Fifth Circuit Judge Accused of Racial Bias – Let’s Talk ‘Diversity’

Fifth Circuit Judge Edith Jones

The New York Times reported last week that civil rights organizations and legal ethicists have filed an ethics complaint against Fifth Circuit Judge Edith Jones for remarks she made to the University of Pennsylvania Law School Federalist Society in February. According to affidavits filed in support of the complaint, Judge Jones was speaking about the death penalty and said or implied that black and Latino people are predisposed to commit criminal acts and that defense arguments of racial bias in the criminal justice system are a “red herring.” The event was not recorded or transcribed so we cannot be certain what Judge Jones actually said to her audience.

This certainly provides another opportunity to consider fully the need for diversity on the bench and in the clerkship ranks – so that healthy conversations about viewpoints such as those allegedly expressed by Judge Jones can be had among those deciding the fates of individuals and entities.

And, as we continue to await the Supreme Court’s decision in the Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin case about diversity in higher education, lawyers in particular should be prepared to embrace a more robust definition of diversity, beyond some charitable exercise that will be of benefit only to minority groups. A diverse environment is one that is inclusive… of all races and ethnicities, of all opinions and religious beliefs, of all ability levels and gender identities. When we recognize that every one of us can reap benefits from true diversity, then we can put our differences on the table for acknowledgement and celebration. Then, we can make decisions together that will be for the greater good. Lawyers from all political stripes can and should help shape that conversation.

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At Judicial Clerk Review (JCR), we provide tailored guidance and support to law students and lawyers who are interested in applying for judicial clerkships and legal fellowships. JCR offers a multi-level review and revision of written application materials. We also conduct mock interviews, assessing clients’ performance during the mock interview and giving feedback for improvement. We assign all of our clients an attorney reviewer who provides one-on-one assistance throughout the application process, and our senior editing team makes sure that clients’ applications are ready for submission. E-mail us today (allison@judicialclerkreview.com) for a FREE consultation.

Farewell to the Law Clerk Hiring Plan

The Law Clerk Hiring Plan is kaput. Officially. Last week, the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit hammered the final nail in the Plan’s coffin, declaring that the judges will no longer adhere to the Law Clerk Hiring Plan that tried in vain to hold judges to a consistent schedule for hiring law clerks.

The Plan died a very slow death that began, really, at its inception. Judges bucked. More judges bucked. Until finally, the second most powerful court in the land came clean: poo poo on this plan – we’ve been hiring on our own schedule and will continue to do so.

Though not surprising, this is certainly a depressing development for those concerned about diversity of all kinds – race, gender, law school, region, background - in the law clerk ranks. The Plan at least offered some semblance of fairness in an otherwise unbalanced game. Time will tell whether federal judges ultimately will work together to replace the Plan or whether clerkship hiring will go back to the days of old, when it was a free-for-all and judges all clamored for the same applicants with the same credentials from the same schools in the same areas of the country. In the meantime, I will be crossing my fingers that we haven’t completely thrown out the baby with the bathwater.

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Allison R. Brown, Esq. is the founder and principal of Judicial Clerk Review. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Howard University. After graduating from law school, Allison returned to her hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana, and served two judicial clerkship terms – first for the Indiana Supreme Court and then for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. Allison has worked as an associate at the law firm of Crowell & Moring in Washington, D.C., and as a Trial Attorney for the United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Educational Opportunities Section. Currently, she is also the President of Allison Brown Consulting (ABC), an education equity advisory group in Washington, D.C.

When Law Clerks Know Too Much

Judge Joan Orie Melvin (right) is on trial for improper use of state-funded employees on state time to campaign for state Supreme Court.

Suspended Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin‘s former law clerk testified against her on Friday. Justice Orie Melvin is on trial for improperly using state-funded staff to assist her campaign bid for the state Supreme Court in 2003 and 2009 when she was a Superior Court judge. Former law clerk, Lisa Sasinoski – who by the way is married to an Allegheny County court judge — testified that, in 2003, she expressed to the judge her discomfort with the fact that state employees were doing campaign work on state time. Sasinoski said she was fired shortly after that conversation.  

Justice Orie Melvin’s sister, Jane Orie, a Republican state senator in Pennsylvania, also has been charged with improper use of state-paid staff to assist with the judge’s campaign. One of Senator Orie’s former interns, Joshua Dott, testified that he spent at least 25% of his time working on the judge’s political campaign at the senator’s direction.

This story will certainly add fuel to the national discussion about the propriety of state elections processes to select an impartial judiciary. Institutions like the Brennan Center for Justice, for instance, promote judicial independence and focus on eliminating special interest influence in the judiciary. Judicial objectivity is a necessity as judges carry out their roles as neutral arbiters for parties that must stand on equal footing before them.

What is for sure is that law clerks are an integral part of a judge’s staff and, as would-be officers of the court themselves, must uphold basic ethical and moral standards, especially as they consider future professional opportunities. 99.9% of the time, law clerks are learning by example the highest standards of conduct in the legal profession from their judges. Cases like this one are, thankfully, rare.

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Allison R. Brown, Esq. is the founder and principal of Judicial Clerk Review. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Howard University. After graduating from law school, Allison returned to her hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana, and served two judicial clerkship terms – first for the Indiana Supreme Court and then for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. Allison has worked as an associate at the law firm of Crowell & Moring in Washington, D.C., and as a Trial Attorney for the United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Educational Opportunities Section. Currently, she is also the President of Allison Brown Consulting (ABC), an education equity advisory group in Washington, D.C.

