Let's Talk 9th Circuit! Forum

[Anonymous User]

Anybody know why Owens posted an opening for three clerks today, and is conducting interviews tomorrow? Does he normally do this?

It looks like he did something similar in 2021, where he posted on 6/12 for email applications and interviews were 6/15. Doesn't look like he even posted in 2022. My guess is the schools he cares about already knew to be emailing him apps so he only posted on OSCAR as a courtesy rather than to actually solicit applications, but I'm super jaded at this point.

So if you didn't submit by, at best, midday yesterday, are you SOL?

Anon you're replying too - I want to be clear that I have no actual knowledge that this is the case. I think it's possible, but I would still apply if I were you and applying wouldn't take much of your time, because you never know for sure. I just wouldn't plan on it being a likely opportunity.

[Anonymous User]

Anybody know why Owens posted an opening for three clerks today, and is conducting interviews tomorrow? Does he normally do this?

It looks like he did something similar in 2021, where he posted on 6/12 for email applications and interviews were 6/15. Doesn't look like he even posted in 2022. My guess is the schools he cares about already knew to be emailing him apps so he only posted on OSCAR as a courtesy rather than to actually solicit applications, but I'm super jaded at this point.

Owens is not a fan of OSCAR and prefers mailed applications, because he thinks OSCAR makes it too easy to mass-apply without considering whether you actually want to work for a judge. It would be helpful if his OSCAR page made this clear, but I heard him say this publicly to an audience of law students.

If you've already applied to Owens via OSCAR, it might be a good idea to do a mailed follow-up or to have a professor call to get your app pulled out of the digital pile.

[Anonymous User]

Anybody know why Owens posted an opening for three clerks today, and is conducting interviews tomorrow? Does he normally do this?

It looks like he did something similar in 2021, where he posted on 6/12 for email applications and interviews were 6/15. Doesn't look like he even posted in 2022. My guess is the schools he cares about already knew to be emailing him apps so he only posted on OSCAR as a courtesy rather than to actually solicit applications, but I'm super jaded at this point.

Owens is not a fan of OSCAR and prefers mailed applications, because he thinks OSCAR makes it too easy to mass-apply without considering whether you actually want to work for a judge. It would be helpful if his OSCAR page made this clear, but I heard him say this publicly to an audience of law students.

If you've already applied to Owens via OSCAR, it might be a good idea to do a mailed follow-up or to have a professor call to get your app pulled out of the digital pile.

Is there any point if he's interviewing today?

[Anonymous User]

Hah, probably not--missed that part. But at least my comment will be here for posterity for future cycles.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone have any info on Judge Kronstadt? Good to clerks? What kind of credentials do you need?

[Anonymous User]

I know Bennett in Honolulu has offered interviews over the past month, anyone know if he's extended offers?

[Anonymous User]

Anyone know if Johnstone has moved for 2024? I assume he has/is based on the listed interview dates.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone heard anything about Smith, Nguyen, Wardlaw for 2025?

[Anonymous User]

Anyone have any information on what its like to work for Salvador Mendoza?

[Anonymous User]

anyone know if Wardlaw has extended offers?

[Anonymous User]

anyone know if Wardlaw has extended offers?

She has extended at least two

[Anonymous User]

Any new movement? Particularly interested in Nguyen and Smith for 2025/2026, Paez for 2024.

[Anonymous User]

Any new movement? Particularly interested in Nguyen and Smith for 2025/2026, Paez for 2024.

Also interested if that Paez 2024 position has gone

[Anonymous User]

Eric Miller has his first recorded dissent from denial of rehearing en banc (in a truly bonkers case with more cross-cutting separate opinions than I care to try and condense). The case involves whether Boise v. Martin (preventing cities from criminally punishing homeless people from sleeping outdoors, also applies in some civil cases)

https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/ ... -35752.pdf

[lavarman84]

Sometimes, I forget there are ghouls in robes who are happy to argue that punishing homeless people for sleeping outside is completely consistent with the Constitution.

[throwawayt14]

Sometimes, I forget there are ghouls in robes who are happy to argue that punishing homeless people for sleeping outside is completely consistent with the Constitution.

The opinion, charitably, has little legal support, and resulted in the fairly predictable consequence of hindering nearly all Western cities from effectively addressing homelessness.

[Anonymous User]

Any new movement? Particularly interested in Nguyen and Smith for 2025/2026, Paez for 2024.

Also interested if that Paez 2024 position has gone

Anyone have any info about this?

[Anonymous User]

Sometimes, I forget there are ghouls in robes who are happy to argue that punishing homeless people for sleeping outside is completely consistent with the Constitution.

The opinion, charitably, has little legal support, and resulted in the fairly predictable consequence of hindering nearly all Western cities from effectively addressing homelessness.

Yes, it's entirely counterproductive on this thread to be dismissing 17 judges, spanning an entire ideological spectrum from center-left to far-right, as "ghouls in robes" because they see a novel and complex question of Eighth Amendment law differently from you.

