Older Senior Judge Forum

[Anonymous User]

I asked this in the clerks taking question forum, but figured I would also ask it here.

I am clerking for a Judge in his/her 80s in 2025 and I know this is morbid, but I am worried what would happen if they die? I know there is a practice in SCOTUS that the clerks get placed with other Justices. Is that typically done on the circuit level too?

[Quichelorraine]

I asked this in the clerks taking question forum, but figured I would also ask it here.

I am clerking for a Judge in his/her 80s in 2025 and I know this is morbid, but I am worried what would happen if they die? I know there is a practice in SCOTUS that the clerks get placed with other Justices. Is that typically done on the circuit level too?

It's not guaranteed, but it seems usually to be the practice (with District Judges, too). You've been hired for a year, you're in the system, and judges are happy to have another employee helping out.

This has happened to a few people I know. Each time, they ended up with another judge to finish out their terms . . . with one being kept on an additional year.

[Anonymous User]

I asked this in the clerks taking question forum, but figured I would also ask it here.

I am clerking for a Judge in his/her 80s in 2025 and I know this is morbid, but I am worried what would happen if they die? I know there is a practice in SCOTUS that the clerks get placed with other Justices. Is that typically done on the circuit level too?

It's not guaranteed, but it seems usually to be the practice (with District Judges, too). You've been hired for a year, you're in the system, and judges are happy to have another employee helping out.

This has happened to a few people I know. Each time, they ended up with another judge to finish out their terms . . . with one being kept on an additional year.

Does this apply even if you have not yet started clerking. In other words, the judge dies before I start?

[Anonymous User]

I asked this in the clerks taking question forum, but figured I would also ask it here.

I am clerking for a Judge in his/her 80s in 2025 and I know this is morbid, but I am worried what would happen if they die? I know there is a practice in SCOTUS that the clerks get placed with other Justices. Is that typically done on the circuit level too?

It's not guaranteed, but it seems usually to be the practice (with District Judges, too). You've been hired for a year, you're in the system, and judges are happy to have another employee helping out.

This has happened to a few people I know. Each time, they ended up with another judge to finish out their terms . . . with one being kept on an additional year.

This happened to the clerks of a deceased senior judge during my term, and iirc they did not get to finish the full term. Due to an AO rule they only could be kept on payroll for a certain number of months. They did get shifted to an active judge for those months though.