Ivy Briefs by Martha Kimes

Author:Martha Kimes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2007-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

“Let me give you a tour of the courthouse,” Amy said, after she had showed me to my desk and introduced me around Judge Lovell’s chambers. “When you interviewed with Judge Lovell back in the spring, we were still in the old building. We just moved here last month. This building is so much nicer.”

“It even smells new,” I said. And indeed the slight chemical smell of new carpet permeated the shining new office.

“Well, the old courthouse was so classic and beautiful from the outside, with the stone pillars and the wide steps and all,” Amy added. “But our chambers were old and small, the air-conditioning in the library only worked sporadically, and some of the courtrooms were in desperate need of repair. This building may not be as attractive from the outside,” she said about the more modern-looking new Federal Courthouse, “but the inside is unbelievable.”

Amy, one of Judge Lovell’s two regular law clerks, was right. As she led me through the plushly carpeted halls, showed me the trellised roof deck, ushered me through the well-appointed cafeteria, gave me a tour of the sprawling library, and opened the doors into Judge Lovell’s enormous, opulent courtroom, it was obvious that no expense had been spared when the new Federal Courthouse was constructed.

As she showed me around, Amy gave me a bit of background. She had graduated from Harvard Law School two years before, and that summer was the end of her two-year clerkship with Judge Lovell. In September, she was headed to the litigation department of a prestigious New York City law firm, where she would be paid a handsome bonus in recognition of her clerkship. Sam, the other regular clerk, had graduated from NYU the year before, and he was halfway through his tenure with the judge.

“You’re really lucky to have ended up with an internship with Judge Lovell,” Amy said. “He’s such a wonderful, kindhearted man. He’ll give you real responsibility and you’ll have a great summer. Some of the other judges around here? They treat their interns like secretaries. Nothing but photocopying all day. Then again, some of the judges around here are crazy. That’s what you get with lifetime judicial appointments. But that’s a story for another day, I guess.”

“Oh, sure,” I said, wishing that Amy would just spill the crazy judge stories right that second.

“Sam and I will take you out to lunch soon. We’ll fill you in on all of the behind-the-scenes stories about the courthouse. Meanwhile, let’s get back to chambers, and I’ll tell you about your actual job.”

Back in the office, Amy said to me, “A big part of what Sam and I both do here is to review motions made by parties to the various cases assigned to Judge Lovell’s docket. Generally, they’re motions to dismiss, motions for summary judgment, and habeas corpus petitions. We review the parties’ briefs, read the cases cited by each side to support their positions, then do legal research of our own on the issues presented to see if there is any authority that the parties conveniently failed to mention to us.

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