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:
The 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.
LEWW 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:
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:
Not 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?
The 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.
“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:
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.)
They 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]
Last 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.
At 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]
A college graduate without student loan debt is akin to reading a kind quote about Kim Kardashian in a tabloid—it’s rare.
In the past eight years, student loan debt has nearly tripled to a whopping $1.1 trillion, and in the past 10 years, the percentage of 25-year-olds with such debt has risen from 25% to 43%
It’s gotten so bad, in fact, that New York Fed economists warned last month that the burden of student debt could stilt consumer spending by twentysomethings, as well as further hamper the recovery of the housing market and economy.
To get a better idea of what massive student loan debt (we’re talking over $100,000 massive) looks like, we talked to an attorney who graduated with a large student loan debt. We also consulted LearnVest Planning Services CFP® Katie Brewer to see just how their repayment plans stack up.
S. Fischer, 36, Attorney Graduated: 2001
How Much I Borrowed: $100,000
What I Still Owe: $45,000
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Ed. note: The Asia Chronicles column is authored by Kinney Recruiting. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates, counsels and partners in Asia than any other recruiting firm in each of the past six years. You can reach them by email: asia@kinneyrecruiting.com.
Deal flow has clearly picked recently up for most US associates, counsels and partners in Hong Kong/China and Singapore. We are on the phone with a lot of these folks on a daily basis, many of whom we have known for years. Further, the head of our Asia team, Evan Jowers, and Kinney’s founder and president, Robert Kinney, frequently meet in person with leading US partners in Asia to assess their needs and keep on top of the inside scoop at as many firms as possible. The need for legal recruiting help in Asia from experienced recruiters appears to be live and well. In March, Evan and Robert were in Beijing at such meetings, in April, Evan was in Hong Kong, and for half of June Evan will be in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Thus its pretty easy for us to tell when there has been an across-the-market pick up in capital markets and corporate work.
On an average day in Asia when Evan and Robert visit firms, they typically have 5 to 9 meetings a day, mostly with US partners in the market. The reason they have these meetings is not simply because Kinney makes a lot of US attorney placements in Asia and that a particular firm may have openings; instead these are just visits with friends. After years of working together as business partners, the folks at Kinney are actually these peoples’ friends. The firms Kinney work closely with in Asia (which is just about every law firm – call us if you want to know the one firm in the world we will never place anyone with again, ever, and why) look forward to the visits, or at least act like they do. After seven years in the market, many of the client partners are former associate candidates. Also, these US partners see Kinney as a very good source of market information as well, because they know how deep their contacts are in the market and how frequently they are speaking to counterparts at peer firms.
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