Law School: University of Virginia School of Law

College: Hillsdale College

Expected Graduation: 2027

Hometown: Howard, NY

Campus Activities: Federalist Society, Law Christian Fellowship, Mock Trial Association, Extramural Moot Court, Virginia Law Review, Journal of Law & Politics

What were your duties as an NCLA clerk?  

I helped attorneys with research for particular issues in briefs and other filings, including on a short turn-around after a SCOTUS decision changed the relevant precedent. My biggest projects were general research on potential cases and theoretical areas of interest to the organization. I also assisted with review of documents and precedent for a potential amicus brief and helped with odd jobs like setting up for summer events.

What did you most enjoy about your clerkship?

One of the wonders and frustrations of law is the simultaneous existence of discrete issues and significant overlap between different areas and doctrines of law. In my research on the public rights doctrine, I scratched the surface of the public rights exception itself; Article III; the Seventh Amendment; the historical systems of law, equity, admiralty, and maritime law; due process; the historical distinction between rights and benefits; vested rights; patent law; and characterization problems, to name just some of the areas I searched for context. As irritating as it could be to have to continually reread the same handful of core cases and briefs with new knowledge gained from elsewhere and to try again to deeply understand them in context, I enjoyed becoming a relative expert on a narrow topic over the summer.

What interesting thing(s) did you learn about Administrative Law?

While not peculiar to administrative law, I kept being reminded how inconsistent and full of shortcomings our system of law can be, despite its gradual development through statute and building on precedents. For example, there are doctrines for which the Supreme Court has declined to point to definitions, and there are major areas (for example due process) in which, despite the seeming triumph of originalism in American courts, much historical inconsistency remains.

How might you use what you’ve learned later in your professional career?

 I am very interested in working in public interest law, including on administrative cases. I’m sure that what I have learned about the process of navigating cases concerning agencies and my connections with this public interest world will serve me well in my career.

Any advice for other students who want to clerk at NCLA in the future?

Clerk at NCLA if you are leaning heavily toward getting involved in similar work after graduation. Since they are the relative “new kid on the block” in this type of public interest, be ready to grow with them.