Yale for a judicial career? Forum

[vale1rd]

I know it is a small sample and I may be completely off based upon my data (due to the fact that I didn't research each district judge) but it seems as though a Yale degree may not be as important as some think for a judicial career. Of the Federal Circuit Judges, only one went to Yale, the school that has produced the most is Georgetown Law followed by George Washington. Now I understand that 3 of the Supreme Court Justices are from Yale, but 4 went to Harvard. As I said I may be way off base because I didn't research all judges, so any other data would be appreciated.

[Vincent Vega]

You don't have to go to Yale to be a federal circuit court judge, but going to Florida Coastal probably isn't going to open many doors.

[Unemployed]

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... lit=judges

[vale1rd]

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... lit=judges

thanks

[imchuckbass58]

First off, the federal circuit is unrepresentative because it is primarily a patent court. It's loaded with people that specialize in this area, and as I understand it, that's not one of Yale's focuses.

I agree that a Yale degree is not a necessity, but it certainly is a big help. You're right that the majority of judges in any circuit did not go to Yale, but I am willing to bet that more circuit judges went to Yale than any other school except perhaps Harvard, but that is mitigated by the fact that Harvard's class size is more than 3x Yale's. Thus while Harvad has only one more alum on the supreme court, there are 3x as many living alumni.

You're right that you don't have to go to Yale to be a judge, but if you have the option, going to Yale will probably give you the best chance of being one.

[Anonymous Loser]

Please clarify whether this thread is about judges sitting on the United States Courts of Appeals generally, or the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit specifically.

[jonas]

This must be about the Federal Circuit only, and not about the COA generally.

I can think of multiple judges on the 9th Circuit, for instance, who attended Yale: William Fletcher, Stephen Reinhardt, Susan Graber, Richard Clifton. And that's just one circuit.