Of Courtiers and Princes by Todd C. Peppers;

Author:Todd C. Peppers; [Неизв.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: IDENTIFIER: Todd_Peppers
Publisher: Lightning Source Inc. (Tier 3)
Published: 2020-10-27T21:00:00+00:00

Note

This essay first appeared as “A Life of Legal Firsts—Including Romance and Marriage,” in the December 4, 2018, issue of the ABA Journal. It is reprinted here with permission.

Clerking for Judge Elbert Tuttle

A Privileged Witness

Alfred C. Aman and Anne S. Emanuel

Alfred C. Aman, Law Clerk, 1970–1972

When I was a second-year student at the University of Chicago Law School in 1969, I applied for a number of federal clerkships. I had two primary criteria: I applied to judges whose opinions had inspired me and who sat in parts of the country I had never before visited. Coming from Rochester, New York, and not having traveled much at that point, the second criteria covered quite a wide area. As it turned out, however, most of my applications were with judges who sat in the Deep South or in the West.

One day I received a phone call from Judge Elbert Tuttle. He introduced himself and said he did not like to interview clerks in person if they had to travel long distances—it was costly for the applicants, and he could not accept everyone he interviewed, but could he speak to me by phone? Of course, I said. He noted that my hometown of Rochester had caught his eye—his daughter and her family had just moved there—and after a very pleasant conversation, he said that he would be happy if I were to be his law clerk for the coming year, but please, he said, feel free to take a few days before making my decision.

I thanked the Judge and went immediately to the office of one of my professors and recommenders, Owen Fiss. He had recently joined the faculty after a stint in the Department of Justice litigating civil rights cases throughout the South. He taught a wonderful course based on many of those cases called Injunctions, which I took. It was in that course that I read many of the Fifth Circuit’s cases including, of course, Judge Tuttle’s opinions. When I spoke with Professor Fiss, I noted that the Judge had recently taken senior status, and I wondered if he was, well, a bit old (the Judge was then as old as I am today!). Fiss, a very tall and imposing individual, stood up at his desk and walked with me to the other side of his office, where a picture of the entire Fifth Circuit hung. He pointed to Judge Tuttle and said, “Does that man look old to you?” “Well, no,” I replied. He then gave me some of the best advice I ever received and in a form that was undeniable. He simply said, “If you don’t go back to your room and call Judge Tuttle immediately and accept this job offer, you will be making the biggest mistake of your life.”

I turned on a dime, went back to my room, and called the Judge back. I told him that I accepted his offer and looked forward to working with him in the coming year. Once again, Judge Tuttle said it was okay if I wanted to take a few days.

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