RSS Feed MenuThe current issue of New York magazine features a profile of New York’s junior Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. The article notes that after law school and a year of practice at a New York firm:
[S]he received a prestigious clerkship with Court of Appeals judge Roger Miner, a Republican appointee. Because the position was so coveted, and Gillibrand had not finished in the top 10 percent of her law class, it was assumed that she received the position based on her father’s Amato connections.
Surprising news? Not to NewMajority readers. This story was first reported by NewMajority’s own Tim Mak on January 28:
[Gillibrand] acquired an extremely prestigious clerkship with Judge Roger Miner at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals… Clerkships in a court of appeals are notoriously difficult to attain, especially without prior work experience in lower courts. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals counts within its jurisdiction New York, Connecticut and Vermont, and is counted among the most competitive of clerkships. Second Circuit clerkships typically go to students of top-fourteen law schools that have graduated at the top of their class, are members of their law review, and have clerked at a district level first.
While there is no way to investigate what Gillibrand’s law school grades were, there is evidence that she was not a top student at UCLA. This is because UCLA law students who graduate from the top 10% of their class are inducted into the Order of the Coif, an elite legal society. A recently obtained list containing Order of the Coif members from Gillibrand’s graduating year doesn’t include the name Tina Rutnik, or any other variation of that name. It is unlikely that Senator Gillibrand declined to join the Order. Lolly Gasaway, Secretary-Treasurer of the National Order of the Coif, writes in an email to NewMajority that she “has never heard of anyone turning it down”.
Further, Gillibrand’s biography does not indicate that she graduated from UCLA with any sort of academic honors, nor does it suggest that she was a member of the UCLA Law Review. How do you get a clerkship without high grades? Politics can play a part.
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balconesfault // Jun 9, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Let’s see – the daughter of a Republican lobbyist got a clerkship in no small part because of her father’s political connections?Who would have imagined?For everyone who believes that without affirmative action America would be able to function purely as a meritocracy … welcome to reality.
bauersox // Jun 9, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Gillibrand’s father was not a Republican lobbyist. Get your facts straight before you type snarky stuff. Her father was a Democrat. As for this story, let’s hear about Carolyn Maloney’s grades while she was at law school. What?? She didn’t finish law school?? She dropped out after only a year? Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.I can’t believe that this blog is making an issue of somebody’s grades in school. Especially since you don’t even know what her grades actually were. Try not to treat your lurid speculations as fact, please.
balconesfault // Jun 9, 2009 at 7:18 pm
Ahh – the correction by Time didn’t get picked up by Wikipedia.http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/01/23/kirstin-gillibrand/”Room Eight, the New York political blog, points out that Mr. Rutnik is in fact a registered Democrat, though he is known for ties to powerful Republicans, including to former Governor George Pataki and former Senator Al D’Amato.”Nonetheless, it appears here that her father’s ties to Republican politicians are what paved the way for any advantages that Gillibrand got.But your point is valid wrt hounding politicians over this. Lots of people have certain advantages early in life thanks to a myriad of factors. How they conduct their life and business later on is significantly more important.
bauersox // Jun 10, 2009 at 5:20 am
Lots of people — including politicians — have friends and associates who are (gasp) not Democrats. It’s one way of arriving at consensus. It really shouldn’t affect anybody’s sons and daughters unto the fourth generation. And Pataki, Giuliani and D’Amato may be dreary, but they’re hardly of the same ilk as Gingrich, Limbaugh or Bush.
rrlieberma // Jun 10, 2009 at 9:07 am
Gillibrand was selected and she will win in 2010 and 2012 because, like her predecessor Hillary Clinton, Gillibrand is smart, funny, caring, thoughtful, open-minded, hard working, and tough. And like Clinton, the more voters get to meet and talk to Gillibrand, the greater her support.This is reflected in endorsements from a growing number of public officials, opinion leaders, organizations and unions.We are fortunate to have Gillibrand to represent and advocate for New York in the Senate. She is young, energetic and will give us many years of strong leadership.
sinz54 // Jun 10, 2009 at 2:25 pm
balconesfault: I just made the correction to the Wikipedia article. Hope you like it better.
bauersox // Jun 12, 2009 at 10:31 am
“Further, Gillibrands biography does not indicate that she graduated from UCLA with any sort of academic honors, nor does it suggest that she was a member of the UCLA Law Review. How do you get a clerkship without high grades? “Let’s hear about Maloney’s academic career. Was she summa cum laude at an Ivy League College? Or did she go to some unranked college in North Carolina, ;where the only other alumna of note is a now-aging soap opera actress? And what about Maloney’s law school grades? Oh, right! She dropped out after one year. Or was she pushed out? Responsible journalists need to inform us. Along with everything else the Great Unwashed thinks it deserves, it deserves to know everybody’s grades in school.As for Maloney’s family connections, you may bet the farm that opposition research are all over that even as this comment is being typed.