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Posts Tagged ‘Feeder Judges’

Chapter 6: Asian-American Idol

Posted in Supreme Ambitions, tagged , , , , , on September 26, 2012| 3 Comments »

I continued reading through Judge Stinson’s bio. I wasn’t surprised to see that she was Order of the Coif — which has nothing to do with hair. It’s a national honor society, like Phi Beta Kappa, but for law students. The other accolades were more recent, recognizing her work as a litigator at the O’Melveny law firm or her work as a judge. Most judges have a passel of awards — shockingly, lawyers love to bestow honors upon judges — but Stinson’s list of accolades was longer than most, especially considering her relatively young age.

Next up: a listing of her noteworthy rulings. In a number of cases, Stinson took a position — sometimes in dissent, disagreeing with her fellow judges — that was then vindicated by the Supreme Court. She could be described as fairly pro-defendant in civil cases and somewhat pro-government in criminal cases.

Among the cases, this one jumped out at me:

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Chapter 5: Taking Flight

Posted in Supreme Ambitions, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 23, 2012| 5 Comments »

I ended up with a window seat on my flight out to Los Angeles to interview with Judge Stinson. Since I had booked on short notice, I was stuck near the back of the plane, close enough that I could smell the lavatories’ mix of cleanser and other substances. But at least I wasn’t stuck in a middle seat; in fact, the middle seat next to me was empty, a rare thing these days. The relative comfort allowed me to concentrate for most of the flight, reading print-outs of newspaper articles about Judge Stinson, her most noteworthy opinions, and the generally glowing clerkship reviews from the Yale career services office written by former Stinson clerks, which only made me want the position more than I already did. (One line that stuck in my mind: “The worst part about clerking on the Ninth Circuit and for Judge Stinson is that I probably won’t have a job that’s this interesting, and a boss who’s this awesome, until many years later in my legal career — if ever.”)

An elderly Asian woman in a red sweater set was in the aisle seat of my row. After the beverage service — water for me (too early for Diet Coke), hot tea for her — she looked over at me and smiled.

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Chapter 4: The Forces of Darkness

Posted in Supreme Ambitions, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 19, 2012| 7 Comments »

“I have three interviews,” Jeremy said. “First up is Paul Kenote.”

“You applied to a district court judge?”

“I’m willing to make an exception for a Yale Law grad who clerked for the Supreme Court. And who’s a genius — which, of course, Kenote is, as a Yalie who clerked for SCOTUS. And, most importantly, who’s the first openly gay man appointed to the federal bench.”

In addition to serving as an articles editor of the Journal, Jeremy was president of the Yale chapter of OutLaws. He was a cheerleader for all things gay.

“Fair enough,” I said. “Who else are you interviewing with?”

“Sheldon Gottlieb, in Pasadena.”

“Oh nice, congrats — your hero!”

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Chapter 3: The Skinny

Posted in Supreme Ambitions, tagged , , , , , , on September 16, 2012| 6 Comments »

When I arrived at Yorkside, a casual pizza-and-diner-type eatery just down the street from the law school, Jeremy was already standing outside. He pretended to peruse the menu, even though he’d get the same thing he always got: a cheeseburger, with Swiss and lettuce and tomato, without the bun. His near-pathological aversion to carbs helped him stay extremely thin — perhaps too thin, as I would often tell him. I was a size two, in pretty good shape, but hanging out with Jeremy often made me feel fat.

A waitress, neither surly nor friendly, seated us in a roomy booth near the back, then took our drink order. I was grateful for the relatively private table. We decided to meet at Yorkside precisely to avoid the law school cafeteria (and not just because of the mediocre food). The Yale Law School dining hall, at the height of clerkship application season for third-year law students, was a hive of anxiety and competitiveness. It was simply easier to avoid one’s classmates during this short but stressful period in early September.

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Chapter 2: Not That Kind of Clerk

Posted in Supreme Ambitions, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 12, 2012| 10 Comments »

The walk from the law school to Yorkside was short, which was fine with me; I wanted this to be a short conversation. As a dutiful daughter, I felt the need to update my mother on important developments in my life, but I had no desire to get caught up in a long argument about my life and career choices.

“Hi Mom. How are you?”

“Oh, fine. Waiting for your father to come home from a job so we can have dinner. And your sister is coming over. Almost done cooking — I made sinigang. Too bad you’re not here, it’s one of your favorites. What’s up?”

“I just wanted to let you know — I’m going to be in Los Angeles next week. I have a clerkship interview with a judge out there.”

“You’re flying out to L.A.? Next week? How much is your ticket?”

“Five hundred or so,” I said (omitting mention of the taxes and fees).

“Five hundred? That’s a lot. Why aren’t they paying for your travel? Like the law firms?”

“I had to buy it on short notice. And this isn’t a law firm, Mom. This is for a clerkship. With a federal judge. It’s the government.”

My mother sighed, in Queens. I heard it, in New Haven.

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