U.S. Supreme Court
O’Connor Digs at Gibson Dunn, Demos Byron White Handshake on Letterman
Posted Jun 26, 2009 7:00 AM CST
By Molly McDonough
Screen shot from DaveTV.
In an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman on Tuesday night retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor took a playful shot at the firm who offered her a legal secretary job after she graduated third in her class from Stanford Law School in 1952.
She doesn't mention the firm's name, but the Daily Business Review made the connection because O'Connor recently spoke at Gibson Dunn's 100th anniversary event. The paper also notes that Gibson Dunn wasn't the only firm to take a pass on the up-and-coming legal star.
On the program, O'Connor also noted that she was the last justice sworn at the actual Supreme Court. Justices are now sworn in at the White House. Read the show's formal recap here.
O'Connor, who was on the show promoting her new children's book "Finding Susie," also evoked audience laughter when she describes her first handshake with Byron White, famously an ex-NFL star.
"It was like I had put my hand in a vise ... he just kept that pressure on and tears squirted out of my eyes," O'Connor said. "It was very embarrassing, my first day on the court, and there I am in tears."
O'Connor learned her lesson. From then on, she said she could never give him her hand again and instead shook his thumb.
Updated at 10:23 a.m. to correct the spelling of Stanford Law School.
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Comments
Thomas Tutone
Jun 26, 2009 9:22 AM CST
Stanford, not Sanford.
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GD be GD
Jun 26, 2009 11:27 AM CST
Gibson Dunn is notorious for screening out seasoned attorneys seeking lateral associate and partner positions based on law school grades and law school reputation.
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B. McLeod
Jun 29, 2009 12:31 AM CST
I always thought of Justice O’Connor as a very predictable (and sadly, quite boring) jurist, who seemed to want the legal standard of conduct for every conceivable actor to be a tort-based “reasonable and prudent person” standard. I don’t mean to suggest that this was bad (just boring), as it seemed in a way to anchor the court (e.g., a lead life preserver). Unfortunately, nobody else seems to have stepped up to carry on Justice O’Connor’s unique orientation to decisions. So, now the Court is still generally quite boring, but not necessarily reasonable or prudent.
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