Elite Lawyers Take the Lead Before the Supreme Court
An elite cadre of lawyers has emerged as first among equals, giving their clients a disproportionate chance to influence the law of the land because their appeals are more likely to be accepted by the U.S. Supreme Court than others, reports Reuters.
A Reuters examination of nine years of cases shows that 66 of the 17,000 lawyers who petitioned the Supreme Court succeeded at getting their clients’ appeals heard at a remarkable rate. Their appeals were at least six times more likely to be accepted by the court than were all others filed by private lawyers during that period.
“The lawyers are the most influential members of one of the most powerful specialties in America: the business of practicing before the Supreme Court.” the Reuters report says. “None of these lawyers is a household name. But many are familiar to the nine justices. That’s because about half worked for justices past or present, and some socialize with them.”