Let's Talk 7th Circuit! Forum

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Re: Let's Talk 7th Circuit!

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Feb 23, 2022 12:20 pm

Does anyone know how Manion hires, particularly when he looks at apps?

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Re: Let's Talk 7th Circuit!

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Mar 03, 2022 12:27 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Tue Feb 15, 2022 1:19 am
Former NDIL clerk here, I'd say Rowland, Lee, Coleman, Wood, Alonso, Chang, and Ellis are the liberals. The vast majority (e.g. Feinerman, Pallmeyer, Tharp, Durkin, Dow, Shah, Seeger) are moderate/non-ideological. Only Blakey, Pacold, and Kness (and Kendall to some extent) strike me as FedSoc-type conservative.
I would include Kennelly in the liberal group as well - his OSCAR post indicates a preference for public interest applicants, which is typically a sign of a fairly liberal judge.

Do we think one of the NDIL judges will be elevated to fill Diane Wood's seat? I was thinking Andrea Wood or Sara Ellis (unless Biden is hesitant to nominate two Black women in a row to the same court, which is silly but possible). Otherwise perhaps Alonso, Chang, or Lee? They would be either the first Latino or Asian judges on the 7th, and I think Biden's nominated just 2 or 3 Latino/Asian COA judges so far. Alonso might be close to aging out at 55, but he was a PD before and Gelpi and Robinson are also in their mid-50s. Chang & Lee were AUSAs, but I doubt that would disqualify them since Biden nominated Davis to the 6th.

Whoever it is, hopefully the administration moves quickly - they really only have 6 more months to confirm judges since Dems will almost certainly lose the Senate this year and I doubt Manchin/Sinema will lift a finger after November.

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Re: Let's Talk 7th Circuit!

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Mar 03, 2022 12:40 am

I would guess Ellis has the best shot out of those, but tbh I would guess it will be someone else entirely. There was a lot of speculation about Wood or Feinerman before the admin but they don’t really fit who Biden has been picking.

Jennifer Nou at UChicago, who there’s been some buzz about, has wiped her Twitter, which is often a sign of someone being vetted. I’ve also seen John Rappaport floated, though he’s obviously a white guy.

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Re: Let's Talk 7th Circuit!

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Mar 05, 2022 2:51 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Thu Mar 03, 2022 12:40 am
I would guess Ellis has the best shot out of those, but tbh I would guess it will be someone else entirely. There was a lot of speculation about Wood or Feinerman before the admin but they don’t really fit who Biden has been picking.

Jennifer Nou at UChicago, who there’s been some buzz about, has wiped her Twitter, which is often a sign of someone being vetted. I’ve also seen John Rappaport floated, though he’s obviously a white guy.
For every great outside-the-box pick like Perez, Sung, or Jackson-Akiwumi, Biden's also made some very conventional picks and elevated district court judges (ex. Gelpi, Koh, Nathan). I wouldn't be that surprised if one of the NDIL judges is elevated to Wood's seat. I'm honestly more curious about who he'll nominate for the Indiana vacancy, since there don't seem to be any obvious frontrunners there.

That being said, good catch on Nou wiping her Twitter - that makes me think she's likely to be nominated for something. An admin law scholar on the 7th Circuit seems like a strange fit, but it seems unlikely that she would be selected to fill the D.C. Circuit or D.D.C. vacancy. Though if Biden's looking for an academic to replace Wood, Michael Kang at Northwestern is an election law expert, which seems more relevant to the 7th given the perennial BS Wisconsin Rs are trying to pull.

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Re: Let's Talk 7th Circuit!

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Mar 05, 2022 11:50 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Sat Mar 05, 2022 2:51 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Thu Mar 03, 2022 12:40 am
I would guess Ellis has the best shot out of those, but tbh I would guess it will be someone else entirely. There was a lot of speculation about Wood or Feinerman before the admin but they don’t really fit who Biden has been picking.

Jennifer Nou at UChicago, who there’s been some buzz about, has wiped her Twitter, which is often a sign of someone being vetted. I’ve also seen John Rappaport floated, though he’s obviously a white guy.
For every great outside-the-box pick like Perez, Sung, or Jackson-Akiwumi, Biden's also made some very conventional picks and elevated district court judges (ex. Gelpi, Koh, Nathan). I wouldn't be that surprised if one of the NDIL judges is elevated to Wood's seat. I'm honestly more curious about who he'll nominate for the Indiana vacancy, since there don't seem to be any obvious frontrunners there.

