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3. Projects B. Training a Judicial Law Clerk

Most of the judicial law clerk’s projects and tasks should be legal in nature and helpful to the judge
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and the tribal court. Traditionally, a clerk helps the judge handle high-priority work, but the judge 1. Research and Writing Skills
also may assign low-priority projects that are important to the tribal court. Whatever the project, the
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judge should try to “ensure that it requires in-depth legal research, writing, and analysis.” The clerk Research, writing, and analysis are a judicial law clerk’s core skills. Therefore, each project should give
may assist with: the clerk the opportunity to research relevant sources and authorities, and to write in the appropriate
style. The ability to adapt writing styles to different levels of comprehension is an important skill. The
clerk should be exposed to different writing styles directed at judges, law-trained professionals, court-
trained professionals, and the general public.

Researching recent developments in Indian Law
2. Judicial Writing
and proposing ways to incorporate it into

the tribal judiciary system Judicial writing is a skill that a judge develops throughout their career. It differs from persuasive
writing because it is not intended to take one party’s position over another. Judicial writing
determines facts, interprets the law, and applies facts to the law. Teaching this technique to a judicial
law clerk prepares them for more advanced tasks, such as writing bench memoranda and orders.
Helping to develop new initiatives, In addition, the judge trains the judicial law clerk on judicial reasoning. This training gives the clerk
powerful insight into the judicial process. Therefore, the judge should take the time to review the
such as a peacemaking court record, discuss hearings and research, and break down issues with the clerk.

3. Court Administration
Investigating the tribal court’s jurisdiction and
authority, and forecasting possible legal challenges A court is more than the cases it hears. It is a complex system with processes that lay a path to the

court and ultimately to the resolution of a dispute. Understanding the process and the tools needed
is an important part of learning how a court operates. The judge’s role is to make sure the process
includes the benchmarks of a justice system: access, fairness, due process, impartiality, clarity, and
Drafting parts of a grant application resolution.

A judicial law clerk can contribute to this system by developing operating procedures, forms, guides,
and training for court staff and litigants. Each task gives the clerk the opportunity to research the law,
Developing new court protocols interview stakeholders, prepare documents, and adopt different writing styles.

4. Court Clerks

The judicial law clerk may work closely with court clerks. Maintaining a productive working
relationship with the court clerks is critical to a well functioning judicial system. The judicial law clerk
may review documents and court records, prepare orders, and develop procedures based on the court
clerks’ input. The judicial law clerk must become familiar with the role of the court clerk in in order to
understand how a court operates.

118 Case & Tompkins, supra note 1, at 49.
119 Id.
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