KU News Release

KU law graduate accepts clerkship with U.S. Supreme Court

Travis Lenkner

LAWRENCE — A 2005 University of Kansas School of Law graduate has become the fifth KU law alumnus to be accepted for a U.S. Supreme Court clerkship.

Travis Lenkner, a Coats native, will clerk for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy during the 2008-09 term. Lenkner is the son of Edwin and Deana Lenkner.

Clerkships for the Supreme Court are highly sought after and extremely competitive.

“We are thrilled for Travis,” said Gail B. Agrawal, dean of the law school. “A Supreme Court clerkship is an unparalleled experience for a young lawyer. All of us in the KU law community feel honored by Justice Kennedy’s selection of Travis. We know he will do an outstanding job, just as he has done in everything else he has undertaken.”

An outstanding law student, Lenkner was editor-in-chief of the Kansas Law Review and president of the second-year class. He was a Raymond F. Rice Foundation Scholar, receiving a prestigious three-year full-tuition merit scholarship. Lenkner was the recipient of the Samuel Mellinger Scholarship, Leadership and Service Award, the school of law’s highest award given at commencement. He also was awarded the Dean William L. Burdick Prize and the West Group Outstanding Scholastic Achievement Award. He is a member of Order of the Coif, a scholastic honor society in legal education.

Following his graduation from KU, Lenkner was an associate with the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Washington, D.C. Earlier this year, he accepted a clerkship with Brett M. Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He received a bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University in 2001.

Previous KU law school graduates who have received clerkships:

— Heywood Davis, 1958 graduate, of Davis, Sands & Collins, P.C. law firm in Kansas City, clerked for Justice Charles E. Whittaker.
— Stephen McAllister, 1988 graduate, professor of law and former law dean at KU, clerked for Justices Clarence Thomas and Byron White.
— David Stras, 1999 graduate, associate professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, clerked for Thomas.
— Ann Scarlett, 1998 graduate, assistant professor at St. Louis University School of Law, clerked for Thomas.

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