Legal minds on legal matters and whatever else strikes our fancy.
Amicus curiae briefs can play an important role in Supreme Court advocacy by bringing relevant facts and argument to the Court’s attention that the parties have not addressed. Therefore, Amici have a unique opportunity to shape the outcome of a decision. The incidence of Amicus curiae participation in the Supreme Court has increased dramatically over [...]
Between now and the end of June, the Court will release opinions in 24 cases. Two hot-button political issues have garnered the most attention: (1) whether the Trump administration can put a citizenship question on the 2020 census, and (2) whether federal courts can strike down voting maps as excessively partisan. Though we have no [...]
There is a new way to argue at the Supreme Court—a conversation that exists completely outside of the courtroom at 1 First Street: “Virtual Briefing.” A forthcoming paper* in the Cornell Law Review by professors Jeffrey L. Fisher (Stanford Law School) and Allison Orr Larsen (William & Mary Law School) posits that: The open [...]
Legal commentators have long speculated that Supreme Court Justices prefer to release their most controversial opinions at the end of each term before embarking on summer recess to travel, teach, and write. For the fifth straight term, however, the Court has more than half of its opinions still outstanding at this point of the [...]
The U.S. Supreme Court adopted changes to its rules this week that reduce the number of words allowed in merits briefs and require parties to identify any lower court cases that are directly related to Supreme Court proceedings. The new rules go into effect July 1, 2019. Word limits: A revision to Rule 33.1(g) [...]
Benjamin v. Felder Servs., L.L.C., filed on February 18th To read this Supreme Court petition, click the heading to open this post, then follow the link!
Brief of State Appellees, in Va. House of Delegates v. Bethune-Hill, No. 18-281, filed on January 28th To read this Supreme Court merits brief, or to review the Court’s docket for this case, click the heading to open this post, then follow the links!
McKesson Corp. v. True Health Chiropractic, Inc., filed on January 25th McKinzy v. Gaston, filed on January 25th To read either of these Supreme Court petitions, click the heading to open this post, then follow the links!