By Sharon Morioka
Michigan Law
Three Michigan Law alumnae are in Luxembourg this fall to clerk for the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), a dream opportunity that will allow each of them to understand the workings of the EU legal system more deeply.
The Dean Acheson Legal Stage program at the US Embassy in Luxembourg is the only opportunity for US citizens to clerk, or “stage,” at the CJEU—for a judge of the Court of Justice, an advocate general of the Court of Justice, or a judge of the General Court. More than 80 American attorneys have interned with the program.
Grace Bruce and Emily Hammerslough are participating from September to December. As a dual US/EU citizen, Sarah Siegel applied directly to the CJEU, rather than through the Dean Acheson program. Her clerkship begins this month and ends in February.
“Securing a clerkship at the CJEU is exceptionally competitive,” said Eric Christiansen, Michigan Law’s assistant dean for international affairs. “It requires skills and experiences available at only a handful of the premier international law schools.”
In recent years, the Law School has steadily increased the number of international clerkship opportunities. This year alone, students and alumni have served in the International Criminal Court, the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the South African Constitutional Court. Another alumna, Mine Orer, LLM ’18, will soon begin a clerkship on the International Court of Justice.
Michigan Law supports international opportunities through the Clara Belfield and Henry Bates Overseas Fellowship, which allows students and alumni to do unpaid government and NGO work around the globe. The fellowship is funding Bruce, Hammerslough, and Siegel in whole or in part.
“A work opportunity like clerking at the CJEU is a shining highlight on anyone’s résumé,” said Christiansen. “But for graduates of non-EU law schools, it highlights a truly unique set of skills and experiences that will open a host of doors in European and international law.”
—————
Grace Bruce
Clerk for Advocate General Maciej Szpunar
Grace Bruce initially had a different plan for this fall: to start work in the dispute resolution practice in Freshfields’ Washington, DC, office, where she had served as a summer associate.
But she put those plans on hold when the clerkship opportunity at the CJEU arose.
“I didn’t think a traditional American clerkship, at least immediately after graduation, was for me,” she said. “I wanted to go to DC, get settled, get some training under my belt first. But this opportunity presented itself—and seems so in line with what I’m going to be doing when I get to my firm—that I couldn’t say no.”
While she anticipates working on a variety of cases in Luxembourg, she is particularly interested in the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. What she will bring to the table, in addition to her background in both public and private international law, is an American perspective, “particularly as a student trained in the common law.”
Equally, her EU experience will prove valuable when she starts as an associate at Freshfields later this year.
“So many of the firm’s clients are having to grapple with both American legal issues and EU legal issues,” she said. “By going to the CJEU and getting a better sense of European regulatory frameworks and how the court is interpreting those frameworks, I hope to eventually become a better and more globally integrated counselor to my future clients.”
—————
Emily Hammerslough
Clerk for Advocate General Tamara Ccapeta
Looking at the trajectory of her law school experience, Emily Hammerslough seemed destined to clerk for the CJEU.
In addition to taking several international law classes, she worked in Namibia’s Ministry of Justice during her 1L summer and for the International Service for Human Rights during an externship in Geneva her 2L year.
She also attended international law conferences and served on the Michigan Journal of International Law.
“I’ve been trying to take advantage of every international opportunity that Michigan Law has to offer,” Hammerslough said.
In fact, she applied to the Law School because of its international programs.
Needless to say, she plans on an international law career, specifically human rights law, and sees the CJEU clerkship as a next step to gain practical experience into how the EU system works, especially in the area of the fundamental rights of citizens. She’s also intrigued to learn how the CJEU integrates the legal systems of EU member countries.
Eventually, she hopes to work either at the regional level of an international organization or in a domestic organization overseas. The latter would be similar to the work she did in Namibia, which involved applying international standards to the country’s domestic law. When the time comes, she knows she can tap Michigan Law’s resources for help.
“Michigan has great connections to all of these spaces,” she said. “And in terms of preparation, Michigan has been amazing.”
—————
Sarah Siegel
Clerk for the Hon. Ulf Öberg
No one can accuse Sarah Siegel of failing to take advantage of a professional opportunity.
Knowing that she would complete a clerkship in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas this month and start another in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in June 2025, she wondered how to fill the nine-month gap. She had an “aha” moment after reading a Law School article about another alumna who was heading for the court in Luxembourg.
Sure enough, she applied, and she credits her two US clerkships for helping secure the CJEU position.
“I probably stood out by having judicial experience in the United States,” she said. “I think Judge Öberg appreciates different perspectives; he and his clerks asked me a lot about my experiences in the American legal system.”
She anticipates working on a variety of topics during her clerkship. Judge Öberg’s court takes cases involving competition law (similar to antitrust in the US), anti-dumping law, digital markets law, trademark law, and procedural law, among others.
And, true to form, Siegel looked for another opportunity to fill the four-month gap between the CJEU stage and her Ninth Circuit clerkship. So she contacted Rossa Fanning, LLM ’00, after reading an article in Law Quadrangle magazine about his work as attorney general of Ireland. Siegel, who received Irish citizenship through her grandmother based on the principle of jus sanguinis, or right of blood, sees the benefits of the two EU experiences on her future career.
“I am interested in working in Europe, especially with my Irish citizenship, and so I couldn’t think of a better way to get exposure to EU law.”
