PRESIDENTIAL ADVISORY COUNCIL ON DIVERSITY IN THE PROFESSION

By Justice Frank Sullivan, Jr., Indiana Supreme Court

Fifty-one minority law students from fourteen law schools throughout the country were urged to seek judicial clerkships in a special program at the American Bar Association's Mid-Year Meeting in San Antonio, Feb. 5 - Feb. 7, 2004. The fourth annual Judicial Clerkship Program was organized and conducted under the enthusiastic co-sponsorship of the ABA's Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession and its Judicial Division, and with the generous financial support of LEXIS-NEXIS.

The Commission and the Judicial Division launched the Judicial Clerkship Program three years ago in response to a study by the National Association of Law Placement that showed minority representation among judicial clerks generally lower than in the law school population and to publicity over the absence of minority clerks at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Over parts of three days, the Program brought the minority law students together with 30 judges and several former law clerks for panel discussions, a research exercise, and informal social events. These activities were designed to introduce and then reinforce reasons for pursuing a judicial clerkship: (1) allowing a new lawyer to develop a close personal working relationship with a judge; (2) improving a new lawyer's legal research, analytical, and writing skills; (3) enhancing a new lawyer's career opportunities; and (4) permitting a new lawyer to participate directly in the process of shaping the law.

One panel, chaired by Judge Patricia Timmons-Goodson of the North Carolina Court of Appeals, consisted of five judges from courts with different types of jurisdiction. They discussed with the students the differences and similarities in clerking for trial courts, intermediate appellate courts, and courts of last resort at the federal and state level.

Another panel, chaired by Jacqueline Regis, a member of the Commission, consisted of six former law clerks, three of whom practice in law firms, two of whom are in-house counsel for major corporations, and one of whom is a law professor. They explored with the students their experiences as clerks and the ways in which their clerkships have been helpful to them. Representatives of the placement office and students at the University of Texas at Austin Law School made a special presentation on considerations in applying for and techniques for securing judicial clerkships. The most ambitious part of the Program was a "research exercise." In an effort to acquaint the students with the working relationship between judge and law clerk, the students convened in small groups of four to six students with several judges assigned to each group. Once in the groups, the students were asked to assume that they were judicial clerks and that the judge for whom they worked had been assigned to write an opinion on whether a state that offers taxpayer-financed scholarships for post-high school education can withhold the money from an otherwise eligible student who wants to use it to attend a religious college and major in theology. (The problem is based on a case that was pending before the Supreme Court.)

After discussing the "assignment" with their respective judges, the students used computers and software provided by LEXIS-NEXIS to research the issue. Following several periods of both research and discussion, the students prepared outlines of opinions deciding the issue. The "research exercise" above all else was meant to simulate to the maximum extent possible the kind of judge-clerk personal interaction characteristic of judicial clerkships. Initial feedback from the participating law students, judges, and former clerks has been extremely positive. Virtually all of the participating students said they intended to seek clerkships. The Program intends to keep in touch with the students in an effort to determine how many of them actually pursue clerkships. As co-chair of the Program, I want to express appreciation to LEXIS-NEXIS; to my co-chair Cunyon Gordon; to ABA President Dennis W. Archer, ABA President-elect Robert J. Grey, Jr., and Secretary Ellen F. Rosenblum for their participation in the Program; to Lawrence R. Baca, Chair of the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, and the Commission's staff; to Richard N. Bien, Chair of the Judicial Division, and the Division's staff; and to all of the judges and former law clerks who gave so generously of their time to this project. Most of all, I want to thank the students for joining us. Their willingness to put aside their studies for a few days to explore clerking with us was extremely heartening and invigorating.