Merrick Garland

Legal Eagle Wedding Watch: Out of Africa

By Laurie Lin

We don’t usually make predictions about the longevity of the marriages we cover. It just seems excessively harsh to say, “This couple is going to get divorced.”

But… this couple is going to get divorced. The 32-year-old grandson of Richard Nixon marries the 21-year-old daughter of a Greek billionaire in front of 700 guests, including Hillary Clinton and Henry Kissinger. At the Waldorf-Astoria reception, George Pataki grooves to a 24-piece orchestra playing AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long.” We give it two years.

But on to some more promising unions. Here are your latest Legal Eagle Wedding Watch finalists:

Elizabeth Smith and Richard Cotton

Chelsea Purvis and Alnawaz Jiwa

Chloë Schama and Michael Pyle

Read all about these wildly impressive couples, after the jump.

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Congratulations to the 2011 Bristow Fellows

By David Lat

Federal government lawyers are having their pay frozen. But let’s face it: you don’t don’t go into government service for the money.

You might do it for the experience. You might do it for the lifestyle. And, depending on the position, you might do it for the prestige.

Someone once said to me, “You can’t eat prestige.” “Maybe not,” I replied. “But prestige certainly is delicious!”

For a young lawyer, one of the most prestigious government gigs around is a Bristow Fellowship. These four one-year fellowships in the Solicitor General’s Office are generally regarded as second only to Supreme Court clerkships in prestige (and many Bristow Fellows later go on to clerk at the Court). You can read more about the Bristow, including the job responsibilities and the application process, on the Department of Justice website.

Earlier this month, the four Bristows for 2011-2012 were notified of their good fortune. Who are they?

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What Happens Next to the Unsuccessful Shortlisters?
And a correction: Kagan and Dan Meltzer are besties.

By David Lat

Now that the fabulous Elena Kagan has been officially nominated to succeed Justice John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court, some folks have been wondering: What does the future hold for the unsuccessful shortlisters? Let’s consider them, one by one.

1. Judge Merrick Garland (D.C. Cir.): The brilliant D.C. Circuit judge — practically a “tenth justice” himself, due to his ridiculous success in feeding his clerks to the Court — could be considered for a future vacancy. He’s young enough, at 57, and the Garland clerk mafia is strong, with representation in the White House counsel’s office and other D.C. power centers.

Garland is the SCOTUS candidate who would be most appealing to conservatives, so his chances of appointment are directly proportional to Republican representation in the Senate. My advice for Judge Garland: vote Republican.

2. Judge Sidney Thomas (9th Cir.): The well-regarded Ninth Circuit judge’s appearance on Obama’s short list surprised some, but it really shouldn’t have. Sid Thomas is very smart and very liberal, and he would add diversity to the Court (as a Montanan, non-Ivy Leaguer, and Protestant).

“Sidney Thomas is being thrown around in case [Justice Anthony M.] Kennedy steps down in the next two years,” a D.C. insider involved in the nomination process told me. “As far as we can tell, Obama likes [Sid Thomas] and wants to introduce him as a possibility to make him more palatable next time around.”

If Justice Kennedy, 73, were to leave the Court, it would be without any West Coast representation. Nominating Judge Thomas — a member of the Ninth Circuit, just like AMK was before his elevation — would remedy that.

My advice for Judge Thomas: pray for Justice Kennedy to have a heart attack.

3. Judge Diane Wood (7th Cir.): It pains me to say this, because I adore Judge Wood, but this go-around was her last best chance at the Court. This July 4, Judge Wood will turn 60, viewed by some as the upper bound for a nominee in terms of age. As one of my friends observed on Facebook, Wood is on her way to becoming the liberal version of Judge Edith Jones, whose numerous unsuccessful appearances on shortlists led Slate to dub her “Susan Lucci in judicial robes.”

My advice for Judge Wood: enjoy Chicago. Or pray for ill to befall Justice Ginsburg very, very quickly — if RBG leaves soon, you might still have a shot.

