Where are they now? Supreme Court clerks, OT 2009
Following up on posts on a ten-year retrospective on the Supreme Court clerks from October Term 2003, October Term 2004, October Term 2005, October Term 2006, October Term 2007, and October Term 2008, here's what the clerks from October Term 2009 are doing. This list is probably unreliable and has not been fact-checked in any way, except for the links provided (and these links admittedly often aren't the best source material). Some designations including “recently” are the last-available information. As always, please let me know of any errors or corrections (Twitter DM or email is fine, no need to comment!).
Chief Justice John G. Roberts
Roman Martinez (Yale 2008 / Kavanaugh), partner at Latham & Watkins
James M. McDonald (Virginia 2007 / Sutton), Director of Enforcement, CFTC
Stephen E. Sachs (Yale 2007 / S. Williams), law professor at Duke
Erik R. Zimmerman (Stanford 2007 / Wilkinson), attorney at Robinson Bradshaw
Justice John Paul Stevens
Hyland Hunt (Michigan 2008 / D. Ginsburg), partner at Deutsch Hunt PLLC
Adam C. Jed (Harvard 2008 / Calabresi), DOJ, recently Civil Division and Office of Special Counsel, DOJ
Merritt E. McAlister (Georgia 2007 / R.L. Anderson), professor at Florida
David E. Pozen (Yale 2007 / Garland), professor at Columbia
Justice Antonin Scalia
Jonathan C. Bond (GW 2008 / Sutton), recently partner at Gibson Dunn
Steven P. Lehotsky (Harvard 2002 / D. Ginsburg), Senior Vice President & Chief Counsel, U.S. Chamber Litigation Center
Daniel M. Sullivan (Chicago 2008 / O’Scannlain), partner at Holwell Shuster & Goldberg
Katherine Twomey (Allen) (Virginia 2008 / Wilkinson), DOJ, Civil Division
Justice Anthony Kennedy
Daniel Epps (Harvard 2008 / Wilkinson), law professor at Washington University in St. Louis
Allon Kedem (Yale 2005 / Leval / Kravitz (D. Conn.)), partner at Arnold & Porter
Scott A. Keller (Texas 2007 / Kozinski), partner at Baker Botts
Misha Tseytlin (Georgetown 2006 / Kozinski / J. R. Brown), partner at Troutman Sanders
Justice Clarence Thomas
Tyler Green (Utah 2005 / McConnell / Cassell (D. Utah)), Solicitor General of Utah
Brian Morrissey (Notre Dame 2007 / O’Scannlain), DAAG, DOJ
Elizabeth P. Papez (Harvard 1999 / Boggs), partner at Gibson Dunn
Marah Stith McLeod (Yale 2006 / O’Scannlain), professor at Notre Dame
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Elizabeth B. Prelogar (Harvard 2008 / Garland), recently Solicitor General’s Office and Office of Special Counsel, DOJ
Pamela Bookman (Virginia 2006 / Sack), professor at Fordham
Vincent G. Levy (Columbia 2007 / D. Ginsburg), partner at Holwell Shuster & Goldberg
John Rappaport (Harvard 2006 / Reinhardt), professor at Chicago
Justice Stephen Breyer
Andrew Manuel Crespo (Harvard 2008 / Reinhardt), professor at Harvard
Bessie Dewar (Yale 2006 / W. Fletcher / L. Pollak (E.D. Pa.)), State Solicitor of Massachusetts
Chris C. Fonzone (Harvard 2007 / Wilkinson), partner at Sidley
Jennifer Nou (Yale 2008 / Posner), professor at Chicago
Justice Samuel Alito
Amit Agarwal (Georgetown 2004 / Kavanaugh), Solicitor General of Florida
K. Winn Allen (Virginia 2008 / Sutton), partner at Kirkland & Ellis
Jaynie Lilley (Yale 2006 / Cabranes / M. Patel (N.D. Cal.)), Civil Division, DOJ
Lucas C. Townsend (Seton Hall 2004 / Barry / Ackerman (D.N.J.)), partner at Gibson Dunn
Justice Sonia Sotomayor
Jeremy C. Marwell (NYU 2006 / S. Williams), partner at Vinson & Elkins
Eloise Pasachoff (Harvard 2004 / Katzmann / Rakoff (S.D.N.Y.)), law professor at Georgetown
Lindsey E. Powell (Stanford 2007 / Stevens / Garland), civil division, DOJ
Robert Yablon (Yale 2006 / R. B. Ginsburg / W. Fletcher), law professor at Wisconsin
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
Joshua Deahl (Michigan 2006 / Benavides, shared with Kennedy), appellate division, Public Defender Service
Justice David H. Souter
Thomas Pulham (Yale 2004 / Katzmann / Cote (S.D.N.Y.), shared with Breyer), Civil Division, DOJ
As usual, there’s a mix of government attorneys (DOJ and state SG most common), law professors, and law firm partners, with scattered other positions. Of note, two from this class served on Robert Mueller’s investigation team.
One more note: as I perused those were partners at law firms, I was struck by the number who’re heading or a part of the “appellate” teams at these firms. I know, this is a popular reason to hire or pursue Supreme Court clerks. But I’ve been looking at 10-year profiles for several years, and it struck me that there were disproportionately more in this field this year.
By that I mean, in previous years, I’d commonly find partners doing “real law” (okay, I don’t mean to be pejorative here)—tax law, white collar criminal defense, complex litigation, and so on. Appellate might have been a part of the portfolio, but it wasn’t the defining area. Now, it seems that more are specifically in appellate work without other defined practice areas.
Maybe I’m just misremembering (possibly) or observing selectively (probably). But it’s worth considering whether Supreme Court clerk trajectories are changing among those who remain in private practice.