What happened to Wilkinson this year?

It seems this past season OT '08 was not good at all for Judge Wilkinson. For the first time since OT 1985, Judge Wilkinson, who was confirmed to the bench in August 1984, did not have at least one of his law clerks go on to clerk at the Court (for the past three years all of his clerks had gone directly to the Court). Judge Wilkinson in my opinion is the very definition of a feeder judge. As we all are aware you essentially have to be a lock for the SCOTUS clerkship before he will even interviewee you.

So what happened? Does anyone have any theories as to why for the first time since being eligible to have his clerks on the Court Wilkinson did not have one go up?

Well, I do know that his daughter Porter did manage to land a clerkship with the Chief. Did Wilkinson use all of his connections to get her on the Court reducing his effort to get one of his own law clerks on the Court? I should add that I do know that one of his clerks accepted one of the super prestigious Bristow Fellowships and is assured to go up next term if he so chooses. I say this knowing that he is also one of the nicest people you will ever meet and can't imagine one of the Justices not wanting him in their chambers.

OT 2008 Stanford, Garland Off To A Great Start

Both Stanford and Judge Garland (D.C. Cir.) are off to a great start for Supreme Court hiring for OT 2008. All four of Garland's clerks--Jessica Bulman-Pozmen (Stevens), Lindsey Powell (Stevens), Damian Williams (Stevens), and Miriam Seifter (Ginsburg)--were hired in June this year. Stanford has placed four graduates with Justices--Jameson Jones (Scalia), Lindsey Powell (Stevens), David Thompson (Scalia), and Chris Walker (Kennedy)--a tremendous accomplishment for the school which has historically lag behind its holy trinity peers Yale and Harvard.

Yale continues to dominate in SCOTUS hiring with six alumni hired so far for OT 2008--Jessica Bulman-Pozen (Stevens), Seth Grossman (Breyer), Dana Irwin (Alito), Kevin Schwartz (Ginsburg), Damian Williams (Stevens), and Rob Yablon (Ginsburg).

Applying for a Supreme Court Clerkship

Taken from Amber's blog at http://bamber.blogspot.com/2006/07/how-to-apply-for-supreme-court.html

How to apply for a Supreme Court clerkship

One of my commenters noted that the application process for Supreme Court clerkships is remarkably opaque and that if you don't have someone to explain it to you it puts you at a disadvantage (does this disadvantage women who have less access to existing old-boy networks?). HLS helpfully outlines this process, but it puts the information behind password protection. Information, however, wants to be free, so I'm summarizing it for you below. Enjoy!

(If any of this information is out of date, please let me know and I will correct it.)

Applications for October Term N should be sent in March - June of N-1. Thomas hires much further in advance, so take this into account.

Apply to all nine justices even if you don't think you'd like to clerk for some of them.

Your package should include

• a short cover letter containing the names of your recommenders, the contents of your packet, and the term you are applying for
• a resume
• a transcript
• a writing sample consisting of a scholarly note, comment, or article
• recommendations from professors, judges, or very famous practitioners

Send updates to your materials as needed.

To prep for an interview, read the justice's opinions, especially those from the recent term. Do not contact current clerks even if you know them.

Idiosyncracies of the justices:

• Roberts: 2 recommendations (may have changed)
• Stevens: short writing sample is optional. At least 2 recommendations from professors, at least 3 total.
• Scalia: 3 recommendations. Note names of professors on your transcript.
• Kennedy: two writing samples and 3-5 recommendations required.
• Souter: 3-5 recommendations, including one from your circuit judge. Academic writing samples a must!
• Thomas: at least 2 recommendations.
• Ginsburg: at least 3 recommendations. Short writing sample plus a reprint of any academic publication you have.
• Breyer: 3 recommendations, including one from your circuit judge. Short writing sample.
• Alito: unknown!

