Judge Alsup is an outstanding judge, but I would also bet a nickel that one or more of his clerks [1] had experience as a developer before going to law school.

Judge Alsup is an outstanding judge, but I would also bet a nickel that one or more of his clerks [1] had experience as a developer before going to law school. [1] A judicial clerk is a young lawyer, normally just out of law school and generally with a first-rate academic record, hired by a judge to serve for one or two years as a researcher and (often) as an opinion-drafter. ('grellas, for example clerked for Judge Ingraham.) Clerk positions are highly coveted among law students, because they can open doors to jobs in large law firms, the Justice Department, etc. As just one example, Chief Justice John Roberts clerked for then-Associate Justice, later Chief Justice William Rehnquist. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_clerk#United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_clerk#United_States