During his 22 years as clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court, William Suter has always been more than just a clerk in the bureaucratic sense. He has been the court’s goodwill ambassador to the legal profession, specifically the lawyers who experience the honor and anxiety of arguing before the court.

Which is why, when the court announced Suter’s plan to retire in August, practitioners across town expressed shock and sorrow at his leaving. Suter, 75, will remain on the job until the end of August.