Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: The Updated Official List for October Term 2011, and a Request for Tips

Last July, we shared with you the Supreme Court's official list of law clerks for the October Term 2011. We noted at the time that "this list does not include law school and prior clerkship information, which the [Public Information Office] will release later this year." We now have that updated list of OT 2011 Supreme Court law clerks, featuring law school and prior clerkship data, courtesy of the Public Information Office. Let's look at the list, and count up which law schools and feeder judges sent the most folks over to One First Street....

Many months have passed since our last report on the hiring of Supreme Court law clerks. We are getting ready to do a new report. If you have SCOTUS clerk hiring news for October Term 2012 or October Term 2013 that we have not yet reported, please email us (subject line: “SCOTUS Clerk Hiring”). In order to check whether or not we’ve already reported a particular clerk hire for OT 2012 or OT 2013, please go back and review our last hiring report before contacting us.

In the meantime, we have a special gift for you. Last July, we shared with you the Supreme Court’s official list of law clerks for the October Term 2011 (i.e., the clerks currently toiling at One First Street). We noted at the time that “this list does not include law school and prior clerkship information, which the [Public Information Office] will release later this year.”

We now have that updated list of OT 2011 Supreme Court law clerks, featuring law school and prior clerkship data, courtesy of the Public Information Office. Let’s look at the list, and count up which law schools and feeder judges sent the most folks over to One First Street….

You can access the official list of Supreme Court law clerks for October Term 2011, with law school and prior clerkship information, over here (PDF). You can also view the document as a JPG file by turning to the next page (or by clicking here). Thanks to the Public Information Office for making this list available.

One thing to note about the Court’s official list: it provides just one feeder judge per law clerk, even though some clerks completed more than one prior clerkship. For example, on the first page, take one of Chief Justice Roberts’s clerks, Fred Liu (my fellow Asian, Yale Law grad, and O’Scannlain clerk, as well as an all-around swell guy). In addition to clerking for Judge O’Scannlain on the Ninth Circuit, Fred clerked for Judge Steven Colloton on the Eighth Circuit. So Judge Colloton has two clerks at the Court this Term (which is impressive!). [FN1]

For the OT 2011 law clerk class, the following feeder judges placed two or more clerks at One First Street (based on the ATL clerk list, which includes all prior clerkships):

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Brett Kavanaugh (D.C. Cir.): 4
J. Harvie Wilkinson (4th Cir.): 3
Michael Boudin (1st Cir.): 2
Steven Colloton (8th Cir.): 2
William Fletcher (9th Cir.): 2
Merrick Garland (D.C. Cir.): 4
A. Raymond Randolph (D.C. Cir.): 2
Jeffrey Sutton (6th Cir.): 2
David Tatel (D.C. Cir.): 2

(If you see any errors in the count, please let us know, in the comments or by email.)

UPDATE (9:40 PM): Add Judge Charles Breyer (N.D. Cal.) to the list of feeders with two or more clerks at the Court this Term. Gerry Sinzdak clerked for Judge Breyer, brother of Justice Breyer, and for Judge Marsha Berzon (9th Cir.), aka She Who Must Not Be Named, en route to Justice Ginsburg’s chambers. Thanks to the commenter who pointed this out.

As for law school representation among the 39 current members of the Elect (36 law clerks to the nine active justices plus three law clerks to the three retired justices):

Harvard: 13
Yale: 5
Stanford: 4
UVA: 4
Georgetown: 2
Berkeley, Chicago, Columbia, Duke, LSU, Michigan, NYU, Penn, Texas, UCLA, UGA: 1 each

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Congratulations to all the OT 2011 law clerks, their law schools, and their feeder judges. These clerks are fortunate enough to be at the Court during a blockbuster Term, featuring many exciting cases (including, of course, the historic Obamacare litigation).

Once again, just a reminder: we’re brewing up another SCOTUS clerk hiring update, for the October Term 2012 and October Term 2013 clerk classes. If you know of an OT 2012 or OT 2013 clerk hire that we have not yet reported (our latest list appears here), please email us. Thanks!

[FN1] “Which is impressive!” is an Above the Law meme. For the background, see here. See also CHECK YOU EMAIL (another ATL meme, now in Urban Dictionary; when you see “CHECK YOU EMAIL” in these pages, it’s an inside joke, not a typo).

Law Clerks – October Term 2011 – Law Schools and Prior Clerkships [Supreme Court of the United States]

Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Supreme Court clerks (scroll down)