Justice Thomas Hires... Judge John Roberts?

Actually, no. Despite his uncanny resemblance to a younger Judge John Roberts, as well as their shared first name, John Adams (pictured at left) is no relation to our next Chief Justice. The reason that Mr. Adams is featured in this august blog is that he was just hired by Justice Clarence Thomas, to serve as one of Justice Thomas's law clerks for October Term 2006 at the Supreme Court. In case you're wondering about his path to One First Street, John D. Adams is a Sentelle-tubby and 2003 graduate of UVA Law School, who currently works as a litigation associate at Hunton & Williams.

Does anyone know if this John Adams is related to that John Adams? Before you scoff at the low likelihood of this, please note that a number of Supreme Court clerks are related to prominent figures in American history. E.g., Kermit Roosevelt (OT 1999/Souter), great-great-grandson of Teddy Roosevelt; Brett Gerry (OT 2000/Kennedy), a descendant of Elbridge Gerry; and William Jay (OT 2004/Scalia), a descendant of John Jay.*

Who says we don't have an aristocracy here in America? Perhaps a Supreme Court clerkship is simply a matter of birthright. If so, then A3G -- still bitter after all these years about her own failure to join the ranks of the Elect -- would like to borrow the words of Weezer, from their awesomely excellent new single, "Beverly Hills":

The truth is I don't stand a chance
It's something that you're born into
And I just don't belong

"Beverly Hills," by the way, could very well be A3G's theme song (just as Judge Kozinski and Judge Posner have their own judicial theme songs). In its carefully calibrated mix of brightness and bitterness about Hollywood celebrity culture, "Beverly Hills" perfectly captures both the breathless worship and the jealous resentment that A3G directs towards those glamorous celebrities of the legal world, Supreme Court clerks.

Is Justice Thomas done hiring? If so, then at least three of the justices have finished their clerk selection for October Term 2006. (A3G previously reported in these pages on the OT 2006 hires of Justice Ginsburg and Justice Stevens.) If you know the identities of John Adams's co-clerks in CT's chambers, please email A3G. Thanks!

* A3G missed it, but several UTR readers have advised her that Willy Jay was recently on Jeopardy. Shockingly, in light of his status as one of the Elect, Mr. Jay did not prevail.

(Photo credit: Hunton & Williams.)

Comments

[Marva Maid]

I know John from our summers together working as ring-toss attendants at the Chesterfield County Fair. I can definitively state that John is neither a direct nor an indirect descendant of "the" John Adams. The poster who suggests otherwise is probably on crack or something. Interestingly enough, however, John's maternal grandfather was the late Don Adams (of "Get Smart" fame), and his second cousin is Canadian rocker Bryan Adams. Your readers should also be made aware that your picture of John, though no doubt from the current Hunton & Williams website, is at least 5 years old. John was a summer clerk at Hunton & Williams for many years, and the picture probably dates to that time period. Hunton's website is famous for making its lawyers appear more youthful than they really are. Today John looks a lot more grizzled, although his hairstyle is more successful.

[semi-elected]

While I worked at the DC Circuit with John, I asked him if he was related to THE John Adams. He indicated that he was NOT.

John Adams IS a direct descendant of his famous namesake. I believe Justice Thomas also just hired another Sentelle-tubby for OT '06, Carrie Savarino (sp?). This is great news for Sentelletubbies, who were shut out in OT '05, after Henry Whitaker (CT--OT'04, now with Senate Judiciary[?]) and Aaron Street (CJ--OT'03, now with Baker Botts) had continued Sentelle's reign of dominance at the high Court.