The judge is up front about his special interest.
The post Federal Judge Announces… Unique Requirement For Clerkship Applicants appeared first on Above the Law.
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Federal clerkships are wonderful opportunities for growth and development as a burgeoning attorney — learning about the law at the elbow of a learned professional. To get these elite positions usually requires a combination of law school grades, recommendations, writing sample — all before nailing the interview. So, when the job listing for a clerkship in the courtroom of Northern District of California Magistrate Judge Robert M. Illman was published with a … unique requirement, it caught the attention of Above the Law.
From the job description:
Applicants should be able to distinguish between Sequoia sempervirens and Sequoiadendron giganteum, and articulate the superiority of sempervirens.
What in the botanist-hell is this?
Not looking to secure this particular job, I took to Google to figure out what was going on. Turns out those are varieties of Redwood trees, so perhaps I should have said, “What in the arborist-hell is this?”
Now some may give the judge some flack for making his assumedly niche interest a job requirement. But he’s at least giving applicants a heads up about the vibe in his chambers — and providing an opportunity to study for the pop quiz. Even an avowed city mouse such as myself can appreciate that.
If you *are* interested in applying for the position, may I suggest this one-sheeter from the USDA charting out the differences between the Coastal and Sierra Redwoods. And for those who are only vaguely interested in the difference but not enough to check out a PDF, here’s the Cliff Notes version:
The giant sequoia trees (Sequoiadendron giganteum) grow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. They enjoy the bragging rights as the world’s largest trees by volume. The coastal redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) grow in the coastal ranges of California from San Luis Obispo County to slightly beyond the Oregon border. They claim the rights to the world’s tallest trees.
I don’t know very much about Judge Illman — maybe his biographical info and the highlights of some of his more notable cases. But this delightful little detail in the job description makes it seem like he’s a quirky judge who you’ll learn a lot from over the course of a yearlong clerkship — even if only some of that education is directly related to the law.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.
