Amy Marshak ’11 and Matthew Shahabian ’11 have been selected to clerk for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Sonia Sotomayor of the Supreme Court, respectively, during the 2015-16 term. The Court’s nine active justices each have four clerks, while the three retired justices have one each.
Currently based in Washington, DC, Marshak serves as counsel in the Law and Policy Office of the US Department of Justice’s National Security Division, a position she came to after serving in the New York Police Department’s Intelligence Division and as a graduate fellow at the Center on Law and Security.
She credits an Admitted Students Day information session with Professor Troy McKenzie ’00 for cluing her into clerking as a possibility afforded by a law degree, along with the work she did as University Professor Arthur Miller’s research and teaching assistant. “Working for Professor Miller was a formative experience,” she said, noting, “He’s always had an open door for me regarding which law firms to work for and judges to clerk for.” She also relied on Associate Professor Samuel Rascoff’s guidance throughout the clerkship application process.
She previously clerked for Chief Judge Robert Katzmann of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Judge Jed Rakoff of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. Looking ahead to working with Ginsburg, she said, “Even getting the opportunity to interview with her was imposing and awe-inspiring.”
Shahabian is currently an associate at Boies, Schiller & Flexner. Like Marshak, he clerked for Katzmann and Rakoff, an experience he described as “inspiring.”
“I’m looking forward to the chance to work with Justice Sotomayor, who is regarded not only as a brilliant and forward-thinking jurist who thinks deeply about the issues facing the Court, but also as a wonderful boss and mentor.”
While at NYU Law, he was a Furman Academic Scholar and an NYU Law Review articles editor. He worked closely with Richard Revesz, Lawrence King Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus, and co-authored “Climate Change and Future Generations,” published in the Southern California Law Review.
Along with Revesz, Shahabian counts McKenzie, Rascoff, and Catherine Sharkey, Crystal Eastman Professor of Law, among his mentors at the Law School who encouraged him to consider clerking. “I am very lucky," Shahabian said. "I wouldn’t have had the opportunity without the support of NYU Law and my friends and family.”
Posted February 26, 2015