Opportunity Judicial Clerkship Program’s Summer Externships Underway
2025 Judicial Clerkship Program kick-off at the New Mexico Supreme Court. (Names of those people in photo are at the end of this press release.)
State Agency Press Release – From the Administrative Offices of the Courts
SANTA FE – Eight law students begin summer externships Tuesday as part of the Opportunity
Judicial Clerkship Program, an initiative that provides training, mentorship, and introductions to
the judicial process and clerkship opportunities.
The New Mexico Supreme Court with support from the State Bar of New Mexico manage the
Opportunity Judicial Clerkship Program, now in its fifth year. The externships last 10 weeks.
“The externs will gain practical experience writing and doing research,” said Chief Justice
David K. Thomson. “Our staff is ready and willing to assist the externs, and the rest is up to
them.”
Law clerks within the New Mexico Judiciary typically work for a justice or a judge for one or
two years. Law clerks write bench memos, which detail all of the issues within a case
objectively, and spend time doing research for writing draft opinions.
A written opinion is a formal explanation of a ruling of a case. It is widely acknowledged that judicial clerkships increase professional development of law school graduates and often lead to greater advancement in their career as a lawyer or in the judiciary.
Three different law schools are represented in this year’s class. Law students Melissa Anderson,
Andrew Gantt, Everett Holmes, Patrick Penso, Alexander James, Kieran Raney, Leola Magallon,
and Jackson Faulkner were selected to participate in the Judicial Clerkship Program.
2025 Judicial Clerkship Program kick-off at the New Mexico Supreme Court.
Row 1 L-R: New Mexico State Bar President-Elect Allison Block-Chavez, Chief Justice David K. Thomson, Senior Justice Michael E. Vigil, Justice C. Shannon Bacon, Justice Briana H. Zamora, Court of Appeals Chief Judge Jacqueline R. Medina, Court of Appeals Judge Megan Duffy. Row 2 L-R: Rebecca Myers (program alum and mentor), Kieran Raney (summer extern for U.S. District Court Judge Garcia), Jackie Munro-Vahey (clerk for Chief Justice Thomson), Tammy Huckabee (administrative assistant), Maddie Clabough (clerk for Chief Justice Thomson), Rebecca Potance (State Law Library), Victoria Lovato (clerk for Justice Zamora), Elizabeth Garcia (Chief Clerk of Court), Alyssa Segura (Supreme Court Rules Attorney), Ann Keith (Chief Counsel for the Chief Justice), Everett Holmes (summer extern for Senior Justice Vigil), Alexander James (summer extern for Judge Duffy). Row 3 L-R: Alexis Jones (clerk for Judge Duffy), Nicole Sanchez (clerk for Chief Judge Medina), Logan Stokes (clerk for Chief Judge Medina), Patrick Penso (summer extern for Justice Vargas), Lionel Betsch (clerk for Justice Bacon), Kristen Edwards (Deputy Clerk of Court), Jonah Griego (clerk for Chief Justice Vigil), Royce Deller (clerk for Justice Vargas), Andrew Gantt (summer extern for Justice Bacon), Melissa Anderson (summer extern for Justice Zamora), Jackson Faulkner (summer extern for Chief Justice Thomson), Lysette Romero Cordova (Deputy Clerk of Court), Leola Magallon (summer extern for Chief Justice Thomson), Jamshed Jehangir (clerk for Justice Bacon), Emma Weber (clerk for Judge Duffy), Neil Bell (Supreme Court Chief Appellate Counsel).
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