Best and worst judges to clerk for Forum

[Anonymous User]

Bump. Curious about district court judges in the 9th Circuit.

Any specific district? Many of the N.D. Cal. judges (Chhabria, Seeborg, Orrick, Tigar, Illston, Breyer all spring to mind) are great choices. Other standouts include Gee in C.D. Cal., Mueller in E.D. Cal., and Wake in Arizona.

[LikelyThrowaway]

Bump. Curious about district court judges in the 9th Circuit.

Any specific district? Many of the N.D. Cal. judges (Chhabria, Seeborg, Orrick, Tigar, Illston, Breyer all spring to mind) are great choices. Other standouts include Gee in C.D. Cal., Mueller in E.D. Cal., and Wake in Arizona.

Thank you, that's helpful. Pretty open, all of the California districts, Oregon and Washington too. Any word on the more recent Obama appointees in California, like Bashant, Curiel, Gilliam, or Stanton? It can be hard to find much online about them.

[Anonymous User]

Bump. Curious about district court judges in the 9th Circuit.

Any specific district? Many of the N.D. Cal. judges (Chhabria, Seeborg, Orrick, Tigar, Illston, Breyer all spring to mind) are great choices. Other standouts include Gee in C.D. Cal., Mueller in E.D. Cal., and Wake in Arizona.

In C.D. Cal., I've heard very good things about clerking for Birotte, Wu, and Gutierrez. Also heard generally good things about Fitzgerald

[Anonymous User]

Bump. Curious about district court judges in the 9th Circuit.

Any specific district? Many of the N.D. Cal. judges (Chhabria, Seeborg, Orrick, Tigar, Illston, Breyer all spring to mind) are great choices. Other standouts include Gee in C.D. Cal., Mueller in E.D. Cal., and Wake in Arizona.

In C.D. Cal., I've heard very good things about clerking for Birotte, Wu, and Gutierrez. Also heard generally good things about Fitzgerald

I've heard good things about Klausner, Otero, and Guilford. Conversely I hear Carter, Anderson, and Kronstadt can be tougher to work for.

[Anonymous User]

Bump. Curious about district court judges in the 9th Circuit.

Any specific district? Many of the N.D. Cal. judges (Chhabria, Seeborg, Orrick, Tigar, Illston, Breyer all spring to mind) are great choices. Other standouts include Gee in C.D. Cal., Mueller in E.D. Cal., and Wake in Arizona.

In C.D. Cal., I've heard very good things about clerking for Birotte, Wu, and Gutierrez. Also heard generally good things about Fitzgerald

I've heard good things about Klausner, Otero, and Guilford. Conversely I hear Carter, Anderson, and Kronstadt can be tougher to work for.

Otero just went senior and there are rumors that he's planning on retiring altogether pretty soon, so not sue how much further out he'll be hiring clerks.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone know anything about Friedland on CA9?

Only that she's brilliant. Fmr CA9 clerk here; did not clerk for Friedland but she's one of the best young lefties on the Circuit. She and her clerks both work hard. I knew one person who clerked for her. That person had impeccable credentials (think HYS, law review, name-brand D. Ct. clerkship prior). Friedland's terrific.

Now that Kozinski is gone, Friedland's clerks probably work the most hours in the circuit.

Ikuta (and her clerks) would disagree.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone know about Bibas (3d Cir)?

[Anonymous User]

Anyone know anything about Friedland on CA9?

Only that she's brilliant. Fmr CA9 clerk here; did not clerk for Friedland but she's one of the best young lefties on the Circuit. She and her clerks both work hard. I knew one person who clerked for her. That person had impeccable credentials (think HYS, law review, name-brand D. Ct. clerkship prior). Friedland's terrific.

Now that Kozinski is gone, Friedland's clerks probably work the most hours in the circuit.

Ikuta (and her clerks) would disagree.

That surprises me because Ikuta writes all of her own opinions. Not saying that you’re wrong by any stretch, I’m just surprised that they have more work than clerks who are responsible for opinions.

I would add Rawlinson to the list of judges with long hours and weekends because she doesn’t participate in the bench memo pool but still expects full bench memos and bench books for every case. Watford isn’t in the pool either but his hours aren’t as long because his clerks don’t do formal bench memos.

[Anonymous User]

Any insight on the Seventh, particularly the non-senior judges?

[Anonymous User]

Having clerked on the 9th, if I could take a second 9th Cir clerkship I would 100% clerk for:
- Thomas
- Paez
- Bybee
- Christen

I would NOT clerk for:
- Bea (!!)
- Wardlaw (!!!)
- Berzon
- Wallace

[Anonymous User]

What is wrong w/ Bea? Wardlaw? I've heard mixed things about both...

[Anonymous User]

What is wrong w/ Bea? Wardlaw? I've heard mixed things about both...

I was friends with a couple Bea clerks when I was clerking a few years ago. They said he can be pretty intense, but that once he trusts you he’s not a bad boss. They also didn’t seem too overworked (maybe slightly busier than average).

I didn’t know any of the Wardlaw clerks my year, but she is generally reputed to have a bad temper and to be high-maintenance.

[Anonymous User]

Having clerked on the 9th, if I could take a second 9th Cir clerkship I would 100% clerk for:
- Thomas
- Paez
- Bybee
- Christen

I would NOT clerk for:
- Bea (!!)
- Wardlaw (!!!)
- Berzon
- Wallace

Mind elaborating on Bybee and Christen?

