Feeder Judge Ratings OT 2016 - 2020 (and a bit beyond) Forum

[Anonymous User]

Nevermind, I just did it now. OT 2016 - David Lat's new post (including all of OT 2021). Asterisked judges are no longer on the court they are listed on due to retirement, death, or elevation.

Appellate judges, including feeds to retired justices: https://imgur.com/a/qdzfaSf
Appellate judges, excluding feeds to retired justices: https://imgur.com/a/h7GxfYp

Many appellate judges had one feed only and couldn't be fit in the chart. They are: A. Duncan*, Ambro, Berzon, Bibas, Cabranes, Carney, Christen, Clifton, Collins, Colloton, Edwards, Elrod, Flaum, G. Lynch, Gruender, Hamilton, Higginbotham, Higginson, Holmes, Ikuta, J.R. Brown*, Jolly, K.N. Moore, Marcus, McKeague, N.R. Smith, Newsom, Owen, Owens, P. Kelly, S. Lynch, S. Thomas, S. Williams, Sack, Sentelle, Stras, Richardson, Tymkovich, and Wilkins.

Non-appellate judges, including feeds to retired justices: https://imgur.com/a/hGWledx
Non-appellate judges, excluding feeds to retired justices: https://imgur.com/a/uxH8tOE

Note that there's one error I noticed immediately: Silberman should be on there with feeds to Alito and Barrett.

Thank you for putting this together and sharing it.

Is Sotomayor known to hire counter-clerks? Interesting that she's received 3 feeds from pre-elevation Thapar, along with one feed each from Lamberth (D. DC), Sutton, and Kozinski.

Of course, maybe it's the case that these Sotomayor clerks were ideological liberals whom the conservative judges hired as their own counterclerks.

Her most interesting feed is from J.R. Brown.

Sotomayor doesn’t have counterclerks as far as I know and Sutton and Kosinski both hire plenty of liberals.

J. R. Brown wasn’t really a feeder, but she hired a lot of liberals too. I wouldn’t read much into it.

I know of at least a couple Sotomayor counterclerks. I think Barrett is the only justice who has yet to hire across the aisle (I'm sure she will, in time).

[Anonymous User]

Nevermind, I just did it now. OT 2016 - David Lat's new post (including all of OT 2021). Asterisked judges are no longer on the court they are listed on due to retirement, death, or elevation.

Appellate judges, including feeds to retired justices: https://imgur.com/a/qdzfaSf
Appellate judges, excluding feeds to retired justices: https://imgur.com/a/h7GxfYp

Many appellate judges had one feed only and couldn't be fit in the chart. They are: A. Duncan*, Ambro, Berzon, Bibas, Cabranes, Carney, Christen, Clifton, Collins, Colloton, Edwards, Elrod, Flaum, G. Lynch, Gruender, Hamilton, Higginbotham, Higginson, Holmes, Ikuta, J.R. Brown*, Jolly, K.N. Moore, Marcus, McKeague, N.R. Smith, Newsom, Owen, Owens, P. Kelly, S. Lynch, S. Thomas, S. Williams, Sack, Sentelle, Stras, Richardson, Tymkovich, and Wilkins.

Non-appellate judges, including feeds to retired justices: https://imgur.com/a/hGWledx
Non-appellate judges, excluding feeds to retired justices: https://imgur.com/a/uxH8tOE

Note that there's one error I noticed immediately: Silberman should be on there with feeds to Alito and Barrett.

Thank you for putting this together and sharing it.

Is Sotomayor known to hire counter-clerks? Interesting that she's received 3 feeds from pre-elevation Thapar, along with one feed each from Lamberth (D. DC), Sutton, and Kozinski.

Of course, maybe it's the case that these Sotomayor clerks were ideological liberals whom the conservative judges hired as their own counterclerks.

Her most interesting feed is from J.R. Brown.

Sotomayor doesn’t have counterclerks as far as I know and Sutton and Kosinski both hire plenty of liberals.

