Stephen Yelderman, '10: Picked as Clerk for Gorsuch. Former Gorsuch Clerk Jamil Jaffer, '03, Offers Insights

From Law Prof to SCOTUS Clerk: Gorsuch Is Hiring From Academia

Tony Mauro
May 22, 2019 National Law Journal

Now comes a new Gorsuch trend in clerk hiring: In upcoming terms, at least three of his law clerks will be drawn from the ranks of legal academia, not the most common source of Supreme Court clerk talent. Clerks often become professors after their clerkships, but not usually before.

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Stephen Yelderman, a professor since 2013 at the University of Notre Dame Law School, will move this summer to Gorsuch’s chambers for the 2019-2020 term. Yelderman clerked for then-Tenth Circuit Judge Gorsuch in 2010. “I really enjoyed working for then-Judge Gorsuch, and am very excited for the opportunity to work with him again,” he said in a statement.

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Jamil Jaffer, who was head of the new National Security Institute at the Antonin Scalia Law School before clerking for Gorsuch in 2017, said, “He is not looking for law professors, but for lawyers with a combination of both academic excellence and experience.”