Business of Law

Series

Clerking For Ginsburg: 3 Surprises

It had never occurred to me that judges don’t always love the way their appellate cousins review their work and tell them — in public — all the things they got wrong. I was frequently struck by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s acute awareness of the delicacy of this relationship, says attorney David Post.

Employment Litigation And Jury Opinions In A #MeToo World

Jurors’ beliefs about social inequality, intergroup differences and disparate treatment are likely to play a role in their evaluations of discrimination and harassment claims, especially in the current political climate. To understand that role better, we undertook a survey of registered voters in New York and Los Angeles, say Ellen Brickman and Chad Lackey of DOAR Inc.

Series

Clerking For Ginsburg: A Superhero Supreme

As a clerk for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, my job was to mirror my boss’ views and values in everything I did. Years later, I find that I am still striving to live up to the values Justice Ginsburg instilled in me, as both a lawyer and a spouse, says Burden Walker, an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland.

Series

Clerking For Ginsburg: 4 RBG Lessons On Having It All

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is everything she is cracked up to be​ — f​eminist icon​, brilliant jurist​, fierce dissenter. She is also an incredible boss, mentor and friend.​ ​Her advice has shaped how I have tried to balance building a career and ​raising children, says Rachel Wainer Apter, counsel to the New Jersey attorney general.

Tackling Digital Class Notice With Rule 23 Changes

Proposed modifications to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, scheduled to take effect at the end of this year, will officially recognize the use of electronic notice in class action administrations. Brandon Schwartz and Maggie Ivey of Garden City Group LLC provide guidance on navigating a daunting digital landscape.

Series

Clerking For Ginsburg: How To Play The Long Game

One of us was a clerk when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg read her Ledbetter dissent from the bench, inviting Congress to act, and the other clerked a few years later, when RBG's prominently displayed copy of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act served as a daily reminder that dissents are not just for show, say Arun Subramanian and Mark Musico of Susman Godfrey LLP.

Series

Clerking For Ginsburg: In Pursuit Of Precision

As clerks for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, we learned early on that, when preparing a memorandum or draft opinion, it was essential to present any opposing argument in its strongest possible light. There is a lesson here for today's public debates, says Trevor Morrison, dean of NYU Law School.

Opinion

Judges Shouldn't Force Attorneys On Absent Class Members

U.S. District Judge Manish Shah of the Northern District of Illinois recently said he will consider lead firms’ willingness to put young and diverse attorneys in positions to take substantive roles in the multidistrict litigation he is overseeing. This is an improper use of judicial power, says J.B. Heaton, a University of Chicago business law fellow and former partner at Bartlit Beck.

Series

Clerking For Ginsburg: My RBG Guide To Judging

I clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg before the days of RBG bobbleheads and “You Can’t Spell Truth Without Ruth” T-shirts. I had no idea I would become a judge, and I feel lucky every day that I had the chance to learn from her, says California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu.

Series

Clerking For Ginsburg: 4 Things I Learned

A lot has changed since I clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg 20 years ago. At that time, I had hair and no wife. I also thought I knew everything — but working for the justice made me realize very quickly that I actually knew very little, says Ninth Circuit Judge John Owens.