1997 graduate of the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University has accepted a one-year judicial clerkship with Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Jay Jorgensen, of Roosevelt, will begin the judicial clerkship in the fall of 1999.Since it admitted its first class in 1973, BYU's law school has placed nine graduates in Supreme Court clerkships.
"The placement of our graduates in clerkships is a remarkable achievement for such a young law school," said H. Reese Hansen, dean of the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU.
Jorgensen said he initially applied for the clerkship because of the opinions he received from people who had worked in Supreme Court clerkships in the past, including former BYU President Rex E. Lee.
"They said it was the defining experience in their law careers," Jorgensen said.
In his interview with the chief justice, Jorgensen said he thought the Rehnquist would have no idea where Roosevelt was located. To his surprise, the chief justice told him that as a young man, he hiked across the country and slept on the Vernal courthouse lawn.
Since graduating from law school, Jorgensen has clerked for Judge Samuel Alito, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit.
After completing his clerkship with Alito, Jorgensen will return to Utah for one year as an associate at Stoel Rives LLP before beginning work for the Supreme Court.
During law school, Jorgensen participated in various activities, including the BYU Law Review, trial advocacy, writing competitions and the Federalist Society. He also served as the national editor for an issue of The Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy.