The term elbow clerk, encountered at a conference of judges and lawyers, refers to a clerk who works directly in a judge’s chambers, right at the judge’s elbow. It suggests an all-purpose helper who is always on hand, though the phrase also invites the joke that someone might be counting elbows. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “In Legal Settings, “Elbow Clerk” Means a Clerk Who Works in the Judge’s Chambers”
I learned a new term at a conference for judges and lawyers where I was a speaker.
And that term is elbow clerk.
Elbow clerk.
So this is a clerk who works directly in the judge’s chambers.
It’s kind of like imagine them at the elbow of the judge.
Oh, that’s nice.
Kind of like the dog’s body who’s always present for whatever needs to be done.
But elbow clerk.
Cool, right?
That. And now I’m going to get all the lawyers saying, well, actually, there’s a little more nuance.
Here’s a 40-page paper that I wrote. And I’m like, okay, I’ll read that. Send that to me right away.
And meanwhile, there are probably kids all over the country who are saying, well, I want to be an elbow clerk when I grow up.
Isn’t it funny? Because you could easily misunderstand what an elbow clerk is, right?
I’ve counted all the elbows. We’re full up. We’ve got 100% of all elbows accounted for.