J. R. Brown wasn’t really a feeder, but she hired a lot of liberals too. I wouldn’t read much into it.

I know of at least a couple Sotomayor counterclerks. I think Barrett is the only justice who has yet to hire across the aisle (I'm sure she will, in time).

The Thapar -> Sutton -> Sotomayor clerk is a liberal

[Anonymous User]

Nevermind, I just did it now. OT 2016 - David Lat's new post (including all of OT 2021). Asterisked judges are no longer on the court they are listed on due to retirement, death, or elevation.

Appellate judges, including feeds to retired justices: https://imgur.com/a/qdzfaSf
Appellate judges, excluding feeds to retired justices: https://imgur.com/a/h7GxfYp

Many appellate judges had one feed only and couldn't be fit in the chart. They are: A. Duncan*, Ambro, Berzon, Bibas, Cabranes, Carney, Christen, Clifton, Collins, Colloton, Edwards, Elrod, Flaum, G. Lynch, Gruender, Hamilton, Higginbotham, Higginson, Holmes, Ikuta, J.R. Brown*, Jolly, K.N. Moore, Marcus, McKeague, N.R. Smith, Newsom, Owen, Owens, P. Kelly, S. Lynch, S. Thomas, S. Williams, Sack, Sentelle, Stras, Richardson, Tymkovich, and Wilkins.

Non-appellate judges, including feeds to retired justices: https://imgur.com/a/hGWledx
Non-appellate judges, excluding feeds to retired justices: https://imgur.com/a/uxH8tOE

Note that there's one error I noticed immediately: Silberman should be on there with feeds to Alito and Barrett.

Thank you for putting this together and sharing it.

Is Sotomayor known to hire counter-clerks? Interesting that she's received 3 feeds from pre-elevation Thapar, along with one feed each from Lamberth (D. DC), Sutton, and Kozinski.

Of course, maybe it's the case that these Sotomayor clerks were ideological liberals whom the conservative judges hired as their own counterclerks.

Her most interesting feed is from J.R. Brown.

Sotomayor doesn’t have counterclerks as far as I know and Sutton and Kosinski both hire plenty of liberals.

J. R. Brown wasn’t really a feeder, but she hired a lot of liberals too. I wouldn’t read much into it.

I know of at least a couple Sotomayor counterclerks. I think Barrett is the only justice who has yet to hire across the aisle (I'm sure she will, in time).

The Thapar -> Sutton -> Sotomayor clerk is a liberal

I'm not aware of a single Sotomayor counterclerk. Her hires from FedSoc feeders are all all-star liberals hired by them.

[Anonymous User]

Roberts is the only current conservative who will hire a politically liberal clerk. Feeder judges in the know will not recommend political liberals for Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Thomas, and Alito, because they won't be seriously considered (maybe the best shot is with Kavanaugh--but even there it's an uphill battle). I don't know about Barrett; possibly too soon to tell.

[Anonymous User]

Roberts is the only current conservative who will hire a politically liberal clerk. Feeder judges in the know will not recommend political liberals for Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Thomas, and Alito, because they won't be seriously considered (maybe the best shot is with Kavanaugh--but even there it's an uphill battle). I don't know about Barrett; possibly too soon to tell.

Kavanaugh's 2022 class is at least half liberal.

[Anonymous User]

Roberts is the only current conservative who will hire a politically liberal clerk. Feeder judges in the know will not recommend political liberals for Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Thomas, and Alito, because they won't be seriously considered (maybe the best shot is with Kavanaugh--but even there it's an uphill battle). I don't know about Barrett; possibly too soon to tell.

Kavanaugh's 2022 class is at least half liberal.

That's not correct. Edwards clerk was in FedSoc. Millett/Collins clerk was in FedSoc. Srinivasan clerk is not liberal.

[Anonymous User]

Roberts is the only current conservative who will hire a politically liberal clerk. Feeder judges in the know will not recommend political liberals for Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Thomas, and Alito, because they won't be seriously considered (maybe the best shot is with Kavanaugh--but even there it's an uphill battle). I don't know about Barrett; possibly too soon to tell.

