Aliza Shatzman, Judicial Accountability Advocate & Non-Profit Founder, discusses her decision to become a lawyer, her own clerkship experience, and her mission to improve the judicial clerkship system. She talks about the ups and downs of founding a non-profit advocacy group as a young lawyer and the challenges faced by students in the law field. The podcast also explores the future of the clerkship market, cultural changes, and the importance of career planning.
Increasing transparency in the clerkship application process is crucial to enable students to make informed decisions and find the right fit for their career goals.
The Legal Accountability Project (LAP) aims to challenge the prevailing messaging on law school campuses by prioritizing positive clerkship experiences over prestige, advocating for greater transparency, accountability, and diversity in the clerkship culture.
Deep dives
Importance of Transparency in Clerkships
Increasing transparency in the clerkship application process is crucial to ensure that students have access to information about judges and clerkship experiences. The Legal Accountability Project (LAP) is working towards creating a centralized clerkship database that provides students with candid post-clerkship surveys, allowing them to make informed decisions and find the right fit for their career goals. LAP aims to challenge the prevailing messaging on law school campuses and encourage students to be mindful of the judges they choose to clerk for, prioritizing positive experiences over prestige.
Addressing Systemic Problems in Clerkship Culture
LAP is dedicated to addressing the systemic problems within the clerkship culture. By advocating for greater transparency, accountability, and diversity, LAP aims to improve the clerkship application process and create a more inclusive legal profession. It seeks to hold judges accountable for mistreatment of clerks and challenge the deification of judges, emphasizing that they should be viewed as government employers running a workplace with its own fallibilities. LAP believes that achieving cultural change will result in better experiences for law clerks and benefit the legal profession as a whole.
Empowering Students to Demand Change
LAP empowers students to demand change in the clerkship system and law schools. It urges students to be proactive and insist on increased transparency, accountability, and diversity. Recognizing that law schools play a significant role in the clerkship process, LAP encourages students to seek information about judges and clerkships beyond the conventional paths. By advocating for student advocacy and pushing for necessary changes, LAP aims to create a more equitable clerkship system that serves the interests of all students.
Lessons from Founding the Legal Accountability Project
Aliza Schatzman, the founder of LAP, emphasizes the importance of taking the leap and pursuing an idea for positive change. Founding an organization can be challenging, requiring individuals to wear multiple hats and navigate legal and non-legal aspects. While there may be moments of overwhelm, the rewards of making a difference in the legal profession are immense. Schatzman advises having a strong support group, choosing a co-founder wisely, and being open to unexpected opportunities that can lead to a rewarding career path.
In today’s episode I speak with Aliza Shatzman who is the Founder and President of the non-profit Legal Accountability Project based in Washington, DC an organization dedicated to ensuring that law clerks have positive clerkship experiences while extending support and resources to those who do not.
Aliza writes and speaks about judicial accountability, clerkships, and diversity in the courts and has submitted written testimony before Congress and published extensively in both academic publications and in the popular press.
She is a graduate of Williams College where she was a member of the golf team. Prior to Law School she worked on Capitol Hill of three years. She then graduated from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law and following law school, Aliza clerked in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
In our conversation we discuss her decision to become a lawyer, her own clerkship experience and why she founded LAP as a result, her mission to improve the judicial clerkship system by making it a safer and more transparent training ground for junior lawyers, the ups and downs of founding a non-profit advocacy group as a young lawyer, and more.