Rhodes alumna and Union City, TN, native Allison Bruff ’14 is one of four individuals appointed as a 2020-2021 Supreme Court Fellow, according to an announcement by the Supreme Court Fellows Commission. She was selected as part of a highly competitive national process, culminating in interviews by the Commission in Washington, D.C. Each Fellow will serve a one-year term beginning in September 2020.
Bruff currently works in Washington, DC, as the rules law clerk to the Honorable David G. Campbell, United States District Judge and Chair of the Judicial Conference Standing Committee on the Rules of Practice and Procedure. She previously clerked for the Honorable Julia Smith Gibbons of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The clerkship was based in Memphis. Bruff also is licensed to practice law in the State of Tennessee.
As a Supreme Court Fellow, she will be assigned to the United States Sentencing Commission, the agency responsible for establishment of sentencing policies and practices for the federal courts.
Bruff holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Rhodes and a juris doctor from the University of Mississippi School of Law.
While at Rhodes, Bruff served as captain of the women’s lacrosse team in its inaugural season and an officer of Delta Delta Delta sorority. She worked as an intern at the Shelby Farms Park Conservancy through Rhodes’ Summer Service Fellowship program in 2011, and she went on to become the Summer Service Fellowship coordinator in 2013. Bruff also served as a research assistant for Prof. Jonathan Judaken and helped him coordinate the Communities in Conversation lecture series. For this role, she was named Student Employee of the Year for 2013-2014.
“I am honored to be selected as a Supreme Court Fellow for 2020-2021. From the beginning, Rhodes College has propelled me forward on paths I had not previously thought possible,” says Bruff. “So many in the Rhodes community – faculty, administrators, staff, classmates, coaches, and alumni – shaped my education, development, and career aspirations. And they continue to do so. It was my junior year when I decided to pursue a career in law and public service. My Rhodes education and the support of the community have enabled me to earn my law degree, serve two federal clerkships, and (soon) begin as a Supreme Court Fellow. I look forward to this next chapter and hope to represent Rhodes well.”