This opinion is notable for a few reasons though: Because seniors can support a dissental, but can't actually vote on en banc calls, this is a unique case where there are more judges writing in dissent (17) than in support of the opinion (presumably there were 16: the 15 active judges not in dissent, plus the visiting district judge). Seventeen is also by far the highest number of joiners I've ever seen on a dissental. In addition to Judge Miller joining for the first time in his career, it's very unusual to see Judge Wallace weighing in on a case where he wasn't part of the panel. And it's also increasingly uncommon for a dissental to be "bipartisan," as Judge Graber wrote a more moderate criticism of the panel opinion.

Bottom line is that this is the strongest plea I have seen Ninth Circuit dissenters send to SCOTUS in my decade of watching the court.

[Anonymous User]

Does Judge Bumatay send rejections after second-round interviews? Interviewed several weeks ago and sent updated transcripts but haven't heard back. Not sure if I'm still in the running for a spot.

[Anonymous User]

Does Judge Bumatay send rejections after second-round interviews? Interviewed several weeks ago and sent updated transcripts but haven't heard back. Not sure if I'm still in the running for a spot.

Following. I interviewed on Zoom with his clerks a while back and haven't heard anything. Interview was tough and I fumbled some questions, so silence is probably a rejection for me. But I didn't get a second round like you did.

[Anonymous User]

Does Judge Bumatay send rejections after second-round interviews? Interviewed several weeks ago and sent updated transcripts but haven't heard back. Not sure if I'm still in the running for a spot.

Following. I interviewed on Zoom with his clerks a while back and haven't heard anything. Interview was tough and I fumbled some questions, so silence is probably a rejection for me. But I didn't get a second round like you did.

Yes.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone know anything about Trina Thompson (N.D. Cal.)?

have also heard negative things FWIW, sounds chaotic behind the scenes

Do you think some of this is just because the learning curve for being a judge is steep, at least at the district level, and it takes some time for the judge to get settled in? I’ve honestly heard not great things about a few of the Biden appointees, but I’m wondering if most of this could be attributed to the fact that they are new to the bench.

As a former clerk for a Trump district judge, I think it would be unusual for a district judge to not have a chaotic first year. The learning curve is insane. Though I would hope it's better for a former state court judge, and it's probably much better for a former federal magistrate. (And I doubt Corley, a longtime magistrate and career clerk who presided by consent a lot, has a learning curve at all.)

Having appeared in front of both Corley and Thompson, I can confirm that Corley's chambers seems to run seamlessly whereas Thompson's chambers does . . . not.

Speaking of Thompson, she recently just wrote an opinion where she seems to believe that RFK's real name is John F. Kennedy.

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents ... etro082323

[Anonymous User]

Anyone know anything about Trina Thompson (N.D. Cal.)?

have also heard negative things FWIW, sounds chaotic behind the scenes

Do you think some of this is just because the learning curve for being a judge is steep, at least at the district level, and it takes some time for the judge to get settled in? I’ve honestly heard not great things about a few of the Biden appointees, but I’m wondering if most of this could be attributed to the fact that they are new to the bench.

As a former clerk for a Trump district judge, I think it would be unusual for a district judge to not have a chaotic first year. The learning curve is insane. Though I would hope it's better for a former state court judge, and it's probably much better for a former federal magistrate. (And I doubt Corley, a longtime magistrate and career clerk who presided by consent a lot, has a learning curve at all.)

Having appeared in front of both Corley and Thompson, I can confirm that Corley's chambers seems to run seamlessly whereas Thompson's chambers does . . . not.

Speaking of Thompson, she recently just wrote an opinion where she seems to believe that RFK's real name is John F. Kennedy.

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents ... etro082323

It is unreal how that got past what I presume are at least three sets of eyes.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone know anything about Trina Thompson (N.D. Cal.)?

have also heard negative things FWIW, sounds chaotic behind the scenes

Do you think some of this is just because the learning curve for being a judge is steep, at least at the district level, and it takes some time for the judge to get settled in? I’ve honestly heard not great things about a few of the Biden appointees, but I’m wondering if most of this could be attributed to the fact that they are new to the bench.

As a former clerk for a Trump district judge, I think it would be unusual for a district judge to not have a chaotic first year. The learning curve is insane. Though I would hope it's better for a former state court judge, and it's probably much better for a former federal magistrate. (And I doubt Corley, a longtime magistrate and career clerk who presided by consent a lot, has a learning curve at all.)

Having appeared in front of both Corley and Thompson, I can confirm that Corley's chambers seems to run seamlessly whereas Thompson's chambers does . . . not.

Speaking of Thompson, she recently just wrote an opinion where she seems to believe that RFK's real name is John F. Kennedy.

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents ... etro082323

It is unreal how that got past what I presume are at least three sets of eyes.

Unreal that whoever drafted this couldn’t read the case caption.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone have insight into Holly Thomas? She just posted an 2023 opening this week and has (according to my schools clerkship office) already started interviewing?

Did a clerk drop and, if so, anyone know if Thomas is maybe a clerkship to avoid?