Kavanaugh's 2022 class is at least half liberal.

This is false. One of them (who clerked for two liberal judges) is conservative. The other was a member of the Federalist Society at Harvard, and the third clerked for a Trump judge (though also Millett, so who knows, but that still doesn't amount to half).

[Anonymous User]

Roberts is the only current conservative who will hire a politically liberal clerk. Feeder judges in the know will not recommend political liberals for Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Thomas, and Alito, because they won't be seriously considered (maybe the best shot is with Kavanaugh--but even there it's an uphill battle). I don't know about Barrett; possibly too soon to tell.

Kavanaugh's 2022 class is at least half liberal.

This is false. One of them (who clerked for two liberal judges) is conservative. The other was a member of the Federalist Society at Harvard, and the third clerked for a Trump judge (though also Millett, so who knows, but that still doesn't amount to half).

The trope that only Roberts hires cross-aisle is provably false. Kavanaugh and Gorsuch both have hired liberals and have interviewed many more. (For posterity, the previous poster's right about Kavanaugh's 2022 class being 50/50). Alito and Thomas are more involved with conservative politics, but the odd one still gets through. Biden's current WHC is an Alito clerk, for example.

[Anonymous User]

Roberts is the only current conservative who will hire a politically liberal clerk. Feeder judges in the know will not recommend political liberals for Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Thomas, and Alito, because they won't be seriously considered (maybe the best shot is with Kavanaugh--but even there it's an uphill battle). I don't know about Barrett; possibly too soon to tell.

Kavanaugh's 2022 class is at least half liberal.

This is false. One of them (who clerked for two liberal judges) is conservative. The other was a member of the Federalist Society at Harvard, and the third clerked for a Trump judge (though also Millett, so who knows, but that still doesn't amount to half).

Tangential question, how would a conservative end up clerking for two liberal judges? Given that conservative judges (generally) hire earlier and are more receptive to conservative students, it surprises me that a conservative student ended up with two liberal judge clerkships. I guess the student could seek out liberal judges if they wanted to counter-clerk, but it would be odd to do that twice.

[nixy]

I mean obviously someone in this position has a lot going for them as it is, but maybe that's who their connections ended up being connected to.

[Anonymous User]

Roberts is the only current conservative who will hire a politically liberal clerk. Feeder judges in the know will not recommend political liberals for Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Thomas, and Alito, because they won't be seriously considered (maybe the best shot is with Kavanaugh--but even there it's an uphill battle). I don't know about Barrett; possibly too soon to tell.

Kavanaugh's 2022 class is at least half liberal.

This is false. One of them (who clerked for two liberal judges) is conservative. The other was a member of the Federalist Society at Harvard, and the third clerked for a Trump judge (though also Millett, so who knows, but that still doesn't amount to half).

Tangential question, how would a conservative end up clerking for two liberal judges? Given that conservative judges (generally) hire earlier and are more receptive to conservative students, it surprises me that a conservative student ended up with two liberal judge clerkships. I guess the student could seek out liberal judges if they wanted to counter-clerk, but it would be odd to do that twice.

I know the person who is clerking for Srinivasan and Boasberg (the two liberal judges). He was slated to clerk for Kavanaugh, and Kavanaugh likely set him up with Srinivasan after he was elevated. The claims about Kavanaugh's 2022 being 50/50 liberal is false. They are all varying degrees of conservative, as is his 2023 class.

[Anonymous User]

I mean obviously someone in this position has a lot going for them as it is, but maybe that's who their connections ended up being connected to.

That is totally a fair point. It looks like another poster had the exact answer as to how that happened in this case. On a related note, I do find it lamentable that the bifurcated clerkship hiring timetable makes it more difficult to counterclerk. From personal experience, I would have loved to clerk for a liberal judge, but the bifurcated track made it not much of an option in my specific case.

[Anonymous User]

Roberts is the only current conservative who will hire a politically liberal clerk. Feeder judges in the know will not recommend political liberals for Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Thomas, and Alito, because they won't be seriously considered (maybe the best shot is with Kavanaugh--but even there it's an uphill battle). I don't know about Barrett; possibly too soon to tell.

