Supreme Court Clerks, October Term 2011: Where Are They Now?

And which justices have the most high-powered clerk cohorts?

A clerk walking the halls of the U.S. Supreme Court (photo by David Lat).

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Oyez, oyez, oyez! On Monday, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court returned to the bench (except for Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who participated remotely after testing positive for Covid-19 last week). But even though this week’s proceedings took place back at One First Street, they were very different from the way things were pre-pandemic.

For starters, the courtroom was mostly empty, since the proceedings are closed to the general public. Everyone was required to wear a mask, with the exception of the justices (although Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who has Type 1 diabetes, wore a mask anyway). Justice Amy Coney Barrett made her first appearance at an in-person SCOTUS argument. The traditional free-for-all questioning was followed by a period in which the justices could, in order of seniority, interrogate the advocates one by one (although most of the justices didn’t avail themselves of this opportunity).

The safety measures were a sad reminder that the pandemic remains very much with us. On a happier note, as Laurence Hurley of Reuters tweeted, the renovated cafeteria now offers a Starbucks bar, replete with espresso drinks and cold brew. By tradition, the junior justice oversees the cafeteria; might we have Justice Barrett to thank for the improved offerings? (It does seem a bit odd to renovate the cafeteria when fewer people can use it, since the general public is still barred from the building—but maybe the dearth of people made it easier to do the renovations.)

The cases argued this week were not that exciting. So instead of telling you all about Mississippi’s complaint that Tennessee is bogarting the groundwater, I’ll deliver on my promise of a “SCOTUS Clerks: Where Are They Now” write-up for the October Term 2011 class of law clerks, now a decade removed from their clerkships. As I did when I profiled the OT 2010 clerks, I’ll start with the list of former clerks and their current jobs, then offer a few observations (but you can skip ahead to the color commentary if you like).

As I did with the OT 2010 clerks, I assembled this list based on what I could glean from the internet—which, as we all know, isn’t always accurate or updated. In cases where I had reason to question the reliability of my information, I noted this in the footnotes. Please post in the comments or email me (davidlat@substack.com) with any corrections or updates, and I’ll update this list accordingly. Thanks, as always.