CBA Record September 2018

record, and case law. My law clerks will then review and edit the draft for citation style, typographical errors, and similar issues. And yes, they have red pens, too, and they use them fearlessly. I expect them to do so. The presiding justice of each division of the First District appellate court generally also handles motions on all cases assigned to the division. During the year I served as presiding justice, I received about 70 motions per week. Most were routine motions for extensions of time, but some, such as motionsto dismiss for lack of juris- diction, might require significant research. One of my law clerks that year became the “motion clerk,” conducting that research and redrafting orders on some routine motions as needed to correctly reflect the The job of a law clerk is attractive to many law students and young lawyers. There are many applicants for open positions, and openings are infrequent due to the long tenure of career clerks. The last time there was a vacancy in my chambers, I placed a notice with the placement offices of all of the law schools in the greater Chicago area (even including Marquette and Notre Dame). I also notified Chancery and Law Division judges at the Daley Center whose clerks might wish to change positions to take advantage of the higher salaries paid to appellate court law clerks. Finally, I solicited appellate court research directors for candidates from their respective staffs. Other judges may not publicize vacancies so widely, or they may rely on other meth- ods to obtain candidates. Some appellate court justices will post a job opening notice on the Administrative Office of Illinois Courts’ website (see http://www.illinois- courts.gov/Employment/default.asp). I received over 100 resumes for the last opening in my chambers. Most went directly into the “do not consider” pile. Allow me to explain what separated the wheat from the chaff. When hiring a law clerk, a judge will look for several important characteristics. First and foremost is a record of dem- onstrated excellence in legal writing and court’s disposition. Criteria for Success

2004]). The research attorney will prepare a draft opinion that will later be edited by senior staff in the research department. When complete, the draft will be sent to the randomly assigned authoring justice for further review and editing. Judicial Clerks’ Duties Each judge uses his or her law clerks differ- ently, and much of that variation depends on the nature of the judge’s caseload. When I was a circuit court judge assigned to the Chancery Division, my law clerks did assist me with research and drafting of opinions. However, much of my law clerks’ time was devoted to answering telephone inquiries from lawyers and self- represented litigants, sorting courtesy copies of motions and briefs, and staffing my contested motion call to take notes and verify that lawyer- drafted orders accurately reflected my ruling before handing the orders to me for signature. In contrast, the law clerks who work with me on the appellate court can devote their full attention to research and drafting. In the appellate court, cases are ran- domly assigned to an authoring judge by a computer program (Ill. App. Ct., First Dist., R. 2 [Sept. 1, 2004]). When a new case is assigned to me, I read the briefs first. I will then prepare a detailed memorandum outlining the facts, the issues presented, and a tentative ruling. At this stage, I will

also determine whether to set the case for oral argument. One of my law clerks will then prepare a draft opinion based on the memorandum and a painstaking review of the briefs and record. The primary rule in my chambers is that everything stated in an opinion must be verified in the record, or through review of the actual language of the statute or precedential case authority. We do not rely on the characterizations of facts or law that lawyers present in the briefs. My law clerks spend a good deal of their time combing the record to make sure our opinions are accurate. One of the great learning experiences of a judicial clerkship is seeing how often lawyers make critical mistakes–mistakes that the clerk will be sure not to repeat later on in private prac- tice. Clerks also get to observe some truly excellent lawyers working at the highest level of advocacy. During the drafting process, the clerk will speak with me several times to review sensitive questions and receive direction from me. Finally, the clerk’s draft will be returned–perhaps several times–laden with my red-inked edits and questions for further improvement and modification. I also select about one of out every four cases to write myself. For those cases, I might omit preparing a formal memo- randum. Instead, I will create the opinion through an organic process, developing it in parts as I review and re-review the briefs,

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