Submitted on Thursday, 12/22/2022, at 11:00 AM

Attorney Andrew Nussbaum ’85, chair of Amherst’s board of trustees, appeared on WBUR’s Morning Edition to share his memories of serving as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on Sept. 18. He clerked for Ginsburg while she was on the U.S. Court of Appeals in the early 1990s.

Nussbaum said Ginsburg was a “quiet and somewhat reserved person,” though she was “incredibly warm” and thoughtful toward him and his family throughout their friendship. She was, he said, both an excellent editor of legal prose and “a brilliant writer of thank-you notes.” He commented on her background as a daughter of immigrants and the obstacles she had to overcome early in her career. He also discussed the progressive judge’s friendship with conservative SCOTUS Justice Antonin Scalia, for whom Nussbaum also later clerked, thanks to a recommendation from Ginsburg.

An Amherst trustee since 2010 and board chair since 2018, Nussbaum today is a partner in the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.