In addition, I have a rather significant CORRECTION, concerning some speculation I passed along last night. The rumor was that Daniel Meltzer, the deputy White House counsel who recently announced his resignation to return to the Harvard Law School faculty, harbors a grudge against Kagan — because she beat him out for the HLS deanship — and that Meltzer therefore lobbied against her nomination to the Court.

So…. just how wrong was I about tension between Kagan and Meltzer?

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And a correction: Kagan and Dan Meltzer are besties.“

SCOTUS Speculation: Could It Be Wood?
Ten reasons Obama might appoint Diane Wood.

By David Lat

Now that President Obama has interviewed the four finalists for the U.S. Supreme Court seat he has to fill — Judge Merrick Garland (D.C. Cir.), Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Judge Sidney Thomas (9th Cir.), and Judge Diane Wood (7th Cir) — the nominee could be announced any day now. Who will it be?

We realize that the betting men (and women) favor Solicitor General Elena Kagan. Kagan is also the pick of Tom Goldstein, the veteran Supreme Court litigator and founder of SCOTUSblog, who correctly forecast the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor (a nomination that the White House sought his counsel on).

But we’re going to go out on a limb and make a crazy prediction: President Obama is going to nominate Judge Diane Wood, of the Seventh Circuit, to the Supreme Court. He’ll announce the nomination on Monday, May 10 — the Monday after Mother’s Day. (That’s significant, for reasons we’ll get to later.)

Right out of the starting gate, immediately after Justice John Paul Stevens announced his retirement, Solicitor General Elena Kagan emerged as the frontrunner for his seat. And Kagan is still widely regarded as the leading candidate.

But, in the past week and a half or so, we’ve felt a slight, almost imperceptible shift in the wind, in favor of Judge Wood….

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Ten reasons Obama might appoint Diane Wood.“

FantasySCOTUS Predictions of the Next Justice: Team Kagan v. Team Wood v. Team Garland

By The 10th Justice

Who will replace Justice John Paul Stevens? While pundits, savants, and oracles across the SCOTUSphere pontificate and read Article III tea leaves, FantasySCOTUS.net conducted extensive and detailed polling to predict the next Justice. We have invited our nearly 5,000 members – who represent some of the closest and most ardent Court watchers – to weigh in on the vacancy, rank the candidates on the short list, and give their views on the potential nominees. We are still collecting data.

This is the third in a series of posts breaking down this data, as we attempt to add some certainty to the vast amounts of uncertainty emanating from the penumbras of the upcoming vacancy.

This week, we pit Elena Kagan, Diane Wood, and Merrick Garland in a head-to-head-to-head confirmation death match…

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Supreme Speculation: Who Will Obama Nominate to Replace John Paul Stevens?

By Kashmir Hill

Potential Supreme Court nominees?

For weeks, the media laundry machine has been circulating news of Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens’s impending retirement. Now that the buzzer has gone off on that, it’s time to switch to the next cycle: speculation as to who President Barack Obama will nominate to replace him.

President Obama has been dragging his feet in his appointment of federal judges. We are relieved to hear that he is going to pick up the pace for announcing his Supreme Court pick. ABC News reports that the White House is prepared — thanks to Stevens’s public pondering — and that the announcement will come “within weeks.” Which isn’t really very helpful at all. Two weeks? Four weeks? Twelve weeks?

BLT reports on Obama’s speech from the Rose Garden today:

“While we cannot replace Justice Stevens’ experience or wisdom, I will seek someone in the coming weeks with similar qualities — an independent mind, a record of excellence and integrity, a fierce dedication to the rule of law, and a keen understanding of how the law affects the daily lives of the American people,” Obama said. “It will also be someone who, like Justice Stevens, knows that in a democracy, powerful interests must not be allowed to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens.”

Please make it fast, Obama. We’re ready to move on to the confirmation hearing cycle!

