Michael Bradley, a Tocqueville Fellowship alumnus and “Triple Domer,” recently secured a clerkship with Justice Samuel Alito of the Supreme Court of the United States. Bradley completed his undergraduate degree at Notre Dame in 2014 studying philosophy and theology. Following graduation, he assisted Professor Phillip Muñoz with the Tocqueville Program for Religion in Public Life, the predecessor of the Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government, before returning to Notre Dame to earn his Masters in Theological Studies in 2017. Several years later, Bradley felt the call to pursue a career in law and returned to Notre Dame Law School in 2019, a decision shaped in many parts by his formation from Notre Dame and the CCCG.
With a total of six lawyers in his immediate family, including Notre Dame Law Professor Emeritus Gerard Bradley, and Tim Bradley, another former Tocqueville Fellow and 2020 NDLS grad who clerked for Justice Amy Coney Barrett during the 2022 term, Bradley was no stranger to a career in law. Yet, he had no interest in pursuing law school until after he completed his graduate theological studies. He noted, “During my MTS program, I complemented my theological formation with… significant reading in ethics, legal philosophy, [and] jurisprudence. Those experiences were highly formative and helped me to hit the ground running… when I started law school in 2019.”
Bradley’s theological formation allowed him to see his career in law as about more than the intricate mechanics of legal doctrine. Rather, he added, “To put it simply, all law is an effort to facilitate human flourishing. And all law, in that sense, is founded on the natural law, which is an instantiation of the Divine Law.” Bradley views his career in law, as Saint John Henry Newman writes, as a unique vocation: “The set of tasks that the Lord gives each one of us is totally unique. So you and I each have a mission from the Lord that he's asking us to accomplish in cooperation with him. And if we don't fulfill the task he gives us, it won't get done. That is a hugely motivating thought.”
Bradley credits the CCCG and Professor Muñoz for many of his academic opportunities:
“[Professor Muñoz] has a gift for looking at a student and wanting to help you realize your potential and wanting to help you pursue your passions. And that's not a common virtue in professors. I always felt so enfranchised by his interest in my work and my development.”
His journey to the Supreme Court began with his first clerkship with Judge Thomas Hardiman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit: “I first met Judge Hardiman through Professor Muñoz at a Tocqueville Program tailgate, and [he] helped recommend me to Judge Hardiman.” In clerking for Judge Hardiman, followed by Chief Judge William Pryor of the Eleventh Circuit, Bradley loved improving his legal writing and thinking skills. Encouraged by his judges and mentors from the Law School, Bradley applied and was accepted to clerk for Justice Alito at the Supreme Court starting in July 2025.
Clerking is writing- and research-intensive: “You are working in chambers with the judge or the justice, preparing ‘bench memos’ for the judge to gear him up for oral argument, and drafting opinions. You're drafting memos to be exchanged with other judges who are on the panel or, in the Supreme Court's case, sitting for pretty much every case. You’re assisting the judge in his work, in whatever ways he asks for and finds most helpful. A clerkship is a great opportunity to hone your skills and to learn from other people around you who are probably smarter than you.”
While Muñoz and the CCCG certainly contributed to Bradley’s professional formation, Bradley also recalled the formation he received from the CCCG in his personal vocation to marriage and family life: “[Professor Muñoz]… was really generous in facilitating my vocations as father and husband and student and never forced me to choose between them. This is what's so beautiful about Notre Dame. You don't have to choose between your faith, …family commitments and priorities, and what you're studying.” Bradley married his college sweetheart, Madeline, in 2016. Upon entering Notre Dame Law School, Bradley already had two children and graduated with four. He noted, “[Law school] was a challenging, trying three years that involved a lot of sacrifice… but the community at the law school and the support of mentors like Professor Muñoz…[were] invaluable. You can't be a competitive student at a top law school while raising four children unless you have a lot of support.”
According to Bradley, Notre Dame stands out as the premier place for pursuing one’s vocations — both in academic excellence and marriage and family — in their fullness. When asked to provide advice for prospective students interested in law school and pursuing a vocation to marriage and family life, Bradley added, “Take your questions of discernment seriously to prayer, and don’t be afraid to seek out mentorship and counsel from people whom you trust and who are modeling exactly what you hope to do.” Bradley spoke highly of the Notre Dame Law School’s faculty and community, which he said are unique in modeling the “marriage between faith and reason, embodied in the community’s life itself.”
Bradley is eager for the unique opportunity that his clerkship presents to grow professionally. He will begin his clerkship in July 2025 and continue through July 2026.
Learn more about the Tocqueville Fellowship program on our website.