Michigan Law
Three Michigan Law alumnae are in Luxembourg this fall to clerk for the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), a dream opportunity that will allow each of them to understand the workings of the EU legal system more deeply.
The Dean Acheson Legal Stage program at the US Embassy in Luxembourg is the only opportunity for US citizens to clerk, or “stage,” at the CJEU—for a judge of the Court of Justice, an advocate general of the Court of Justice, or a judge of the General Court. More than 80 American attorneys have interned with the program.
Grace Bruce and Emily Hammerslough are participating from September to December. As a dual US/EU citizen, Sarah Siegel applied directly to the CJEU, rather than through the Dean Acheson program. Her clerkship begins this month and ends in February.
“Securing a clerkship at the CJEU is exceptionally competitive,” said Eric Christiansen, Michigan Law’s assistant dean for international affairs. “It requires skills and experiences available at only a handful of the premier international law schools.”
In recent years, the Law School has steadily increased the number of international clerkship opportunities. This year alone, students and alumni have served in the International Criminal Court, the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the South African Constitutional Court. Another alumna, Mine Orer, LLM ’18, will soon begin a clerkship on the International Court of Justice.
Michigan Law supports international opportunities through the Clara Belfield and Henry Bates Overseas Fellowship, which allows students and alumni to do unpaid government and NGO work around the globe. The fellowship is funding Bruce, Hammerslough, and Siegel in whole or in part.
“A work opportunity like clerking at the CJEU is a shining highlight on anyone’s résumé,” said Christiansen. “But for graduates of non-EU law schools, it highlights a truly unique set of skills and experiences that will open a host of doors in European and international law.”
—————
Grace Bruce
Clerk for Advocate General Maciej Szpunar
Grace Bruce initially had a different plan for this fall: to start work in the dispute resolution practice in Freshfields’ Washington, DC, office, where she had served as a summer associate.
But she put those plans on hold when the clerkship opportunity at the CJEU arose.
“I didn’t think a traditional American clerkship, at least immediately after graduation, was for me,” she said. “I wanted to go to DC, get settled, get some training under my belt first. But this opportunity presented itself—and seems so in line with what I’m going to be doing when I get to my firm—that I couldn’t say no.”
While she anticipates working on a variety of cases in Luxembourg, she is particularly interested in the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. What she will bring to the table, in addition to her background in both public and private international law, is an American perspective, “particularly as a student trained in the common law.”
Equally, her EU experience will prove valuable when she starts as an associate at Freshfields later this year.
“So many of the firm’s clients are having to grapple with both American legal issues and EU legal issues,” she said. “By going to the CJEU and getting a better sense of European regulatory frameworks and how the court is interpreting those frameworks, I hope to eventually become a better and more globally integrated counselor to my future clients.”
—————
Emily Hammerslough
Clerk for Advocate General Tamara Ccapeta
Looking at the trajectory of her law school experience, Emily Hammerslough seemed destined to clerk for the CJEU.
In addition to taking several international law classes, she worked in Namibia’s Ministry of Justice during her 1L summer and for the International Service for Human Rights during an externship in Geneva her 2L year.
She also attended international law conferences and served on the Michigan Journal of International Law.
“I’ve been trying to take advantage of every international opportunity that Michigan Law has to offer,” Hammerslough said.
In fact, she applied to the Law School because of its international programs.
Needless to say, she plans on an international law career, specifically human rights law, and sees the CJEU clerkship as a next step to gain practical experience into how the EU system works, especially in the area of the fundamental rights of citizens. She’s also intrigued to learn how the CJEU integrates the legal systems of EU member countries.
Eventually, she hopes to work either at the regional level of an international organization or in a domestic organization overseas. The latter would be similar to the work she did in Namibia, which involved applying international standards to the country’s domestic law. When the time comes, she knows she can tap Michigan Law’s resources for help.
“Michigan has great connections to all of these spaces,” she said. “And in terms of preparation, Michigan has been amazing.”
—————
Sarah Siegel
Clerk for the Hon. Ulf Öberg
No one can accuse Sarah Siegel of failing to take advantage of a professional opportunity.
Knowing that she would complete a clerkship in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas this month and start another in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in June 2025, she wondered how to fill the nine-month gap. She had an “aha” moment after reading a Law School article about another alumna who was heading for the court in Luxembourg.
Sure enough, she applied, and she credits her two US clerkships for helping secure the CJEU position.
“I probably stood out by having judicial experience in the United States,” she said. “I think Judge Öberg appreciates different perspectives; he and his clerks asked me a lot about my experiences in the American legal system.”
She anticipates working on a variety of topics during her clerkship. Judge Öberg’s court takes cases involving competition law (similar to antitrust in the US), anti-dumping law, digital markets law, trademark law, and procedural law, among others.
And, true to form, Siegel looked for another opportunity to fill the four-month gap between the CJEU stage and her Ninth Circuit clerkship. So she contacted Rossa Fanning, LLM ’00, after reading an article in Law Quadrangle magazine about his work as attorney general of Ireland. Siegel, who received Irish citizenship through her grandmother based on the principle of jus sanguinis, or right of blood, sees the benefits of the two EU experiences on her future career.
“I am interested in working in Europe, especially with my Irish citizenship, and so I couldn’t think of a better way to get exposure to EU law.”
––––––––––––––––––––
Subscribe to the Legal News!
https://legalnews.com/Home/Subscription
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Day Pass Only $4.95!
One-County $80/year
Three-County & Full Pass also available
