Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: OT 2012 and OT 2013

Supreme Court opinions can be loooong! But at least the justices have their trusty Supreme Court clerks, three dozen or so of the nation's brightest young legal minds, to help get everything done. Thanks to everyone who responded to our recent request for tips about law clerk hiring activity at SCOTUS. Let's take a look at what we've learned, shall we?

Being a justice of the United States Supreme Court is a pretty great gig. You get to attend glamorous events like Tuesday night’s State of the Union address. You get to wear a snazzy black robe on said occasions.

Sure, there’s some work involved. SCOTUS opinions can be loooong! But at least the justices have their trusty Supreme Court clerks, three dozen or so of the nation’s brightest young legal minds, to help get everything done.

Thanks to everyone who responded to our recent request for tips about law clerk hiring activity at SCOTUS. Let’s take a look at what we’ve learned, shall we?

There’s so much news to report; we’ll just cut to the chase. The Supreme Court law clerk lists for October Term 2012 and October Term 2013 appear below. We’ve confirmed that at least seven out of the nine active justices have completed their hiring for OT 2012. (It’s possible that Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kennedy are also done, and we just don’t have the clerks’ names yet.)

In the lists below, if a clerk’s name is hyperlinked, the link most likely goes to a news item about the hiring (but in some cases the link goes to a bio). We have collected several of these news items at the end of this post.

(By the way, we think it’s nice when law schools issue announcements about their graduates being hired to clerk for the high court. UVA Law is especially good about this. The school’s diligence in this regard reflects its institutional commitment to clerkships, which helps UVA excel in minting law clerks.)

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We do have color commentary and random tidbits about some of the OT 2012 and OT 2013 clerks. These observations will appear in a future post; for now, just the facts, ma’am (and sir).

As always, if you have any additions or corrections, please email us, subject line “SCOTUS Clerk Hiring,” or text us. We will fix any errors as soon as possible. Thank you.

OCTOBER TERM 2012 SUPREME COURT CLERK HIRES (as of January 25, 2012)

Chief Justice John G. Roberts
1. Caroline Edsall (Yale 2010 / Brody (E.D. Pa.) / Kavanaugh)
2. Sina Kian (Stanford 2010 / Griffith / Tatel)
3. ?
4. ?

Justice Antonin Scalia
1. Adam Klein (Columbia 2011 / Kavanaugh)
2. Ian Samuel (NYU 2008 / Kozinski / Bristow Fellow)
3. Danielle Sassoon (Yale 2011 / Wilkinson)
4. Eric Tung (Chicago 2010 / Gorsuch / Bristow Fellow)

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Justice Anthony M. Kennedy
1. Mark Taticchi (GW 2010 / Ikuta)
2. Lauren Willard (UVA 2011 / Kozinski)
3. ?
4. ?

Justice Clarence Thomas
1. Robert Dunn (Chicago 2010 / O’Scannlain)
2. David Morrell (Yale 2010 / E. Jones)
3. Kenton Skarin (Northwestern 2009 / Wilkinson)
4. Katherine Yarger (Duke 2008 / Gorsuch / Eid (Colo.))

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
1. Martine Cicconi (Stanford 2010 / Garland / Bristow Fellow)
2. Joshua Johnson (Yale 2009 / Tatel Tot / Gertner (D. Mass.))
3. Julie Kobick (Harvard 2010 / Saylor (D. Mass.) / Chagares)
4. Thane Rehn (Columbia 2009 / Posner)

Justice Stephen G. Breyer
1. Kwaku Akowuah (Harvard 2004 / Garaufis (E.D.N.Y.) / Katzmann)
2. Emily Rebecca Gantt (UVA 2011 / Boudin)
3. Joshua Geltzer (Yale 2011 / Kozinski)
4. Susannah Weaver (Georgetown 2008 / Kennedy (D.D.C.) / Katzmann)

Justice Samuel Alito
1. Brian Barnes (Yale 2010 / Griffith)
2. Emily Kennedy (Duke 2010 / Batchelder)
3. Claire McCusker Murray (Yale 2009 / Kavanaugh)
4. Ryan Watson (GW 2007 / J. Brown)

Justice Sonia Sotomayor
1. Brian Goldman (Stanford 2010 / Reinhardt)
2. Brian Burgess (NYU 2009 / Calabresi / Tatel / Quasi-Bristow)
3. Fred Smith (Stanford 2007 / Thompson (M.D. Ala.) / Parker)
4. Charlotte Taylor (NYU 2008 / Rakoff (S.D.N.Y.) / Katzmann)

Justice Elena Kagan
1. Samantha Bateman (Stanford 2010 / Brinkema / Garland)
2. Brad Garcia (Harvard 2011 / Griffith)
3. Zach Schauf (Harvard 2011 / Garland)
4. David Zimmer (Harvard 2010 / W. Fletcher)

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (retired):
1. Eric Citron (Yale 2007 / Robertson (D.D.C.) / Tatel Tot)

Justice David H. Souter (retired):
1. ?

Justice John Paul Stevens (retired)
1. Eduardo Bruera (Cornell 2011 / C. King (5th Cir.))

OCTOBER TERM 2013 SUPREME COURT CLERK HIRES (as of January 25, 2012)

Chief Justice John G. Roberts
1. ?
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?

Justice Antonin Scalia
1. ?
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy
1. ?
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?

Justice Clarence Thomas
1. ?
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
1. Kelsi Brown Corkran (Chicago 2005 / Tatel)
2. Daniel Rubens (Harvard 2008 / Rakoff (S.D.N.Y.) / Katzmann)
3. Burden Walker (Harvard 2010 / S. Williams)
4. ?

Justice Stephen G. Breyer
1. ?
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?

Justice Samuel Alito
1. Zina Bash (Harvard 2007 / Kavanaugh)
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?

Justice Sonia Sotomayor
1. Scott Grinsell (Yale 2009 / Pooler)
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?

Justice Elena Kagan
1. Sophia Brill (Yale 2011 / Garland)
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (retired):
1. ?

Justice David H. Souter (retired):
1. ?

Justice John Paul Stevens (retired)
1. ?

Do you have a hire we haven’t reported yet, or an addition or correction to any of this information? Please email us (subject line: “SCOTUS clerk hiring”). Thanks.

Two GW Law Graduates to Clerk for U.S. Supreme Court During October 2012 Term
[20th & H: GW Law Dean’s Blog]
Kennedy ’10 to clerk for Alito [Duke Law News & Events]
Gantt ’11 to Clerk for Justice Breyer [Virginia Law News]
Willard ’11 to Clerk for Supreme Court Justice Kennedy [Virginia Law News]

Earlier: Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: The Updated Official List for OT 2011, and a Request for Tips
Prior ATL coverage of Supreme Court clerks (scroll down)