Both are judges in the western United States. Both are colorful figures and well-known judicial mavericks. And both have been in the news lately. Chief Judge Kozinski graces the cover of California Lawyer magazine, which describes him -- and rightfully so -- as "brilliant, charming, and provocative." Meanwhile, Judge Halverson has been all over the national media in the past few days, thanks to this less-than-favorable AP report (picked up by many news outlets).

In light of these similarities, we decided to conduct a head-to-head comparison of the two jurists. Check it out, below the fold.

Almost half of the justices are done hiring their law clerks for October Term 2008. The latest justice to finish up: Justice Anthony M. Kennedy.

In addition to Chris Walker (Stanford 2006 / Kozinski), whose hiring has been previously noted in these pages, congratulations to the three newest AMK clerks:

1. Ashley Keller (University of Chicago 2007 / Posner)
2. Travis Lenkner (Kansas 2005 / Kavanaugh)
3. Steven Shepard (Yale 2007 / Kozinski)

It's unusual to have two clerks from the same feeder judge in the same justice's chambers. But if there's any combination that's likely to produce such a development, it's Kozinski --> Kennedy (just as Luttig would sometimes send two clerks to Justice Scalia in the same Term; also note Judge Garland filling three out of Justice Stevens's four slots in OT 2008).

Ashley Keller appears to be the first Chicago clerk in OT 2008. Also note the (unsurprising) emergence of the well-connected Judge Brett Kavanaugh (D.C. Cir.), relatively new to the federal bench, as a feeder judge extraordinaire.

The current tally of OT 2008 SCOTUS clerks, with the three new Kennedy clerks added, appears after the jump.

This Friday, at the Ninth Circuit courthouse in San Francisco, a ceremonial "passing of the gavel" will be held. The court's outgoing chief judge, Mary M. Schroeder, will hand over the gavel to her successor, Alex Kozinski. Details about the ceremony appear in this press release (PDF).

From How Appealing (additional links collected below):

Judge Kozinski was able to sneak some humor into the news release:

"The chief judge of the circuit assumes the position based on seniority. The chief judge is the judge in regular active service who is senior in commission of those judges who are (1) 64 years of age or under; (2) have served for one year or more as a circuit judge; and (3) have not served previously as chief judge. Judge Kozinski also believes that looks count, though he can provide no support for that proposition.

That last sentence, we're guessing, is a nod to Judge Kozinski's victory in our Superhotties of the Federal Judiciary contest. With such a robust sense of humor, is it any surprise that Judge Kozinski has his own Facebook fan club?

The Ninth Circuit's press release states that "still and video cameras will be permitted" at the gavel passing ceremony, which is taking place on Friday, November 30, at 4 p.m., in Courtroom One of the James R. Browning U.S. Courthouse. If an ATL reader (or readers) would be willing to take pictures or videos and send them our way, we'd be most grateful. Thanks!

Ninth Circuit Attempts to Prepare Itself for Chief Judge Alex Kozinski [How Appealing]
‘Hottie’ Judge Kozinski Continues Joke in Press Release [ABA Journal]
Apochiefosis [Volokh Conspiracy]
Gavel Passing to Mark Changing of the Guard for Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (PDF) [U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit]

A photo op with two of the nation's most distinguished jurists: Ninth Circuit Judges Stephen Reinhardt and Alex Kozinski!

(Judge Reinhardt seemed a bit skittish about the taking of this picture, but Judge Kozinski's enthuasism was infectious. Or maybe it was just hard for Judge Reinhardt to say no to the incoming Chief Judge of the court.)

We now yield the floor to Laurie Lin. Who better to report on one of the year's biggest social events than the writer of Legal Eagle Wedding Watch? Over to you, Laurie.

****************
Ambition and Old Spice wafted sweetly through the air last night at the Federalist Society's 25th Anniversary Gala at Union Station -- a kind of right-wing Golden Globes. Nearly two thousand G-ed up conservative lawyers packed the main hall to hear President George W. Bush blast the Senate on judicial confirmations:

"Today, good men and women nominated to the federal bench are finding that inside the Beltway, too many interpret 'advise and consent' to mean 'search and destroy,'" Bush said.

Tickets to the black-tie affair were $250 -- actually $249, because there was a new $1 Madison coin at every place setting -- but that was a small price to pay to breathe the same oxygen as Ted Olson, Antonin Scalia, and Laura Ingraham.

More on the conservative legal fabulosity -- including pictures of the people who didn't hide when they saw us coming -- after the jump.

