Forfeiting $300K To Advise SCOTUS On Ethical Rules They're Allowed To Ignore? SIGN ME UP!

This might have looked like a better deal in the past.

Supreme Court Justices Pose For Formal Group Photo

(Photo by Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images)

Government jobs pay terribly. But combining paltry pay with a borderline useless task for a toxic institution?

That’s the proposition the United States Supreme Court is dangling in front of some lawyer with “A minimum of seven years practice.” Damn, they don’t even require that to get a lifetime appointment ruling that the CDC is illegal. Some aspiring senior associate — or MORE — can trade the sweet half million or so (after bonuses) that they could earn on the private market during this era of booming compensation to be the Supreme Court’s Deputy Legal Counsel for $148,484 – $176,300 per year.

But don’t worry:

The position does not entail working with the Justices on the Court’s opinions.

So no pay AND not doing the task with any non-pecuniary cachet? But wait there’s more!

You also could provide legal services to the Court on “ethics and compliance,” the set of professional obligations that the Supreme Court famously don’t have to follow!

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The position also advises on “police and security matters,” so maybe you could spend some time spinning your wheels trying to figure out who leaked the Dobbs opinion? It could be quite the feather in your professional cap to declare that you fiddled while the Republic burned. Huzzah!

The job title still carries the words “Supreme Court,” which provides enough prestige whoring power to get a gaggle of applications. But, seriously, why? Money isn’t everything but giving up several hundred thousands of dollars per year to say “I worked at the Supreme Court… what?… no, not doing THAT work for the Supreme Court”?

Not exactly an exciting prospect.

Supreme Court Seeks Lawyer: No Investigation Experience Required [Bloomberg Law]


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HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.