Law grad to clerk for Supreme Court
By Natalie Branach
Oct. 14, 2003 9:00 p.m.
In the near future Kathy Ku will be walking up the steps to the
U.S. Supreme Court on her way to work.
A 2003 graduate of the UCLA School of Law, Ku ““ who will
be clerking for the Supreme Court starting July 2004 ““ has
been able to take advantage of many opportunities as a result of
her hard work and tenacity.
During her stay at UCLA, Ku found herself involved with the
school’s Law Review. She became the editor in chief.
During the summer following her first year of law school, Ku
externed with 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Alex
Kozinski.
Working in a renovated Pasadena courthouse that once was a
hotel, Ku began working with some of the most distinguished law
professionals in the country.
Ku’s externship was followed by a one-year clerkship with
Kozinski that began in May 2003, after she graduated from law
school.
Ku, who now typically works 16-hour days, has a life that
revolves around the ins and outs of the judicial appeals
process.
Ku’s primary responsibility at the appellate court is
preparing memos on pending cases.
Legal issues, often very complicated, become more lucid and
understandable with the help of research, Kozinski said. This
research then goes into the memos clerks write for the judges.
“The clerks do whatever I do. They’re like my
lawyers. … They help me get my job done,” Kozinski
said.
The law clerks work with the judges every step of the way until
the final arbitration. They are directly involved in most of the
preliminary work, Kozinski said.
This includes helping to analyze cases, discussing and
dissecting issues, and helping to write opinions, he added.
Kozinski described Ku as full of enthusiasm and
“well-written.”
“She’s very quiet, not a show off, but she knows
exactly what she’s doing,” Kozinski said.
Kozinski remembers a time when he was preparing a memo to send
to a colleague. He asked Ku to edit the memo. Looking over the memo
carefully, Ku advised Kozinski to make a few changes because the
wording was too harsh.
“It was the way a lawyer might advise a client. She viewed
things as others might view them,” Kozinski said.
For Ku, working in the 9th Circuit is both a privilege and a
challenge.
The atmosphere can be stressful and demanding, Ku said, and
“it’s quite a commitment.”
Ku said she takes her job seriously because she understands that
the decisions the judges make can directly affect the lives of
people.
“It’s not like law school ““ here you’re
dealing with real people and real problems, so you want to do your
job right. … You realize your job has consequences,” Ku
said.
The Court of Appeals usually deals with cases from lower
district courts and appeals from agencies such as the Securities
and Exchange Commission.
Recently the circuit court was required to make a decision on
whether the California gubernatorial election would go forward as
planned in October.
This case was atypical in that it required a lot of research in
a short span of time, Ku said.
“To make a decision, the 11 judges had to master the facts
and legal issues presented in the case within a week. You can be
sure that the clerks were helping them out,” Ku said.
Perhaps one of the most interesting and exciting opportunities
coming Ku’s way is an upcoming clerkship with U.S. Supreme
Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Obtaining a clerkship with a Supreme Court justice is
competitive, demanding and rare. The qualifications include a
previous clerkship with a federal appellate judge and an
outstanding resume.
Kozinski, who contacted Ginsburg to recommend Ku, said he felt
that Ku and Ginsburg would mesh well together.
“I got an interview for Kathy. I called Justice Ginsburg,
and I sent her a memo. … I thought the two of them would be a
perfect fit,” Kozinski said.
Kozinski explained that he rarely calls Supreme Court justices
to provide them with recommendations for law clerks. Yet, he said
Ginsburg and Ku have similar personalities; they’re both
quiet and hard-working.
At the UCLA School of Law, Kathy’s achievements did not
come as a shock.
“I was not surprised to hear Kathy got a clerkship with
Ginsburg. … She combines brilliance with a modesty that you
don’t often find in very smart people,” said Grant
Nelson, a professor who had Ku in his first-year property law
class.
