By Liz Coffin-KarlinThe Daily Northwestern

Only a year out of law school, Kate Shaw will be working closely with one of the most important judges in the country as a clerk for Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.

She said she’s been told by past clerks that, “the only problem with it is it’s the best job you’ll ever have.”

Shaw, Law ’06, will join fellow Law School graduates Jessica Phillips, ’06, and Andrianna Kastanek, ’05, in Washington. Phillips and Kastanek will serve as clerks for Justices Samuel Alito and Anthony Kennedy, respectively.

Clerks for the Supreme Court help their judges review case applications and assist them in writing their judicial opinions.

Each of the justices has four clerks per year, with the exception of the Chief Justice, who has five.

“A Supreme Court clerkship is pretty much the be-all, end-all of a career in appellate law,” said Kastanek, who currently works for a Chicago law firm.

All three graduates served on the Northwestern Law Review, and Shaw was the editor in chief last year.

“(Kate Shaw is) a superb student, very bright,” said Steven Calabresi, a professor of constitutional law.

Calabresi taught Shaw in his Constitutional Law class, and he taught all three future clerks in his Federal Jurisdiction class.

“They are very articulate and very good oral advocates,” Calabresi said.

Martin Redish, a professor of law and public policy, said that Kastanek is an “amazing student” as well as a “first-rate lawyer.”

“Her senior research paper was probably the best I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen many of them,” Redish said.

Shaw’s professors encouraged her to apply for the Supreme Court position after she was given a clerkship in the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals under Judge Richard Posner.

“After the interview, I knew if I was going to hear good news I would hear good news very quickly,” Shaw said.

Applicants for Supreme Court clerkships are required to have served as clerks previously in an appellate court, and current clerks have some say in who will take their positions the following year.

Phillips is clerking for Judge Joel Flaum, and last year Kastanek clerked for Judge Kenneth Ripple. Both judges serve on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Part of the allure of working for the Supreme Court is its status as “the ultimate arbiter … it provides a final answer to all the questions that it accepts,” Shaw said.

Last year NU’s School of Law was ranked 11th for per capita clerks sent to the Supreme Court, according to the law school rankings of Leiter Reports, a law school Web log.

Shaw said that she thought the law school’s success this year might be partially due to the admissions process, since the law school emphasizes life experience in its applicants instead of simply high academic achievement.

Calabresi said he thought that the students deserved the majority of credit for their success, describing NU law students as “hardworking, bright, and conscientious.”

Matt Ford, a third-year NU law student, is the current editor in chief of the Northwestern Law Review, and last year worked with both Shaw and Phillips.

“It’s pretty inspiring to have them do this,” Ford said. “They serve as role models of what’s possible with a Northwestern University law education.”

Reach Liz Coffin-Karlin at [email protected].