Chuck Grassley Asks Judicial Nominee About Experience Clerking Under Justices Scalia And Gorsuch

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During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing prior to the congressional recess, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) questioned Eric Tung about clerking under Justice Scalia and Justice Gorsuch.

Transcript

00:00I will start with five minutes for everybody.

00:05I've been asked to be a little more firm on people staying within the five minutes,

00:12so if you hear the gavel lightly, please observe it because we're trying to help each other out.

00:20Mr. Tung, you already spoke about the justices that you served under,

00:30and you told a little bit about it, but I want to give you an opportunity

00:34if there's something you have said that you've learned from them.

00:38What did you take away from those clerkships about the role of a judge in our constitutional system,

00:44and how have those lessons shaped the way you approach legal questions today?

00:52Thank you for the question, Chairman Grassley.

00:54Justices Scalia and Gorsuch were masters of the judicial craft.

00:59And I learned immensely from them about how to be a judge.

01:03The analytical rigor that they brought to their jurisprudence was something I took away from the job.

01:10Their writing styles, their ability to communicate and convey ideas crisply and succinctly

01:17was something I also learned from them while I was a clerk.

01:21There was one experience I had when I clerked with Justice Scalia,

01:24and as a law clerk, I tried to be too clever by half and included in a draft a Latin phrase.

01:32Justice Scalia read it, and he asked, he told me,

01:35Eric, I think there's a grammatical error in the Latin phrase you inserted.

01:39And he walked across his chambers, pulled out from his drawer a magnifying glass,

01:45got out a Latin dictionary.

01:46The font in the Latin dictionary was extremely tiny.

01:49And looked up the phrase, and lo and behold, there was a grammatical error.

01:54From that experience, I learned how careful and diligent he was in his approach to the law.

02:02And I hope I can carry that with me as a judge on the Ninth Circuit if I am so lucky to be confirmed.

02:07Now, Mr. Dunlap, you were selected by the Maine Supreme Court for the Advisory Committee on Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure.

02:18You've served as committee chairman since 2023.

02:24What have you learned from your time advising the state of Maine on appellate rules,

02:30and how will the experience serve you if confirmed as a judge for the First Circuit?

02:36I think one of the things that we have discussed on a number of occasions is making sure that the rules are understandable

02:44and accessible to individuals who may be proceeding pro se.

02:50For state courts, that is a significant consideration.

02:54I believe that reflects an important premise that the law should be available to all

03:02and that the law should be impartially and fairly applied to every litigant who comes before the court.

03:09And that is certainly something that I would seek to do should I be confirmed.

03:14Now back to Mr. Tung.

03:16You've clerked at nearly every level of the legal system

03:20and working with a Bristol fellow at the solicitor's office

03:27to prosecuting federal cases as an assistant U.S. attorney.

03:32And now you're in private law practice.

03:35How has that wide-ranging experience prepared you to take the responsibilities of a federal appellate?

03:44Chairman Grassley, my time in public practice and private practice has well equipped me.

03:50To serve as a judge on the Ninth Circuit.

03:53I've handled numerous appeals in both federal and state courts of appeals.

03:58I've briefed and successfully prevailed in various cases on both the appellate levels

04:04and the trial court levels, again, in both federal and state courts.

04:09I have also assisted several trial teams in serving as an appellate strategist

04:15in helping to preserve appellate issues and preparing witnesses.

04:19I've also drafted several proposed jury instructions in those matters as well.

04:24I've appeared before judges in detention hearings and also motions to suppress.

04:30And in my time at the Office of the Solicitor General,

04:32I got to handle some of the most high-profile cases that have come before the U.S. Supreme Court.

04:38I assisted the assistants to the Solicitor General as well as the U.S. Solicitor General

04:43in crafting briefs, in developing arguments, in conducting legal research,

04:48and in assisting them in their oral argument preparations.

04:52Mr. Dunlap, I have 27 seconds left.

04:56That doesn't account for your answer, but you filed an amicus brief

05:02on behalf of the Conference of Chiefs Officers.

05:06It's a quote.

05:07I'd like to quote that this is the highest judicial officers of each state and U.S. journey.

05:13The primary focus was on federalism.

05:17What are your views on federalism?

05:20It was an honor to be able to represent the conference in that case.

05:25I think federalism is a part of our structure of separation of powers

05:32that is important to our system of government,

05:36that powers are not only separated horizontally but also vertically,

05:41and that provides a second guarantee to the rights of the people.

05:47Thank you, Senator Durbin.

05:48Thank you, Senator Durbin.

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