Kavanaugh's 2022 class is at least half liberal.

This is false. One of them (who clerked for two liberal judges) is conservative. The other was a member of the Federalist Society at Harvard, and the third clerked for a Trump judge (though also Millett, so who knows, but that still doesn't amount to half).

Tangential question, how would a conservative end up clerking for two liberal judges? Given that conservative judges (generally) hire earlier and are more receptive to conservative students, it surprises me that a conservative student ended up with two liberal judge clerkships. I guess the student could seek out liberal judges if they wanted to counter-clerk, but it would be odd to do that twice.

I know the person who is clerking for Srinivasan and Boasberg (the two liberal judges). He was slated to clerk for Kavanaugh, and Kavanaugh likely set him up with Srinivasan after he was elevated. The claims about Kavanaugh's 2022 being 50/50 liberal is false. They are all varying degrees of conservative, as is his 2023 class.

I also know the person you're talking about, and (respectfully) if you think he's conservative you don't know him as well as you think you do. It's true that he was slated to clerk for Kavanaugh on the D.C. Circuit, but Kavanaugh was hardly a controversial boss at the time. He hired liberal and moderate clerks and fed them to liberal and moderate justices.

[Anonymous User]

Roberts is the only current conservative who will hire a politically liberal clerk. Feeder judges in the know will not recommend political liberals for Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Thomas, and Alito, because they won't be seriously considered (maybe the best shot is with Kavanaugh--but even there it's an uphill battle). I don't know about Barrett; possibly too soon to tell.

Kavanaugh's 2022 class is at least half liberal.

This is false. One of them (who clerked for two liberal judges) is conservative. The other was a member of the Federalist Society at Harvard, and the third clerked for a Trump judge (though also Millett, so who knows, but that still doesn't amount to half).

The trope that only Roberts hires cross-aisle is provably false. Kavanaugh and Gorsuch both have hired liberals and have interviewed many more. (For posterity, the previous poster's right about Kavanaugh's 2022 class being 50/50). Alito and Thomas are more involved with conservative politics, but the odd one still gets through. Biden's current WHC is an Alito clerk, for example.

Pretty skeptical that Gorsuch hires liberals with any regularity based on the people he's hired who I know

+1 though that it's hard to know exactly if you don't know people well, especially since liberal counterclerks for conservative judges are reasonably common. Vice versa is seemingly pretty rare for timeline reasons IME.

[Anonymous User]

Roberts is the only current conservative who will hire a politically liberal clerk. Feeder judges in the know will not recommend political liberals for Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Thomas, and Alito, because they won't be seriously considered (maybe the best shot is with Kavanaugh--but even there it's an uphill battle). I don't know about Barrett; possibly too soon to tell.

Kavanaugh's 2022 class is at least half liberal.

This is false. One of them (who clerked for two liberal judges) is conservative. The other was a member of the Federalist Society at Harvard, and the third clerked for a Trump judge (though also Millett, so who knows, but that still doesn't amount to half).

The trope that only Roberts hires cross-aisle is provably false. Kavanaugh and Gorsuch both have hired liberals and have interviewed many more. (For posterity, the previous poster's right about Kavanaugh's 2022 class being 50/50). Alito and Thomas are more involved with conservative politics, but the odd one still gets through. Biden's current WHC is an Alito clerk, for example.

Pretty skeptical that Gorsuch hires liberals with any regularity based on the people he's hired who I know

+1 though that it's hard to know exactly if you don't know people well, especially since liberal counterclerks for conservative judges are reasonably common. Vice versa is seemingly pretty rare for timeline reasons IME.

I find it amusing that on the same page, we have posters claiming (a.) Sotomayor doesn't hire counterclerks and (b.) Gorsuch doesn't hire counterclerks. Didn't one of Gorsuch's clerks previously clerk for... Sotomayor? What am I missing?

