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Ace Your Interview: Researching Your Future Firm, Organization, or Judge

Resources to help prepare for the job or clerkship interview.

Judicial Research

  • Almanac of the Federal Judiciary (electronic, Temple University access; print, Temple Law Library)
    This is an excellent resource for researching the federal judiciary.  Entries for each judge include not only standard biographical information, but also notable rulings and lawyers’ thoughts on the judge's legal ability, demeanor, and evenhandedness.  The electronic version (via the VitalLaw link above) also has Financial Disclosure Reports for each judge (and, in some cases, the Senate Biographical Questionnaire) and offers limited advanced searching for education, private practice, and some other categories.  The print copy in the Law Library is an older version, last updated in 2009.

  • Insider's Guide to Pennsylvania Judiciary and the Courts (print, Temple Law Library)
    The Insider's Guide provides biographies of federal and state judges in Pennsylvania and lists judicial staff.  The biographies are formatted in an easier-to-read version than most and include education, employment history, professional affiliations, and notes on practice before that justice or judge. The 2022 edition is available at the Law Library.

  • The Pennsylvania Manual (open access)
    Section Five of this (usually) biennially-published manual contains Pennsylvania state court judicial biographies, a table listing each justice's and judge's year commissioned and expiration date, and photographs of the appellate judiciary.  Some biographies only list court and commission date; others are more extensive, containing birth date, family information, education, employment history, and awards.  General information on the various Commonwealth courts and maps of the districts also is included.  

  • Lexis and Westlaw (Temple Law access)
    Both Lexis and Westlaw have the option to search by judge, so you can find cases a specific justice or judge has authored.  In addition, Westlaw's Litigation Analytics and Lexis's Litigation Profile Suite offer information about judges' professional history and ruling tendencies.

  • Bloomberg Judicial Analytics (Temple Law access)
    BLaw gives statistical analysis of each active federal circuit judge's rulings, appeal outcomes, case types, and more.  It also lists a few of the judge's most-cited opinions and links to a biography, the judge's opinions, and a news feed.

  • Federal Judicial Center Biographical Directory of Article III Judges (open access)
    The Federal Judicial Center's database contains biographies of Article III judges from 1789 to the present.  In addition to name searches, the advanced search option allows sorting by the judge's appointing president, gender, ethnicity, education, and/or various other criteria.  Biographies are be brief, listing birth/death dates, federal judicial service, education, professional career, and other appointments. 

  • The American Bench:  Judges of the Nation (print, Temple Law Library)
    This is a two-volume directory with brief biographies of members of federal and state benches.  Biographies list gender, ethnicity, birth date, appointment and expiration dates, education, legal employment history, military service, civic involvement, and contact information.  A few entries also include the the judge's religion, interests, fraternal society, and/or a brief piece of advice from the judge.  The Law Library has the 2023 version in print.

  • Westlaw Profiler (Temple Law access)
    Westlaw provides biographical information and analytics on judges' opinions.  When viewing analytics, be aware that Westlaw's geographic coverage for state courts is incomplete.

  • Leadership Connect (Temple Law access; available only on campus)
    Leadership Connect has a directory of law firms, Congressional members and staff, and other professionals.  Use the profiles (which include individuals' employment, schools, and other data) to identify potential connections.  No login needed from campus; the quick start guide is available here.

  • The Directory of Minority Judges in the United States (print, Temple Law Library)
    While the information in this directory (published in 2008) may be somewhat out of date, this resource may be of interest for judges who are still on the bench or for historical information.Individual courts’ websites (open access)

  • Many courts list individual judges' judicial preferences (also called judicial practices and procedures).  Although not all judges post them, they provide insight into how the judge runs their courtroom and even can give some hints about their personality.