In October 2006, when LEWW reviewed her wedding, we wrote of Aileen McGrath (at right, with handsome hubby Jason Gillenwater):

Aileen is the President of the Harvard Law Review. HELLO!!! And this isn't mentioned in the announcement, but we've learned that she'll be clerking next year for Chief Judge Michael Boudin, of the First Circuit -- feeder judge extraordinaire.

So, Aileen, have you picked which Supreme Court justice you'd like to clerk for?

She has. We've learned that Aileen McGrath (Harvard 2007 / Boudin) has accepted an offer to clerk for Justice Stephen G. Breyer in October Term 2008. One source tells us: "[S]he’s universally recognized as brilliant. She was president of the law review and a Sears Prize winner."

We also hear that the fourth clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas for OT 2008 is a D.C. Circuit clerk (believed to be clerking for Judge David Sentelle). Will someone please give up the name?

Update: Her name is Claire Evans. She's a 2002 graduate of Rutgers School of Law - Camden, and she's the first alum of the school to score a SCOTUS clerkship. She clerked for Judge Jerome Simandle (D.N.J.) in 2003, and then for Michael Chertoff, back when he was still on the Third Circuit. Reports our source:

"Chertoff liked Claire so much that he took her to the Department of Homeland Security when he left the bench for Washington. Apparently, Claire continues to amaze and has now secured the most coveted of credentials -- a U.S. Supreme Court clerkship."

"[S]he holds the highest cumulative grade point average in the history of Rutgers School of Law - Camden. And, because of a grading change implemented the year after Claire graduated, it is now mathematically impossible for Claire's epic GPA to ever be topped."

Finally, expect more SCOTUS clerk hires in the near future. From an in-the-know tipster:

There's movement among the justices now. At least Alito, Roberts, Kennedy & Breyer have scheduled interviews in the last few days. Kennedy has scheduled pre-screen interviews, at least some of which are with Judge Kozinski.

The current tally of OT 2008 Supreme Court clerks, with Aileen McGrath and Claire Evans added, appears after the jump.

* Our DealBreaker colleagues receive email from William Unroch, the lawyer / ex-boyfriend of Maximilia (née Maximilian) Cordero, the transsexual model suing high-flying financier Jeffrey Epstein. Did you get all that? [DealBreaker]

* Congratulations to (soon-to-be-Chief) Judge Kozinski, who just won the Witkin Medal! [Blogonaut]

* Speaking of Judge Kozinski, here's a counter-plea from perhaps his most famous former clerk. We may have to issue another bleg in response. [Volokh Conspiracy; 2007 Weblog Awards]

* "Uh, there's no pot here, Beavis -- just monkeys." [What About Clients?]

We almost forgot. Happy Halloween!!!

If you're here in Washington, DC. and looking for a way to celebrate, here's an event at Georgetown University Law Center that might interest you:

Halloween with Judge Kozinski!

Join us for a special debate:

“Property Rights After Kelo”

Alex Kozinski, Judge, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

vs.

Chip Mellor, Founder and President, Institute for Justice

Wednesday, October 31, 4:30

Room 201, Georgetown University Law Center

(We'd love to attend, to see the colorful Judge Kozinski in the (superhot) flesh. Alas, we have a scheduling conflict.)

Speaking of Georgetown Law, we'd like to issue a friendly ATL shout-out to all the great folks we met at last week's Equal Justice Foundation live auction (and party). We had a great time.

A few photos, after the jump.

For the limited but passionate segment of the ATL readership that avidly follows the federal judiciary and clerkship news, the past week has been a good one.

First, there was this very interesting Legal Times article by Joe Palazzolo, about the debacle known as the law clerk hiring process. Executive summary: "As in most family feuds, it's the kids who suffer most. In interviews, newly hired law clerks rated this year's hiring frenzy on a scale from 'unfortunate' to 'an utter mess.'"

At the D.C. Circuit, lights shone in the windows of some judges' chambers before dawn on Sept. 19. They had scheduled their first interviews between 6:45 and 7 a.m.

[Yale Law School Professor Christine] Jolls, who is a member of a committee of professors and deans that advises the Judicial Conference on the hiring process, says she got a 2 a.m. e-mail from one of her students who had just emerged from an interview with a 2nd Circuit judge. The judge had scheduled the interview for Sept. 19 at 12:01 a.m.

If you know, feel free to identify the judges who scheduled these insanely early interviews, in the comments.

