As the legal and political worlds process the sudden death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, questions remain for a small group of lawyers close to the justice—his current and future law clerks.

What will happen to the four clerks working right now in Justice Scalia’s chambers, and for the four slated to join in the fall?

Justice Scalia's staff is expected to stay in place, but the court had no information about the future of his law clerks.

If history is any guide, his current clerks should find work elsewhere on the court. But the newcomers may have a harder time finding a role at the Supreme Court, particularly if no new justice is in place by the time President Obama leaves office.

“Six months to a year ago, those incoming clerks probably thought they won the lottery,” said Todd Peppers, a professor who has written a book on Supreme Court clerks. “Now it may be snatched away from them.”