Congratulations!
We’d like to take a moment to congratulate our past and present students and summer associates on the terrific clerkships that they have lined up for next year (and, in some cases, the following year):
James Darrow (Stanford 2006): Judge John Gleeson (E.D.N.Y.)
Anisha Dasgupta (Yale 2006): Judge Louis Pollak (E.D. Pa.) & Judge Jose Cabranes (CA2 2007-08)
Brian Fletcher (Harvard 2006): Judge Merrick Garland (CADC)
Nat Garrett (Stanford 2006): Judge Raymond Fisher (CA9)
Daniel Goldman (Stanford 2005): Judge Robert Sack (CA2)
Jeffrey Harris (Harvard 2006): Judge David Sentelle (CADC)
Allon Kedem (Yale 2005): Judge Pierre Leval (CA2)
Rachel Kovner (Stanford 2006): Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson (CA4)
Alex Lees (Stanford 2006): Judge Louis Kaplan (S.D.N.Y.)
Julia Lipez (Stanford 2006): Judge Diana Motz (CA4)
Anton Metlitsky (Harvard 2005): Judge Merrick Garland (CADC)
Mike Mongan (Stanford 2006): Judge Merrick Garland (CADC)
Lee Reeves (Stanford 2005): Judge Samuel Alito (CA3)
Greg Reilly (Harvard 2006): Judge Timothy Dyk (CAFC)
Stephen Shackelford (Harvard 2005): Justice Stephen Breyer
Darien Shanske (Stanford 2006): Judge Pierre Leval (CA2 2007-08)
Neel Sukhatme (Harvard 2005): Judge Ann Williams (CA7)
Jason Tarricone (Stanford 2006): Judge Sidney Thomas (CA9)
Eric Tuttle (Stanford 2006): Judge Pamela Rymer (CA9)
Why does G&H only hire summers from HYS? Does Goldstein - having attended a TTT - have that much of an inferiority complex that he can only hire from the trinity?
TG responds: Thanks for the comment. It seems unlikely that I could dissuade you from thinking we picked our summers based on an inferiority complex - so that someone looking at the applicants objectively would have hired different people - rather than merit. But for the benefit of others who would try to decide for themselves, as an earlier post mentioned, we had space for (and were lucky enough to get applications from) the following 4 summers last year: the #1 graduate in the SLS class (also Pres. of the Law Review); the #1 graduate in the HLS class; a 2-time HLS Sears Prize Winner (also Pres. of the Law Review); and a YLS student with a PhD from Cambridge.
Comment by ThisIsFunny — October 21, 2005 @ 1:48 pm
The prior claims about an “inferiority complex” by “Thisisfunny” are right on the mark.
There are roughly 20 associates listed above, each and every one of them from Harvard, Stanford, or Yale. Tommy Goldstein, in contrast, received his education the decidedly second-rate UNC and American University, and being a lawyer before the Supreme court, he is, without a doubt, constantly running up against graduates of much better schools.
Goldstein’s firm, while successful, is relatively young, and apparently he feels the need to prove his worth (and that of his firm) to others by hiring summer associates from only three elitist schools that he didn’t come even remotely close to getting into himself.
Is G&H’s hiring policy meritocratic? Consider that there are currently around 180 accredited law schools in the United States. Admittedly, the brightest students will be disproportionately represented at the top schools. But is it likely that every single one of the 20 most talented people to earn a JD in the past 2-3 years, without exception, attended one of only three law schools? Of course not.
Even the Supreme Court justices, often derided as stalwarts of elitism, routinely hire law clerks from schools outside the top three. But then again they- unlike Mr. Goldstein and Ms. Howe- went to decent law schools themselves, aren’t insecure about their level of professional accomplishment, and don’t feel the need to constantly parade their clerks’ achievements around “…GEE WHIZ, we have a 2-time HLS Sears Prize Winner (who was ALSO Pres. of the Law Review!!!!!)” the way a pushy, insecure mom brags about her 5-year old son’s grades in kindergarten.
Of course, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe it is possible that each and every one of the best young lawyers in recent memory went to one of only three schools. If Mr. Goldstein or Ms. Howe can make a convincing argument for this being the case, I’d like to hear it.
TG responds: This really is why I think that it’s best for people to identify themselves in comments rather than post anonymously. There really isn’t much if any incentive to write responsibly otherwise. The reason that there are so many Harvard and Stanford students on the list is that, as the post explains, most are our “past and present students” not our summer associates. As I think people who know about the firm already know (this commentator apparently aside), we teach at Stanford and Harvard. Really almost by necessity those classes are going to be dominated by students at — Stanford and Harvard.
I also doubt the irony of this comment will be lost on people. First challenged to justify our summer associate hires as more than law school elitism, now we’re accused of bragging. Told that I couldn’t get into anything other than supposedly third-rate law school, we’re told that there are 180 great law schools out there, not the elite schools.
This is genuinely one of the unfortunate and disappointing things about the internet, for all it’s greatness, to my mind. “Clifton” will now disappear into the ether. What s/he has to say doesn’t bother me personally; I could always just not approve the comment. Rather, there is just an extraordinary level of irresponsibility that comes from anonymous, personal attacks.
This is the last anonymous comment that will be approved on this topic.
Comment by Clifton — October 21, 2005 @ 8:08 pm