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

[Anonymous User]

Clerkships are probably the least important aspect of this news, but the Second Circuit just announced that Judge Katzmann has passed away. RIP.

[Contango]

It's astounding to me how people are still having this conversation. Who cares?

Everyone should care. You can't succeed in law these days without a SCOTUS clerkship.

**Two SCOTUS clerkships

The real question is which JusTTTices become feeders for the truly prefstigious ones.

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone have a list of the OT 2021 clerks? David Lat's version looks unfinished.

[Anonymous User]

New Sotomayor clerk for 2021: UCLA 2017 -> Christen/Liu (Cal.)/Calabresi

[circuitcourtlawyer]

Don't have to rehash a whole debate just to call specific statements out as factually, verifiably untrue.

[Anonymous User]

David Lat has mentioned a few more. His full post for 2021 should be up soon.

YLS --> Rakoff/Katzmann --> Sotomayor
YLS --> Engelmayer/Barron --> Kagan (Merrick Garland's kid)
UVA --> Jerry Smith/Bibas --> Thomas

[Anonymous User]

David Lat has mentioned a few more. His full post for 2021 should be up soon.

YLS --> Rakoff/Katzmann --> Sotomayor
YLS --> Engelmayer/Barron --> Kagan (Merrick Garland's kid)
UVA --> Jerry Smith/Bibas --> Thomas

It's a poor look and quite silly. Garland's daughter is going to have to recuse herself from every case involving the DOJ, and no one can look at this and not see rampant nepotism. Kagan's hiring is disappointingly elitist.

[Joachim2017]

David Lat has mentioned a few more. His full post for 2021 should be up soon.

YLS --> Rakoff/Katzmann --> Sotomayor
YLS --> Engelmayer/Barron --> Kagan (Merrick Garland's kid)
UVA --> Jerry Smith/Bibas --> Thomas

It's a poor look and quite silly. Garland's daughter is going to have to recuse herself from every case involving the DOJ, and no one can look at this and not see rampant nepotism. Kagan's hiring is disappointingly elitist.

Kagan is not close to being an outlier in this regard. RBG's granddaughter just finished clerking for the top feeder judge on CA2. Kavanaugh hired the child of his top faculty recommender at YLS. One of Kennedy's last clerks was Kozinski's son. The list goes on and on.

[Anonymous User]

David Lat has mentioned a few more. His full post for 2021 should be up soon.

YLS --> Rakoff/Katzmann --> Sotomayor
YLS --> Engelmayer/Barron --> Kagan (Merrick Garland's kid)
UVA --> Jerry Smith/Bibas --> Thomas

It's a poor look and quite silly. Garland's daughter is going to have to recuse herself from every case involving the DOJ, and no one can look at this and not see rampant nepotism. Kagan's hiring is disappointingly elitist.

Kagan is not close to being an outlier in this regard. RBG's granddaughter just finished clerking for the top feeder judge on CA2. Kavanaugh hired the child of his top faculty recommender at YLS. One of Kennedy's last clerks was Kozinski's son. The list goes on and on.

Kennedy also recently hired Howard Nielson Jr.’s daughter, who was not conventionally qualified for a SCOTUS clerkship, as was noted above. John Paul Stevens’s granddaughter recently clerked for Garland, as did Jonathan Massey’s daughter. Kavanaugh’s hiring of Chuafeld’s kid was also soon after she said she wouldn’t apply to SCOTUS when her COA clerkship with him was controversial. As in other things SCOTUS hiring Thomas might actually be the most egalitarian one, I don’t know of any nepotistic hires by him.

YLS’s admissions policies, which are notoriously nepotistic and WASPy, and lack of grades contribute by obscuring nepotism to a degree that’s not possible at e.g. Harvard or Chicago. And most nepotistic hires seem to come out of YLS.

