Some Are More Equal Than Others: U.S. Supreme Court Clerkships

Authors

Tracey E. George, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Professional Education,
G. Mitu Gulati, Professor of Law, University of Virginia
Albert H. Yoon, University of Toronto, Faculty of Law

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Columbia Law Review Online

Publication Date

10-31-2023

ISSN

1945-2268

Keywords

clerkships, U.S. Supreme Court, educational pedigree

Disciplines

Law | Legal Education | Supreme Court of the United States

Abstract

The most elite and scarce of all U.S. legal credentials is serving as a Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. A close second is clerking for a Justice. A Court clerkship is a prize as well as a ticket to future success. Rich accounts of the experience fill bookshelves and journal pages. Yet the public lacks a clear story about who wins this clerkship lottery. Original analysis of forty years of clerkships tells that story. New datasets detail clerks’ paths from college to the Court to careers. Research shows that Court clerkships favor educational pedigree and status over pure achievement. Post-Court, clerks enjoy a bounty of opportunities that amplify their influence on society writ large. In the elite legal labor market, some people are, in fact, more equal than others.

Recommended Citation

Tracey E. George, G. Mitu Gulati, and Albert H. Yoon, Some Are More Equal Than Others: U.S. Supreme Court Clerkships, 123 Columbia Law Review Online. (2023)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/faculty-publications/1419