Let’s speculate until then, though…

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Legal Eagle Wedding Watch 9.6: The Point Is Probably Moot

By Laurie Lin

champagne glasses small.jpg
LEWW’s memory isn’t what it once was, but we can’t recall a stronger week in legal nuptials than this one. All six of our featured newlyweds are truly impressive, and a few are even interesting! And not to give anything away, but if you love SCOTUS clerks (and oh, we do!) prepare to curl your toes in ecstasy.
Here are our finalists:

1. Lee Bickley and Martin Carr
2. Betsy Anderson and David Gottlieb
3. Karen Dunn and Brian Netter

Join us in evaluating these couples, after the jump.

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At the ACS National Convention: The Internet and the First Amendment

By David Lat

ACS.gifThe second panel we attended at the recent convention of the American Constitution Society (ACS) focused on a topic near and dear to our heart: free speech on the internet.
The panel, The Internet Revolution and Its Effect on the First Amendment, featured the following participants:

  • Judge Merrick B. Garland, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
  • Ann Beeson, Executive Director, U.S. Programs, Open Society Institute
  • Gregory S. McCurdy, Senior Policy Counsel, State Government Affairs, Microsoft Corporation
  • Cliff Sloan, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
  • Paul M. Smith, Jenner & Block, LLP
  • Lee Tien, Senior Staff Attorney, Electronic Frontier Foundation
    A summary of the extremely interesting discussion, after the jump.

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    Legal Eagle Wedding Watch: Deb-acle!

    By Laurie Lin

    Legal%20Eagle%20Wedding%20Watch%20NYT%20wedding%20announcements%20Above%20the%20Law.jpgLEWW salutes Laura Marshall Worth, a direct descendant of Chief Justice John Marshall, who celebrated her wedding last weekend. Laura wasted a great law-school admissions essay and became a teacher, so this hat-tip is all she gets.
    Here are our three lucky finalist-couples:

    1. Rebecca Ingber and Anton Metlitsky
    2. Alexandra Flood and Samuel Alcoff
    3. Devon Powers and David Bennion

    More about these couples, after the jump.

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    Our Apologies to All Former Policy Debaters (Except the Creepy Ones)

    By David Lat

    In a recent post about Peter Barta, the Legal Aid lawyer who allegedly videotaped his female colleagues as they were getting undressed, we ranked on policy debaters.
    Maybe we should take it back. From a highly informative reader email:

    John Hughes John M Hughes debater Abovethelaw Above the Law blog.jpgNot all former policy debaters are creeps. Here’s a list of former policy debaters who are current or future legal rock stars:

    Justice Samuel Alito, Judge Merrick Garland, Larry Tribe, Louis Kaplow, Erwin Chemerinsky, NYU President John Sexton, Jonathan Massey, David Boies, Tom Goldstein, Rebecca Tushnet, Annie Kastanek (OT 2007/Kennedy), and John Hughes (OT 2005/Thomas; pictured at right, captured in mid-debate).

    Former policy debaters, please accept our apologies. We did extemp and L-D debate in high school, and we generally viewed C-X debaters with suspicion. They struck us as kids who talked reallyreallyfast, warning constantly of nuclear war. But maybe we were wrong.
    To paraphrase the “ignorant tipster” from the Oona O’Connell story: “We feel kind of bad that we prejudged them. Sorry to sound like an afterschool special. But you know what? Perhaps we learned a lesson today. Good on you. ‘The more you know.’”
    Earlier: Reading the Bartameter (Part 3): What Is Up With Those Policy Debaters?

    Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: OT 2008 (Update #1)

    By David Lat

    Supreme Court hallway Above the Law Above the Law Above the Law.JPGThe Supreme Court hasn’t yet finished up for October Term 2006 (which should end tomorrow). The law clerks for October Term 2007 will start arriving next month. But many of them have already started hiring clerks for October Term 2008.
    We reported on some of those hires back in this post. And now we have more to add:

    1. Conservatives hoping for his retirement will be disappointed. Rumor has it Justice John Paul Stevens has hired all of his clerks for OT 2008. The only one whose name we have, however, is Lindsey Powell (Stanford 2007 / Garland).

