The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary has one of the broadest and most interesting jurisdictions of any standing Senate committee, including nominations to the Supreme Court and lower federal courts, immigration, intellectual property, oversight of the Department of Justice, constitutional amendments, human-rights law, national-security law, bankruptcy, federal crimes, and antitrust. 

Senator Cornyn, a former Texas Supreme Court Justice and Texas Attorney General, is a member of the Judiciary Committee and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration. He and his team of lawyers are looking to engage the nation’s best-qualified law students in a clerkship position. Law clerks will be responsible for assisting Senator Cornyn with his duties as a member of the Judiciary Committee. 

Law clerks draft legal memoranda and prepare materials for hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee and for debates on the Senate floor. Issues to be covered include pending legislation, federal judicial nominations (Supreme Court, and/or Circuit and District Courts), and oversight hearings of the Department of Justice and other federal agencies. Law clerks will also attend Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, executive business meetings, and staff briefings. Clerks assist Senator Cornyn’s lawyers by managing an issue portfolio and should be prepared to regularly brief committee lawyers on recent developments in high-profile legal disputes.