List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States

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Law clerks have assisted the Supreme Court Justices in various capacities, since the first one was hired by Justice Horace Gray in 1882.^[1]:1 By the traditions and rules that have developed around this procedure today the eight Associate Justices on the Supreme Court of the United States have the opportunity to select four law clerks each term of the court. The Chief Justice is allowed five clerks, but often hires fewer.^[1]:195 After retiring from the Court, a justice may continue to hire a law clerk, who may be assigned to provide additional assistance to an active justice, or assist the retired justice when sitting by designation with a lower court. As the list below shows, at least six Supreme Court law clerks have gone on to become Supreme Court Justices themselves: Byron White [Vinson 1946–47]; John Paul Stevens [Rutledge 1947–48]; William Rehnquist [Jackson 1952–53]; Stephen Breyer [Goldberg 1963–64]; John Roberts [Rehnquist 1980–81]; and Elena Kagan [Marshall 1987–88]. Many Supreme Court law clerks have gone on to become federal appellate or district judges, members of Congress, or Cabinet Secretaries in the Executive Branch, or both. Alger Hiss, law clerk for Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes for the 1929–30 Supreme Court term, is the only Supreme Court law clerk in history later to be convicted of federal felonies and sentenced to prison.

List of Supreme Court law clerks

The following sortable table^{[lower-alpha 1]} lists more than 1,900 law clerks who have served for Supreme Court justices, the years their service began and ended, the law school they attended (with the year they graduated), and any previous clerkships they held.

• Seat = Supreme Court Justice Seat^{[lower-alpha 2]}

• Num = Order that Supreme Court Justice was appointed