    2. Justice Antonin Scalia has hired Jameson Jones (Stanford 2007 / Sutton). Judge Jeffrey Sutton, a judicial superhottie, is turning into quite the feeder to his former boss.

    3. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has hired at least one clerk for October Term 2008 — Miriam Seifter (Harvard 2007 / Garland) — and perhaps more.

    So in terms of OT 2008, Stanford Law School and Judge Merrick B. Garland are off to a good start.
    If you have more SCOTUS clerk hiring news to add, please email us (subject line: “Supreme Court clerk hiring”).
    A list of OT 2008 law clerks thus far appears after the jump.

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    Legal Eagle Wedding Watch 06.03: The Golden Road

    By Laurie Lin

    Legal%20Eagle%20Wedding%20Watch%20NYT%20wedding%20announcements%20Above%20the%20Law.jpg“Nobody’s finished, we ain’t even begun” is a good description of our progress on this column over the past few days. We apologize for serving up your weekly dose of LEWW a bit later than usual.
    Some good weddings we aren’t writing about this week: another seedling from William Howard Taft’s family tree, hot lesbians, and an Ashley’s Ice Cream heiress.
    Here are this week’s featured couples:

    1. Kathleen Rubenstein and Hays Golden
    2. Serena Hoy and James Reilly
    3. Catherine Bennett and Sophien Bennaceur

    More about these couples, after the jump.
    Also, some of you have inquired about submitting nominations for Couple of the Week from outside the pages of The New York Times. We’re confused. Surely you’re not suggesting that we grant the LEWW imprimatur to the undignified matings of commoners?
    (In all seriousness: Although NYT wedding section is the only one LEWW reads religiously, we’d love to hear about notable nuptials our readers spot elsewhere. Just send us an e-mail early in the week.)

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    Strategic Misstep By Libby Defense Team

    By David Lat

    Alexandra Walsh Baker Botts Above the Law.jpgThey should have induced delivery by Baker Botts associate Alexandra Walsh, so she would have popped out her baby girl in the middle of trial, before the jury (and preferably during the strongest part of the government’s case, for maximum distraction value).
    Delivering a baby in open court would have created a magnificently dramatic scene. And it would have generated an unbreakable bond between defense counsel and the jurors that would have guaranteed acquittal for Walsh’s client, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby. After you’ve watched a woman give birth, can you really send her client to the Big House?
    Alas, the Libby defense team took a more conventional route. Alex Walsh didn’t go to court last Friday, reporting instead to a Washington-area hospital, where she delivered a baby girl.
    More details about Walsh, from CNN:

    Walsh — a 2001 graduate of Stanford Law School — was named by Washingtonian magazine last year as one of the “40 top lawyers under 40.” She has focused on white-collar criminal law and appellate cases.

    If you go back to the Washingtonian listing, you learn that Walsh, after graduating from Stanford, “was hired to clerk for appeals-court judge Merrick Garland and then Supreme Court justice Stephen Breyer.”
    A member of the Elect with an interest in trial work? Impressive!
    Congratulations, Alexandra, on the birth of your baby girl!
    Verdict: It’s a girl; Libby defense counsel delivers baby [CNN Political Ticker]
    40 Lawyers Under 40 [Washingtonian]

    Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Update: October Term 2007

    By David Lat

    Supreme Court hallway Above the Law Above the Law Above the Law.JPGLast month we published a round-up of Supreme Court clerk hiring for October Term 2007. We asked you to keep us updated as to future developments.
    We thank you for doing so. Here is what we’ve heard recently. If you see any errors, or have anything to add, please let us know.
    1. Justice Samuel Alito, who has already filled two of his spots for OT 2007, has completed his interviewing. He interviewed roughly 10 to 12 candidates for the two remaining clerkships. It is possible, if he likes someone enough, that he may hire one or two of his ’08 clerks from this batch of candidates.
    2. Chief Justice John Roberts, for whom we had no information in our round-up, apparently has moved. From a tipster:

    “I am sure you have probably already received this intel, but it appears Chief Justice Roberts has recently made a few hiring choices for OT 2007.”

