You Give Up A Lot To Work For The Federal Judiciary
The federal judiciary’s “alternative” to federal anti-discrimination protections, Employee Dispute Resolution, lacks standardization, meaningful remedies, uniform enforcement, transparency, and metrics for success. It is underutilized because it is ineffective, considering the judiciary has done nothing to ensure that clerks who file complaints are protected against retaliation by their powerful superiors.
Congress To Federal Judges: You Are Not Above The Law
Last week, Congress reintroduced the Judiciary Accountability Act, which will finally extend federal anti-discrimination protections to more than 30,000 federal judiciary employees, including law clerks and federal public defenders.
Judges shouldn’t be above the laws they interpret
The federal judiciary's "self-policing" of workplace harassment has utterly failed, Congressman Hank Johnson and Aliza Shatzman argue in MSNBC. That's why the Judiciary Accountability Act, which will extend federal anti-discrimination protections to more than 30,000 judiciary employees, is urgently necessary.
Law Schools Are Part Of The Problem -- And The Solution -- To The Broken Clerkship System
Law schools' internal clerkships databases are incomplete at best and dangerously misleading at worst. And law students - regardless of their school's ranking and resources - overwhelmingly lack candid information about judicial work environments, judges' managerial styles, and chambers culture.
Public Defender’s Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against The Federal Judiciary Highlights The Urgency Of Reform
Public defender’s lawsuit against the federal judiciary highlights the urgency of extending federal anti-discrimination protections to more than 30,000 judiciary employees, including law clerks and public defenders, Aliza Shatzman argues in Above the Law.
This New Federal Judge Sexual Harassment Case Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg
The federal judiciary has a sexual harassment problem. Fortunately, there’s a fix, Aliza Shatzman writes in Slate.
Sexual Harassment Rocks The Federal Judiciary Again. It’s Time For A Reckoning.
Sweeping reform and real accountability are urgently necessary in the wake of former Alaska federal judge Joshua Kindred’s resignation following allegations of sexual harassment.
Democratic lawmakers say Alaska judge's misconduct shows need for reforms (Reuters)
“The judiciary cannot and should not self-police,” Aliza Shatzman told Reuters following former Alaska federal judge Joshua Kindred’s resignation.
Alaska federal judge resigns after investigators say he created a hostile workplace (NPR)
It’s unsurprising that appalling abuse persists, unabated, in the federal judiciary, considering the lack of guardrails to prevent it, Aliza Shatzman told NPR’s Carrie Johnson following Alaska federal judge Joshua Kindred’s resignation.
Federal Judge in Alaska Resigns Amid Accusations of Sexual Harassment (NYT)
Sweeping reform and real accountability are desperately needed, Aliza Shatzman told The New York Times, in the wake of former Alaska federal judge Joshua Kindred’s resignation amid sexual harassment allegations.
Judicial Clerkships Are Not An Unadulterated Good
We should tell the truth about judicial clerkships: they are not an unadulterated good. Yet too many in the legal profession will continue to frame them as all unicorns and fairy dust - covering up a darker side of clerking, perpetuating problematic judiciary behavior, and isolating mistreated clerks.
Meet the lawyer who’s trying to flag judges who harass their clerks (NPR)
“The judiciary needs some more people to poke at it,” Aliza Shatzman told NPR’s Carrie Johnson. “There are far too many judges who are mistreating their clerks, and we need to hold them accountable.”
Judges Boycotting Law Schools? Actually, That’s Just Clerkship Hiring.
This “boycott” of Columbia clerks is a public statement about what judges have been doing privately all along. Aliza Shatzman wrote about the federal judiciary's inequitable and opaque hiring practices. These 13 judges' "boycott" is nothing new: judges have been prioritizing and deprioritizing law schools and other applicant characteristics for as long as they've hired clerks.
Victims of harassment by federal judges often find the judiciary is above the law (NPR)
LAP’s President and Founder Aliza Shatzman spoke with NPR about ineffective federal judiciary workplace policies and dispute resolution mechanisms, and what needs to change to ensure both safe work environments for law clerks and accountability for judges who mistreat them.
New Clerkships Database Empowers Law Clerks To Review Their Bosses.
On April 8, 2024, judicial clerkship hiring and advising changed forever. The Legal Accountability Project launched our Centralized Clerkships Database, an unprecedented step to ensure transparency, accountability, and equity in judicial clerkships: one only a nimble third party could take. We are the only source of candid clerkship information for students — whether their law schools maintain robust clerkship resources or not.
Judicial Branch Employees Have No Rights At Work. The Judiciary Accountability Act Could Change That.
“You give up a lot” to work for the federal judiciary. But you shouldn’t have to give up your civil rights, Aliza Shatzman writes in Balls and Strikes.
Law clerks rate judges as bosses in newly launched database.
Aliza Shatzman spoke with Reuters for our first press hit since the official launch of LAP’s first-of-its-kind Centralized Clerkships Database, an unprecedented step to ensure transparency, accountability, and equity in judicial clerkships.
New review database takes aim at some of the most protected bosses in America: state and federal judges.
Aliza Shatzman spoke with Business Insider about the launch of LAP’s first-of-its-kind Centralized Clerkships Database, an unprecedented step to ensure transparency, accountability, and equity in judicial clerkships.
Law Clerks Rarely Quit. Maybe More Should.
Law clerks don’t quit when things are going well.
Law clerks rarely quit. But maybe more should, considering the challenges many clerks face, Aliza Shatzman argues in Above the Law
New website will let law clerks judge their judges (The Washington Post)
“We are the positive movement” in the judiciary since #MeToo, LAP’s President and Founder told The Washington Post.
Aliza and LAP board member Judge Douglas Nazarian spoke with The Washington Post about LAP’s upcoming Clerkships Database launch.