I've created three lists out of whole cloth. The first are the dozen most prestigious judges, by my own estimation and a variety of factors (exclusivity, productivity, feedability, etc.).
The second and third lists are a bit more unique. They focus on the most ten prestigious appointees of the last two presidents, Bush and Clinton. These are generally younger judges who show signs of the factors of the most prestigious judges (or are on that list), have been mentioned as possible McCain or Obama Supreme Court nominees, and are the most "coveted" if you seek a "younger" judge (although not all are necessarily relatively "young," but might be, e.g., one who can serve as a mentor longer, one who still has significant connections in their prior field of work, etc.).
These are wholly subjective, of course, but I welcome comment.
The Dozen Most Prestigious Federal Appellate Judges:Boudin: Harvard, Harvard,
Harvard, Yale
Calabresi: Cornell
, Harvard, NYU,
Yale
Easterbrook: Chicago, Harvard
Garland: Harvard, Harvard,
Michigan, Yale
Kozinski: Chicago, Harvard, Northwestern,
Tulane
O'Scannlain: Cornell,
Virginia, Yale,
Yale
Posner: Chicago, Harvard, NYU
Reinhardt: Columbia,
Harvard, UCLA, Yale
Sentelle: Duke, Harvard, Harvard
Tatel: Duke,
Georgetown, Stanford
Wilkinson: Northwestern, Stanford, Virginia, Virginia
S. Williams (Sr.):
Berkeley,
Chicago,
YaleTop Ten Bush Appointees:Callahan:
George Mason,
Harvard
Colloton: GWU, Harvard, Stanford, Yale
Griffith: Georgetown, Yale, Yale, Yale
Gorsuch:
Duke, Harvard, Harvard,
Vanderbilt
Ikuta: Berkeley,
Harvard, Stanford, UCLA
Kavanaugh: Harvard,
Harvard, Yale, Yale
McConnell: Harvard, Minnesota, Yale, Yale
Pryor: Alabama, Duke, Michigan
Sutton: Chicago, Harvard, Harvard
Sykes: Georgetown, Northwestern, Northwestern, Yale
Top Ten Clinton Appointees:Cabranes:
Boston College,
Penn, Yale
Calabresi: Cornell, Harvard, NYU,
Yale
W. Fletcher: Berkeley, Berkeley, Stanford,
YaleGarland: Harvard, Harvard,
Michigan, Yale
Katzmann:
Fordham,
Georgetown,
NYU,
Yale
Motz: Harvard,
Harvard,
Maryland, Michigan
Sotomayor:
NYU,
Stanford, Virginia, Yale
Tatel: Duke,
Georgetown, Stanford
Wardlaw:
Harvard, Notre Dame, Stanford
Wood: Chicago,
Harvard, Northwestern