There are unwritten rules for some young law clerks who go to work for federal judges.

One of them is an expectation to eat lunch together every day. Another is to stay for drinks, often late into the evening, when the judge says so. Some nights stretch past midnight. And those social settings can be anything but relaxed.

"If I had declined to participate, it would have marked me as disloyal or difficult," said a former clerk with the initial A. She spoke under those conditions because she fears retribution for talking about her experience. "It was a constant reminder of how completely the judge controlled my time even during supposed breaks."

Federal judges have served as a rare check on President Trump's politically charged policies and executive actions this year. Yet the same power

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