They are the most powerful people in Washington that you’ve probably never heard of. Seriously. While the nine Justices grab the headlines and the lifetime appointments, the clerks of the Supreme Court are the ones living in the basement of the marble palace, fueling the engine. These are twenty-somethings, mostly. They just finished law school a couple of years ago. Now, they're helping decide the law of the land on everything from reproductive rights to corporate mergers. It's a wild setup if you think about it for more than five seconds.
Most people assume the Justices spend their days hunched over dusty law books, scribbling every word of an opinion by candlelight. That’s not really how it works anymore. Not even close.
What Clerks of the Supreme Court Actually Do All Day
Let’s be real: the workload at One First Street is crushing. Each Justice (except for the retired ones) usually gets four clerks. That’s a tiny team for a docket that sees thousands of petitions every year. The first big job they have is the "cert pool." Basically, when someone wants the Court to hear their case, they file a petition for a writ of certiorari. These clerks read those petitions—thousands of them—and write short memos telling the Justices which ones are worth their time.
If you're a clerk, you're a gatekeeper. You decide, in a very real way, what the most powerful court in the world ignores.
Then comes the writing. It’s an open secret in the legal world that clerks of the Supreme Court draft a massive chunk of the opinions. The Justice provides the framework, the philosophy, and the final edit, but the "spade work"—the deep research, the footnotes, the first pass at the logic—that’s all clerk work. Justice John Paul Stevens was famously one of the last to write his own first drafts. Today? It’s a collaborative effort that leans heavily on these young lawyers.
The Pedigree Problem
You don’t just "apply" to be a clerk. Well, you do, but if you didn't go to Harvard or Yale, your chances are basically zero. Or close to it. Statistics from the last few decades show a massive tilt toward the Ivy League. For example, during some terms, more than half of the clerks came from just two schools. It’s a very small, very elite circle.
Before they even get to the Supreme Court, these "kids" have usually spent a year clerking for a heavy hitter on a federal appeals court. These are known as "feeder judges." If you work for someone like Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III or Judge Merrick Garland (before he moved to DOJ), you're on the fast track. It’s a pipeline. It’s efficient, sure, but it also creates a bit of an echo chamber. You have the same people from the same schools with the same background deciding what constitutional law looks like.
The Payday Waiting at the End
The starting salary for a Supreme Court clerk is around $100,000 to $150,000, depending on their previous federal experience. That’s decent. But it’s not the real prize. The real prize comes the day they leave the building.
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Law firms are desperate for these people. Why? Because they know how the Justices think. They know the internal rhythm of the Court. Right now, the "signing bonus" for a former clerk of the Supreme Court is hitting $500,000. That’s on top of a high six-figure salary. Firms like Jones Day or Kirkland & Ellis will back up the Brink's truck to get one of these names on their letterhead. It’s a massive transfer of prestige and, frankly, money.
It’s Not Just About Law; It’s About Legacy
Justice Felix Frankfurter once called his clerks "lads." That was a long time ago. The gender balance has improved, though it took forever. But the relationship remains the same: it’s intensely personal. These clerks become the Justice's extended family for a year. They eat lunch together. They argue about cases in chambers.
Sometimes, clerks stay in the "family" forever. Look at the current Court. Justice Kavanaugh clerked for Justice Kennedy. Justice Gorsuch also clerked for Kennedy. Justice Barrett clerked for Justice Scalia. Justice Kagan clerked for Justice Marshall. Justice Jackson clerked for Justice Breyer. The Court is literally populated by people who used to be the ones fetching coffee and writing cert memos in the same building. It's a self-perpetuating cycle of judicial philosophy.
The Shadow of Secrecy
The Supreme Court is the leakiest it has ever been, but it’s still remarkably tight-lipped compared to the rest of D.C. The "Code of Conduct" for clerks is intense. You don't talk to the press. You don't write a "tell-all" until decades later, if ever.
When the Dobbs draft leaked a couple of years ago, the first people everyone looked at were the clerks. The FBI-style investigation that followed—complete with requests for phone records—turned the building upside down. It fundamentally changed the vibe. Usually, clerks from different chambers (even the liberal and conservative ones) would hang out, grab drinks, and debate. That trust took a massive hit.
Why You Should Care
You might think, "Who cares about some 26-year-old law nerd?"
You should care because they influence the tone of the law. A clerk who finds a specific precedent can steer a Justice’s opinion in a new direction. They are the ones who find the "hook" that might change how the Fourth Amendment applies to your cell phone or how the Clean Air Act is interpreted. They aren't just assistants; they are intellectual sparring partners.
And honestly, they’re humans. They get tired. They have biases. They have political ambitions. When you read a 60-page opinion that feels like it was written by someone who spent too much time on Twitter or in a specific corner of academia, you're probably seeing the clerk's influence.
Actionable Insights for the Legal Minded
If you are actually looking to understand this world or perhaps enter it, there are a few realities you have to face. It isn't just about grades.
- Target the Feeder Judges: If you aren't clerking for a specific set of 10-15 judges on the Second, Ninth, or D.C. Circuits, the Supreme Court is a long shot. Research who the Justices have hired from in the last five years.
- Geographic Diversity is Growing (Slowly): While Harvard/Yale dominate, there is a slight opening for top students from schools like UVA, Chicago, and Notre Dame. Justice Thomas, for instance, has famously hired from a broader range of schools than some of his colleagues.
- The "Double Clerkship" is the New Standard: It used to be you did one year of clerking and went to the High Court. Now, many clerks do two different years at the appellate level before they even get an interview at the Supreme Court.
- Follow the Paper Trail: To see the clerks' handiwork, look at the "Opinions of the Court" versus "Concurring Opinions." Often, the main opinion has the polished, slightly anonymous "clerk feel," while the concurrences are where the Justices' actual, unvarnished voices tend to pop through.
The system isn't perfect. It's an apprenticeship model in an age of high-stakes political warfare. But as long as the Justices are overwhelmed with cases, the clerks of the Supreme Court will remain the most influential interns in the history of democracy.
To track current hiring cycles, you can monitor the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) or follow the "hiring notices" often discussed on legal blogs like Above the Law or SCOTUSblog, which remain the gold standards for tracking these movements in real-time. Understanding who is in the building gives you a massive leg up in predicting where the law is heading next.