First Rutgers–Camden Grad to Clerk on U.S. Supreme Court Credits Law School for Her Success

Evans’s path to the Supreme Court and to her current work as a litigator began at Rutgers–Camden, where several professors encouraged her to pursue clerkships in the federal courts.  After graduation, she completed a clerkship for now-Chief Judge Jerome B. Simandle of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in Camden and began a clerkship in Newark for then-Judge Michael Chertoff at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.  When Judge Chertoff was named Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Evans relocated to Washington to continue working with him.  She later worked at the U.S. Department of Justice and completed a clerkship for then-Chief Judge David B. Sentelle of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit before starting her Supreme Court clerkship in the summer of 2008.

Evans, who clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas, recalls the Term that she spent at the Court with fondness.  “Every day I felt incredibly grateful and humbled to be working on issues of such national importance,” she says.  In describing Justice Thomas, Evans has nothing but the highest praise.  “He is incredibly generous, intelligent, principled and good-natured.”  Since the completion of her clerkship, she especially appreciates the time that he spends with his clerks each year.  

Looking back, Evans is pleased that she chose Rutgers–Camden for her legal education.  After earning an undergraduate degree in art history and art conservation from the University of Delaware, she applied to a number of area schools, but ultimately chose Rutgers–Camden just as her father Craig Evans (CLAW ’84) had done before her. 

Evans thanks the Rutgers–Camden community for the role that it has played in defining and furthering her career.   Her first exposure to appellate litigation was through the Hunter Moot Court program, which she and her moot court partner Kelly Hicks Blouet (CLAW ’02) won in 2001.  When they progressed to regional and national moot court competitions during their third year, Evans remembers the help and encouragement that they received from the school and its professors.  “It was a terrific experience,” she recalls.  “The school came together for us and held several moot courts to help us prepare.  We were thrilled to place fifth nationwide.”  That foundational training has been invaluable in her present practice.  “I’m so glad I chose Rutgers,” she says.