TURN ON RACHEL NOW and get ready for your head to explode. The Russian noose tightens.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

32. Many years ago - Stanley Foreman Reed, and Robert H. Jackson. Both practiced law

for many years before becoming Justices. There was a time when you could become a lawyer without going to law school; you worked as a law clerk, studied and then passed the bar. Those days are long gone; in all but four states you can't even take the bar exam without first getting a law degree, and even then your career options will be limited. To get appointed to the Supreme Court these days you'll need a law degree, preferably from Harvard or Yale; you should have served on the school's Law Review; you probably will need to clerk for a federal judge (preferably at the Supreme Court itself); then you'll need to work for a white-shoe law firm in New York or D.C. doing high-profile corporate work or civil litigation; or else get a job in the U.S. Attorney's office. You should also work on cultivating politicians so you can get an appointment to the federal bench - first a federal district court, then a circuit court of appeals (preferably the D.C. Circuit). Then, finally, and only if you have enough friends in high places and an opening occurs, you might have a shot at it.