What Does Justice John Paul Stevens Look for in an Employee (Law Clerk)?
I had a chance to attend a discussion with US Supreme Court Justice (retired) John Paul Stevens. Stevens, 91 years old, is the third-longest-serving justice having spent more than three decades on the court. A native Chicagoan and graduate of the University of Chicago in 1941, Stevens proved to be a charming and witty conversationalist. (Here’s a link to the video provided by UChicago).
Of course, I’m no expert in the law. Though, I do claim some expertise in recruiting. So I was interested in Justice Stevens’ answer to a question from a first-year UChicago law student. He asked the justice, “What do you look for in a law clerk?” At 4 clerks per year over the course of 35 years, Justice Stevens had time to form an opinion and his answer to the law student was simple:
“I look for brains, and somebody I’d like to work with.”
My son Max, a first-year undergraduate at the University turned to me and said, “Dad, that’s what you always say… you should put that in your blog.” So here it is and it’s hard to make it much simpler.
Tags: Recruiting Best Practices
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