That being said, good catch on Nou wiping her Twitter - that makes me think she's likely to be nominated for something. An admin law scholar on the 7th Circuit seems like a strange fit, but it seems unlikely that she would be selected to fill the D.C. Circuit or D.D.C. vacancy. Though if Biden's looking for an academic to replace Wood, Michael Kang at Northwestern is an election law expert, which seems more relevant to the 7th given the perennial BS Wisconsin Rs are trying to pull.
Nou could also be in line for OIRA, which still doesn't have a nominee. I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up either there or on CA7.

My guess for Indiana would maybe be Sara Varner, who's an appellate specialist in the Indiana FPD's office, but there aren't many options. Maybe G. Marcus Cole or Veronica Root Martinez from NDLS.

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Re: Let's Talk 7th Circuit!

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Mar 06, 2022 10:10 pm

I know he's not there anymore, but: has anybody heard anything about Posner? The circumstances of his resignation were unusual, to say the least, and while there was a flurry of activity afterwards, he seems to have abruptly dropped off the radar (so much so that an Inside Higher Ed piece seems to think he's dead: https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/hi ... t-refugees).

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Re: Let's Talk 7th Circuit!

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Mar 06, 2022 10:15 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Sun Mar 06, 2022 10:10 pm
I know he's not there anymore, but: has anybody heard anything about Posner? The circumstances of his resignation were unusual, to say the least, and while there was a flurry of activity afterwards, he seems to have abruptly dropped off the radar (so much so that an Inside Higher Ed piece seems to think he's dead: https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/hi ... t-refugees).
I have heard he is suffering from a serious illness.

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Re: Let's Talk 7th Circuit!

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Mar 07, 2022 11:17 am

At least pre-Covid, he regularly attended lunch talks at UChicago Law, and during Covid I would see him walking around the quads looking healthy. No inside info though obviously. It’s no secret that he’d gone a bit funny towards the end of his time on CA7.

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Re: Let's Talk 7th Circuit!

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Mar 07, 2022 12:24 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Sun Mar 06, 2022 10:15 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Sun Mar 06, 2022 10:10 pm
I know he's not there anymore, but: has anybody heard anything about Posner? The circumstances of his resignation were unusual, to say the least, and while there was a flurry of activity afterwards, he seems to have abruptly dropped off the radar (so much so that an Inside Higher Ed piece seems to think he's dead: https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/hi ... t-refugees).
I have heard he is suffering from a serious illness.
I have heard similarly. His foundation recently shut down as well: https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/20 ... litigants/

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Re: Let's Talk 7th Circuit!

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Mar 07, 2022 12:39 pm

Ugh. Although I'm not surprised given the crazy way he departed from CA7, that's really a shame.

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Re: Let's Talk 7th Circuit!

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Mar 07, 2022 2:26 pm

So it looks like Sykes, Brennan, Hamilton, and Kirsch are currently accepting applications for the 2023 term (Easterbrook too, but we all know how he hires). Does anyone know if any of these judges hire off-plan? It seems like Hamilton's post indicates that he'll be considering all applications in June, but would any of the other three hire 3L or alumni applications prior to plan opening?

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Re: Let's Talk 7th Circuit!

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Mar 08, 2022 3:13 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Mon Mar 07, 2022 2:26 pm
So it looks like Sykes, Brennan, Hamilton, and Kirsch are currently accepting applications for the 2023 term (Easterbrook too, but we all know how he hires). Does anyone know if any of these judges hire off-plan? It seems like Hamilton's post indicates that he'll be considering all applications in June, but would any of the other three hire 3L or alumni applications prior to plan opening?
Sykes and Brennan are completely off-plan, Kirsch may be as well. And even on-plan judges may consider 3L or alumni apps before June, though most do most of their hiring in the summer.

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Re: Let's Talk 7th Circuit!

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Mar 22, 2022 4:09 pm

Any info on Candace Jackson-Akiwumi? I would assume she's hired for 2022 by now, but not sure about further out. Also curious about her preferences for candidates if anyone knows - for example, does she prefer work experience or public interest backgrounds? Or is she very grade-picky like the other liberals on the 7th?

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Re: Let's Talk 7th Circuit!

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Mar 22, 2022 7:26 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Tue Mar 22, 2022 4:09 pm
Any info on Candace Jackson-Akiwumi? I would assume she's hired for 2022 by now, but not sure about further out. Also curious about her preferences for candidates if anyone knows - for example, does she prefer work experience or public interest backgrounds? Or is she very grade-picky like the other liberals on the 7th?
She has hired one of the Philips fellows for this summer. I believe he is from Columbia.

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Re: Let's Talk 7th Circuit!

