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Any information on the hiring practices/chambers life of the new CA6 judges? Thapar’s practices and work conditions are pretty evident, given how long he’s been a judge.

Any information regarding the citcuit’s newest judges would be great, i.e., Bush, Larsen, Nalbandian, Readler, and Murphy. Thanks!

Also interested in Murphy

As a CA6 clerk for a different judge, I can give my perceptions based on talking to those judges and their law clerks. Can't speak to Bush or Larsen. I can speak a bit to the others.
1. Readler - Really personable guy. Clerks seemed to really like him. Seems like a good culture. They can be a bit slow pushing out work. Might just be because he's adjusting to everything. Seems like they worked a bit more than 40 hours per week, but it didn't sound like an unreasonable workload.

2. Murphy - Not as personable as Readler, but he's a very nice guy and very, very intelligent. He doesn't trade bench memos (or didn't, at least), so that creates a lot more work for his clerks. The clerks I spoke with had worked for him in the Ohio SG's office and chose to follow him to CA6, so they had a very high opinion of him as a person.

3. Nalbandian - I had less interaction with him and his clerks than the first two. They were timely with their work and working with them was easy. The clerk I spoke with really liked him. Gave off the impression that there was a lot of interaction with him in chambers, and it wasn't a formal, stuffy environment. Seemed like a good place to work. But again, I am less certain on this one.

Anonymous User wrote:As a CA6 clerk for a different judge, I can give my perceptions based on talking to those judges and their law clerks. Can't speak to Bush or Larsen. I can speak a bit to the others.
1. Readler - Really personable guy. Clerks seemed to really like him. Seems like a good culture. They can be a bit slow pushing out work. Might just be because he's adjusting to everything. Seems like they worked a bit more than 40 hours per week, but it didn't sound like an unreasonable workload.

2. Murphy - Not as personable as Readler, but he's a very nice guy and very, very intelligent. He doesn't trade bench memos (or didn't, at least), so that creates a lot more work for his clerks. The clerks I spoke with had worked for him in the Ohio SG's office and chose to follow him to CA6, so they had a very high opinion of him as a person.

3. Nalbandian - I had less interaction with him and his clerks than the first two. They were timely with their work and working with them was easy. The clerk I spoke with really liked him. Gave off the impression that there was a lot of interaction with him in chambers, and it wasn't a formal, stuffy environment. Seemed like a good place to work. But again, I am less certain on this one.

Fantastic information! Thanks!

Anonymous User wrote:As a CA6 clerk for a different judge, I can give my perceptions based on talking to those judges and their law clerks. Can't speak to Bush or Larsen. I can speak a bit to the others.
1. Readler - Really personable guy. Clerks seemed to really like him. Seems like a good culture. They can be a bit slow pushing out work. Might just be because he's adjusting to everything. Seems like they worked a bit more than 40 hours per week, but it didn't sound like an unreasonable workload.

2. Murphy - Not as personable as Readler, but he's a very nice guy and very, very intelligent. He doesn't trade bench memos (or didn't, at least), so that creates a lot more work for his clerks. The clerks I spoke with had worked for him in the Ohio SG's office and chose to follow him to CA6, so they had a very high opinion of him as a person.

3. Nalbandian - I had less interaction with him and his clerks than the first two. They were timely with their work and working with them was easy. The clerk I spoke with really liked him. Gave off the impression that there was a lot of interaction with him in chambers, and it wasn't a formal, stuffy environment. Seemed like a good place to work. But again, I am less certain on this one.

Another recent CA6 clerk chiming in. I agree with pretty much all of this, but I didn't work with Murphy's chambers at all.

I'd add that Judge Larsen works her clerks hard -- she has them do full bench memos for each case even if she's not the presumptive author -- but she also seems to run a tight ship in general and is pretty universally liked by the rest of the court as near as I can tell.

It shouldn't be surprising given his background, but Nalbandian is a big whiskey-and-cigars guy. Very politically connected and kind of bro-y (?) Does a lot of social stuff with his clerks like happy hours etc.