

The building looks like a dog's dick.

#15 and #17 are my favorite posts!

Can you imagine being one of his incoming clerks?

Take that Harvard

17, yes, but now he can return to academia as BMOC

13,

Don't say "your" when you mean to say "you're." It makes you look like you're an idiot.

Lovesies,

-Not 11.

I heard my name called out a while back by the shtick-douche. Sorry it took so long...but I had to leave my media room, go across the house upstairs, come downstairs and then cross the house again, all to find the laptop that we leave by the pool.

Good thing we bought this place on my husband's first-year salary...otherwise my house would simply be too big.

"I got an A on my contracts exam last semester so I KNOW what I am talking about."

LOLapalooza!

8, 11 -- I went to law school over 30 years ago, so we didn't have this 90 thing -- question, and I am just wondering whether it could help me here, I went to the Y tonite, and once again adult swim lanes were taken over by swim teachers and unavailable despite the fact that i relied upon a promise of adult swim lanes in signing up. Do you think that, under this 90 thing, I could make them paint the adult lanes yellow?

Thanks for any help . . . .

I sincerely hope 11 is being sarcastic, any 1L who thinks he "KNOWS" contracts needs a reality check

25,

Funniest post, funniest shtick in the history of ATL.

Hey Mystal, when are you going to post about stealth layoffs at Debevoise & Plimpton!

He spent a whole week at NYU and the whole time the administration was treating it like any other opportunity to shill for clerkships.

Our administration can't fathom the idea of a guy not wanting to be a judge: he was probably scouting out the place and they had no idea! Stanford has more independent-minded people and a better community, so maybe he's better suited there!

3 Schtick Guy

Please don't forget "Latham delenda est"

Agree on PE

Ty

His incoming clerks will most likely be fine and be placed somewhere else as clerks. When Judge Ferguson of the 9th cir died last year, his incoming clerks got placed in other very good clerkships after their resumes were emailed around to various federal judges. Obviously this is a different situation, since Judge McConnell was somewhat of a feeder judge, and he didn't pass away, but I suspect some other judges will pick up his clerks.

The guy was obviously considering this when he hired clerks.

Just another example of the arrogance and selfishness that is displayed by members of our judiciary.

Hey 7--take a look at this link. http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1096/community-satisfaction-top-cities

And just about every other survey on where people want to live.

Arrogance and selfishness? Get serious. 4 people with remarkable credentials will have to look for work for about a week. Yes, it sucks to lose your job, but these folks are far from screwed. Worst case scenario: they get a two-year gig with a district judge in warm weather and get another shot at COA in 2011. I doubt their Yale summa grades and law review editorships will fall off their resumes before then.

Nice grammatical error in the second paragraph, third sentence. Par for the course in academia.

maybe this occurence is in hopes Kathleen Sullivan is leaving Stanford for the S.Ct.

# 11, too bad you didn't get an A in grammar, it's "regardless"

I'm sure that McConnell's clerks would be accepted by his replacement. THere's not really much time to pick new people now. And it would be very dickish for the soon-to-be clerks: there aren't many 2009 clerkships open now, and it's a bad time to be suddenly looking for a job.

39,

You are an absolute tool

40, I'd hope for that too, except for McConnell was a conservative, so if he picked clerks based in part on a political preference (even though we know Art. III judges aren't political and wouldn't do that), his replacement will be appointed by Obama, and he or she won't be a conservative. But, if McConnell's hires have lots of empathy, they might be a good fit after all.

I understand that there are reasons other than $ for being at Stanford. It's a fantastic university all the way around, with the upshot that it's in a great area of the country. I am not trying to take anything away from that; however, I suspect that the alleged difference in pay was also a factor.

And, while it may have been an insignificant factor in this case, it is causing a great number of judges to leave their positions in search of greater monetary gain in the private sector (yes, they can find jobs even in this economy). This is impoverishing the judiciary and, thereby, the administration of our nation's laws. For most people, this won't hit close to home unless or until--perish the thought--they have a case in front of a federal judge who is in way over his/her head.

13=pwned by 24

Dear 3500 sq. ft. wife in texas,

You should've driven your lexis to the pool, you probably would've gotten there faster.

He will probably become the leading thinker in legal academia for the next several decades

I wonder if Justice Souter's resignation had anything to do with this. It was my understanding, and I could very well be wrong, that a justice ordinarily--if possible--tries to return their seat on the Court to the party that gave it to them. For example, Byron White--a Kennedy appointee--stepped down while Clinton was president.

I understand that this custom--if it is, indeed, a custom--would in no way bind Justice Souter. But, I have to wonder why Justice Souter waited until now to resign and whether that resignation had any effect on Judge McConnell's decision to step down within days of that announcement. I mean, what better way to participate in this country's constitutional discourse than as a member of the SCOTUS? Maybe he feels like he got a raw deal? Just saying. What do I know, anyway?

"Unsaid is that a Stanford salary trumps that from the 10th Circuit."

Yeah and COL is pretty equal between denver and palo alto as well.

