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Looks like Ikuta is explicitly off plan and Watford is explicitly on plan. Anyone know how good the adherence to Plan is among Fletch and Friedland? Also, how open are they to conservatives / non-liberals?

No intel about ideological preferences, but I am 99% sure Fletcher and Friedland are both on-plan. They both filled all their spots during the first week of the plan this year. I think they both want applications through OSCAR too, which is only possible on-plan. Also none of my profs/career services people told me to apply to them early when I expressed interest, like they did for some other judges.

Fletcher definitely hires clerks who are politically moderate and/or not in ACS. But I'd be surprised if, barring some special circumstance, he hired someone who was clearly conservative. There are more than enough excellent liberal law clerks, and I don't get the sense that he cares as much as some about being a feeder.

Friedland is definitely on plan. Frankly I don’t know any liberal Ninth Circuit judges who aren’t on the plan.