Over the course of each Supreme Court term (October to June), Justices hear oral arguments in various cases concerning interpretations of both federal law and constitutional interpretation.
Supreme Court attorneys are in high demand, yet their services don’t come cheap: One hour with one of these top litigators costs more than what an American family earns in one week!
The number of lawyers in the court
Attorneys who practice before the Supreme Court enjoy an elite status among legal practitioners. All of them attended top law schools and clerked for one or more justices before joining some of the most renowned private firms; these lawyers frequently represent similar types of cases over and over again; this group of practitioners are known as repeat players – an exclusive club dominated by men.
No published rules govern how the Justices choose which petitions for certiorari to hear, but unspoken rules do appear to affect who gets heard and who does not. Advocates with whom Justices often side are often white men practicing in Montgomery County who work at highly prestigious law firms; their cases tend to get heard more quickly as a result.
Women and minorities remain severely underrepresented at the Supreme Court due to a limited pool of attorneys authorized to represent clients at this level, with less than 10 regular attendees such as Lisa Blatt from Bethesda making her 43rd high court argument recently.
The Supreme Court requires attorneys who wish to present cases before it be members of the United States Supreme Court bar; however, many never actually appear. Of the nearly 200,000 lawyers officially registered as members of this bar each year, only 25 make an appearance. Each year the Justices typically grant both sides 30 minutes for argument before questioning takes place between arguments by Justices.
To provide an indication of their success, The New York Times conducted an analysis to identify which attorneys receive more favorable votes from Justices. To do this, they matched up attorneys who appeared in at least 35 Supreme Court cases with justices’ voting records from those cases to compile a list of attorneys with highest positive percentages.
The number of lawyers arguing before the court
Attorneys who regularly appear before the Supreme Court are an elite breed. They may handle multiple cases per term and hundreds of arguments over their career; and often command top fees due to the highly specialized nature of Supreme Court litigation. Unfortunately, this means less well-known firms may not be able to afford these top lawyers; furthermore it makes recruiting new lawyers to practice Supreme Court law more challenging.
The Supreme Court typically holds one argument per day from Monday through Wednesday of each two-week interval from December through April (with longer breaks in December and February). Of all petitions filed each term, approximately 80 petitions are approved by justices as reviewing them due to their significance for federal law – at least four Justices select cases by reading through parties’ legal arguments prior to oral argumentation.
Lawyers appearing before the Supreme Court must prepare and submit a legal brief in written format to be read by Justices before hearing their cases, and be scrutinized before hearing both sides. Afterward, Justices may question each side and then make a determination as to whether to approve lower courts decisions or alter them as they see fit. Attorneys arguing before the Supreme Court are often the best of those available in their field and may have numerous cases available during each term – though their rules require them to have significant experience within that particular field before qualifying them to appear before it.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor addressed the lack of diversity among attorneys who appear before the Court during an exclusive interview this year. While not citing opportunities as solely responsible, Justice Sotomayor stressed the need for legal communities to promote diversity at every level – from reaching out early on in students’ careers encouraging minority students to apply for clerkships with judges, to marketing clerkship positions as desirable jobs for young attorneys.
The number of lawyers on the disciplinary board
Attorneys on the disciplinary board dedicate themselves full-time to investigating and prosecuting attorney misconduct, maintaining public trust in legal professionals while upholding court integrity. Although they don’t receive payment for their efforts, they understand the ethical standards must remain high throughout justice systems; and are dedicated to upholding them vigorously with all due fairness.
The Supreme Court’s bar is small and highly specialized. Only a handful of attorneys argue cases for the Court every year; others have appeared numerous times throughout their careers. Top Supreme Court litigators can command premium rates.
Recent research indicates that attorney policy preferences influence how justices vote on cases. This phenomenon, known as signaling, could explain why repeat attorneys often receive higher average favorable votes than newcomers do. One common strategy used by signaling attorneys to influence Justices voting behavior is writing briefs aligning with Justice policies; though this strategy can work effectively if all Justices support those positions taken by their attorneys.
Each week, Justices meet at an informal conference known as a “Cert Pool” to review petitions for certiorari. Each justice assigns petitions to their law clerks, who read through and prepare memoranda on each petition; Justices then discuss these memos and decide which cases they wish to accept or reject based on them. Justices cannot bring anyone except their law clerks with them for this Conference.
In the past, most cert pool cases were handled by attorneys with high profiles in the legal community who were known to write briefs that appealed to Justices on key legal issues. Although there are no official rules governing this process, Justices appear to give these lawyers more weight than others in making their decision.
Recent years have witnessed an influx of attorneys before the Supreme Court, many of them female. Most come from the Department of Justice which has an illustrious tradition of hiring outstanding legal talent; most notable among these was Elena Kagan as its first female solicitor general, creating opportunities for other attorneys to join its bar.
The number of lawyers on the court’s executive committee
The Supreme Court of the United States is the nation’s highest court, responsible for interpreting and enforcing U.S. laws. Additionally, it reviews lower court decisions and enforces its own rules in certain instances. Elected for life by its people of United States citizens, its Justices meet nine times each term for oral arguments with nine sitting Chief Justices and eight Associate Justices sitting alongside one Chief Justice; among their activities includes studying petitions submitted for review as well as studying previous court opinions.
The Justices are responsible for setting limits on government power and protecting civil liberties and rights. They ensure that popular majorities cannot pass laws which violate the Constitution or hurt unpopular minorities; additionally they serve as the last check on executive and legislative branches of federal government. As an essential component of American constitutional government, its Justices are often seen as national heroes.
Only a select group of attorneys have the privilege of appearing before the Supreme Court, with top SCOTUS advocates generally belonging to large law firms with extensive experience, while less frequently involved cases at the high court have also seen success before the high court. One notable SCOTUS advocate, Laurence Gold (typically representing labor interests and having argued 45 cases before them at SCOTUS; his hourly rate remains unknown) stands out among this elite group of legal minds.
Attorneys with successful Supreme Court track records may not always be the most gifted advocates, but they do understand how to read the justices. This ability becomes particularly vital when litigators appear before the Court often; an earlier Empirical SCOTUS post looked at attorneys who had argued more than 35 cases at the Court between 2013 and 2017; their results demonstrated high levels of support across justices.
Effective advocates are those who present well-considered positions and craft compelling arguments. While acknowledging there may be some chance in appearing before the Supreme Court, these advocates do not fear taking risks to persuade its justices of their arguments.