The Supreme Court has its calendar set through January 2018 with ten cases already accepted for argument that are as of yet unscheduled. The total number of case grants so far is 53, and with consolidated cases this will lead to 47 arguments. This puts the Court on pace for one of the slowest grant rates…
Tag: Paul Clement
Name Dropping in Oral Argument
Supreme Court oral argument is the setting where attorneys get to present their cases to the justices. It is a chance for justices to ask questions and for attorneys to convey important information; especially information that might not be contained in the briefs. Oral argument also functions as a setting for dialogue. In this respect,…
A Dearth of Female Attorneys at Supreme Court Oral Arguments
Female attorneys have a long history arguing before the Supreme Court dating back to Belva Lockwood’s argument in 1880. While Lockwood’s argument helped proverbially break the glass ceiling for women to practice before the Supreme Court, such opportunities have proven difficult to come by as female attorneys only make up a small fraction of the…
Attorneys in the Clutch
Earlier this year I ran a blog post on the most powerful justices across time, which focused on their decisions in cases with single vote margin majorities. That post accounted for the decision makers, but it did not consider the attorneys whose arguments factor into the justices’ decision calculi. This post takes a look at…
Fast Out of the Gates (SCOTUS’ October 2017 Oral Arguments)
On October 2nd, the Supreme Court will be back in session with the first oral arguments of 2017. Since Justice Scalia passed away in February 2016 the justices have taken a light caseload and generally have not heard cases that would lead to great rifts among themselves. This non-divisive set of cases during the 2016…
A Changing of the Guard? (Probably Not But the Evidence is Mixed)
In an article I wrote last year I found several Supreme Court repeat players were much more successful than others in getting the Supreme Court to hear their cases. Many of these “Elite Cert Attorneys” argue multiple cases each term before the justices. They all have high exposure to all aspects of Supreme Court process and…
SCOTUS Success 2016
Now that the Supreme Court term is over, let the scoring begin. While this post looks at the most successful firms, litigators, and groups before the Supreme Court during the 2016 term, there are several caveats to note. First, this post looks at success before the Court as measured by win counts. Second, getting to…
Highly Citable
Attorneys before the Supreme Court have multiple goals. Whether the ultimate goal is winning a case, affecting public policy, or testing the constitutionality of a piece of legislation, good counsel get the justices’ attention. How they get the justices’ attention varies. Some engender attention through their regular experience before the Court while others through the…
Attorneys and Firms in the Supreme Court 2016
The Supreme Court wrapped up oral arguments for the 2016 term on April 26, 2017 with arguments in Sandoz Inc. v. Amgen and Maslenjak v. United States. These marked the 63rd and 64th arguments the Justices heard this term – down five from the 69 arguments the Justices heard a year prior. While the Court…
Four Takeaways From this Term’s 2016 SCOTUS Oral Arguments
We are experiencing a changing of the guard in the Supreme Court. There has been an usually long period with an eight-Justice dynamic which will very possibly continue on through the end of the Court’s current Term. Without some unprecedented occurrence, President-Elect Trump will nominate the next Justice to the Supreme Court who will likely…
Will the Election Help Normalize Business at the Supreme Court?
Prior to the Presidential Election there was profound uncertainty about the future of the Court. Before election night many believed Clinton would take the presidency and the democrats would look to move on the Garland nomination or otherwise nominate another candidate to the Supreme Court. With the Trump victory an entirely new chapter will be…
Starting Lineups: SCOTUS Attorneys and Firms of Record at the Beginning of OT 2016
Oral arguments begin for the 2016 Supreme Court Term tomorrow, Tuesday October 3rd. On one hand, commentary surrounding the Term often relates to the lack of interesting cases on the Court’s docket. Much of the rationale for the current Court’s decisions is thought to stem from its depleted number of Justices. Thus while the political…
Empirical SCOTUS 