August 25, 2025
Dear Magical Team,
A number of significant events have taken place since the last edition of WebChambers dated May 1, 2025, which reported on the 27th consecutive annual Gilmanfest (the Final Fest) that took place over the weekend of April 25-27. Among these events are the following:
June sitting in Cincinnati. I sat on a panel with Judges Andre Mathis and Stephanie Davis on June 11. There were two extra-judicial highlights of the sitting. The first was a court-organized dinner cruise on the Ohio River during the evening of June 10. A large number of judges and clerks were on board for the two-hour event. A photo of me with clerks Jessica and Maggie on the upper deck of the boat can be seen by clicking on "Photos" above. The other highlight was that Jessica met The Pancake Challenge at First Watch the next morning. Her name will now be added to the chambers' plaque listing the other former clerks who have somehow managed to consume a full stack of the restaurant's very large pancakes in about 30 minutes! A photo of Jessica completing her challenge can be seen by clicking on "Photos" above.
July sitting in Cincinnati. I sat on a panel with Judges Eric Clay and Rachel Bloomekatz on July 30. The extra-judicial highlight of this sitting was meeting for breakfast that morning at First Watch with Ben Glassman (Team 6, 2002-2003) and Marcey Grigsby (Team 11, 2007-2008). Both are based in Cincinnati with their respective law firms--Ben with Squire Patton Boggs and Marcey with Frost Brown Todd.
The Last Supper. On Wednesday, August 13, Magical Team 28 came to my home for a farewell dinner in celebration of their clerkship year. Chief Judge Betsy and I welcomed Judicial Assistant Carol, her husband Wayne, clerks Jackie, Jessica, and Maggie, and Jackie's sibling Theo. After hors d'oeuvres and an Italian-themed dinner, the "Program" began. On the agenda were several magic tricks, the presentation of various certificates and gifts, and remembrances of the departing clerks. The Balls on the Wall ceremony took place the following day. Photos of Magical Team 28 at both The Last Supper and after they placed their balls on the wall can be seen by clicking on "Photos" above.
Changing of the guard. The transition from Magical Team 28 to Magical Team 29 took place between August 15 and 18. The first to leave were Jessica and Maggie, both on August 15. Jessica will return to Bois Schiller Flexner in Los Angeles as an associate. Maggie will become an associate at the civil-rights boutique Wang Hecker in New York. The last to leave was Jackie, whose last day was August 18. She will become a staff attorney at the Illinois Office of the State Appellate Defender in Chicago.
August 18 was also the first day of the clerkship for Magical Team 29. New clerks Jared Lin and Alex Minsk were immediately oriented to the ways of The Magical Team, and they began working on cases for my next sitting in October with the Ninth Circuit. (I am now down to only two clerks per year, with the expectation of handling a somewhat reduced caseload from this point forward.) A photo of the new crew after lunch at Tacker's Shake Shack in Marion, Arkansas can be seen by clicking on "Photos" above.
OTHER NEWS:
Mike Murphy (Team 4, 2000-2001) recently joined the Philadelphia-based firm of Fox Rothschild as a partner in its Los Angeles office. He will be leading the firm's effort to build its general business-litigation practice on the West Coast.
Miriam Nemeth (Team 15, 2011-2012) will be moving to Nashville early next month to become the Executive Director of the ACLU affiliate in Tennessee. Her new post begins on September 15.
Well gang, that's all the news for now. Please keep me advised of any significant events that you would like to have noted in a future edition of WebChambers.
Best wishes,
Judge G