The Management of Staff by Federal Court of Appeals Judges

17 Pages Posted: 6 Apr 2015 Last revised: 21 Aug 2015

See all articles by Mitu Gulati

Mitu Gulati

University of Virginia School of Law

Richard A. Posner

University of Chicago Law School; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Date Written: August 21, 2015

Abstract

Federal court of appeals judges have staffs consisting usually of a secretary and four law clerks; some judges have externs as (law students working part time without pay). These staffs are essential, given judicial workloads and judges’ limitations. Yet not much is known about how the judges manage their staffs. Each judge knows, of course, but judges rarely exchange information about staff management. Nor is there, to our knowledge, a literature that attempts to compare and evaluate the varieties of staff management techniques employed by federal court of appeals judges. This article aims to fill that gap. It is based on interviews, some in person, most by telephone, of 75 judges drawn from a number of different federal courts of appeals.

Keywords: Federal Courts, Management of Law Clerks, Court Administration

JEL Classification: K40

Suggested Citation

Gulati, Mitu and Posner, Richard A., The Management of Staff by Federal Court of Appeals Judges (August 21, 2015). U of Chicago, Public Law Working Paper No. 531, Duke Law School Public Law & Legal Theory Series No. 2015-17, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2590179 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2590179

Mitu Gulati (Contact Author)

University of Virginia School of Law ( email )

580 Massie Road
Charlottesville, VA 22903
United States

Richard A. Posner

University of Chicago Law School ( email )

1111 E. 60th St.
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Chicago, IL 60637
United States
773-702-9608 (Phone)
773-702-0730 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

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