Breaking News

New Court clerk named

(The Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States)

Scott S. Harris, who has served for the past eleven years as the Supreme Court’s legal counsel, has been appointed the new Clerk of the Supreme Court, the Court announced Monday.  His appointment takes effect on September 1, the day after Clerk William K. Suter is to retire.  The press release about the appointment is here.

As the Court’s legal counsel, he manages the staff that provides legal support for the Justices, on both case-related issues and on legal matters for the Court’s operations.   In naming Harris, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., praised the new Clerk’s experience and “proven judgment.”

Harris is a former assistant U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., handling civil litigation.  He had been in private practice earlier, and served as a law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which sits in Richmond, Virginia.   He is a graduate of Yale, with a law degree from the University of Virginia.  He is 47 years old.

He will be the twentieth Clerk in the Court’s history.   When Suter retires, he will have served in that post for twenty-two years.

Recommended Citation: Lyle Denniston, New Court clerk named, SCOTUSblog (Jul. 1, 2013, 11:58 AM), https://www.scotusblog.com/2013/07/new-court-clerk-named/