Business-minded should give consideration to judicial clerkships

This group of law clerks from Cooley Law School in Michigan includes one with a very interesting and entrepreneurial background. Law students and lawyers who are business owners and those who practice or are interested in business law need not shy away from judicial clerkships.

Clerkships hone crucial legal writing skills that are necessary for successful transactional attorneys and litigators alike. Clerkships also develop a critical network of contacts for use throughout a lawyer’s professional career. The judge for whom a law clerk works is the first building block in that network, and, when the judge and law clerk have a good working relationship as it seems for instance in this case, the judge’s network can become the law clerk’s network.  Clerkships also provide a critical insider’s look at how judges consider cases, including contract disputes.  The law is the law, but every judge brings his or her own perspective to analyzing cases under the law.  That perspective is reflected in legal outcomes that can have a significant impact on how corporations and individuals operate on a daily basis.  Understanding that thought process helps former law clerks to make predictions and plan future behavior in compliance with the law.

Clerkships certainly are not for everyone, but don’t rule them out simply because of your selected field of practice.

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Allison R. Brown, Esq. is the founder and principal of Judicial Clerk
Review. Allison graduated from Harvard Law School. After graduation,
Allison returned to her hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana, and served two
judicial clerkship terms – first for the Indiana Supreme Court and
then for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. Allison entered private practice at Crowell & Moring and served as a Trial Attorney for the United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Educational Opportunities Section.  She is also the President of Allison Brown Consulting (ABC), an education consulting firm in Washington, D.C.

Start the New Year right … with the Best Law Job

Happy New Year!!

I have conducted informal interviews of several former law clerk friends of mine, and the results are in: judicial clerkships rank as one of the best law jobs most of us have ever had. We enjoyed our experiences, learned an incredible amount about the practice of law from a law veteran, and developed tremendously as attorneys.

So, what should you do to position yourself to become a law clerk after you graduate from law school? Here are a few tips…

1. Think strategically about your career and professional development opportunities. Take some time to chart out your ideal career trajectory and then decide how a clerkship can help get you there. Do you want to litigate, do appellate work, negotiate transactions, enforce administrative regulations? Do you want to live in the northeast, southwest, Midwest? Interested in being a key player in local politics and culture, or is the national stage calling your name?

All of these questions and more are key to determining how to apply for clerkships. If you are interested in establishing a local presence, you should be applying to judges in that local area. Consider whether you want to use one clerkship as a stepping stone to another higher-level clerkship. Think about the jurisdictions that will give you exposure to the areas of law that most interest you. New York and Delaware courts will provide a huge window into the laws that govern corporations; Texas and Arizona courts will provide exposure to immigration cases. Be strategic in how you apply for clerkships.

2. Research. You have to do your homework. Before applying for clerkships, you have to research the local area(s) you are targeting, the courts in the area, and the judges who sit on the courts in that area. This will help you tailor your cover letter to each particular judge to the greatest possible extent rather than blanketing the earth with generic template cover letters. Once you accept an offer to clerk for a judge, research will identify for you the lawyers who appear before the judge and help you begin to make connections.

3. Network. Many clerkship opportunities are out there but are not publicly posted on OSCAR, the online clerkship database for federal court clerkship openings, or elsewhere. Particularly for judges who are new to the bench and have been appointed and confirmed outside the usual clerkship hiring timeline, networking is how they fill much-needed clerkship slots. Join your local and national bar associations, bar affinity groups, and other law-related membership organizations. Attend their events. Shake hands. Don’t hand out resumes at a cocktail party or reception unless there is a career fair component, but do get to know people and, most importantly, let them get to know you.

4. Make sure your clerkship application package is flawless. Your cover letter, resume, and writing sample can have absolutely NO mistakes and must accurately and compellingly represent you. You should practice and prepare for clerkship interviews before you sit down for the real thing. You don’t want to give judges any reason to easily discard your application.

Judicial Clerk Review can assist you in applying for a judicial clerkship, the best law job. Let us be your concierge through the application process.
Email me at allison@judicialclerkreview.com for more information.

Law Clerk Position – Montana Court Hiring

The state of Montana is HIRING a law clerk to serve for the Honorable Dirk Sandefur.

The position description can be found here. Applicants may apply online and must submit a cover letter, resume, transcripts, and writing sample.

Let Judicial Clerk Review be your concierge through the judicial clerkship application process by reviewing and editing your cover letter, resume, and writing sample(s); conducting a mock interview to prepare you for the real thing; providing advice about your transcript; helping you compile a list of the best recommenders; and more.

And remember to sign up for our FREE! webinar/chat on judicial clerkships tomorrow, Thursday, December 20, at 12:00pm EST. You can register for the webinar here.

Arizona Supreme Court approves law schools’ request to let 3Ls take the bar

Sure enough, the Arizona Supreme Court has allowed the state’s law schools to pilot a program, beginning in January 2013, that revises the law school curriculum so that students in their third and final year of law school can take the Bar exam prior to graduation.

The National Law Journal’s coverage of the decision is here.  On paper, I think it makes a lot of sense.  We’ll have to wait for the 2015 report to see how it plays out on a practical level.  See this previous post with more particulars about the program.