The Washington Free Beacon contacted partners and corporate staff at six top law firms which regularly hire Supreme Court clerks. All declined to say whether they would hire the leaker or even condemn the breach itself.
Though an internal probe has yet to identify the source, reports indicate that clerks are the focus of the investigation. Recent months have seen other unusual disclosures—such as the leak of Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement plans—which point to a newcomer with loose lips.
The steely silence approach to the unprecedented leak highlights growing tension in elite law firms between their white-collar pedigree and increasingly left-wing staff. While top firms must maintain prestige and credibility with the courts and their corporate clients, they're increasingly populated by a new class of young, left-wing lawyers who view those very entities as harmful and oppressive. The strain is driving a new dynamic in which woke lawyers are given a free hand to set DEI policies or take on progressive causes pro bono, while the firm's high-dollar commercial work goes on unabated.