Second, for those of you follow clerkship bonus developments, on Tuesday the ever-helpful Law Clerk Addict posted an updated Vault 100 clerkship bonus chart. You can access it here.

Third, today the National Law Journal serves up a delightful profile of the nation's #1 judicial superhottie (male), Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit. As of December 1, make that CHIEF Judge Kozinski. Congratulations, Your Honor!

Links to the aforementioned sources, plus excerpts and commentary on the Kozinski profile, appear after the jump.

Update: Also after the jump, some scuttlebutt about which judges were conducting the midnight and early morning interviews.

Some helpful tipsters reminded us: today is the birthday of [swing] Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. Happy Birthday, Justice Kennedy!

We asked one reader, aspiring lawyer Andrew Cohen,* for thoughts on writing up a short post. His response:

"You don't. You write a ridiculously long post that both praises and denigrates him, pretending to come out clearly one way or another, but writing so murkily that no one can tell how you actually feel."

And let's throw in some flowery rhetoric, too. Considering that it's AMK's birthday, a shout-out to the "mystery of life" would be quite apropos.

Update: Thanks for the reminder. Birthday wishes also go out to Justice Kennedy's most famous former clerk: Judge Alex Kozinski!

Justice Kennedy Turns 71 [How Appealing]

* We include Mr. Cohen's name with his permission (and wish him good luck on the bar exam tomorrow). But our default rule at ATL is anonymity for all correspondents.

In his dissent today from a order denying rehearing en banc in the case of United States v. Ziegler, Kozinski basically calls the rest of the panel morons, or at least hack magicians. The best part is this paragraph:

By plucking consent out of its judicial top hat, when neither party has argued it and the district court made no findings to support it, the panel gives the unfortunate impression that it is seeking to vindicate a result it has reached on other (nowrepudiated) grounds. It is not our business to reach particular results, nor may we jiggle the rules of procedure to achieve an outcome we prefer. Our responsibility is to apply the law in an objective and impartial manner, and let the chips fall where they may. Here, the government lost the one issue on which it chose to make its stand—Ziegler’s expectation of privacy in his own office. At that point it was our responsibility to reverse the district court and vacate the defendant’s sentence. Appellate review is not a magic wand and we undermine public confidence in the judicial process when we make it look like it is.

But he basically rips the panel a new one throughout the dissent.

Access the entire opinion here.

Despite his recent public criticism of blogs, we've always viewed that colorful legal genius, Judge Alex Kozinski, as a great friend of blogging.

Judge Kozinski's nomination of himself as a "judicial hottie" played a crucial role in the development of our original blog, Underneath Their Robes. And he has been a supporter of our blogging over the years. Even his criticism of us has been constructive and well-intentioned (even if harsh).

But if Judge Kozinski has soured on blogging, perhaps it is showing through in his jurisprudence. Check out today's decision by the Ninth Circuit in Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley v. Roommates.com (PDF).

We haven't finished reading the opinions just yet. But based on Robert Loblaw's this write-up, which provides a helpful summary and pellucid analysis, the decision doesn't look like good news for bloggers -- or any other websites that host user-generated content.

Sigh. This whole "blogging" thing ain't as much fun as it used to be.

Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley v. Roommates.com, LLC
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (PDF)]
Important Ninth Circuit Decision on Websites’ Legal Immunity under the CDA [Decision of the Day]

Earlier: Kozinski On Blogs: "Hateful Things"

The brilliant and irascible Judge Alex Kozinski, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, has handed down his opinion on blogs, and it's scathing. The audio link is down, but Orin Kerr helpfully gives us the juicy bits:

ERIC GOLDMAN: So but what about blogs? . . .

JUDGE ALEX KOZINSKI: I hate them, hateful things.

ERIC GOLDMAN: Why do you hate blogs? . . . .

JUDGE ALEX KOZINSKI: I just think it's so self-indulgent, you know. "Oh, I'm so proud of what I'm saying, I think the world instantly wants to know what I'm thinking today." People wake up thinking, . . . . "I wonder what great thoughts have come into his mind this morning that I can feel myself edified by. I can't really have breakfast — really enjoy my day — until I hear the great thoughts of Howard Bashman!" I don't think so. I go for months without ever knowing what Howard has to say. So I don't know. I find it sort of self-indulgent. And I find it grandiloquent. And I find it annoying, particularly if I'm in an audience and people are sitting there typing in their computers.

Why is Kozinski picking on Bashman? How Appealing is the opposite of grandiloquent; it's essentially a just-the-facts clearinghouse for the day's news.

