The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held its annual law clerk orientation program this week at the James R. Browning U.S. Courthouse in San Francisco. Some 150 new law clerks spent two days in meetings with judges and court staff, discussing a wide range of legal and operational matters. The program included sessions on immigration, habeas corpus law, the en banc process and procedures, sentencing and ethics. Highlights included remarks by Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy of the United States Supreme Court, who was visiting the court and agreed to participate in an informal conversation moderated by Circuit Judge Richard R. Clifton of Honolulu. Also participating in the program were Chief Judge Alex Kozinski and Circuit Judges Sidney R. Thomas, Stephen Reinhardt, Michael Daly Hawkins, M. Margaret McKeown, Circuit and Court of Appeals Executive Cathy A. Catterson and Clerk of Court Molly Dwyer. Law clerks are selected by each of the court’s 27 active judges and 21 senior judges and generally serve for one year.
