Yesterday, I wrote about the lateral hiring market.
asserted
I → write → market
Here, I want to focus on the entry-level hiring market.
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I → want → market
Since 2012, the number of entry-level hires has dipped to the low 60s and spiked to the mid 140s.
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number → dip → 140s
Professor Sarah Lawsky has carefully tracked these numbers over the years through a series of detailed hiring spreadsheets: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026.
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Lawsky → track → spreadsheets
Lawsky tracks how many entry-level hires completed Supreme Court clerkships.
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hires → track → clerkships
(This category does not record already hired law professors who are subsequently hired for Supreme Court clerkships.)
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who → record → clerkships
I thought it might be worthwhile to dig into the numbers a bit more.
uncertain
it → think → numbers
Moreover, to continue my prior post on laterals, I wanted to track how often former SCOTUS clerks moved to other institutions.
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clerks → continue → institutions
You can see the details in this spreadsheet, which tracks hires of SCOTUS clerks between 2012 and 2026.
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which → see → 2012
Please let me know if I am missing any names or made any errors.
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I → let → errors
How many academics has each Justice "fed"?
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Justice → feed → academics
Counting is actually a bit tricky, so I had to make some judgment calls.
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I → have → calls
If a senior associate Justice hired a clerk, who was then assigned to an active member of the Court, I counted the hiring Justice.
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I → hire → Justice
(Still, I found at least one law school bio that listed the active justice before the senior justice, a faux pas in my mind.)
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that → find → mind
Likewise, for the clerks hired during the final terms of Justice Scalia or Ginsburg's tenure, and who were then reassigned, I counted them as Scalia and Ginsburg clerks.
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I → hire → clerks
What about the clerks who were hired by Scalia or Ginsburg for a future term after their passing?
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who → hire → passing
In that case, I chose the active Justice that made the decision to re-hire them.
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that → choose → them
I have several observations.
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I → have → observations
First, during this time period, I suppose it makes sense that Justices Ginsburg and Breyer, both academics, hired so many law clerks who went onto become academics.
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who → suppose → clerks
But I was struck that Justice Kagan only hired three future academics.
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Kagan → strike → academics
Perhaps her focus is not on the curious type that wants to write articles?
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that → want → articles
Then again, as I've noted before, Professor Kagan didn't publish very much.
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Kagan → note → much
To paraphrase John Kerry, "I was for originalism before I was against it."
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I → paraphrase → it
Who would have predicted that Justice Sotomayor would have twice as many academic clerks as Justice Kagan?
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Sotomayor → predict → Kagan
Likewise, Justice Scalia, a former academic, only had three clerks hired into academia--only one of whom is conservative.
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one → have → whom
Then again, I suspect ideological bias blocked many potential Scalia clerks from even considering the academy during this period.
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bias → suspect → period
Justice Thomas has jumped ahead in the standings, but as I'll explain below, most of those placements are over the past three years.
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most → jump → years
Second, there are relatively few law professors who clerked on the Supreme Court.
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who → be → Court
The percentage of entry-level hires with Supreme Court clerkships fluctuates.
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percentage → fluctuate → clerkships
Still, the persistent myth that you have to clerk on the Supreme Court to teach constitutional law should be retired.
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you → clerk → law
Very few ConLaw professors have actually clerked on the Supreme Court.
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professors → clerk → Court
Third, the total number of hired clerks fluctuates each year, though it averages to about 5.
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it → hire → 5
I would wager that 100% of the clerks who apply for the entry-level market find a job somewhere.
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who → wager → job
The Supreme Court pumps out about 36 clerks each year.
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Court → pump → clerks
Let's assume that around 13% of those clerks become law professors.
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% → let → clerks
Presumably, about 87% of Supreme Court law clerks do not go into academia, and find employment in the public or private sectors.
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% → go → sectors
Despite what one may think, the clerks who work to develop the law are not particularly interested in teaching it.
uncertain
who → think → it
Fourth, the ideological imbalance of these clerks is stark, although it has corrected somewhat in recent years.
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it → correct → years
Between 2012 and 2015, out of 25 entry-level hires, I count only four professors who were right-of-center: Chris Walker (Ohio State), James Stern (William and Mary), Will Baude (Chicago), and Justice Walker (Louisville).
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who → count → center
The rate has increased substantially from 2020 to the present with nine right-of-center hires out of twenty total hires: J. Joel Alicea (Catholic), Sherif Girgis (Notre Dame), Haley Proctor (Notre Dame), Garrett West (Alito), Steven Lindsay (Catholic), Lael Weinberger (George Mason), Brian Lipshutz (Florida), Micah Quigley (Notre Dame), and Brittney Lane Kubisch (Pepperdine).
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rate → increase → hires
…and 15 more, not listed.
The Aporia
