The University has achieved unparalleled success in receiving Supreme Court clerkships with a fourth clerkship bestowed upon alumni in the past five years.

Merritt McAlister, class of 2007 law school alumna, will clerk for Justice John Paul Stevens for the October 2009 term.

“It’s an honor that very few lawyers get to do . The Supreme Court is the highest court in the country and it shapes legal thinking,” McAlister said.

University Law School Dean Rebecca White noted the value of the clerkship.

“This appointment will provide Merritt with invaluable experience that will benefit her for the rest of her professional life – for a law student, a U.S. Supreme Court clerkship is akin to an undergraduate receiving a Rhodes Scholarship,” she said in a University news release.

McAlister serves as a judicial clerk for Judge R. Lanier Anderson III in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. After securing her appellate clerkship she submitted paperwork to all nine of the court’s justices and received an interview with Stevens.

Although the role of the clerk varies by chamber, the largest part of a clerk’s day is reading petitions for certiorari, which are briefs filed by the petitioner on the merits of his or her case, McAlister said. After reading the briefs, the clerks then write memos on whether cert should be granted.

“You can fight for cases that the court should review,” she said.

McAlister attended Rice University for her undergraduate work and credits the University Law School with playing a role in receiving the clerkship.

“It prepared me tremendously. In the sense that I couldn’t have asked for more, the rigor of the education and making opportunities available to me,” McAlister said.

McAlister will work for the Atlanta law firm King & Spalding before heading to Washington D.C. in the summer of 2009.

“You know so little about how the Supreme Court works and the process, but it’s so important. Seeing the process will be tremendous,” McAlister said.