Aggregating Comments

Looking ahead to the Hiring Plan's June 28 season-opener, I thought I would aggregate the comments we have so far.

For those of you who have information -- now's the time to post, so that candidates aren't vainly trying to send applications for positions that have already been filled. Also, remember that, although the blog is arranged by circuit, we mean for the posts to cover district courts as well as circuit courts (and don't forget the state court systems). We do have a few bits of district court information, but we'd like to see more. (And, doesn't someone have information on the Federal Circuit??)

Anyway, here's the rundown of the comments so far (you should assume we're talking about clerkships starting in 2014 unless stated otherwise, and cross-reference with OSCAR). Please post corrections here, but post new information to the appropriate circuit's page.

1st Circuit:

• The senate confirmed Kayatta for Maine's seat in February
• Lynch was interviewing as of mid-February
• Thompson is done (March 27)

2nd Circuit: Livingston had hired at least 2 for 2014-15 as of April 30.

3rd Circuit: Smith is done (March 11)

4th Circuit:

• Davis was taking applications in February and was going to begin interviewing in March, but listed his positions as "filled" by March 1
• Diaz had started interviewing in February and had made at least one offer as of early April
• Motz was interviewing in late February
• Wilkinson (characteristically) was done (Feb. 12)

5th Circuit:

• Elrod: done (June 4)
• Haynes: accepting applications via OSCAR for 3Ls/grads in late Feb., but follows the plan for 2Ls
• Higginbotham: hired 2 by late February; was only hiring one more
• Jolly: hired at least 2 by late April
• Jones: hired at least 1 by late March
• King: done (March 5)
• Owen: hired at least 2 by late April
• Prado: hired at least 3 by late April
• Smith: done (April 12)
• Wiener: done (March 14)

6th Circuit:

• Clay: done (March 21)
• Cole: accepting paper applications as of March 5
• Gibbons: done (May 30)
• Kethledge: done (Feb. 25) -- already hired two for 2015!
• Moore: done (March 27)
• McKeague: done (March 28)
• Sutton: done (March 5)

District courts

• Marbley (SDOH): done (March 14)
• Thapar (EDKY): done (May 29)

7th Circuit:

• Flaum: accepting applications in Feb/March but asking 2Ls to update when 4th semester grades are in
• Manion: interviewing in March (but possibly only looking at ND applicants)
• Posner: interviewing in February
• Wood: done (March 11)

8th Circuit: as of early April--

• Colloton was to begin in May/June
• Loken had interviewed but was likely to make decisions later in the year
• Murphy had hired "multiple" clerks

9th Circuit:

• Fletcher: in the process of hiring as of mid-February
• Ikuta: interviewing and some slots filled as of March 1
• Kozinski: done (March 5)
• Nguyen: done (March 5)
• Noonan: done (March 5)
• O'Scannlain: done (March 23)
• Paez: done (April 15)
• Rawlinson: interviewed for 2013 at the end of January, and was done for 2013 as of March 4
• Reinhardt: done (Feb. 26)
• Silverman: done (March 5)
• Smith: done (March 5)
• Tashima: done (April 30)
• Wardlaw: done (Feb. 14)
• Watford: done (Feb. 15)

Looks like there was also some interviewing if not hiring happening among unnamed California district court judges in February/March.

10th Circuit:

• Ebel: hired at least one as of mid-April
• Gorsuch: done (April 30)
• Kelly: "usually" done by May/June
• Lucero: interviewing as of early April
• Tymkovich: interviewing as of late March

11th Circuit:

• Hull: done (June 5)
• Marcus: interviewing as of late March
• Pryor: done (March 11)

DC Circuit:

• Kavanaugh: done for 2014 (Feb. 22), hired one for 2015 as of late April
• Griffith: done (March 4)
• Garland: done (Feb. 24)
• Tatel: done (Feb. 24)
• Williams: done for 2014, hired one for 2015 (April 30)

Also, in response to a general inquiry about 2015, a poster suggests that exceptional candidates go ahead and send in applications

Federal Circuit: no info

State Courts: posters have left helpful information on the following states.

• Arizona Supreme Court/Court of Appeals
• New Jersey
• Pennsylvania
• Vermont

Looks like you should be applying now...

At least from the reports in most circuits, it seems there is at least one circuit court judge in each circuit who is already hiring for 2014, if not already done. (I don't think I've seen district court slots pop up yet.)

Still, we don't have reports yet from 2d, 3d, 8th or 10th, or Federal Circuit. Come on, folks, don't be shy! Even if they're not already interviewing, some sense of where they are likely to be in the next couple months would be great.

For those who don't plan to apply to circuit courts, check out the states page -- there are some great tips there about hiring in states that have term clerks (particularly because the states seem to be able to impose a little more order on their systems than is apparent in the federal judicial system).

Thanks to Howard Bashman and PrawfsBlawg for getting the word out... we're getting some good information trickling in. Tell your friends, post it on your blog, send it to your listserv. And thanks to those who have already posted some information - every bit helps.

Clerkship Quest

If you're a law professor, or a law student, you may have heard that the DC Circuit has announced on its website it is no longer following the Hiring Plan.

Anticipating that other federal judges may follow suit (if they weren't already), we thought it might be useful to start a blog similar to the PrawfsBlawg hiring threads, on which students, clerks, and others can report (anonymously - or not) where judges are in their hiring process, as well as other gossip for the collective good. We'll be relying on your comments here to provide a clearinghouse of information to all involved.

We've set up pages by circuit, but the comments apply to appellate, district and even magistrate courts in that circuit. There's also a page for state court, and a page for questions. Post a comment on the appropriate page if you have information about whether a judge has (a) posted a position, (b) called candidates, (c) interviewed and (d) made offers. If you want to post anonymously, as with PrawfsBlawg, you can use anon@anon.edu or some such thing.

For those who are relying on this information -- as always, take it with a grain of salt, and rely on it at your own risk, or make your own calls to confirm the information.

We might also discuss tips on getting hired, trends, judicial vacancies, and other related matters if there's time...