U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death on Friday shocked the nation. But for five new law clerks who began working for Ginsburg in the last month or so, the news had special consequences: uncertainty about their jobs.

By long tradition, suddenly orphaned law clerks are usually reassigned to other justices’ chambers, either for the same term or for a future term. When Justice Anthony Kennedy retired in 2018, three of his clerks who were already on the payroll were quickly dispersed to other justices, contributing to a larger-than-usual number of clerks for the term: 41 instead of the usual 38.