Three Columbia Law School Graduates Awarded Prestigious U.S. Supreme Court Clerkships
Jennifer B. Sokoler '10, Mark Musico '11, and James W. Crooks '13 Will Serve as Clerks for Justices at the High Court.
New York, January 30, 2014— Every year, an elite group of young lawyers from around the country earn one of the most coveted credentials in American law: a clerkship at the U.S. Supreme Court. Clerking for a justice is often a formative experience and the catalyst for a highly successful legal career. Three Columbia Law School graduates will add this prestigious honor to their résumé this year, having been awarded clerkships for the October 2014 term.
Jennifer B. Sokoler ’10 will serve as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor; Mark Musico ’11 will be working for Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’59; and James W. Crooks ’13 will spend the term in the chambers of Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy.
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| (left to right) Jennifer B. Sokoler ’10, Mark Musico ’11, and James W. Crooks ’13 have been awarded prestigious U.S. Supreme Court clerkships. |
Sokoler most recently worked as a legal fellow at the Center for Reproductive Rights in New York City. She also served as a clerk for Judge Robert A. Katzmann of the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and for Judge Denise L. Cote ’75 of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Musico is an associate in Susman Godfrey’s New York office. He previously served as a clerk to Judge Michael Boudin of the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and for Judge Douglas P. Woodlock of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Crooks is currently serving as a clerk to Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Alex Kozinski.
All three future high court clerks were standout students at the Law School. Sokoler served as notes editor on the Columbia Law Review and won the Pauline Berman Heller Prize for the highest ranked graduating female law student, the David Berger Memorial Prize in international law, the E.B. Convers Prize for the best original essay on a legal subject, and the Robert Noxan Toppan Prize in constitutional law.
Musico was a James Kent Scholar and articles editor at the Columbia Law Review. He won the John Ordronaux Prize for highest academic average when he graduated in 2011.
In the most recent Columbia Law School graduating class, Crooks won the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Prize, which is awarded annually to J.D. degree candidates who earned James Kent academic honors for each year of law school. Crooks also served as articles editor at the Columbia Law Review.
Columbia Law School consistently places students and alumni in dozens of federal and state court clerkships, ranging from the U.S. Supreme Court and federal circuit and district courts to a broad array of state and specialty courts.