[Anonymous User]

What I've heard is that Gorsuch got burned by counterclerks early on and has stopped hiring them.

[Anonymous User]

What I've heard is that Gorsuch got burned by counterclerks early on and has stopped hiring them.

Intriguing gossip. Was this on the 10th circuit or SCOTUS? And did it have anything to do with his liberal opinions like Bostick?

[lavarman84]

What I've heard is that Gorsuch got burned by counterclerks early on and has stopped hiring them.

How does a justice get burned by a counterclerk? That just seems like an odd notion.

[Anonymous User]

What I've heard is that Gorsuch got burned by counterclerks early on and has stopped hiring them.

How does a justice get burned by a counterclerk? That just seems like an odd notion.

I would bet my bottom dollar that Sutton and Kennedy wish they didn't hire Leah Litman.

Edit: And if they don't, I can see why another Judge/Justice would be cautious about hiring a clerk who publically trashes their judicial philosophy after they leave chambers.

[Anonymous User]

What I've heard is that Gorsuch got burned by counterclerks early on and has stopped hiring them.

How does a justice get burned by a counterclerk? That just seems like an odd notion.

I would bet my bottom dollar that Sutton and Kennedy wish they didn't hire Leah Litman.

Edit: And if they don't, I can see why another Judge/Justice would be cautious about hiring a clerk who publically trashes their judicial philosophy after they leave chambers.

Bruce Hay's very personal attacks on Scalia are another example. IIRC Scalia quit hiring counterclerks eventually (not implying any causation). I imagine that some non-public stuff like being unduly obstructionist in opinion writing probably happens occasionally with some counterclerks as well.

[Anonymous User]

What I've heard is that Gorsuch got burned by counterclerks early on and has stopped hiring them.

How does a justice get burned by a counterclerk? That just seems like an odd notion.

I would bet my bottom dollar that Sutton and Kennedy wish they didn't hire Leah Litman.

Edit: And if they don't, I can see why another Judge/Justice would be cautious about hiring a clerk who publically trashes their judicial philosophy after they leave chambers.

Bruce Hay's very personal attacks on Scalia are another example. IIRC Scalia quit hiring counterclerks eventually (not implying any causation). I imagine that some non-public stuff like being unduly obstructionist in opinion writing probably happens occasionally with some counterclerks as well.

Bruce Hay's grave-dancing was met with just comeuppance. But I would be averse to drawing any broad conclusions from posts online. Something we may just never know outside of Chambers, and that's fine. If Gorsuch wants to hire liberals, he can, if not, he won't. My school won't even submit your applications if you don't apply to everyone, so he has plenty of time and opportunity to change his mind.

[Anonymous User]

What I've heard is that Gorsuch got burned by counterclerks early on and has stopped hiring them.

How does a justice get burned by a counterclerk? That just seems like an odd notion.

I would bet my bottom dollar that Sutton and Kennedy wish they didn't hire Leah Litman.

Edit: And if they don't, I can see why another Judge/Justice would be cautious about hiring a clerk who publically trashes their judicial philosophy after they leave chambers.

Sutton still hires liberals consistently, so he must not regret it too much

[Anonymous User]

What I've heard is that Gorsuch got burned by counterclerks early on and has stopped hiring them.

How does a justice get burned by a counterclerk? That just seems like an odd notion.

I would bet my bottom dollar that Sutton and Kennedy wish they didn't hire Leah Litman.

Edit: And if they don't, I can see why another Judge/Justice would be cautious about hiring a clerk who publically trashes their judicial philosophy after they leave chambers.

Sutton still hires liberals consistently, so he must not regret it too much

Very fair point. This is exactly why I edited my post lol

[Anonymous User]

New hire from a Non T-14 school was just announced:

Alabama Law -> Pryor (11th) -> Rao (DC) —> Thomas (Unknown term)

[Anonymous User]

What I've heard is that Gorsuch got burned by counterclerks early on and has stopped hiring them.

Maybe you're talking about post-CA10, but least one of his clerks was liberal at the time he was nominated.