Law Clerks and the Judicial Process: Perceptions of the Qualities and Functions of Law Clerks in American Courts

This is the first in-depth empirical and historical study of the use of law clerks by American judges. Although possessing a hundred-year heritage, the institution has been ignored as an important component of the process of judicial decision-making. Law clerks are, in the authors' words, "subordinate, anonymous, but often quite powerful lawyers who function as the non-commissioned officers in the army of the judiciary."

American courts are currently altering the traditional use of law cler...