[Anonymous User]

Kennedy also recently hired Howard Nielson Jr.’s daughter, who was not conventionally qualified for a SCOTUS clerkship, as was noted above. John Paul Stevens’s granddaughter recently clerked for Garland, as did Jonathan Massey’s daughter. Kavanaugh’s hiring of Chuafeld’s kid was also soon after she said she wouldn’t apply to SCOTUS when her COA clerkship with him was controversial. As in other things SCOTUS hiring Thomas might actually be the most egalitarian one, I don’t know of any nepotistic hires by him.

YLS’s admissions policies, which are notoriously nepotistic and WASPy, and lack of grades contribute by obscuring nepotism to a degree that’s not possible at e.g. Harvard or Chicago. And most nepotistic hires seem to come out of YLS.

By reputation at YLS, most of these types of candidates (or the children of other distinguished law professors or COA judges) were in fact strong students and not on paper unqualified. So on one hand it feels very spoiled to complain about them in particular - but on the other, it really feels off that among the 100 or so people who end up in the top 10% of HYSCh every year, some number of the best feeder and SCOTUS slots are locked up by certain students compared to their equally qualified peers just because they're born into the innermost circle. The legal profession's always had plenty of nepotism (how many siblings, spouses, children end up at the same firms where family's a partner?), but the combination of fixed supply and the public service-y nature of these jobs makes treating them aristocratically particularly dubious.

[Anonymous User]

David Lat has mentioned a few more. His full post for 2021 should be up soon.

YLS --> Rakoff/Katzmann --> Sotomayor
YLS --> Engelmayer/Barron --> Kagan (Merrick Garland's kid)
UVA --> Jerry Smith/Bibas --> Thomas

It's a poor look and quite silly. Garland's daughter is going to have to recuse herself from every case involving the DOJ, and no one can look at this and not see rampant nepotism. Kagan's hiring is disappointingly elitist.

I will say I had more issues with the obvious conflicts of interest that would make doing the job almost impossible, as opposed to the nepotism, which is sadly part and parcel of SCOTUS. David Lat just reported she will not serve as a law clerk for Justice Kagan while Attorney General Garland remains in office

[Anonymous User]

David Lat has mentioned a few more. His full post for 2021 should be up soon.

YLS --> Rakoff/Katzmann --> Sotomayor
YLS --> Engelmayer/Barron --> Kagan (Merrick Garland's kid)
UVA --> Jerry Smith/Bibas --> Thomas

It's a poor look and quite silly. Garland's daughter is going to have to recuse herself from every case involving the DOJ, and no one can look at this and not see rampant nepotism. Kagan's hiring is disappointingly elitist.

Kagan is not close to being an outlier in this regard. RBG's granddaughter just finished clerking for the top feeder judge on CA2. Kavanaugh hired the child of his top faculty recommender at YLS. One of Kennedy's last clerks was Kozinski's son. The list goes on and on.

Kennedy also recently hired Howard Nielson Jr.’s daughter, who was not conventionally qualified for a SCOTUS clerkship, as was noted above. John Paul Stevens’s granddaughter recently clerked for Garland, as did Jonathan Massey’s daughter. Kavanaugh’s hiring of Chuafeld’s kid was also soon after she said she wouldn’t apply to SCOTUS when her COA clerkship with him was controversial. As in other things SCOTUS hiring Thomas might actually be the most egalitarian one, I don’t know of any nepotistic hires by him.

YLS’s admissions policies, which are notoriously nepotistic and WASPy, and lack of grades contribute by obscuring nepotism to a degree that’s not possible at e.g. Harvard or Chicago. And most nepotistic hires seem to come out of YLS.

While we're at it, isn't Seanhenry VanDyke the son of Judge Lawrence VanDyke? As for Thomas, two of his clerks next year (Steve Lindsay and Scott Proctor) are husbands of former Thomas clerks (Caroline Cook Lindsay and Haley Nix Proctor). This only buttresses the argument you and several other posters are making: nepotism isn't a Kagan thing, it's an every justice thing.

[Anonymous User]

David Lat has mentioned a few more. His full post for 2021 should be up soon.

