Eight law students accept federal and state clerkships
February 18, 2009
In recent months eight students from BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School have accepted federal and state judicial clerkships. A clerkship enables each student to work closely with a judge for a year. The students, also scholarship recipients, are Natalie Banta, Rich Barker, Blake Bertagna, Adam Heder, Marie Kulbeth, Kelly Marsden, Jessame Petersen, and Matt Wright.
Banta, who will clerk on the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, hopes that her clerkship will help her refine the legal skill of judgment. "Understanding how a judge views the legal arguments and balances the competing facts and policies will help me throughout my career," she says. Heder, who will also clerk on the Ninth Circuit, says, "I am graduating from law school with a prestigious clerkship lined up, and thanks to those who support the university and provide scholarships, I was able to do this and keep costs extraordinarily low."
All say that their BYU experience was enhanced thanks to donors. Petersen, who will clerk on the Utah Court of Appeals, says: "As an undergraduate and a law student, I have been blessed by scholarships. I appreciate the sacrifices that so many have made."
