Legal Happenings
Judges Provide Insights Into Clerkship Opportunities for Law Students of Color
February 27, 2024
A recent virtual panel discussion held by the American Constitution Society and The Appellate Project provided some unique insights into judicial clerkships, focusing on opportunities for law students of color and first-generation law students.
The panel featured judges from a variety of jurisdictions and practice environments who shared their personal narratives and perspectives on the clerkship selection process.
Different Paths to the Bench
Among them was Mississippi Court of Appeals Judge Latrice Westbrooks, the first Black woman to serve as assistant district attorney in the state’s Second Circuit District before going into private practice. Criminal defense work eventually led to her employment with the public defender service in a rural Mississippi district.
“It wasn’t until 2012 when I was approached by a friend who said, ‘I want to meet with you. I want to talk to you about something that’s going to change your life,’” Westbrooks recalled. “I really thought they were going to introduce me to my fiancé.”
Instead, the friend urged Westbrooks to consider running for a seat on the Court of Appeals. Westbrooks’s 2012 run for office was unsuccessful. She was disqualified because she didn’t live in the district, but she was inspired to run again in 2016, at which time she successfully secured a seat on the court. Her eight-year term ends in 2025, and she is currently running unopposed for a second term.
Judge Denny Chin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit began his career at the firm Davis Polk & Wardwell before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Civil Section. He later started a law firm.
“That was fun, but we didn’t make enough money,” Chin said. Following his firm’s dissolution, Chin joined Vladeck, Waldman, Elias & Engelhard, P.C. In 1994 he was appointed to the Southern District of New York and served on that court until his appointment to the Second Circuit in 2010. He took senior status in 2021, which has led to a reduced caseload and a return to the trial work that characterized the early years of his service.
“My heart, really, is in the trial court,” Chin said. “There’s a lot more action and you’re on your own. You don’t need a second vote to have a majority.”
Chin said his long road to the bench was intentional. “I actually decided in my 1L year at law school that I would become a judge someday,” he said.
It was one of his many ambitions. “I also wanted to be an AUSA. I remember watching a bank robbery trial and thinking what a cool job it was … and then I figured out that to be an assistant [U.S. attorney], I would have to go to a big firm for a while,” Chin said. “And I wanted to clerk, and I also wanted, for some reason, to run my own law firm. So, when I graduated, I did all of those things.”
District of Columbia Superior Court Associate Judge Kenia Seoane López had a contrasting journey. “I wouldn’t have imagined being here,” said Seoane López, who immigrated from Cuba when she was a child.
A life-changing summer spent at the Boston Housing Court through the Massachusetts Judicial Youth Corps put her on the path to law. Working at the court, Seoane López realized she was the only Spanish speaker. “I really saw the need for me, for someone who looked like me,” she said.
Seoane López had to overcome a number of obstacles in her legal journey. Having heard that Northeastern University had a good criminal justice program, she decided to apply, but a guidance counselor told her, “You’re not going to get in” and refused to give her an application form.
“At that time there was no internet, and the only way to get into a college was to go to a guidance counselor,” Seoane López said. “I remember reaching over her and just opening a filing cabinet and pulling out a Northeastern application.”
Seoane López left the office angry and filled out the application and mailed it herself. She was accepted to a program geared toward inner city youth. “When I went to the guidance counselor and said that I got in, she said, ‘Oh, well, they’re admitting everyone now, aren’t they?’” Seoane López recalled.
A public policy fellowship brought her to Washington, D.C., but Seoane López said she had no intention of spending her career in the city. “I said, I’m here for one year, and then I’m out,” she said. “And then the cherry blossoms came out, and I just fell in love with the city.”
Public policy work, however, failed to capture her interest. She went to law school in Wisconsin, focusing on public service. During her study, a friend gave her an application for a clerkship in Massachusetts Superior Court. “I just happened to be in places where people would give me applications for programs … so it’s all by chance that I ended up where I needed to be,” she said.
Seoane López returned to the District to clerk at D.C. Superior Court before finishing her law degree. “One of the judges I clerked for was the former chief judge of the court,” Seoane López said. “And one day [Judge Eugene Hamilton] said to me, ‘Have you ever thought about becoming a magistrate judge?’”
Seoane López took the statement as flattery. Following the chief judge’s untimely passing, Seoane López decided to apply as magistrate judge to honor his memory. Although it is uncommon for applicants to secure a position on their first try, Seoane López was successful. She served as magistrate judge for 11 years before being appointed associate judge in 2022.
Key Qualities in Potential Clerks
The candor with which the judges described their paths to the bench continued in the discussion regarding the selection and role of clerks in their courts. Seoane López said she looks for candidates who are capable of dealing with the public respectfully and professionally. The courtroom is a tight space, and one in which there is a significant amount of pressure, she said.
“If one of my law clerks is rude to someone, they would attribute that to me,” she said. “Judgment is key.”
Another important trait that Seoane López looks for in clerks is their ability to keep confidences, both in interactions with parties seeking ex parte discussion and in conversations held within chambers among staff.
These traits don’t show up on the typical résumé, but Seoane López said applicants could highlight them in their cover letter. “You could definitely highlight … times that you had to keep confidences, times when you had a high-pressure job with competing deadlines and you were able to handle that, or show that you have good communication,” she said. “I spend a lot of time in chambers, probably more time than I spend with my family, so, at the end of the day, I want nice people that you want to have a conversation with without being worried about what they think about you or what they’re going to repeat to someone else about what you just said … If you have somebody who’s not a team player, it can be a really long year.”
Chin and Westbrooks agreed enthusiastically. Westbrooks said a quote from Martin Luther King’s book, Why We Can’t Wait — “Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust” — is what drives her every day she comes to court.”
Westbrooks said she looks for clerks who share that same sentiment, preferring those interested in social justice. “You’ve given me your résumé; I’ve seen what you’ve done. You’ve given me your writing sample and I can see what your writing style is like,” she said. “But I really want to know what your story is … what has driven you to become a lawyer. Are you in it just for the money? Then I’m probably not going to hire you. Are you really in it to give of yourself? Because this profession, I was told a long time ago by my mentor, is not for the faint of heart, so anything that you do in the profession of law, you’re going to have to give your all. And when you come into a judge’s chambers, you want a law clerk who is honest, a law clerk who has integrity. You want a law clerk who understands confidentiality … Once we come off the bench, I really want to unleash. I may want to say some things … the clerks are there with you through it all.”
Westbrooks said she also looks for writers who are great storytellers. “When we issue opinions, it’s someone’s life that has been affected,” she said. “We’re not just here to write good case law; what we do impacts real lives. I expect my clerks to look at the record and write an opinion knowing that and understanding that.”
While she looks at grades, Westbrooks said grades alone are not dispositive in her choice of clerks. “I never let grades prevent me from hiring someone that I think has potential,” she said. Involvement in associations and groups committed to justice helps inform her understanding of an individual’s commitments and values, Westbrooks added.
Chin offered one last piece of advice: Look for newly appointed federal judges. “When a judge is newly confirmed, he or she is looking for a law clerk … some right away, some a year later or two years later. So, those are opportunities that you should keep an eye on,” he said.
Although, like Westbrooks, grades are not the sole factor in consideration, he said that many of his clerks were high performers. “It is a very competitive process,” Chin added.
