why does SDO get a clerk if she's retired? she can't vote anymore...

She's retired, not resigned. She still sits by designation on some circuit courts on a regular basis.

She rides circuit from time to time and sits in COA cases, so she still has need of one clerk. My question is: does that really count as SCOTUS clerking? Is her clerk a true member of the Elect? Or merely a very distinguished member of the great unwashed?

Here's the $200,000 question: Does the O'Connor clerk get the SCOTUS bonus?

The guy from the White Stripes at the SCOTUS? Brilliant. What's next Kid Rock?

Hey Loyola2L, SUCK IT! Even a Pepperdine grad got a Supreme Court clerkship.

Lat,

Don't you still owe us profiles on 07 clerks?

how the hell did someone from a TTT like pepperdine get scotus?

"how the hell did someone from a TTT like pepperdine get scotus?"

The power of Ken Starr compels thee!

Dude, a PEPPERDINE kid is clerking? Fucking PEPPERDINE???

I didn't even get a District clerkship with top 30% grades. I'm supremely pissed. Who do I sue about this?

Mr. White isn't the first Pepperdine grad to join the Elect. Justice White had one too, and that was pre-Starr.

"how the hell did someone from a TTT like pepperdine get scotus?"

Conservatives care far more about ideological purity and loyalty than intelligence (e.g. Monica Goodling, Harriet Miers, Alberto Gonzales, etc.).

It's one thing to be a Pepperdine grad who clerked for a judge elevated to SCOTUS and then get picked to join him. It's another to get there without bootstrapping. No need for outrage--it's unsurprising that "even" a Pepperdine grad got there given the path he took. Let's see if a Pepperdine grad ever gets there by another means before starting the outrage.

Monica and Harriet aren't the sharpest tools in the shed, but what's wrong with Al Gonz? I mean, sure, you might hate him for whatever reason, but he doesn't come across as STUPID.

White's pretty prestigious, for those of you knee-jerk reactionaries out there who know only his LS.

West Point, national mock trial championship winner, EIC of Pepperdine Law Review, Kirkland & Ellis San Francisco.

Gonzales is actually pretty stupid, from what I hear from former DOJ employees.

4:23 - exactly. I could see if this dude had zero to distinguish himself, but there doesn't seem to be all the much to complain about here.

Give me a break. EVERYONE at a top ten school has SOMETHING to distinguish him/herself. The whole fucking point of going to a top school (and spending gobs more money than at Pepperdine where we could have gotten full tuition plus a stipend) was to be competitive for clerkships and jobs.

5:31, no, it's for people who are risk-averse.

Assuming for the sake of argument that you're correct that spending upwards of $100,000 for a shot at a high-paying job qualifies as "risk-averse," how is what I said incompatible with your assessment?

Without regard to their qualifications (because they may be quite qualified) Alito clerks are clearly being drawn from a different pool than are other SCOTUS clerks. Thus, the information conveyed by an Alito clerkship is different (i.e., it mostly means that you had the qualifications to get 3rd Cir. clerkship with Alito and he liked you).

A "different pool"? Just like Stevens's clerks are from a "different pool" because Northwestern and occasionally Illinois are considered? Or Thomas or Rehnquist, who were willing to regularly consider clerks outside the traditional Top Five? It's way too early to say that an "Alito clerkship is different," because he's hiring his older clerks. Everyone does that, to some extent. Give it a couple of years before calling it "different."

a "different pool" means that Justice Alito draws his clerks from a pool of clerks he had when he was a CA3 judge.

Basically, the key to getting an Alito clerkship is to have an Alito clerkship on your resume.

I think the fallacy here is that most people I know who went to top ten schools and were in the middle or the bottom of the class (not that those schools would actually deign to rank their students) are pretty damned confident they would've been at the tippity top of their class at a lower-ranked school and go ballistic when they see somebody at the top of class at a lesser school get an opportunity they wanted for themselves. In truth, I don't know if their confidence is warranted or not. I don't care how intelligent you are or how high your LSAT score was, getting to the very top of any law school class is difficult and challenging. Staying there after first year is also no joke.

Not to worry, though, 5:31. I went to a local NYC law school and am outnumbered by top tenners at my job by about 20 to 1. There's no danger of the rabble taking over your well-deserved positions.

I would just like to say hello to 7:00 hackles. If you're going out tonight, you might wanna cover those up.

Why the ruckus about Pepperdine (when one of the other clerks is a Yalie) when Thomas has GMU, GW, and Creighton???? Can't he take someone from a school ranked in the top 20 - nevermind the top 5?

Once again, look at these clerks' credentials beyond their law school. They pretty much dominate.

I find it laughable that some of you really still believe that the smartest, most able people must go to harvard, yale and stanford.

"Thomas has GMU, GW, and Creighton???? Can't he take someone from a school ranked in the top 20 - nevermind the top 5?"

GW was top 20 in the last 3 years' US News Rankings. This year was just a hiccup. We're top 10 in biglaw recruitment and smarter than Georgetown, I promise.

One of Stevens's clerks is Abby Wright, from U.Penn

5:59--

Abby Wright is OT 2007, I believe. This is a list for OT 2008.

Justice Stevens' chambers has been telling people that for OT '08, the Justice will start making selections "around the end of June." I think this is consistent with his practice in previous years.

Wikipedia has Jameson R. Jones, managing editor of Stanford L Rev, as the third Scalia clerk.

9:00-- Does that mean Justice Stevens will start interviewing at the end of June or that he will have made his decisions by then?

4:33--

Will start interviewing.

Chicago Grad-

The other commentator's right; you go to a top school because you're risk averse. I didn't get a clerkship either--suck it up and do better, and stop ragging on other people!

Any word about Ginsburg's hiring/interview schedule for OT 2008?

Jack White is an 03 grad. Is this another instance of Alito hiring someone from Justice or the Bush Admin?

Looking at Jack White's background, it seems that Alito's decision-making process was quite simple. Mr. White is a highly qualified individual with an impressive military and professional background who will add immense diversity to Alito's chambers. Has anyone noted that White is the first African-American clerk Alito has hired?

From Pepperdine Announcement

Jack White, II,
who served as law clerk for now-Justice Samuel A. Alito

The two have a history.