Second Circuit Judge Agrees to More Measures on Clerk Treatment

A Second Circuit judge agreed to take additional actions to improve the work environment in her chambers, after a second complaint was filed over her conduct toward law clerks.

The Second Circuit order doesn’t name the judge, but it appears to match a complaint filed by the Legal Accountability Project, an outside group that advocates for more workplace protections for law clerks, that was filed against Second Circuit Judge Sarah Merriam.

A representative for the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and LAP’s president and founder, Aliza Shatzman, didn’t immediately return requests for comment.

LAP’s complaint, filed in December 2025, alleged that the work environment in chambers hadn’t improved after an initial finding against Merriam and changes that were implemented.

According to the newly publicized order, which is dated April 26, the judge has agreed to keep following the original requirements put in place in response to the first complaint, as well some new measures. Those new actions include meetings with “advisor judges” about chambers management, attending the annual workplace training for new chambers staff alongside incoming law clerks, and participating in management training approved by the circuit’s chief judge.

It’s the latest instance of a federal judge facing scrutiny for their conduct inside their chambers or beyond. US District Judge Eleanor Ross was privately reprimanded for misconduct that included having an extramarital affair in chambers in earshot of her clerks, and Judge Ryan Nelson on the Ninth Circuit is the subject of a misconduct proceeding after he was charged in connection with a parking lot altercation.

‘Tense’ Atmosphere

Law clerks who worked for the Second Circuit judge in 2024 and 2025 told judicial investigators that the atmosphere in chambers was “both tense and challenging,” according to the order signed by Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston. Those clerks took their concerns to the Second Circuit employee who handles workplace conduct issues, and also spoke with the circuit executive.

After reviewing their options — including filing a complaint and reporting the judge to the circuit’s chief judge— the clerks chose to speak with their judge directly in June 2025, according to the order.

“The clerks recounted that the Judge took their concerns seriously and, moreover, made sure they understood that they had the option to file a judicial misconduct complaint — something they did not wish to pursue,” the order reads. “The Judge apologized, indicated a desire to do better, and encouraged the clerks to continue reporting their concerns.”

The clerks said their experience then improved, though there were still issues within chambers, the order said. But they were upset by the filing of the complaint and the “resulting publicity about their clerkship experience,” according to the order.

The clerks said they wished the complaint hadn’t been filed, especially since it was six months after they approached the judge and improvements were made, according to the order.

They also said they believed the judge wanted the clerks to have a good experience and was committed to that and to properly serving as a judge, the order said.

Workplace conditions for court staff have been an area of focus in recent years, with members of Congress holding hearings on the topic and the federal judiciary issuing its own changes to its internal system for handling those matters.

Judiciary committees and advisory groups are actively considering another series of recommended changes to that system, a judiciary spokesperson said this week, which were released in March 2025 in response to findings from a climate survey sent to federal court employees in January 2023.

The judiciary is also weighing changes in response to studies by the Federal Judicial Center and the National Academy of Public Administration, and well as the Government Accountability Office, each released in July 2024, that found issues with how reports of workplace problems are handled.

The Second Circuit order was reported earlier by Reuters.