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Re: Best and worst judges to clerk for

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 6:10 pm
by Anonymous User
A. Nony Mouse wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote: I'm more interested in who's a mean person in chambers, rather than who works you hard, which has mostly been discussed here.
Seconded.
I understand why, but I think people are going to be reluctant to talk about this, even anon on a forum. It's one thing to say a judge works his/her clerks hard - I think judges could take a perverse pride in that. But calling a judge an asshole is just tougher to do. It's the kind of conversation that would work better over PM, except everyone's anon about where they work/where they're applying, that kind of thing.

(But people, feel free to prove me wrong and name names here!)
So, I am reluctant to name names (even anonymously), but there is an SDNY judge who is very well known by people at NY law schools to be a terrible person to work for (both in terms of hours and not being very nice). If you ask around, you should be able to find out who she is.

Re: Best and worst judges to clerk for

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 6:28 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:Sloviter (3rd) and Smith (EDVa) are two that I have consistently heard negative things about.
These two judges have a bad reputation for being impossible to work with. (Wanted to clarify in light of other posts.)

Re: Best and worst judges to clerk for

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 6:35 pm
by Anonymous User
Anyone know anything about Haynes in the 5th?

Re: Best and worst judges to clerk for

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 6:37 pm
by Anonymous User
I have consistently heard bad things about Real and Anderson in C.D.Cal.

Re: Best and worst judges to clerk for

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 7:15 pm
by Anonymous User
Ditto to Real. Google his name for some very interesting stories.

Re: Best and worst judges to clerk for

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 7:33 pm
by Anonymous User
What about judges Smith and Jones on the 5th circuit?

Re: Best and worst judges to clerk for

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:30 pm
by ClerkAdvisor
Anonymous User wrote:What about judges Smith and Jones on the 5th circuit?
Its pretty well known that Judge Jerry Smith (5th) offers one of the best clerkships from a quality of life / quality of work environment stand point. If I was ranking COA clerkships on the basis of quality of boss/life, his would certainly be in the top 5 or 10.

Re: Best and worst judges to clerk for

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:37 pm
by ClerkAdvisor
I think two suggestions might be useful here:

-Ask your recommenders which judges they know and which judges they think you would be a good fit clerking for... If you have a good relationship with your recommenders, which you certainly should if you are using them as a recommender, they should warn you away from bad fits and bad clerkships (there are some great clerkships out there that would not be great for everyone).

-Always talk to prior clerks before interviews and accepting. If there isn't an alum that you can contact for a judge, then try to find someone who clerked on the same circuit/courthouse. Ideally, you want to find out about problems before you accept an interview (and yes, you can turn down interviews).

Re: Best and worst judges to clerk for

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:44 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:
A. Nony Mouse wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote: I'm more interested in who's a mean person in chambers, rather than who works you hard, which has mostly been discussed here.
Seconded.
I understand why, but I think people are going to be reluctant to talk about this, even anon on a forum. It's one thing to say a judge works his/her clerks hard - I think judges could take a perverse pride in that. But calling a judge an asshole is just tougher to do. It's the kind of conversation that would work better over PM, except everyone's anon about where they work/where they're applying, that kind of thing.

(But people, feel free to prove me wrong and name names here!)
So, I am reluctant to name names (even anonymously), but there is an SDNY judge who is very well known by people at NY law schools to be a terrible person to work for (both in terms of hours and not being very nice). If you ask around, you should be able to find out who she is.
McMahon?

Re: Best and worst judges to clerk for

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:47 pm
by dixon02
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Sloviter (3rd) and Smith (EDVa) are two that I have consistently heard negative things about.
These two judges have a bad reputation for being impossible to work with. (Wanted to clarify in light of other posts.)
http://rightcoast.typepad.com/rightcoas ... hip-f.html

tl;dr: clerking for Sloviter not worth it.

Re: Best and worst judges to clerk for

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 12:02 am
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
So, I am reluctant to name names (even anonymously), but there is an SDNY judge who is very well known by people at NY law schools to be a terrible person to work for (both in terms of hours and not being very nice). If you ask around, you should be able to find out who she is.
McMahon?
[]

Re: Best and worst judges to clerk for

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 6:27 am
by Anonymous User
ClerkAdvisor wrote: Its pretty well known that Judge Jerry Smith (5th) offers one of the best clerkships from a quality of life / quality of work environment stand point. If I was ranking COA clerkships on the basis of quality of boss/life, his would certainly be in the top 5 or 10.
Which others would you rank up there?

