Earning one of the legal profession’s most sought-after roles was just the latest accomplishment for Reid Coleman ’21, who spent the 2023-24 Supreme Court term clerking for Justice Clarence Thomas.
Coleman was no stranger to Washington, having deferred his first year of law school to work as a special assistant to the White House Counsel. Then, at Texas Law, he was a Massey Scholar and grand chancellor for the Class of 2021. And before his SCOTUS clerkship, he had clerked on both the 5th Circuit and the D.C. Circuit.
Coleman chalks up his extraordinary success to many factors, including his law school experience.
“I couldn’t have gotten that job without the support of an army of mentors and friends along with the love of my family,” Coleman says. “I am very grateful to The University of Texas at Austin and my professors for opening these doors.”
Texas Law remains among the top 10 law schools for federal clerkships, rising to No. 7 in 2023, as reported by Reuters. Coleman is the 40th Texas Law graduate to clerk at the Supreme Court, going back to 1938. Previously, Alejandra Ávila ’14, clerked for Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
Coleman, who will join the Austin office of Kirkland & Ellis in January, where his practice will focus on trials and appeals, recently reflected on his time as a clerk, sharing what makes the opportunity unique, the highlights of his experience, and advice to future clerks.
You’ve had some impressive clerkship experiences even before your time at the Supreme Court. Can you talk about those?
Of course! I clerked for Judge Edith Jones on the Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit and Judge Gregory Katsas on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Those really helped prepare me for my day-to-day work at the Supreme Court. During both clerkships, I spent the bulk of my time researching difficult legal questions and writing bench memos and initial drafts of opinions. Both Judge Katsas and Judge Jones were excellent mentors. They taught me how to think critically and analytically about every aspect of a case. My work at the Supreme Court remained mostly the same: legal research and writing are the cornerstones of any clerkship.
But there must have been differences, too!
Oh, yes. The Supreme Court is significantly different in several ways. For starters, virtually every question that comes to the Court is, by definition, difficult. And the Supreme Court workload is much heavier. I probably worked as much in my one year at the Supreme Court as I did in my two years at the Courts of Appeals!
One reason is that the court must decide which cases to take. The clerks collectively write a memo that analyzes every petition that’s filed—and there are thousands of petition every year! The emergency docket adds to the workload, too.
Also, the Supreme Court decides a disproportionate share of research-intensive cases. Historical research plays an increasingly important role—it’s time-consuming research and requires clerks to grapple with primary sources.
What are the hours like?
On a typical day, I began working from home around 4 a.m., headed to the office around 7 a.m., worked from there until about 6 p.m., and after dinner put in at least two more hours. Of course, I also worked every weekend.
Nothing can really prepare you for the workload. It’s definitely the hardest part of the job. On any given day, a law clerk might work on more than a dozen assignments. It’s a lot to juggle at one time, and it gets more and more busy as the term progresses.
How do the clerks specifically help the justices?
Law clerks prepare bench memos that analyze the issues in every case. Before oral argument, the clerks will discuss the case with their justice, which sometimes means we need to conduct additional research and write a supplemental memo. If our justice is writing an opinion in the case, typically the clerk will help prepare an initial draft.
What was the most enjoyable part of the job?
The best part for me was spending time with Justice Thomas. He’s a joy to be around and has so much wisdom. His clerks always left meetings with him recharged and ready to tackle the next challenge. Every Thomas clerk cherishes the time we spend with him.
Justice Thomas spends hours with his clerks at lunch. Sometimes we’d talk about his incredible life experiences and the lessons he’s learned along the way. Sometimes we’d debate the legal issues presented in cases and work through hypotheticals. Whatever we talked about, it was always a highlight of the day.
As an insider, what did you observe about the justices interacting with one another?
One remarkable thing about the court is the collegiality across the chambers. Everyone, in my experience, talked about the cases in good faith. Disagreements, when they happened, were resolved amicably. It’s a good example of how lawyers can spar over ideas without attacking one another as individuals.
That’s an important lesson. Aside from Justice Thomas, did you interact with the other justices?
Over the term, each group of law clerks has lunch with every justice. Spending time with the other justices was a delight, because all of them have fascinating life stories. It’s a rare privilege to spend a couple hours peppering them with questions about everything from their jurisprudence to parenting! Our lunch with Chief Justice Roberts was especially memorable, thanks to his stories about growing up in Indiana and his days serving in the executive branch.
What an incredible experience. So, what was the best preparation for your job there?
Aside from my prior clerkships, participating in Texas Law’s Supreme Court and Law and Religion clinics. I learned a lot from my professors. Almost everything you need to succeed as a lawyer can be learned at the school if you’re attentive and put in the effort.
In closing, what advice can you offer to aspiring clerks?
Work hard, be kind to people, and make the most of the law school’s opportunities to learn and serve others. It goes by very quickly!
At the Supreme Court, you can learn as much from your co-clerks and the other clerks as you can from the briefs or your justice. While you’re there, clerks should really take advantage of the opportunity.