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Mar 23, 2022 8:54 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Tue Mar 22, 2022 4:09 pm
Any info on Candace Jackson-Akiwumi? I would assume she's hired for 2022 by now, but not sure about further out. Also curious about her preferences for candidates if anyone knows - for example, does she prefer work experience or public interest backgrounds? Or is she very grade-picky like the other liberals on the 7th?
Fwiw Flaum, Scudder, and St. Eve are all fairly selective, but not to Wood and Hamilton levels IME, and all hire mostly liberals.

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Re: Let's Talk 7th Circuit!

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Mar 24, 2022 4:47 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Mar 23, 2022 8:54 am
Anonymous User wrote:
Tue Mar 22, 2022 4:09 pm
Any info on Candace Jackson-Akiwumi? I would assume she's hired for 2022 by now, but not sure about further out. Also curious about her preferences for candidates if anyone knows - for example, does she prefer work experience or public interest backgrounds? Or is she very grade-picky like the other liberals on the 7th?
Fwiw Flaum, Scudder, and St. Eve are all fairly selective, but not to Wood and Hamilton levels IME, and all hire mostly liberals.
Does "fairly selective" mean top 5% at a t14 + LR + good undergrad, or something stronger than that?

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Re: Let's Talk 7th Circuit!

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Mar 24, 2022 5:13 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Thu Mar 24, 2022 4:47 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Mar 23, 2022 8:54 am
Anonymous User wrote:
Tue Mar 22, 2022 4:09 pm
Any info on Candace Jackson-Akiwumi? I would assume she's hired for 2022 by now, but not sure about further out. Also curious about her preferences for candidates if anyone knows - for example, does she prefer work experience or public interest backgrounds? Or is she very grade-picky like the other liberals on the 7th?
Fwiw Flaum, Scudder, and St. Eve are all fairly selective, but not to Wood and Hamilton levels IME, and all hire mostly liberals.
Does "fairly selective" mean top 5% at a t14 + LR + good undergrad, or something stronger than that?
Even the feeders of the 7th aren't that selective. Like, a bad undergrad won't DQ you, nor will (in most instances) a lack of law review.

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Re: Let's Talk 7th Circuit!

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Mar 24, 2022 9:11 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Thu Mar 24, 2022 4:47 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Mar 23, 2022 8:54 am
Anonymous User wrote:
Tue Mar 22, 2022 4:09 pm
Any info on Candace Jackson-Akiwumi? I would assume she's hired for 2022 by now, but not sure about further out. Also curious about her preferences for candidates if anyone knows - for example, does she prefer work experience or public interest backgrounds? Or is she very grade-picky like the other liberals on the 7th?
Fwiw Flaum, Scudder, and St. Eve are all fairly selective, but not to Wood and Hamilton levels IME, and all hire mostly liberals.
Does "fairly selective" mean top 5% at a t14 + LR + good undergrad, or something stronger than that?
At Chicago, top 15% plus LR would probably put you in the ballpark, but it varies a lot. E.g. Scudder pulls heavily from people he likes in his national security law seminar, and sometimes that means K&E Scholars (top 5%), and sometimes that means people significantly lower down. And St. Eve seems to hire a lot of NDIL clerks.

Whereas Sykes, Easterbrook, Wood, and Hamilton generally seem to have harder grade cutoffs, generally magna+.

Also yeah some judges care about LR (esp board), very few care about undergrad.

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Re: Let's Talk 7th Circuit!

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Mar 29, 2022 6:32 pm

Brennan interviewed and rejected a 2L at my law school in January for a 2023 clerkship.

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Re: Let's Talk 7th Circuit!

Post by Quichelorraine » Tue Mar 29, 2022 10:05 pm

https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigatio ... 022-03-29/

Confirmation of the discussion re. Posner before. Very sad.

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Re: Let's Talk 7th Circuit!

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Mar 31, 2022 12:35 pm

Brennan is not done hiring for 2023.

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Re: Let's Talk 7th Circuit!

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jun 29, 2022 3:31 pm

has anyone heard if Sykes has filled spots for 2023?

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Re: Let's Talk 7th Circuit!

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jun 29, 2022 5:17 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jun 29, 2022 3:31 pm
has anyone heard if Sykes has filled spots for 2023?
She has interviewed so she must have?

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Re: Let's Talk 7th Circuit!

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Oct 10, 2022 11:02 pm

Doris Pryor posted on OSCAR - is it just me, or does it look like it's for a CA7 clerkship? Anybody hear anything about how what she's like? An April start date also seems weird

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Re: Let's Talk 7th Circuit!

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Oct 11, 2022 8:07 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Mon Oct 10, 2022 11:02 pm
Doris Pryor posted on OSCAR - is it just me, or does it look like it's for a CA7 clerkship? Anybody hear anything about how what she's like? An April start date also seems weird
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