Judges Won't Hire Columbia Law Grads as Clerks, School Backs Students - Articles

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Judges Won't Hire Columbia Law Grads as Clerks, School Backs Students

Posted by: Julia Wilburn on May 10, 2024

Thirteen federal judges on Monday sent a letter to Columbia University's president stating they will not hire law clerks from the university in response to what they called the school’s "failure to deal with pro-Palestinian protests over the war in Gaza." Law.com reports that the letter says, “As judges who hire law clerks every year to serve in the federal judiciary, we have lost confidence in Columbia as an institution of higher education. Columbia has instead become an incubator of bigotry. As a result, Columbia has disqualified itself from educating the future leaders of our country.” According to reporting from Reuters, the head of Columbia's law school responded with a statement asserting that its graduates are "consistently sought out by leading employers in the private and public sectors, including the judiciary." A law school spokesperson did not comment on whether any of the 13 judges had ever hired Columbia Law graduates as clerks.