If the self-nominated judicial superhottie and recent ATL critic has a beef with grandiloquent blogs, a more fitting target might be the one run by his former clerks, Eugene and Sasha: the verbose Volokh Conspiracy!

Some time ago, we posted an anecdote about the family travel mishaps of Judge Marsha Berzon, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Many ATL readers enjoyed the story. But Judge Berzon's colleague, Judge Alex Kozinski -- one of the federal judiciary's most brilliant thinkers and talented writers -- was less pleased. He sent us an open letter criticizing the story and our decision to publish it.

We posted Judge Kozinski's letter here, and we promised a more detailed response.

We intended to publish a response much earlier. But having to respond to a benchslapping at the hands of a brilliant federal judge tends to induce "writer's block." Who'd have thunk it?

Anyway, we finally got over our writer's block. Our response appears after the jump.

We feel a bit like Senator Joe Biden must feel right now, after his ill-advised comments about Senator Barack Obama. In case you haven't heard, Sen. Biden paid Sen. Obama's presidential candidacy some backhanded compliments:

“I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.”

Take foot (or, in our case, keyboard). Insert into mouth. Then push, as far as it will go.

Yesterday we published a post about a recent plane trip made by Judge Marsha Berzon, of the Ninth Circuit, and her family. It was supposed to come across as playfully irreverent (and yes, slightly snarky). But instead, it turned out to be rather mean-spirited, at least in the eyes of some readers -- such as Judge Alex Kozinski.

In a later post, we will explain various aspects of that original post (and vigorously defend the decision to publish in the first instance). But for now, we would like to point out that the timing of our post could not have been worse.

The following email is representative of others we've received. It's from a former clerk of Judge Berzon (who, by the way, thinks very highly of her and enjoyed the clerkship):

Judge Berzon’s brother passed away Tuesday quite suddenly and unexpectedly. So, whereas I would be bothered by such a post about someone I so thoroughly revere as a general matter, I wouldn’t normally object to its very existence — I’d just fight back. Given current circumstances, however, I do think it is in especially poor taste this week, a point you might want to consider as you post further on the subject.

Point well-taken. Obviously we had no idea of the passing of Judge Berzon's brother at the time we published our post. It was a story we had on hand for a while -- non-time-sensitive stuff, or what we in the biz call "evergreen" material -- and we didn't get the chance to write it up until yesterday. So it was pure (and unfortunate) coincidence that it appeared at such a terrible time for the Berzon family.

We send our sincerest condolences to Judge Berzon on the passing of her brother. And we apologize if we have in any way made such a difficult time for her family even more trying.

Update: Some interesting comments here. Please be sure to read our clarification of the point of this post. Thanks.

Earlier: Flying the Friendly, Federal Judicial Skies: An Open Letter from Judge Alex Kozinski
Flying the Friendly, Federal Judicial Skies

Yesterday we put up a post about the mishaps of a federal judge and her family on a recent plane trip. You can read that post by clicking here.

A number of you found it amusing. But not everyone was so pleased.

This morning we received an email from Judge Alex Kozinski, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Judge Kozinski is one of the most highly respected members of the federal judiciary. He is a brilliant thinker, a great writer, and a colorful character. He is a top-ranked feeder judge, and a former Supreme Court clerk himself. Most importantly, he is the reigning Superhottie of the Federal Judiciary.

We reprint Judge Kozinski's letter below (and after the jump). We are running the letter without interruption, in unredacted form. In a later post, we will reprint his letter again, but with our paragraph-by-paragraph commentary.

And now, Judge Kozinski:

Dear David:

I've been a long-time fan of your efforts to demystify and humanize the federal judiciary. Which is why I was so shocked and disappointed by your recent posting about my colleague, Judge [Marsha] Berzon. The part dealing with the incident on the airplane is a vicious and wholly gratuitous personal attack on Judge Berzon and her family. Assuming it bears some nodding resemblance to the truth, which I seriously doubt, it is so laden with pejoratives and half-witticisms that it seems designed only to wound and deride, rather than to enlighten. Federal judges may be public figures who must endure whatever criticism is leveled at us for our work product, but what possible justification is there for holding up members of our families for public ridicule?

Will a single one of your readers have been enlightened or helped in any way by learning what a lawyer who may be nursing a grudge against the judge based on his appearances before her, thinks about her family's airplane demeanor?

One of you recently commented: "Retire this feature until the spring, dude. No one gets married in December."

