Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: Justice Sotomayor
(Plus info about Justice Thomas for OT 2010.)
The complete, official list of Supreme Court clerks for October Term 2009 — i.e., the clerks who recently arrived at One First Street — will be released by the Public Information Office shortly, perhaps by the end of this week. We’ve previously listed many of the Court’s OT 2009 law clerks in these pages.
But we didn’t name all of them. Our list didn’t include the hires of newly confirmed Justice Sonia Sotomayor. We understand that Justice Sotomayor has hired all of her clerks for OT 2009 — which makes sense, since she has a lot of work to tackle before the official start of the Term — but no clerks yet for OT 2010. Her OT 2009 clerks started working at the Court yesterday.
We think we know three out of four of them — but we’re not sure. We also have some info about Justice Clarence Thomas’s clerk hiring, but we need to fill in some blanks.
Can you help us?
UPDATE: We think we have all four Sotomayor clerks now. ¡Gracias!
Please note that this information is PRELIMINARY; we have not fact-checked it to our usual standards. But we want to get some names on the board in advance of the official list (which is expected later this week).
If you see errors, or if you know the missing fourth clerk, please email us (subject line: “SCOTUS clerk hiring”). We will correct any errors promptly. Thanks.
1. Jeremy Marwell (NYU Law / S. Williams (D.C. Cir.))
Marwell is an alumnus of the DOJ’s extremely prestigious and powerful Office of Legal Counsel, which has a long track record of sending young attorneys into SCOTUS clerkships. We once dubbed it the Finishing School for the Elect.
2. Eloise Pasachoff (Harvard 2004 / Rakoff (2004-05) / Katzmann (2005-06))
Pasachoff is currently a Climenko Fellow at Harvard Law School, which is a nice credential to have on one’s résumé. The Rakoff / Katzmann tag team has a strong record of feeding clerks to the high court.
Of the two judges for whom Pasachoff clerked, we’re guessing Judge Katzmann played a larger role in placing her at the Court. It’s not surprising to see Judge Katzmann feeding one of his former clerks to Justice Sotomayor, since he coordinated SS’s transition to the Court from the Second Circuit (the court on which they’ve served together for a decade). RAK is one of the Wise Latina Woman’s closest friends, was a fixture in the audience at her confirmation hearings, and was one of the few people outside of her immediate family to attend her private swearing-in ceremony.
3. Rob Yablon (Yale / W. Fletcher / R. Ginsburg)
One big virtue that Yablon brings to the table: prior SCOTUS clerkship experience. He just finished clerking for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — Justice Sotomayor’s fellow female on the Court, as well as a fellow New Yorker.
Justices embarking on their maiden voyages often like to bring experienced Supreme Court clerks on board. See here (item #2 — RBG and SGB) and here (SAA) for examples of newbie justices who hired seasoned SCOTUS clerks for their first Terms.
UPDATE: We believe we have the name of the fourth Sotomayor clerk:
4. Lindsey Powell (Stanford 2007 / Garland / J. Stevens)
The hiring of Lindsey Powell, who just finished clerking for Justice John Paul Stevens, underscores our point about newly appointed justices bringing experienced Supreme Court clerks with them.
********************
In other clerk hiring news, we understand that Justice Thomas has completed his hiring for October Term 2010. If you can help us out with some names, please email us (subject line: “SCOTUS clerk hiring”). Thanks!
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)
(31) Comments
Comments
First
I heard she hired Frederica Yobonabich.
Doesn't Rob Yablon sound a lot like Bob Loblaw? Any Arrested Development fans out there?
You haven't fact checked it to your usual standards? If you are below the standard of "not at all" where exactly are you?
Good call, 3.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1857820533085329878
Am pretty sure that Sotomayor has already selected her clerks for 2010 from the pool of wise applicants gathered daily outside her local Home Depot.
Thom Choade
What happened to the clerks she hired last fall to clerk for her on the Second Circuit?
Word on the street in the Bronx is that she hired Colin Ferguson (unbeatable for novel theories and cross examinations), Tawana Brawley and the Yo Quiero Taco Bell dog.
Wise latinas need only apply.
@3: The “Bob Loblaw Law Blog.” Wow. You, sir, are a mouthful!
I love New Yor!
"fellow New Yorer?" Come on Lat!
Whatever Elie has must be contagious.
11/12 - Before remarking on a typo, refresh your browser.
Wise latinas don't pick dumb-assed, racist losers to be supreme court clerks. Don't be bitter about it.
I heard she just hired Gene Parmesan for the '10 term (as a PI, not as a clerk though).
She's no Harriet Miers.
I wonder if the 2010 clerks will include the people she'd lined up to be her CA2 clerks this fall...
On my way downtown this morning, my driver drove me around MacDougal Street and I think I saw the fresh crop of fools that have been suckered into attending NYU Law. I recognized them by their awestruck gaze of being in the big city. I could tell a few them had come from the bookstore where they probably unloaded a couple of grand on useless textbooks that spout archaic law and theory. When are young folks going to realize that the party is over as far as they are concerned? I am confident these students will be the impetus behind Sallie Mae requesting a federal bailout after massive student loan defaults.
18: Yawn.
13 - Before uploading copy, check spelling.
20 - It's a blog. Publish first, copy edit later.
18 - why don't you like, get a job and stop shatting on the comment section all day
Thank you,
ATL community
Wow Lat, you've gone Full Mystal Retard with these typos
"We're [sic] previously listed many of the Court's OT 2009 law clerks in these pages"
Where is Lady Soto? Doesn't she have any comment on her clerk hiring?
Surprising or no that none of her clerks are her former clerks? Seem to remember that Alito just recycled through his list of formers for the first few terms....
Marwell representing NYU. Nice work.
"If you had my love,
And I gave you all my trust...
Would you clerk for me?
And if somehow you knew that your law would be untrue,
Would you lie for me?
And call me Lady?
"You said you want a spot and you've got to have it all,
But first there are some things you need to knoooow.
If you want to clerk,
And do all of my work,
I need you to be wise
Or it's got to end, yeee-ah.
I don't want you...
Trying to clerk for me...
And I end up unhappy.
No me gusta, y no me gusta...
So before I doooo....
Give myself to you....
I have to know the truth
If I spend my life term with you!"
27- you're really talented. Bravo!
22: PE doesn't start classes again for another week. 2L year is going to be CHOICE (of course, no peer firm ever interviews at his law school).
Lady Soto, you are a goddess.
I'm happy that these clerks are being hired, but each one seems to have been fast-tracked for exactly such a post. Two had previous SCOTUS clerkships, and the other two came from NYU and Harvard Law.
Where are the underdogs? Can we possibly look forward to seeing something other than The Usual Suspects? Ms. Sotomayor's story was an affirmation that people from humble beginnings could go on to great heights. Do any of these four have a similar story, or are they just well-connected?
I wish Justice Sotomayor well. She is an outstanding addition to the SCOTUS. And, yes, I am also a child of a Bronx housing project.
--Carolyn Bongiorno