-Feels sorry for the clerks

Judge McConnell's chambers are in Salt Lake City, not Denver.

Oh, man. I was hoping he would come back to Chicago instead.

-- Chicago 1L

McConnell tends to hire clerks w/ a variety of political ideologies, so there shouldn't be a problem on that front. Also, he is one of the toughest gigs to get (period). His four incoming clerks, although certainly bummed, will have no problem securing another clerkship--if not from his successor then from another judge. I can't imagine anybody actually wanting to live in Palo Alto over Salt Lake City...particularly a skier like McConnell. I'm guessing this was driven purely by his academic interests.

40

The incoming judge will only consider picking up the departed judge's clerks if he isn't already a judge himself and so isn't bringing his previously hired clerks with him to the new job.

In any case, remember how long it takes to fill a circuit court clerkship - that's reason enough for the incoming clerks to find new jobs and not count on landing with his successor.

His clerks will get picked up by judges who don't fill out their hiring. But those of you who think that his replacement will hire them, this is unlikely (at least not for a full term) as his seat will probably stay vacant past September.

39, i believe you are mistaken about the use of "regardless."

"Irregardless" is a whole nother expression.

I find it hard to believe the clerks will have a hard time landing on their feet, even in this economy. Regardless, good luck to them.

Really, I just posted here to celebrate the official death of PE - long time coming...

Yuck. A "praise the Lord and pass the ammunition - and dont' forget to keep women barefoot and pregnant while you're at it" scholar is coming to my alma mater to teach Con Law. It's going to make the late Gerald Gunther (RIP) and his passion for the Slaughterhouse Cases (and his wife's art about them) look positively modern. That freedom of religion is McConnell's passion doesn''t mean he isn't a right wing ideologue. And traditionally, those have had no place at the Farm.

That's what Berkeley Law School (formerly known as Boalt Hall) is for...............

Yes, his clerks will obviously pick up something... but 2009 clerkships are just about to start, there will be few if any judges that aren't full already. And, even if his replacement picks them up (which he may not if he's a district judge who already has his own clerks), there's a HUGE difference between a McConnell clerkship and some random 10th Circuit clerkship; almost no one who gets McConnell would even have considered another 10th Circuit clerkship as an alternative.

45 - Lexus. Funny though

43--I have worked in a Senator's office when a COA vacancy has been announced. Trust me, there is no shortage of very qualified people who are willing to take the 170k lifetime appointment.

You should try to sort threw the hundreds of messages when just a district court spot opens.

The problem is that many judges are appointed for political reasons, not because we lack for candidates intellectual and legal aptitude. Like many jobs, employers just don't pick the most qualified candidate.

If we wanted great thinkers, writers, and scholars, we would not appoint people who graduated from University of Wyoming School of Law.

A salary increase will not solve this problem. You are either naive or a judge looking for a salary bump.

57 has it right--McConnell's clerks no doubt turned down other plum jobsto work with him. There really is no excuse for doing this to them. BTW, pay at Stanford will be at least double what it is on the Court of Appeals.

59 has a big d*ck

To people responding to 11, Bill Parcells would tell you "Consider Yourself Sucked."

14: Is Michigan still T-10? I thought the latest USWR put an end to that.

Welcome back nervous T-10 1L. ATL missed you.

Fact check, Kashmir:

McConnell hails from Salt Lake City? Well, only in the sense that Obama now hails from DC.

He's from Kentucky and attended UG and LS in the upper Midwest. His chambers are in SLC -- but he's not a Utah native.

51 --

"I can't imagine anybody actually wanting to live in Palo Alto over Salt Lake City...particularly a skier like McConnell. I'm guessing this was driven purely by his academic interests."

That must explain why housing in SLC is so much more expensive than in Palo Alto. And there's no skiing in California. You're right about McConnell hiring clerks with diverse political ideologies though.

I graduated from the Law School at the University of Chicago in 1996 and took a Constitutional Law class from then-Professor McConnell during my second year.

While I am African-American and my politics tend to lean left, I found him to be thoughtful, engaging and considerate of others' viewpoints and contributions to classroom discussion. Additionally, he didn't mind appear to mind that students sometimes disagreed with his interpretations of the finer points of the Constitution; in fact, he encouraged it, asking only that one's opinion be reasonably supported.

He was also, IMO, a nice guy. I was having lunch in a corner by myself one afternoon in the Law School's Green Lounge and he asked if he could join me. He thereafter spent the better part of two hours, unsolicited, asking me questions about my background and my opinions concerning: (i) Chicago, both the city and the university; (ii) the Constitution, including its strengths and shortcomings; and (iii) the role of religion in the African-American community and among Mormons (he was especially interested in that topic).

I don't agree with all of his opinions, e.g., I vehemently disagree with his position on abortion. But he's a reasonable guy and I wish him all the best at Stanford.

51 sounds like s/he knows the judge. Most people don't understand why he moved from UChicago to the University of Utah. Mountains are clearly part of the answer. No schools like Stanford in the Mountain West though. Our loss.

56 is a shame to Stanford if s/he really goes there.

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