Supreme Court Clerks for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
Justice O'Connor hired four law clerks per year during her time as an Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court. Each clerk serves for one year and completes critical legal work, including researching the background behind cases, making recommendations and arguments on how they should be decided, and writing drafts of opinions. Click on any one of them below to see more information, including a list of opinions by Justice O'Connor during the term they worked at the Court.
| NAME | COURT TERM (OT) | NOTABLE LATER ROLE(S) |
|---|---|---|
 | 1981 | Chief Justice, Arizona Supreme Court (2005-2009) |
| 1981 | ||
| 1981 | ||
| 1981 | General Counsel for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) (2006-2009) | |
| 1982 | Dean, Cornell Law School (2004-2014) | |
| 1982 | ||
| 1982 | ||
| 1982 | Professor at Rutgers School of Law–Newark | |
| 1983 | ||
| 1983 | Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (2013-Present) | |
| 1983 | Author and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute; Former partner at D.C. litigation law firm Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel | |
| 1983 | ||
 | 1984 | Chief Justice, Arizona Supreme Court (2014-2019) |
 | 1984 | Chancellor and President, Syracuse University (2014-Present); Dean, Washington University School of Law (2005-2013); Dean, Vanderbilt University Law School (1997-2005) |
| 1984 | ||
| 1984 | ||
| 1985 | ||
| 1985 | Professor, Georgetown University Law Center (1995-Present); Associate Counsel for the Whitewater investigation (1994) | |
| 1985 | ||
| 1985 | Commissioner of New Jersey Department of Education (2011-2014); Superintendent of Newark Public Schools (2015-2018); Deputy Chancellor of New York City Department of Education (2007-2009) | |
| 1986 | ||
| 1986 | ||
| 1986 | ||
| 1986 | General Counsel of the Air Force (2009-2013); General Counsel of the Army (1999-2001) | |
| 1987 | ||
| 1987 | ||
| 1987 | ||
| 1987 | ||
| 1988 | ||
| 1988 | ||
 | 1988 | Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (1992-1999) |
 | 1988 | Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (2012-Present); Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida (1999-2012); Adjunct Professor, University of Miami School of Law and Florida International University College of Law |
 | 1989 | Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (2006-Present) |
| 1989 | ||
 | 1989 | CEO and Academic Director, CHILD USA; Fox Family Pavilion Distinguished Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania |
 | 1989 | General Counsel, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (2009-2012); General Counsel, The 3M Company (2012-Present) |
| 1990 | ||
| 1990 | ||
| 1990 | ||
| 1990 | Judge, Utah's Third Judicial District (1998-2014) | |
| 1990 | ||
| 1991 | Norman Abrams Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law; Director, UCLA Supreme Court Clinic | |
| 1991 | ||
 | 1991 | United States Ambassador to UNESCO (2014-2017) |
| 1991 | ||
| 1991 | ||
| 1992 | ||
| 1992 | ||
| 1992 | ||
| 1992 | ||
| 1993 | ||
| 1993 | General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Legal and Global Security, Apple, Inc. (2017-Present); General Counsel, Honeywell International Inc. (2003-2017) | |
 | 1993 | Professor, Yale Law School; 2017 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction; Co-founder of the Maya Angelou School in Washington, DC |
 | 1993 | Professor, UCLA School of Law; Co-founder, "The Volokh Conspiracy" blog |
 | 1994 | Assistant U.S. Attorney General (2001-2003); Professor, Georgetown University Law Center |
| 1994 | ||
| 1994 | ||
| 1994 | ||
| 1994 | ||
| 1995 | ||
| 1995 | ||
| 1995 | ||
 | 1995 | New York Times bestselling author |
| 1996 | Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2019-Present) | |
| 1996 | ||
| 1996 | ||
| 1996 | ||
 | 1997 | Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (2013-Present); Principle Deputy Solicitor General of the United States (2011-2013) |
| 1997 | ||
| 1997 | ||
| 1997 | ||
| 1998 | ||
| 1998 | ||
| 1998 | Gerard C. and Bernice Latrobe Smith Professor of International Law, Yale Law School | |
| 1998 | ||
| 1999 | ||
| 1999 | ||
| 1999 | ||
| 1999 | ||
| 2000 | ||
| 2000 | ||
| 2000 | Dean, Wayne State University Law School (2017-Present); Vice Dean, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University (2015-2016) | |
| 2000 | ||
 | 2001 | Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (2014-Present) |
| 2001 | ||
| 2001 | ||
| 2001 | ||
| 2002 | ||
| 2002 | ||
| 2002 | ||
| 2002 | ||
| 2003 | ||
| 2003 | ||
| 2003 | Lee E. Teitelbaum Professor and Associate Dean of Faculty and Research, S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah (2017-Present); Professor and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs & Research, Brigham Young University (2014-2016) | |
| 2003 | ||
| 2004 | ||
| 2004 | ||
| 2004 | ||
| 2004 | ||
| 2005 | ||
| 2005 | ||
| 2005 | ||
| 2006 | ||
| 2007 | Author of historical romance novels under the pen name Courtney Milan | |
| 2008 | Author; CEO; Only blind person to have served as a U.S. Supreme Court law clerk | |
| 2009 | ||
| 2010 | ||
| 2011 | ||
| 2012 | ||
| 2013 | ||
| 2014 | ||
| 2015 |
Header photo: United States Supreme Court. Credit: Patrick McKay / Flickr - CC.