Amid the chaos of the pandemic, Jones Day was able to continue its signature annual foray into recruiting former U.S. Supreme Court law clerks, adding nine of them in recent months as associates for its nationwide issues and appeals practice from the high court’s 2019-20 term.

The number nine, announced in a statement Thursday, does not quite reach the firm’s peak of 12 recruits from the 2017-18 term, but it is higher than the five clerks hired from the 2018-19 term. All told, Jones Day has recruited 64 former Supreme Court clerks since 2011.