We beg to differ -- unless you consider one of the Elect to be a nobody. A surprisingly high number of lawyers got hitched on the weekend before New Year's Day. We even had to make some cuts.

Here are the three couples from the December 30-31 weekend that we will review:

1. Margaret Cimino, Jaime Wolf

2. Theane Evangelis, Teddy Kapur

3. Courtenay Seabring, Nathaniel Ebel

Random aside: The best tidbit from the December 31 wedding announcements appeared in the write-up for two non-lawyers, Darcy Wolcott and Thomas Proctor:

Mr. Proctor's forebears, the Hood and Towne families, settled the towns of Topsfield and Ipswich, Mass., in the early 1600's. One ancestor, Mary Towne Easty, was hanged as a witch in 1692 in Salem.

If you can claim an ancestor who was executed for being a witch, you get an automatic 10 for your "Family" score.

Scores and commentary for the newlywed lawyer couples, after the jump.

Yesterday we put up a list of all the Supreme Court clerk hiring news that we have so far (for October Term 2007). We will update this post, or republish the list in a full post, as we receive more information.

After we put up the list, we received several corrections and additions (for which we thank you). We've revised the original list accordingly. But for those of you who haven't looked back at the list since we first published it, we'd like to highlight these changes:

1. We've added the information that Stephen Cowen, a future clerk to Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, is currently clerking for Chief Judge Douglas Ginsburg (D.C. Cir.). This is information we already had, since Cowen was featured a few months ago in Legal Eagle Wedding Watch. We apologize for omitting it on the first go-round.

(Bloggers work quickly, and we don't have a separate fact-checking department. Mistakes were, are, and will be made. Sorry.)

2. We're advised that William Consovoy is now clerking for Justice Clarence Thomas in October Term 2008 (a possibility hinted at in the Wiley Rein press release). So that leaves Eric McArthur, Carrie Severino, Heath Tarbert and Leila Thompson -- who has "awesomely fun hair," we're told -- as the CT clerks for OT 2007.

3. Heidi Bond is a 2006 grad of Michigan (not a 2005 grad, as originally reported). Also, she used to blog at Letters of Marque. Now that she's clerking for Judge Alex Kozinski, she has neither the time nor the ability to continue blogging (or sleeping or showering).

Do you have further corrections or additions -- maybe some hiring news from Chief Justice John Roberts, on whom we have nothing so far? If so, please email us. Gracias.

Earlier: More SCOTUS Clerk Hiring News: October Term 2007 Hires

* Meet Aquagirl. She's the Cleary Gottlieb summer associate who had too much to drink, then wound up in the drink.

* But even Aquagirl can land a good job -- in fact, two (a Biglaw gig, and a clerkship) -- after her fifteen minutes of infamy.

* In fact, legal employment is even available to people who make pathetic fools of themselves at their interview lunches.

* Interview Horror Stories: Is the supply inexhaustible? (Click here, scroll down.)

* More law firms get the urge to merge. The latest legal Brangelinas: Dewey/Orrick, Thelen Reid/Brown Raysman, and Pitney Hardin/Day Berry.

* The Ninth Circuit: Why can't they all just get along?

* Speaking of the Ninth Circuit, Judge Kozinski is just as cool as ever. And he photographs well, too. The New Jersey Supreme Court, on the other hand, does not.

* When you aggregate the "Most Favorite Justice" and "Least Favorite Justice" scores, Justice Scalia comes out on top.

* So ATL readers think that Justice Scalia rules (except for those who blame him for judicial incivility). But does anyone want to take a nude cruise with him?

Two hotties for the price of one: Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski, the #1 Superhottie of the Federal Judiciary; and our super-cute correspondent, Justin, a student at the DePaul University College of Law.

West Coast folk, don't say we neglect you here at Above the Law. Earlier today, we wrote about some Ninth Circuit benchslappery. And now we bring you a delicious judicial sightation, of an Article III celebrity from sun-kissed California: Judge Alex Kozinski, the hottest federal judge in all the land.

Earlier this week, Judge Kozinski visited DePaul University College of Law in Chicago, where he was a guest lecturer in Professor Roberta Kwall's Copyright/Trademark class. One of the students in that class, Justin (pictured above), provided us with a witty and insightful report about the proceedings.

Justin describes how Judge Kozinski conducted the class (brilliantly), mentions the jurist's weakness for a certain carbonated beverage, and provides the backstory behind the photograph above. It's a fun and interesting read, not to be missed.

Check out Justin's full write-up, after the jump. You won't be sorry!