    “Looks like he hired Jason Burnette, a 2006 Georgia law grad currently clerking for Judge Anderson on the 11th. See here.”

    “He also at least extended an offer to Anton Metlitsky, (I think you might have covered this guy over at UTR back in the day). I assume Mr. Metlitsky accepted.”

    “Hope this info is helpful.”

    It most definitely is. Thank you! And please keep the tips coming.
    P.S.Yes, we did cover Metlitsky back in the day. See here. Metlitsky was hired by then-Judge Roberts to clerk for him on the D.C. Circuit. When JGR got brought up to the Supremes, Metlitsky sought refuge in the clerk-feeding arms of Judge Merrick Garland (D.C. Circuit).
    P.P.S. Yes, we know — we owe you profiles of the current Breyer clerks. We’ve been distracted by Aaron Charney, associate pay raises, and Shanetta Cutlar. Rest assured, they are coming. In the meantime, if you haven’t done so already, check out our Alito clerk profiles.
    The good news is that there’s stil time for you to email us with your tidbits about them. We look forward to hearing from you.
    P.P.P.S. We reprint an updated tally of October Term 2007 clerks, as well as links to our prior posts, after the jump.

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    There She Is, Miss Ames Moot Court Finalist

    By David Lat

    Erika Harold Miss America Above the Law.jpgAt the risk of seeming Harvard-centric — yesterday we wrote about Larry Tribe’s dog — we bring you this brief report on the Ames Moot Court finals, held last week at Harvard Law School. From the Boston Globe:

    Every year, the Ames Moot Court finals at Harvard Law School are a pretty amazing affair, bringing together a dozen third-year law students who have already beaten out a couple hundred of their classmates, in front of high-ranking real-life judges. But this year, the cast of characters seemed particularly interesting.

    On one team was Erika Harold (at right), the 2003 Miss America. The other team included Kevin Terrazas, who started law school after serving in Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division.

    The bench for the competition was similarly distinguished. It’s traditional for a Supreme Court justice to preside over the Ames Moot Court finals, and this year was no exception: Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, the Court’s increasingly influential swing vote, wielded the gavel. He was joined on the bench by two of the most brilliant members of the federal judiciary: Judge Diana Gribbon Motz, of the Fourth Circuit, and (super-feeder) Judge Merrick B. Garland, of the legenday D.C. Circuit. Both Judge Motz and Judge Garland have been mentioned as possible Supreme Court picks in a Democratic administration.*
    The case presented was a fictional one, captioned Adam’s Apple Markets v. Aphrodite Cosmetics. The team representing Aphrodite, which featured veteran Kevin Terrazas as an oralist, won best overall case. Beauty queen Erika Harold and her teammates won the prize for Most Congenial best written legal briefs. Tian Tian Mayimin, who argued for defendant Aphrodite Cosmetics, won for best oral presentation. (But in announcing the oralist award, Justice Kennedy “noted the judges emphasized substance over style.” Does that mean that Mayimin’s style left something to be desired?)
    Were any of you in attendance at this august event? If so, and if you have any funny or interesting tidbits to add, please do so in the comments.
    * Does anyone remember those TV commercials for Motts applesauce cups, in which a little kid says to his co-conspirator, “I got the Motts”? If Judge Motz is ever nominated to the Supreme Court, we’d like the president to announce her nomination by exclaiming, “I got the Motz!”
    Shirin Shakir Memorial Team Wins 95th Ames Moot Court Finals [Harvard Law Record via How Appealing]
    Miss America Loses Harvard’s Moot Court Competition [WSJ Law Blog]
    Ames Moot Court Final video [Harvard Law School via How Appealing]
    Moot Court Finals Rule at HLS [Harvard Law School]