A judicial clerkship can put a young lawyer on a path to a dream career. But if the judge is abusive or unethical, that dream can very quickly turn into a nightmare.

That's what happened to Aliza Shatzman, a former clerk who had a terrible experience working for a judge. Shatzman went on to found the Legal Accountability Project, a group advocating for more workplace protections for clerks and other judicial branch employees.

Shatzman joins our On The Merits podcast in the wake of a scandal involving an Alaska federal judge who resigned amid allegations of pervasive harassment and abuse of his clerks. We also hear from Bloomberg Law reporter Jacqueline Thomsen about why courts have their own system for handling employee disputes and why they don't want Congress to interfere with it.

Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.