Judicial Notice (12.21.25): Taking The Heat
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Sandra Day O'Connor
18 min read
Cristina Rodríguez clerked for Justice O'Connor, making her judicial philosophy and legacy directly relevant. O'Connor's groundbreaking role as the first female Supreme Court Justice and her centrist jurisprudence shaped American law for decades.
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Rhodes Scholarship
2 min read
Rodríguez studied at Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, one of the most prestigious academic awards. Understanding its history, selection process, and the network of Rhodes Scholars provides context for elite legal career trajectories.
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Office of Legal Counsel
13 min read
Rodríguez served as deputy assistant attorney general in OLC, which provides authoritative legal advice to the President and executive agencies. Understanding OLC's powerful but often invisible role in shaping executive power is educational for legal news readers.
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The holidays are here, believe it or not. But it’s been harder to get into the holiday spirit, as Sarah Isgur and David French noted on Advisory Opinions, in light of events from the past week or so—including the Bondi Beach shooting, the Brown University shooting, the killings of Rob and Michele Reiner, and the ambush in Syria.
Even so, last week was not without brights spots for me. On Wednesday afternoon, I saw Little Bear Ridge Road, a beautiful new play by the immensely talented Samuel D. Hunter (which I would urge everyone to see, except it closed on the 21st). On Thursday, I enjoyed catching up with friends and former colleagues from the U.S. Attorney’s Office (D.N.J.) at the annual holiday party of Judge Patty Shwartz (3d Cir.)—whom I’ve known for more than 25 years, dating back to when I was a 1L summer intern in the U.S.A.O. and she was deputy chief of the criminal division. (Alas, I had no sightings of Alina Habba, who recently resigned as acting U.S. attorney.)
Also on Thursday, Bloomberg Law posted the latest episode of the On the Merits podcast, featuring yours truly and Nikia Gray, executive director of NALP. We spoke with Jessie Kamens—host of the podcast, as well as the fabulous editor of my Bloomberg Law column—about Biglaw’s extremely accelerated recruiting timeline. It’s hard to believe that firms are interviewing law students as early as October or November of their 1L year. For more about what I view as a troubling trend, please check out my recent deep dive into this topic (which I’m hoping folks will take the time to read and share, since I put a ton of work into it).
On Saturday night, Zach and I went over to my parents’ house for their annual Christmas party, with Harlan
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