YLS --> Rakoff/Katzmann --> Sotomayor
YLS --> Engelmayer/Barron --> Kagan (Merrick Garland's kid)
UVA --> Jerry Smith/Bibas --> Thomas

It's a poor look and quite silly. Garland's daughter is going to have to recuse herself from every case involving the DOJ, and no one can look at this and not see rampant nepotism. Kagan's hiring is disappointingly elitist.

Kagan is not close to being an outlier in this regard. RBG's granddaughter just finished clerking for the top feeder judge on CA2. Kavanaugh hired the child of his top faculty recommender at YLS. One of Kennedy's last clerks was Kozinski's son. The list goes on and on.

Kennedy also recently hired Howard Nielson Jr.’s daughter, who was not conventionally qualified for a SCOTUS clerkship, as was noted above. John Paul Stevens’s granddaughter recently clerked for Garland, as did Jonathan Massey’s daughter. Kavanaugh’s hiring of Chuafeld’s kid was also soon after she said she wouldn’t apply to SCOTUS when her COA clerkship with him was controversial. As in other things SCOTUS hiring Thomas might actually be the most egalitarian one, I don’t know of any nepotistic hires by him.

YLS’s admissions policies, which are notoriously nepotistic and WASPy, and lack of grades contribute by obscuring nepotism to a degree that’s not possible at e.g. Harvard or Chicago. And most nepotistic hires seem to come out of YLS.

While we're at it, isn't Seanhenry VanDyke the son of Judge Lawrence VanDyke? As for Thomas, two of his clerks next year (Steve Lindsay and Scott Proctor) are husbands of former Thomas clerks (Caroline Cook Lindsay and Haley Nix Proctor). This only buttresses the argument you and several other posters are making: nepotism isn't a Kagan thing, it's an every justice thing.

Younger brother.

[Anonymous User]

New feeds from Lat. Maybe some duplicates or one or two missing.

YLS --> Pryor --> Alito
YLS --> O'Scannlain/Griffith --> Alito
YLS --> Griffith --> Kagan
Chicago --> Easterbrook --> Gorsuch
Chicago --> Easterbrook/Eisman (Idaho S Ct) --> Gorsuch (this is actually an error by Lat, who missed the Idaho one)
YLS --> Thapar --> Kavanaugh
HLS --> Stein (SDNY)/Katsas --> Barrett
GW --> Larsen/Sutton --> Barrett
HLS --> Richardson/Silberman --> Barrett

The two Easterbrook feeds are unusual--he's obviously a very prominent judge but doesn't hire his own clerks (the Chicago faculty do) or traditionally feed. I think a good number of aspiring academics are chosen to clerk for him which makes sense with Gorsuch's proclivities.

[Anonymous User]

New feeds from Lat. Maybe some duplicates or one or two missing.

YLS --> Pryor --> Alito
YLS --> O'Scannlain/Griffith --> Alito
YLS --> Griffith --> Kagan
Chicago --> Easterbrook --> Gorsuch
Chicago --> Easterbrook/Eisman (Idaho S Ct) --> Gorsuch (this is actually an error by Lat, who missed the Idaho one)
YLS --> Thapar --> Kavanaugh
HLS --> Stein (SDNY)/Katsas --> Barrett
GW --> Larsen/Sutton --> Barrett
HLS --> Richardson/Silberman --> Barrett

The two Easterbrook feeds are unusual--he's obviously a very prominent judge but doesn't hire his own clerks (the Chicago faculty do) or traditionally feed. I think a good number of aspiring academics are chosen to clerk for him which makes sense with Gorsuch's proclivities.

I think you missed the HLS --> Jerry Smith/Millett/Bristow Fellow --> Gorsuch clerk, which is an odd combination. Notable Richardson also has his first feed too.

[Anonymous User]

On "Trump judge watch" in general, on Lat's latest post of OT 2021- so far the order is Friedrich (5), Thapar (5), Katsas (4), Grant (2), Larsen (2), McFadden (2), Rao (2), Bibas (1), Collins (1), Kovner (1), Newsom (1), Oldham (1), Richardson (1), Willett (1).