[Anonymous User]

Having clerked on the 9th, if I could take a second 9th Cir clerkship I would 100% clerk for:
- Thomas
- Paez
- Bybee
- Christen

I would NOT clerk for:
- Bea (!!)
- Wardlaw (!!!)
- Berzon
- Wallace

Mind elaborating on Bybee and Christen?

Bybee is incredibly kind, deeply principled, and really cares about his clerks. I'm sure some people have a problem with his past political history, but he leaves all that at the door as a judge. He works his clerks hard, but fairly, and is very thoughtful.

[Anonymous User]

.

[Anonymous User]

What is wrong w/ Bea? Wardlaw? I've heard mixed things about both...

I had a sitting once with Bea and the way he spoke to his clerks just sent chills down my spine. Always barking / yelling and very, very condescending. I don’t have any Bea clerk friends though, so it was possibly a one-off or could be contextualized as a stressful travel week or something. Still, it felt really bad to watch. I know it’s not terribly uncommon for a judge to treat clerks that way, but at the same time there are several 9th judges who are warm, civil, and treat you like a person rather than a peon. It’s worth vetting judges based on that I think.

[20181989]

Having clerked on the 9th, if I could take a second 9th Cir clerkship I would 100% clerk for:
- Thomas
- Paez
- Bybee
- Christen

I would NOT clerk for:
- Bea (!!)
- Wardlaw (!!!)
- Berzon
- Wallace

Fmr. CA9 clerk here -- No comment on the four "NOT clerk" judges, but hands-down second the four above (Thomas, Paez, Bybee, Christen).

[Anonymous User]

Bump. Curious about district court judges in the 9th Circuit.

Any specific district? Many of the N.D. Cal. judges (Chhabria, Seeborg, Orrick, Tigar, Illston, Breyer all spring to mind) are great choices. Other standouts include Gee in C.D. Cal., Mueller in E.D. Cal., and Wake in Arizona.

In C.D. Cal., I've heard very good things about clerking for Birotte, Wu, and Gutierrez. Also heard generally good things about Fitzgerald

I've heard good things about Klausner, Otero, and Guilford. Conversely I hear Carter, Anderson, and Kronstadt can be tougher to work for.

I'm curious about the C.D. Cal judges you listed as tougher to work for. How so?

[Anonymous User]

And any more information re Berzon and Wallace?

[Anonymous User]

And any more information re Berzon and Wallace?

Would love to hear about Berzon and Wallace, too. Esp. curious about Wallace -- do senior judges get a lot of work? How is he with clerks? Worth pursuing? Not sure if Berzon and Wallace have hired for 2020-21...

[Anonymous User]

Berzon has hired at least some of her 2020-2021 clerks, and has been hiring for 2020 since summer of 2017. I've heard from past clerks that she works her clerks very hard, and it is an intense year in comparison to many 9th circuit slots.

[Anonymous User]

Berzon has hired at least some of her 2020-2021 clerks, and has been hiring for 2020 since summer of 2017. I've heard from past clerks that she works her clerks very hard, and it is an intense year in comparison to many 9th circuit slots.

+1 on hearing about her clerkship being tough. Thoughts on Wallace? Or generally senior judges in general?

[Anonymous User]

Berzon has hired at least some of her 2020-2021 clerks, and has been hiring for 2020 since summer of 2017. I've heard from past clerks that she works her clerks very hard, and it is an intense year in comparison to many 9th circuit slots.

+1 on hearing about her clerkship being tough. Thoughts on Wallace? Or generally senior judges in general?

I interviewed with Wallace but did not clerk for him. I found him very stiff and unfriendly, I didn't click with the clerks, and I didn't think it would be a good environment. My experience from interviewing for district court clerkships was very different - I found all of the judges I interviewed with to be really engaged and interesting, and the district court judge I clerked for was a curmudgeon and yelled a lot but was also a great boss and mentor.

[Anonymous User]

Having clerked on the 9th, if I could take a second 9th Cir clerkship I would 100% clerk for:
- Thomas
- Paez
- Bybee
- Christen

I would NOT clerk for:
- Bea (!!)
- Wardlaw (!!!)
- Berzon
- Wallace

Fmr. CA9 clerk here -- No comment on the four "NOT clerk" judges, but hands-down second the four above (Thomas, Paez, Bybee, Christen).

Another CA9 clerk here—can second pretty much everything in this thread, although I don’t know enough about Paez, Bea, or Wallace to fully comment. I would add Fletcher, Tallman, and especially Watford as three more judges I would 100% clerk for. There are probably other great judges too that I just don’t know enough about. It’s a huge court and as a clerk you don’t get to interact with every chambers, but as a general rule the average CA9 judge is a pretty outstanding person.

Wardlaw and Berzon are on that list because both are difficult, “high maintenance” personalities. But now that Kozinski has retired there are no true nightmare judges on the court. I would add Fernandez to my “no” list because he’s the Ghost of the Ninth: never in the office, and even stays at a separate hotel from his clerks and other judges when he travels. He’s not a hard personality to deal with, but his clerks are lucky to interact with him once a month, and that sort of defeats the purpose of the clerkship.

Senior judges can be a very worthwhile clerkship if they are still taking at least a 50% caseload. If a senior judge is still very active it can actually be to the clerk’s benefit that they no longer sit on en banc panels, because it will give the judge and clerk more time to work on the regular caseload. The seniors who currently sit often enough to make for a good clerkship are, to my knowledge: Wallace, D.W. Nelson, Schroeder, O’Scannlain, Hawkins, Tashima, Tallman, Clifton, and N.R. Smith.

[Anonymous User]

Former CA3 clerk here and happy to give insight into specific judges if anyone has questions.