Wednesday, February 15, 2006

The Breyer Clerks

Without further ado, profiles of Justice Breyer's OT 2006 clerks!

Steve Shackleford (the guy on the right) is a double Harvard from Jackson, Mississippi. Like many, he dabbled in consulting and founded a couple of internet startups before deciding to follow in his father's footsteps and go into the law. At HLS, he won the prestigious Sears Prize twice and polished off his time in Cambridge by fathering twins and winning the Fay Diploma. An Articles Editor on the law review, he allegedly missed the coveted summa cum laude status by a fraction of a grade. He's not bitter, though. Shackleford summered with Goldstein & Howe and Dow, Lohnes & Albertson Wachtell Lipton before starting his clerkship with Judge Michael Boudin of the First Circuit. (His co-clerk, Felicia Ellsworth, is clerking for the Chief in OT 2006.)

Thiru Vignarajah, (shown here with his lovely wife, Rakhi, a med student) currently clerks for Judge Guido Calabresi of the Second Circuit. He is "quite possibly one of the friendliest fellows you'll ever meet." A former APDA "most eligible bachelor" and the first Sri Lankan president of the Harvard Law Review, Thiru has degrees from Yale and Kings College, London and used to work as a consultant for McKinsey. However, Thiru's not all work and no play; give him credit for initiating the recent shift by law reviews toward shorter articles (earning the gratitude of journal staff everywhere) and he was popular on the HLS law review for his attention to quality of life issues (earning the gratitude of a few dozen TiVo-loving people in Gannett House). Thiru also brought the law review's gender parity problem under control through intensive personal recruiting. He loves basketball and tries to attend every NCAA Final Four with his college roommates. Will Thiru rule over the highest court in the land? Only time will tell. Watch out for another Vignarajah to ascend to the ranks of the Elect in the future; his sis, a Marshall Scholar, currently attends Yale Law.

Tacy Flint, (left) former Executive Editor of the University of Chicago Law Review, is a survivor. She's fought cancer twice, once while wearing a smurfy blue wig. A current Posner clerk, Flint has a lovely soprano and married a fellow member of her Princeton a capella group. She's certain to be popular at the Supreme Court Christmas party; last year's carols were less exuberant than they might have been, so a strong voice like Flint's will surely be welcome.

Jaren Casazza is a curly-haired "rock star" with a passion for the arts (she founded a charity to bring together starving artists and uber-rich I-bankers). Her tastes range from Cyndi Lauper to Italo Calvino, and this NoVa native also admits to a certain fondness for the Gilmore Girls. She clerked for Judge Dennis Jacobs of the Second Circuit last year and currently clerks for #1 Judicial Superhottie Judge Kimba Wood. She summered twice at Paul Weiss. A graduate of Columbia Law School and Columbia College, Casazza has spent the last nine years in New York but will finally make a triumphant return to the D.C. area for her Supreme Court clerkship. She's also the only single Breyer clerk, so liberal gentlemen should take note!
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