First Monday in October: Start of Supreme Court Term Recalled by Professors Who Clerked There

Media Contact: 
Public Affairs Office 212-854-2650 [email protected]

 

New York, October 2, 2009 – When the U.S. Supreme Court justices go on summer break, their clerks still have plenty to do. There is research on upcoming cases, briefs to read over, memos to write, and phone conferences with their bosses.

 

But come the first Monday in October – the traditional start of a new term -- clerkships at the Court take a dramatic, often hectic and exhilarating turn, according to several Columbia Law School professors who served there.  “The summer months are like a long dress rehearsal, and the first Monday is like opening night,” said David M. Schizer, Dean and Lucy G. Moses Professor of Law, who clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’59.

 

Indeed, as soon as the marshal intoned “Oyez, Oyez, Oyez” to call the Court to order, professors realized their jobs—already among the most demanding and potentially rewarding for a young lawyer—would change.

 

“On that first Monday, seeing [the courtroom] suddenly come alive—watching it all from the side, where the law clerks’ chairs are crammed between those sequoia-like columns—now thatwas an utterly humbling thing,” said Associate Professor Bert Huang, a clerk for now-retired Justice David Souter.

 

For Associate Professor Jamal Greene, who clerked for Justice John Paul Stevens, the first Monday meant being able to see the court in action after weeks spent looking at briefs and thinking about the issues at hand.

 

“When (the courtroom) is empty it feels very small, at least to me. It feels like a regular courtroom,” Greene said. “But when it’s full, it can really be bustling with energy.”

 

Some of that energy comes from clerks already balancing a heavy workload while dealing with some variations in their routines as oral arguments begin. Associate Professor Christina Duffy Burnett, a clerk to Justice Stephen Breyer, said it’s crucial to ensure the first Monday goes smoothly for justices and clerks alike.

 

“That day is like no other because the rituals and procedures that make everything go smoothly are still new and, at the same time, you are the one making sure everything goes smoothly,” Burnett said.

 

For the justices, anticipation about the first Monday in October is decidedly less palpable, professors said. After all, with the exception of the newest justice, Sonia Sotomayor, the start of a new session has become a familiar ritual. Burnett said Breyer “didn’t make much of a to-do about” the start of the session.

 

“My sense is that within the life of a justice,” Greene added, “the oral argument is not the central part of their day. They’re thinking about past and future cases. They’re thinking about opinion writing.”

 

But for their clerks, who typically serve for a year, it remains a day like no other.

 

“There will be days that will be even busier, but there’s no day that’s quite as breathless in making sure you do everything you need to do,” Burnett said. “The pressure to get everything right is huge.”

 

Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, stands at the forefront of legal education and of the law in a global society. Columbia Law School joins traditional strengths in international and comparative law, constitutional law, administrative law, business law and human rights law with pioneering work in the areas of intellectual property, digital technology, sexuality and gender, criminal, and environmental law.
 
Visit us at www.law.columbia.edu.