Last term I repeatedly lamented the dearth of female advocates arguing at the court — and, in particular, the infrequency with which women from private law firms appeared. The October hearing list has been released, and things are already off to a much better start. Three different women from private law firms will argue: Lisa Blatt of Arnold & Porter (in Bravo-Fernandez v. United States); Alexandra Shapiro of Shapiro Arato (in Salman v. United States); and Kathleen Sullivan of Quinn Emanuel (in Samsung Electronics v. Apple). Two other women who are not lawyers for either a state government or the federal government will also appear: Christina Swarns of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund will argue on behalf of death-row inmate Duane Buck, while Koren Bell — who is listed as a deputy federal public defender but, according to a recent press release, is about to join a private law firm — will argue in Shaw v. United States. Finally, three assistants to the U.S. solicitor general will round out the group: Elizabeth Prelogar (in Bravo-Fernandez); Ilana Eisenstein (in Manuel v. City of Joliet); and Rachel Kovner (in Pena-Rodriguez v. Colorado).