a partner at goodwin procter and former clerk. thank you both. we appreciate your time. let me begin with you. what does a law clerk to? >> whenever the justice needs. the justices use law clerks in different ways. all individual bosses, small chambers, it's like having an enterprise with just a few employees. a law clerk job is to be useful to the justice. some use the. >> for a lot of research, sifting through complicated cases with a lot of facts and transcripts. justice briar likes to tell the world that he has had his law clerks read every case ever written about a particular subject. used to use law clerks for very short memos. to do the first draft of opinions. as he set himself, he rewrites them heavily. >> host: did you experience that firsthand? >> guest: absolutely. >> host: what have the law clerks done? >> one of the principal roles is to do whatever is necessary. he has described himself, the clerks will have written bench memos. and these are memos to the justice that take a shot at analyzing the case given the best perspective after having done research,