The diversity of their own paths to the bench reflects the diversity of experience Judges Morgan Christen and Angel Kelley hope to see among clerks and jurists nationwide.
During Berkeley Law’s 10th annual Judges-in-Residence program, they met with students and faculty in varied settings over two packed days — discussing everything from what qualities they look for in clerkship applicants to how to find helpful mentors.
“Diversity is very important to me,” said Kelley, a federal district court judge in Massachusetts, regarding her clerks. “I don’t want a mini-me and I don’t want an echo chamber. I want people who bring different life experiences and diversity can mean any number of things — race, gender, geography, socio-economic, work experience, all of it.”
Kelley became a state district court judge in 2009, moved up to the superior court in 2013, and was installed as a federal judge in 2021. She is just the second Black female judge and the second Asian American judge to serve on the federal district court in Massachusetts.
Christen, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Anchorage, spent 14 years as a civil litigator before she was encouraged to apply for a judgeship. She started on the state superior court in 2002, moved to the Alaska Supreme Court seven years later, and was appointed to the federal bench in 2011.
Amid growing polarization in the United States, both judges emphasized the value of ensuring unbiased legal analysis — and hiring clerks who leave their ideology outside chambers.
“The mission for courts is to get the law right,” Christen said. “Politics need to stay out of our decisions, which is even more important now during these politically charged times. I sign off on decisions every week that I don’t necessarily like, but that’s the law and I have to enforce it.”
Busy slate
The judges met with Berkeley Law’s Clerkship Committee, toured the school, visited upper-level and 1L classes, held open office hours for students, talked with Berkeley Law Opportunity Scholars, and took part in lunchtime panels moderated by Director of Judicial Clerkships Anna Han.
Kelley also met with students from Berkeley’s Law Students of African Descent(opens in a new tab), Asian Pacific American Law Students Association(opens in a new tab), and Women of Color Collective(opens in a new tab), and Christen with students participating in the Berkeley Law Alternative Service Trip to Alaska this spring. Both also talked with Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and attended dinners with students, alumni, and faculty.
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