Notable Trump judges who I believe haven't yet fed since appointment who I might've expected to: Eid, Ho, Sullivan, Park, Bress, Menashi. Though I think Eid and Sullivan both fed a bit pre-elevation.

I'm OP of the original spreadsheet, I still have the file and will get around to updating it sometime in the next week or two.

[Anonymous User]

On "Trump judge watch" in general, on Lat's latest post of OT 2021- so far the order is Friedrich (5), Thapar (5), Katsas (4), Grant (2), Larsen (2), McFadden (2), Rao (2), Bibas (1), Collins (1), Kovner (1), Newsom (1), Oldham (1), Richardson (1), Willett (1).

Notable Trump judges who I believe haven't yet fed since appointment who I might've expected to: Eid, Ho, Sullivan, Park, Bress, Menashi. Though I think Eid and Sullivan both fed a bit pre-elevation.

I'm OP of the original spreadsheet, I still have the file and will get around to updating it sometime in the next week or two.

Friedrich has 4, you probably added one of Friedland's.

[Anonymous User]

New feeds from Lat. Maybe some duplicates or one or two missing.

YLS --> Pryor --> Alito
YLS --> O'Scannlain/Griffith --> Alito
YLS --> Griffith --> Kagan
Chicago --> Easterbrook --> Gorsuch
Chicago --> Easterbrook/Eisman (Idaho S Ct) --> Gorsuch (this is actually an error by Lat, who missed the Idaho one)
YLS --> Thapar --> Kavanaugh
HLS --> Stein (SDNY)/Katsas --> Barrett
GW --> Larsen/Sutton --> Barrett
HLS --> Richardson/Silberman --> Barrett

The two Easterbrook feeds are unusual--he's obviously a very prominent judge but doesn't hire his own clerks (the Chicago faculty do) or traditionally feed. I think a good number of aspiring academics are chosen to clerk for him which makes sense with Gorsuch's proclivities.

Where did you get this information about Easterbrook feeds?

[Anonymous User]

On "Trump judge watch" in general, on Lat's latest post of OT 2021- so far the order is Friedrich (5), Thapar (5), Katsas (4), Grant (2), Larsen (2), McFadden (2), Rao (2), Bibas (1), Collins (1), Kovner (1), Newsom (1), Oldham (1), Richardson (1), Willett (1).

Notable Trump judges who I believe haven't yet fed since appointment who I might've expected to: Eid, Ho, Sullivan, Park, Bress, Menashi. Though I think Eid and Sullivan both fed a bit pre-elevation.

I'm OP of the original spreadsheet, I still have the file and will get around to updating it sometime in the next week or two.

Friedrich has 4, you probably added one of Friedland's.

Thanks for updating it. I also think there is one extra Lohier feed, AFAIK, Lohier only 2 Sotomayor feeds, not three.

[Anonymous User]

New feeds from Lat. Maybe some duplicates or one or two missing.

YLS --> Pryor --> Alito
YLS --> O'Scannlain/Griffith --> Alito
YLS --> Griffith --> Kagan
Chicago --> Easterbrook --> Gorsuch
Chicago --> Easterbrook/Eisman (Idaho S Ct) --> Gorsuch (this is actually an error by Lat, who missed the Idaho one)
YLS --> Thapar --> Kavanaugh
HLS --> Stein (SDNY)/Katsas --> Barrett
GW --> Larsen/Sutton --> Barrett
HLS --> Richardson/Silberman --> Barrett

The two Easterbrook feeds are unusual--he's obviously a very prominent judge but doesn't hire his own clerks (the Chicago faculty do) or traditionally feed. I think a good number of aspiring academics are chosen to clerk for him which makes sense with Gorsuch's proclivities.

Where did you get this information about Easterbrook feeds?

David Lat's Substack. If anyone else notices things messed up on the original chart, do make a note, I'll fix them.

[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.

[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, Anon. You're doing a great service!! You deserve to be commended.

[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.

[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.

[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.