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Clerking for the Good Judge
- Brookings Institution Press
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73 eleven Clerking for the Good Judge Hold fast to dreams, For if dreams go, Life is a barren field, Frozen with Snow. —Langston Hughes “Have you lined up a job yet, Bill?” Elliot inquired. He had just been elected president of the Harvard Law Review, and we were chatting at its sixtieth anniversary dinner as Justice Felix Frankfurter walked by. “Not yet,” I replied, sheepishly. Although I had graduated magna cum laude at the top of my class, my job search had so far been unsuccessful. I was one of the few graduates of the law school who had not yet received an offer. Perhaps I had set my sights too high. In June 1946 I had boldly written to Justice Hugo Black about a possible clerkship.1 After setting forth my law school record, I wrote, “Despite my training, owing to the fact that I am a Negro I have encountered considerable difficulty in getting a suitable position . Your efforts and expressions in your judicial utterances led me to inquire whether you would consider me for the position as your legal clerk.” Justice Black replied: “My clerk was selected some months ago, and I have no prospect of a vacancy until he finishes his job. You have made an excellent record, and I congratulate you on it.” Other graduating law review members had been snatched up for judicial clerkships or by major law firms in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, and Chicago and on the West Coast. Elliot, with his ingrained spirit of fairness, could not understand why I could not find a job. Unlike others, he did something about it.The next morning he called his uncle, Henry L. Shattuck, a distinguished Boston lawyer who had been the only Republican on the Boston city council. From April through October Shattuck slept on his yacht every night, instructing the crew to cast off when he arrived at the dock about half past six in the evening and to make sure that he was back in Boston Harbor by eight o’clock the next morning. He was at work by a quarter to nine. When Elliot’s father died, Shattuck became the Richardson brothers’ surrogate father. 02-0488-1 part2.indd 73 9/9/10 8:27 PM 74 / learning to be a good lawyer The morning after Elliot’s call Shattuck’s chauffeur arrived at the rented house in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Lovida and I were living, bringing five books on the law and instructions to drive me to Shattuck’s law office in downtown Boston. After a short interview Shattuck devilishly called Charles B. Curtis, a leading lawyer in one of Boston’s top law firms, a Democrat , and a member of the state legislature. Curtis had gotten a lot of newspaper coverage lately because of the strong stance he was taking on the floor of the state legislature on the moral imperative to eliminate segregation and discrimination against people of color. As I sat in the office, Shattuck placed the call. “Good morning, Charlie,” Shattuck said, a wry smile on his face as Curtis answered the phone. “Have I got a great opportunity for you. I have sitting in my office a young lawyer who just graduated from Harvard Law School and is looking for a job. His name is Bill Coleman and he was the best student in his class.” “That sounds real interesting, Henry,” said Curtis, sounding suspicious, “By the way, Henry, you should tell your nephew Elliot to come talk to me when he finishes law school.” “I’ll do that, Charlie, but Bill Coleman is available right now. Having listened to your statement on the floor of the General Assembly yesterday, I know that the fact that Bill is colored would not be a problem for you. Indeed, it’s an opportunity to put into practice what you’ve been preaching lately,” Henry said, with a quiet chuckle and a wink in my direction. There was a long pause. “Henry, I just couldn’t do that. My law firm and clients would not accept a Negro lawyer. You know that, Henry.” The conversation was over. Henry Shattuck had tried, and he would try again, more successfully, a few years later. Many months before, however, I had applied for a clerkship with the Honorable Herbert F. Goodrich, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit sitting in Philadelphia. An unsuccessful Democratic candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, Judge Goodrich...