Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: OT 2013 and OT 2014

Some justices are done hiring for the 2013 Term and already into 2014....

Merry Christmas! Yes, “Merry Christmas,” and not “Happy Holidays,” consistent with the late Chief Justice Rehnquist’s preference.

Look at what Santa Claus left underneath the Christmas tree: news of Supreme Court clerk hiring, wrapped up in a bow! Just in time for the holiday season.

Keep reading to find out the latest law clerks bound for One First Street, as well as their law schools and feeder judges. Some of the justices are already hiring for October Term 2014….

Apologies for how much time has passed between this report and my last one, back in June. I was able to rest somewhat easier, though, knowing that SCOTUS clerk obsessives had other reading material to keep themselves occupied in the interim:

  • a great discussion, featuring Hanna Stotland of Northwestern Law and Jay Wexler of BU Law, on what it takes to land a Supreme Court clerkship;
  • a financial analysis of the best career path for an outgoing SCOTUS clerk to follow (government versus private practice);
  • an essay collection about Supreme Court clerkships, In Chambers: Stories of Supreme Court Law Clerks and Their Justices (affiliate link); and
  • Supreme Ambitions (my serialized online novel about a young Ninth Circuit clerk’s quest for a SCOTUS clerkship; I’ve been delinquent lately, but I’m hoping to get some writing done over the next two weeks, while I’m on vacation, and resume posting in January).

Okay, enough with the preliminaries; on to the lists. We’re going to show you what we’ve learned thus far in terms of Supreme Court clerk hiring for October Term 2013 and October Term 2014. If you’d like to see a list of law clerks for October Term 2012, i.e., the clerks who are currently at the Court, as well as analysis of the class, click here.

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For OT 2013 and OT 2014, it’s too early for analysis; we’re just going to do straight-up lists, which appear below. As always, if you have news of a new hire or a correction to any of this information, please email us, subject line: “SCOTUS clerk hiring.” (Please note, however, that any additions or corrections might not appear until after I return from my ancestral homeland of the Philippines.)

UPDATE (11:55 AM): We’ve made two corrections to this post since it was originally published: Matthew Shapiro is clerking in OT 2013, not OT 2014, and Paul Mezzina is clerking for Justice Scalia, not Chief Justice Roberts. We’ve also made one addition (Mark Savignac for Justice Breyer). Please keep the updates and corrections coming!

UPDATED (2:55 PM): We’ve made another correction to this post since it was originally published. Daniel Hemel is clerking in OT 2014, not OT 2013. See anything else that needs to be corrected or updated? Just let us know!

OCTOBER TERM 2013 SUPREME COURT CLERK HIRES (as of December 19, 2012)

Chief Justice John G. Roberts
1. Morgan Goodspeed (Harvard 2012 / Kavanaugh)
2. Michael Huston (Michigan 2011 / Kethledge)
3. Judson O. Littleton (Texas 2008 / Randolph)
4. Matthew Shapiro (Yale 2012 / Wilkinson)

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Justice Antonin Scalia
1. Katherine Mims Crocker (UVA 2012 / Wilkinson)
2. Kevin King (Northwestern 2010 / Niemeyer / Randolph)
3. Paul Mezzina (Harvard 2008 / Kavanaugh)
4. Ryan Walsh (Chicago 2012 / O’Scannlain)

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy
1. Matthew X. Etchemendy (Stanford 2012 / Garland)
2. Katherine Meeks (U. Penn. 2012 / Kozinski)
3. ?
4. ?

Justice Clarence Thomas
1. Katherine Yarger (Duke 2008 / Gorsuch / Eid (Colo.))
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?

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

Justice Stephen G. Breyer
1. Mark Savignac (Harvard 2011 / Posner / Feinerman (N.D. Ill.))
2. Thomas Schmidt (Yale 2011 / Garland)
3. Julia Sheketoff (NYU 2010 / Sentelle / Gleeson (E.D.N.Y.))
4. Sara Aronchick Solow (Yale 2011 / Scirica / Baylson (E.D. Pa.))

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

Justice Sonia Sotomayor
1. Fred Smith (Stanford 2007 / Thompson (M.D. Ala.) / Parker)
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?

Justice Elena Kagan
1. Sophia Brill (Yale 2011 / Garland)
2. ?
3. Jason Murray (Harvard 2011 / Gorsuch)
4. Mitchell Reich (Harvard 2012 / Garland)

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (retired):
1. Julia Malkina (Yale 2011 / Kavanaugh)

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

Justice John Paul Stevens (retired)
1. Aaron Zelinsky (Yale 2010 / Griffith)

OCTOBER TERM 2014 SUPREME COURT CLERK HIRES (as of December 19, 2012)

Chief Justice John G. Roberts
1. Kathryn Cherry (Yale 2013 / Kavanaugh)
2. Chris Michel (Yale 2013 / Kavanaugh)
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. ?
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?

Justice Stephen G. Breyer
1. Michael Gervais (Yale 2011 / Kozinski)
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?

Justice Samuel Alito
1. ?
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?

Justice Sonia Sotomayor
1. ?
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?

Justice Elena Kagan
1. Will Dreher (Harvard 2013 / Kavanaugh)
2. Elizabeth Wilkins (Yale 2013 / Garland)
3. Daniel Hemel (Yale 2012 / Boudin)
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”). Please note, however, that any additions or corrections might not appear until after I return from vacation.

Thanks, and Happy Holidays to all!

Lucky 36: What It Takes to Land a Supreme Court Clerkship [ABA Journal]
Legal killing: Bigger bucks come to Supreme Court clerks who wait [Breakingviews]
In Chambers: Stories of Supreme Court Law Clerks and Their Justices [Amazon (affiliate link)]
Supreme Ambitions: A Novel
List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States [Wikipedia]

Earlier: Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: Color Commentary on the October Term 2012 Class
Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: The Justices Are Done for October Term 2012