When William Suter was refinancing his house five years ago, the paperwork asked if he had any lawsuits pending against him.

He chuckled. As clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court, Suter is often the target of convicts wanting a court to find fault with the handling of their cases.

“I had 15 lawsuits pending against me at the time,” he said. “I get sued all the time.”

Suter, who has had his job since 1991, was at Kansas University on Tuesday to speak to law students and meet with faculty and alumni.

He met with two classes Tuesday and will participate in a forum on judge advocate generals at 12:30 p.m. today in Room 107 of Green Hall.

Suter, a retired major general, said being a JAG officer was as much about negotiation skills as law skills.

If the United States goes to war in Iraq, Suter said JAG officers would deploy there, too. They’ll help identify lawful and unlawful targets for bombs.

William K. Suter, right, clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court, talks with KU School of Law Dean Stephen McAllister. Suter was in Lawrence on Tuesday to talk with law students and alumni about his experiences with the Supreme Court.

Suter handles the administrative duties for the Supreme Court. He said the court had been “revolutionized” by technology in the last few years, with cases, briefs and transcripts now available online.

And by the way, Suter doesn’t think much of the “JAG” television show.

“It’s like anyone who sees a show about something they do,” he said. “It’s just so unreal it’s ridiculous. When you have a judge talking to a defendant in a court-martial case outside court, I said, ‘No, I don’t need to watch this.'”