Books, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Supreme Court Clerks

'Of Courtiers And Kings': An Interview With Todd Peppers About Supreme Court Clerkships

How has the institution of the Supreme Court clerkship evolved over time, and what is a great predictor of whether you'll become a SCOTUS clerk?

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If you’re a Supreme Court nerd or a legal history buff, or if you’re looking for a holiday gift for someone who’s a SCOTUS devotee, then I have a recommendation for you. Check out Of Courtiers and Kings: More Stories of Supreme Court Law Clerks and Their Justices. As I say in my blurb, the book “paints a fascinating picture of how the Supreme Court clerkship, an extremely important but often opaque institution, has evolved over time. This carefully curated collection of rich historical essays will enlighten and delight both Supreme Court obsessives and readers who are new to the Court and the critical role it plays in our democracy.”

I recently interviewed Professor Todd C. Peppers of Roanoke College, who co-edited the book with Clare Cushman, director of publications at the Supreme Court Historical Society, about the book and about Supreme Court clerkships. Here’s a write-up of our conversation.

DL: As you know from my blurb for it, I’m a huge fan of Of Courtiers and Kings. Can you tell our readers a little bit about it?

TP: Of Courtiers and Kings is a project which was motivated by our mutual love of Supreme Court history. My co-editor, Clare Cushman, and I are fascinated by the stories of Supreme Court law clerks for multiple reasons. Not only do these young men and women work in what is arguably the most important legal internship in the country, but they are behind the scene witnesses (“court watchers,” as Clare calls them) to the unique personalities who have occupied the Supreme Court bench. And these clerks have helped research and write some of the most important Supreme Court cases in the history of our country.

DL: And as you also know, I share your obsession with Supreme Court clerks (and even wrote a novel about the quest for a SCOTUS clerkship). But sometimes people find this interest a bit… odd. How would you respond to people who ask why we should care about Supreme Court law clerks?

TP: With several observations. It’s the most prestigious internship in the legal world. It not only exposes young law graduates to the secret world of the Supreme Court, but it opens up tremendous professional opportunities in law, government, and the legal academy. And there is always the question of influence – we should care because these young men and women are influencing the decision-making process. They are reviewing appeals and writing memos to the Justices in which they are recommending whether the appeals should be heard by the Court. They are preparing the Justices for oral argument. And they, with the oversight and editing pen of the Justices, are helping write opinions.

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From the perspective of an historian, the subsequent writings by former law clerks about their clerkships (such as law review articles and biographies) provide windows into a specific justice’s chambers. And the information provided by these sources show how norms in the clerkship institution (the rules surrounding the hiring and utilization of the clerks) as well as the Court as a whole has evolved and changed over time.

DL: Of Courtiers and Kings is actually your third book about Supreme Court clerks; you previously published In Chambers: Stories of United States Supreme Court Law Clerks and Their Justices (with Artemus Ward) and Courtiers of the Marble Palace: The Rise and Influence of the Supreme Court Law Clerk. How would you compare Of Courtiers and Kings to these prior books? How does it fit into or build upon your earlier research and writing in this area?

TP: Of Courtiers and Kings highlights justices who were not featured in the last collection of essays. While some of these justices may be considered the “second string” (such as James McReynolds and William Howard Taft), the stories of their clerkships are no less important. In fact, the essays offer more new historical nuggets of information because some of these justices have not been extensively studied by Court scholars. Moreover, this new volume offers the reader a really fascinating collection of short essays written by parents and children who have both clerked at the Court. In these shorter pieces, family members are able to compare and contrast their clerkships – thus, again, giving us important snapshots of how the Court has changed. Finally, essays by Clare Cushman (my co-editor) and Professor Barry Cushman take a new look at the clerkship institution in its early decades and give us a more nuanced understanding of the Court, its justices, and the utilization of clerks.

DL: Of Courtiers and Kings contains a wealth of fascinating information about how Supreme Court clerkships have evolved over time. Could you share with us one example of a major change to the SCOTUS clerkship as an institution?

TP: One of the biggest changes in the clerkship institution has been the credentials needed to be a law clerk. Originally, some justices were more concerned about the clerks’ stenographic skills than their legal training. As late as 1938, a few Supreme Court law clerks literally did not have their law degrees (they were attending night law school while clerking at the Court). Now a candidate has to attend a top-ten law school, be editor-in-chief of the law review, be at the top of his or her class, have a previous judicial clerkship with a federal “feeder court” judge, and, increasingly, have experience in a corporate firm or as a government attorney to be considered.

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DL: Many of our readers are bright young law students or lawyers who aspire to clerk for the high court. Is there one piece of advice you’d give to them about how to land this coveted post?

TP: Pick your parents carefully, and be born into a family in which a parent has clerked!

DL: Indeed; we’ve commented before on how having a parent who clerked for the Court is an excellent predictor of SCOTUS clerkship chances.

Congratulations to you and Clare Cushman on the book’s publication, and thanks for taking the time to chat!

(Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the University of Virginia Press.)

Of Courtiers and Kings: More Stories of Supreme Court Law Clerks and Their Justices [Amazon (affiliate link)]
Supreme Ambitions [Amazon (affiliate link)]
In Chambers: Stories of United States Supreme Court Law Clerks [Amazon (affiliate link)]
Courtiers of the Marble Palace: The Rise and Influence of the Supreme Court Law Clerk [Amazon (affiliate link)]

Earlier: Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: Color Commentary on the October Term 2012 Class

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