Correspondence from Lani Guinier to Judge Gerard L. Goettel Re: Steve L. Lapidus Recommendation for Clerkship

Correspondence
September 14, 1983

Cite this item

Correspondence from Lani Guinier to Judge Gerard L. Goettel Re: Steve L. Lapidus Recommendation for Clerkship preview

Document text

The following text has been generated automatically during the document scanning process. It may contain errors, omissions, or incorrect formatting. Please refer to the PDF document if this text is not usable.

Download

By downloading, publishing, or reusing the Materials outside of the Website, you hereby confirm and attest that you have read and agree to the LDF Archival Collection Terms of Use linked below. We draw your attention to the following:

For those Materials owned by LDF, your use of the Material outside the Site is solely for one or more of the following (the “Permitted Purposes”):

Non-commercial research and private study;
Teaching, scholarship and instruction (including distance learning);
Non-commercial print and non-commercial online use;
Criticism, comment or news reporting; or
For people with visual disabilities (See Section 121 of the Copyright Act).
For those Materials not owned by LDF you understand that:
- It is your responsibility to determine whether the way you plan to use the materials falls within the copyright exception of Fair Use.
- For any use outside of Fair Use, it is your responsibility to seek and obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders.

LDF hereby grants you the right to use LDF owned Materials for the Permitted Purposes without seeking further permission from LDF.

If you publish or redistribute any Materials (including excerpts and quotes), you must include a credit line and/or proper citation to the source of the Material. However, you may not use the name of LDF in any manner which creates any false association between you and LDF or that incorrectly implies any sponsorship or endorsement of you by LDF.

NOTICE: Uses that do not comply with these Terms or that do not fall under Fair Use (or another exception) may make you liable for copyright infringement.

Read the full LDF Archival Collection Terms of Use Here.

I agree to the terms and conditions for use of this content.

If you would like to use this content in other ways, contact us at .

Matter
- Lani Guinier Correspondence
Case
- Lani Guinier Correspondence
U.S. state
- General
Collection
- Legal Department General
Taxonomy
Identifier
- f2cdf816-e592-ee11-be37-6045bdeb8873

Cite this item

Legal Department General, Lani Guinier Correspondence. Correspondence from Lani Guinier to Judge Gerard L. Goettel Re: Steve L. Lapidus Recommendation for Clerkship, 1983. f2cdf816-e592-ee11-be37-6045bdeb8873. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/3533209d-54d1-4554-af23-de3a67cb611c/correspondence-from-lani-guinier-to-judge-gerard-l-goettel-re-steve-l-lapidus-recommendation-for-clerkship. Accessed November 23, 2025.

Copied!

Lesa,U&renseH"

September 14, 1983

The Honorable Gerard L. Goettel
Unlted States Courthouse
40 Foley Square
New York, New York 10007

RE: Steven L. Lapldus

Dear Judge Goettel:

I wrlte to recommend Steven L. Lapldus for a clerkshlp
posltlon. I undertake this task wlth great pleasure.

Mr. Lapldus worked wlth me thls summer on several matters
lnvolvlng novel legaI theorles. His research skllIs and
conceptual ab1l1ties were superb. On h1s own lnltlatlve
he dlscovered numerous prlmary source materlals that
proved 1nva1uable. He then worked wlth the lnformatlon
he uncovered to present lt 1n ways that were most helpful
to the reader. He drafted a lengthy memorandum at my
request whleh ls as clear a statement of exlstlng 1aw and
as careful an analysls of posslble new approaches as I
would expect from an experlenced lltigator. Unl1ke many
law students wlth whom I have worked 1n the ten years
slnce my 1aw school graduatlon, Mr. Lapldus 1s able to
comblne a flne lnteIlectual grasp of complex lssues wlth a
pragmatlsm and sense of prlorltles that usually come only
after years of experlence. He 1s d111gent about detalls.
H1s wrltlng ls excellent. I would state wlthout hesltatlon
that he 1s easl1y one of the most able and, certalnly, the
most thorough 1aw student wlth whom I have worked.

Havlng myself served as a Judicial law clerk 1n federal
court for two years, I am confldent that Mr. Lapldus w111
be one of the best 1aw clerks you could ever have. Whether
the asslgnment 1s mundane and tlme consumlng or dlfflcult
and problematic, Mr. Lapldus w111 provlde you a thoughtful,

Contributions are deductiblefor U.S. incomc tar purposes

The NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUCATIoNAL FUND is not part ol the National Association for the Advancement ol Colored People although it
was founded by it and shares its commitment to equal rights. LDF has had lor over 25 years a separate Board, program, stall, ollice and budget.

NAACP LEGAL OEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC.
10 Cotumbus Circte, New york, N.y. 10019 o (Z1Z) 586-9397

The Honorable Gerard L. Goettel
September 14, 1983

Page Two

comprehenslve and pollshed work product.
h1m to you wlth the utmost enthuslasm.

I recommend

Slncerely,

&*lr,)d:. Gulnler

LG/r

Copyright notice

This collection and the tools to navigate it (the “Collection”) are available to the public for general educational and research purposes, as well as to preserve and contextualize the history of the content and materials it contains (the “Materials”). Like other archival collections, such as those found in libraries, LDF owns the physical source Materials that have been digitized for the Collection; however, LDF does not own the underlying copyright or other rights in all items and there are limits on how you can use the Materials. By accessing and using the Material, you acknowledge your agreement to the Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Materials.

Additional info

To the extent that LDF includes information about the Materials’ origins or ownership or provides summaries or transcripts of original source Materials, LDF does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy of such information, transcripts or summaries, and shall not be responsible for any inaccuracies.

Correspondence from Lani Guinier to Judge Gerard L. Goettel Re: Steve L. Lapidus Recommendation for Clerkship

Matter

Case

U.S. state

Collection

Taxonomy

Identifier

Cite this item

Copyright notice

Additional info

You may also be interested in