adayintheLifeofafederaLLawcLerk
Government lawyers Section Co-Chairs: ChristianKatchuk – 13thJudicialCircuitCourt & MelissaFoss – HillsboroughCountySupervisorofElections
I start most mornings with a latte and a plan. The plan is usually my first mistake.
I arrive at the federal courthouse around 9:00.( A practical tip for Florida lawyers: bring your Bar card so you can keep your cell phone, laptop, and belt.)
When someone asks what a federal law clerk does, my shorthand answer is that I am essentially the judge’ s lawyer. I clerk for U. S. District Judge Tom Barber, providing legal research, analysis, and recommendations. I also assist with drafting orders and opinions. The judge makes the decisions; my job is to help make sure he has what he needs to make them.
There is plenty to keep us busy. At any given time, our Chambers carries roughly 200 civil cases. About a quarter involve consumer disputes. Roughly one in five involves a pro se litigant. We see everything from constitutional questions and complex business disputes to slip-and-fall actions removed from state court after an alleged unfortunate encounter with the floor of a Walmart. On the criminal side, Judge Barber carries one of the heaviest caseloads in the country, handling both his regular Tampa assignment and the entire criminal docket for the Ocala Division.
With this volume, priorities change quickly. An apparent
unwritten rule holds that motions seeking emergency relief( particularly temporary restraining orders) must be filed around 4:00 p. m. on a Friday, preferably before a holiday weekend. I cannot cite authority for this proposition, but I have considerable anecdotal evidence.
Much of my day is spent reading, researching, analyzing, and writing, often requiring a crash course in someone else’ s world. During one patent case, everyone in Chambers developed an unexpectedly extensive working knowledge of fire-truck ladders. Federal litigation takes you where it takes you.
Although I spend much of my day at my desk, clerking is also collaborative. My fellow clerks and I bounce questions and ideas off one another, and I meet with Judge Barber throughout the day to discuss cases. There is no hiding behind a beautifully formatted memorandum when the person you wrote it for can walk over and ask,“ But what about this?”
Not every discussion concerns federal law. Around the holidays, for example, decorating Chambers
federalcasesregularly requireacrashcourse insomeoneelse’ s world. federal litigationtakesyou whereittakesyou.
becomes a project. We have multiple trees, lights, garlands, a courtroom train, and a faux fireplace. Between this and my newfound expertise in fire-truck ladders, the fire marshal and I are practically on a first-name basis. Other days take me into the courtroom for hearings and trials, where watching lawyers from this side of the bench has reinforced the value of clear, organized, credible advocacy. The best lawyers make complicated issues feel straightforward rather than making simple issues feel complicated.
By day’ s end, my original to-do list often bears little resemblance to reality. That unpredictability is part of what I love about the job: I get to read, write, learn, and wrestle with difficult questions alongside people whose judgment I respect.
Before leaving, I make tomorrow’ s list. Surely that one will go according to plan. n
Author: Amanda Noelle Laber – Law Clerk to U. S. District Judge Tom Barber
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