What are the best state court judges? Forum

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Quichelorraine

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Re: What are the best state court judges?

Post by Quichelorraine » Sun Jan 09, 2022 12:17 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Jan 07, 2022 4:26 pm
Just tossing into the mix the DC Court of Appeals, which is the District's highest court, and several of the judges are known to be great to work for. I cannot say anything in how it would stack up in terms of ~prestige
I know several people who clerked on the court before going to Circuit clerkships. That's becoming more and more of a standard operating procedure. It does not tell me much about how the D.C. Court of Appeals gig would fare "prestige-wise" on its own, though.

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Re: What are the best state court judges?

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Jan 09, 2022 3:06 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Sun Jan 09, 2022 9:59 am
Anonymous User wrote:
Sat Jan 08, 2022 10:28 pm
Any specific info on the NJ justices? Rabner, Patterson, Albin, and Pierre-Louis seem great to work for (as will Rachel Apter when confirmed!)
Rabner is an excellent judge and has a great reputation within NJ and beyond it (e.g., I know for a fact there's a non-zero number of profs at YLS who push candidates to apply to him). He writes the court's big opinions so that's usually interesting for his clerks. From what I gather, he's very active in mentoring his clerks beyond the year in chambers.

Patterson is very sharp. Though the court is generally left of center, she typically votes with the more right-leaning members. She is also very close to her clerks, both during and beyond the clerkship.

Albin hits mandatory retirement in July so won't be hiring. He's a prolific member of the court and writes separately in many cases. From an ideological perspective, he has traditionally been the most progressive-leaning member of the court.

Pierre-Louis is new and has established a great reputation so far. Her opinions are very clear and well written. Thus far, she and Albin have voted similarly in cases. From what I understand, she's a wonderful boss.

Wainer-Apter's candidacy is up in the air. The senate didn't move on it so Murphy will need to renominate her next week otherwise it's game over. I have no idea whether she will or won't be a wonderful boss.

One brief note: the court is going to look very different by next term. Three justices are retiring this term. LaVecchia retired last month (for which Wainer-Apter was nominated), Fernandez-Vina hits mandatory retirement in February, and Albin must retired in July. So Murphy has an opportunity to nominate the majority of the justices on the court. From a clerkship perspective, folks interested in the court should keep their eyes on NJ news outlets and perhaps talk to their clerkship offices about process for contacting nominees or recently confirmed justices for a clerkship.
Different anon here. What about Solomon and Fernandez-Vina (even if his time comes to an end very soon).

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Re: What are the best state court judges?

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Jan 10, 2022 9:20 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Sun Jan 09, 2022 3:06 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Sun Jan 09, 2022 9:59 am
Anonymous User wrote:
Sat Jan 08, 2022 10:28 pm
Any specific info on the NJ justices? Rabner, Patterson, Albin, and Pierre-Louis seem great to work for (as will Rachel Apter when confirmed!)
Rabner is an excellent judge and has a great reputation within NJ and beyond it (e.g., I know for a fact there's a non-zero number of profs at YLS who push candidates to apply to him). He writes the court's big opinions so that's usually interesting for his clerks. From what I gather, he's very active in mentoring his clerks beyond the year in chambers.

Patterson is very sharp. Though the court is generally left of center, she typically votes with the more right-leaning members. She is also very close to her clerks, both during and beyond the clerkship.

Albin hits mandatory retirement in July so won't be hiring. He's a prolific member of the court and writes separately in many cases. From an ideological perspective, he has traditionally been the most progressive-leaning member of the court.

Pierre-Louis is new and has established a great reputation so far. Her opinions are very clear and well written. Thus far, she and Albin have voted similarly in cases. From what I understand, she's a wonderful boss.

Wainer-Apter's candidacy is up in the air. The senate didn't move on it so Murphy will need to renominate her next week otherwise it's game over. I have no idea whether she will or won't be a wonderful boss.

One brief note: the court is going to look very different by next term. Three justices are retiring this term. LaVecchia retired last month (for which Wainer-Apter was nominated), Fernandez-Vina hits mandatory retirement in February, and Albin must retired in July. So Murphy has an opportunity to nominate the majority of the justices on the court. From a clerkship perspective, folks interested in the court should keep their eyes on NJ news outlets and perhaps talk to their clerkship offices about process for contacting nominees or recently confirmed justices for a clerkship.
Different anon here. What about Solomon and Fernandez-Vina (even if his time comes to an end very soon).
Both are great judges. I know a little less about their chambers. Both are in south Jersey. From what I do know, the justices are quite close and so their chambers get together a bit more than all chambers do in a given year. This is pre-COVID so I don't know if/how the pandemic has altered that.

Both tend to vote more often in a way that could be characterized as right-leaning. I've always considered FV to be a great writer. His opinions are usually quite short but don't lack any of the necessary substance. Solomon I unfortunately know less about!

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Re: What are the best state court judges?

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Jan 11, 2022 7:05 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Jan 07, 2022 4:26 pm
Just tossing into the mix the DC Court of Appeals, which is the District's highest court, and several of the judges are known to be great to work for. I cannot say anything in how it would stack up in terms of ~prestige
Would you be willing to say which ones?

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Re: What are the best state court judges?

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Apr 16, 2022 7:13 pm

Any thoughts on the Washington Supreme Court? Any of the justices particularly good to clerk for?

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Re: What are the best state court judges?

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Apr 17, 2022 8:16 pm

Although a relatively new judge, Justice Blacklock (TX) is very selective and highly regarded in TX circles.

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Re: What are the best state court judges?

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Apr 17, 2022 10:20 pm

The only state court that approaches CoA levels of prestige is CA Supreme.

After that, it goes something like AK Supreme=NY CoA->DE Chancery->everything else.

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Re: What are the best state court judges?

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Apr 17, 2022 11:24 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Sun Apr 17, 2022 10:20 pm
The only state court that approaches CoA levels of prestige is CA Supreme.

After that, it goes something like AK Supreme=NY CoA->DE Chancery->everything else.
DE Chancery is *the* court for corporate lit and is really in a class by itself. It's obviously a very different path from the conventional SDNY/COA feeder/SCOTUS track that most top applicants on TLS talk about, but it's an extremely valued and competitive clerkship for people who want to practice a particular type of law.

There are a small number of state supreme court justices who have fed or could feed (Liu and Kruger in CA (maybe more?), I believe one or two in Texas have too), and big-name courts like CA Supreme and NY CoA have some cache out of state. But otherwise, the best state court for almost any applicant is "the supreme court of the state you want to practice in." That is going to be valuable to any firm that has a big in-state business, but state court clerkships are as a rule far less portable than federal clerkships.

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Re: What are the best state court judges?

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Apr 18, 2022 11:50 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Sun Apr 17, 2022 8:16 pm
Although a relatively new judge, Justice Blacklock (TX) is very selective and highly regarded in TX circles.
Ditto for Justice Young. Both offer a fantastic clerkship, and both have/will reliably feed to the Fifth Circuit. But keep in mind that some of the "feeds" are reversed: a '23 grad gets hired by a CA5 judge for '24, and that CA5 Judge then "places" the clerk at SCOTX for '23, which would otherwise be a gap year for the grad. That dynamic is happening increasingly, especially with circuit timelines getting pushed further and further out.

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