Richard Posner, Unedited [Part Three]

I received the following from a former Seventh Circuit staff attorney who had seen my earlier posts (here and here) on Richard Posner's new book:

I just completed a two-year term as a staff law clerk in the Seventh Circuit Staff Attorney's Office. I appreciate you promoting my former colleague Zoki Tasic's response to the book.

It was my experience, like Zoki's, that the staff law clerks and supervisors care deeply about helping pro se litigants. We read every single (often handwritten) page of the record and the briefs, searching for any possible merit in the appeals. In general, the staff law clerks review the district court record with a great deal of skepticism, knowing that many of the district judges mishandle pro se cases. And it is completely incorrect to say that the Seventh Circuit judges rubberstamp our proposed orders. It is not at all unusual for the judges to disagree with our recommendations or with each other over the outcome or reasoning of the decision, if not to make stylistic and grammatical edits. Similarly, as a motions clerk I did my best to interpret what exactly the pro se litigants were asking for in their sometimes nonstop motions for relief. Even if the motion was procedurally a nonstarter, I would try to recommend a resolution to the judge that would help explain to the litigants what relief they could obtain.

Judge Posner's book demonstrates a troubling misunderstanding of how the office works, given how frequently we worked with him (and even met with him to discuss the office, as he reveals in the book). I hardly think it's fair to give him credit for bringing up the important issue of the treatment of pro se litigants when he offers no real solutions to the problem. Fortunately, I think it will be apparent to anyone who reads the book that Judge Posner was more interested in bashing his former colleagues and staff than offering any useful commentary on the topic. And I hope Zoki's article illuminates for those not familiar with the office just how nonsensical the book is. 

I might add that, according to Posner, the Seventh Circuit reverses more pro se appeals than any other federal circuit, often at twice the rate, so it is hard to credit his argument that pro se appellants are treated poorly in his former court.

Comments

[Deep State Special Legal Counsel]

Soul Mates: Donald John Trump bragging about his I.Q. Richard Posner writing this book. The smartest two guys in the room.