Among Judges and their clerks, it is very much a thing.
I wasn’t good enough (or anywhere near good enough) to clerk for the Supreme Court, but I clerked for a Judge on the Eight Circuit and that unit – a Judge and his or her clerks – is an extended family that lasts for years. My Judge flew out to California to officiate my wedding. I’ve been back to where he sits for (at least) four events since I clerked there in the late 1990s. We recently had an 85th birthday party for the Judge and we had about 40-45 former clerks and spouses there. And a former clerk fronted the down payment for the venue and then all of us sent him money to cover it.
And if my network is nice, the network that exists within former clerks of a given SCOTUS justice – and between folks in that rarified universe – is even stronger. So, yeah, folks get together with their fellow clerks early and often.
But as for him being an asshole, don’t take it from me, take it from Justice Sotomoyor.