Re: Best and worst judges to clerk for

Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 6:59 pm
by stoogesreal
Who are the best judges to clerk for among the less competitive COA clerkships (because of location, senior status, non-feeder, etc)?

Re: Best and worst judges to clerk for

Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 7:13 pm
by Anonymous User
stoogesreal wrote:Who are the best judges to clerk for among the less competitive COA clerkships (because of location, senior status, non-feeder, etc)?
I'm not sure if he qualifies as "less competitive," but Judge Chin on the 2d Cir is rumored to be a wonderful boss and just a nice person generally. I've spoken to quite a few of his former clerks and they all love him. Judge Gregory on the 4th is also great--treats clerks like family and really puts a lot into the mentoring aspect of the relationship.

Re: Best and worst judges to clerk for

Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 12:48 am
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:
stoogesreal wrote:Who are the best judges to clerk for among the less competitive COA clerkships (because of location, senior status, non-feeder, etc)?
I'm not sure if he qualifies as "less competitive," but Judge Chin on the 2d Cir is rumored to be a wonderful boss and just a nice person generally. I've spoken to quite a few of his former clerks and they all love him. Judge Gregory on the 4th is also great--treats clerks like family and really puts a lot into the mentoring aspect of the relationship.
Speaking of the 4th - Judge Niemeyer is known to offer a very nice clerkship (really good hours, nice work atmosphere). I've also heard good things about Judge Diaz and Judge Keenan.

Re: Best and worst judges to clerk for

Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 1:07 am
by Anonymous User
Everyone (and I mean everyone) loves Sidney Thomas (9th). If you can manage living in Billings for a year, it's supposed to be fantastic.

Re: Best and worst judges to clerk for

Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 1:49 am
by Anonymous User
Man, I thought I was the only one to know about some of these names you all are throwing out :P I've heard great things about everyone recently mentioned...

Re: Best and worst judges to clerk for

Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 11:13 am
by Anonymous User
She's senior status now, but Suzanne Conlon on ND IL is apparently mean and terrible. The story goes she fired a clerk for refusing to carry Conlon's lunch up stairs when the elevator wasn't working and fired another for complying with an evacuation order on 9/11.

Re: Best and worst judges to clerk for

Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 12:55 pm
by Anonymous User
The story goes she fired a clerk for refusing to carry Conlon's lunch up stairs when the elevator wasn't working
Note: Her chambers is on the 17th floor.

Re: Best and worst judges to clerk for

Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 1:51 pm
by nevdash
Anonymous User wrote:
The story goes she fired a clerk for refusing to carry Conlon's lunch up stairs when the elevator wasn't working
Note: Her chambers is on the 17th floor.
Why is that so bad? Your job is to make the judge's life easier. She shouldn't have had to ask in the first place.

Re: Best and worst judges to clerk for

Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 12:43 am
by zomginternets
Anonymous User wrote:
The story goes she fired a clerk for refusing to carry Conlon's lunch up stairs when the elevator wasn't working
Note: Her chambers is on the 17th floor.
How'd she get up there to eat it?

Re: Best and worst judges to clerk for

Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 11:24 am
by Anonymous User
How'd she get up there to eat it?
I've always assumed that the elevators went out in the middle of the day. But that's a good question.

Re: Best and worst judges to clerk for

Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 2:37 pm
by Anonymous User
Anyone know about Callahan's (9th) reputation? She posted in the last day on OSCAR and I might be interested (she seems to like alums, and well, I'm an alum).

Re: Best and worst judges to clerk for

Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 6:13 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote:Anyone know about Callahan's (9th) reputation? She posted in the last day on OSCAR and I might be interested (she seems to like alums, and well, I'm an alum).

She struck me as a valley girl type. She is also the most pro-prosecution/law enforcement judge I have ever encountered. If either of those things bother you, maybe it would be a bad position. However, Im a republican and aspiring prosecutor, so i would be fine with it.

Re: Best and worst judges to clerk for

Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 8:37 pm
by Anonymous User
Anonymous User wrote: She struck me as a valley girl type.
What does that mean?