Feeder Judges (last 5 Years)

Appellate Judge .............................................. Clerks
Garland .............................................................. 14
Wilkinson ........................................................... 14
Kozinski .............................................................. 13
Luttig .................................................................. 12
Alito .................................................................... 9
Tatel .................................................................... 9
Boudin ................................................................. 8
Calabresi ............................................................. 8
Posner ................................................................. 7
W. Fletcher ......................................................... 7
Edwards .............................................................. 6
Sentelle ............................................................... 6
Ginsburg ............................................................. 5
Leval ................................................................... 4
Reinhardt ........................................................... 4
S. Williams .......................................................... 4
Cabranes ............................................................. 3
O'scannlain ......................................................... 3
E. Jones .............................................................. 2
Jacobs ................................................................. 2
Katzmann ........................................................... 2
Magill .................................................................. 2
Niemeyer ........................................................... 2
Ripple ................................................................. 2
Roberts .............................................................. 2
Sack .................................................................... 2
Sutton ................................................................. 2
A. Williams ........................................................ 1
Alito/Sentelle .................................................... 1
Anderson ........................................................... 1
Barry .................................................................. 1
Beam .................................................................. 1
Becker ................................................................ 1
Carnes ................................................................ 1
Dyk ..................................................................... 1
E. Garza ............................................................. 1
Flaum ................................................................. 1
Garth ................................................................. 1
J. Rogers ........................................................... 1
J. Smith ............................................................. 1
Kavanaugh ........................................................ 1
Kearse ............................................................... 1
Lipez .................................................................. 1
Lynch ................................................................ 1
McConnell ......................................................... 1
Motz .................................................................. 1
Niemeyer/Silberman ...................................... 1
Randolph/Bybee ............................................. 1
Roberts/Brown ............................................... 1
Rymer .............................................................. 1
Scirica ............................................................... 1
Sotomayor ....................................................... 1
Tacha ............................................................... 1
Winter .............................................................. 1

Feeder Judges OT '99 to OT '03

1. Luttig (4th Cir.) (15)
2. Wilkinson (4th Cir.) (11)
3. Boudin (1st Cir.) (10)
3. Calabresi (2d Cir.) (10)
3. Kozinski (9th Cir.) (10)
6. Edwards (D.C. Cir.) (7)
6. Silberman (D.C. Cir.) (7)
6. Tatel (D.C. Cir.) (7)
9. Williams (D.C. Cir.) (6)
10. Garland (D.C. Cir.) (5)
10. O'Scannlain (9th Cir.) (5)
10. Posner (7th Cir.) (5)
13. Leval (2d Cir.) (4)
13. W. Fletcher (9th Cir.) (4)
13. Niemeyer (4th Cir.) (4)
13. Randolph (D.C. Cir.) (4)
13. Sentelle (D.C. Cir.) (4)
18. Becker (3d Cir.) (3)
18. D. Ginsburg (D.C. Cir.) (3)
18. D. Nelson (9th Cir.) (3)
18. Reinhardt (9th Cir.) (3)

Courtesy of David Lat http://underneaththeirrobes.blogs.com/main/2004/08/feed_me_seymour.html

Feeder Judges OT '94 to OT '03

1. Luttig (4th Cir.) (30)
2. Silberman (D.C. Cir.) (21)
3. Calabresi (2d Cir.) (17)
3. Wilkinson (4th Cir.) (17)
5. Kozinski (9th Cir.) (16)
6. Tatel (D.C. Cir.) (15)
7. Boudin (1st Cir.) (14)
8. Edwards (D.C. Cir.) (13)
9. D. Ginsburg (D.C. Cir.) (10)
9. Williams (D.C. Cir.) (10)
11. Leval (2d Cir.) (9)
11. Posner (7th Cir.) (9)
11. Sentelle (D.C. Cir.) (9)
14. O'Scannlain (9th Cir.) (8)
15. Reinhardt (9th Cir.) (7)
15. Wald (D.C. Cir.) (7)
17. S. Breyer (1st Cir.) (6)
17. Randolph (D.C. Cir.) (6)
19. Cabranes (2d Cir.) (5)
19. Garland (D.C. Cir.) (5)
19. Niemeyer (4th Cir.) (5)

Courtesy of David Lat, http://underneaththeirrobes.blogs.com/main/2004/08/feed_me_seymour.html

Feeder Circuits (Last 5 Years)

Circuit ............................................ Clerks
DC Circuit ......................................... 51
Fourth Circuit .................................. 29
Ninth Circuit .................................... 28
Second Circuit .................................. 22
Third Circuit .................................... 13
Seventh Circuit ............................... 11
First Circuit ..................................... 10
Fifth Circuit ..................................... 4
Eighth Circuit .................................. 3
Sixth Circuit .................................... 2
Tenth Circuit .................................. 2
Eleventh Circuit .............................. 2
Third Circuit/DC Circuit ................ 1
Fourth Circuit/DC Circuit ............. 1
DC Circuit/Ninth Circuit ............... 1
Federal Circuit ............................... 1
Grand Total .................................. 181