Amy Howe

Sep 29 2016

Eight women slated to argue in October sitting

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).

Amy L Howe
Until September 2016, Amy served as the editor and reporter for SCOTUSblog, a blog devoted to coverage of the Supreme Court of the United States; she continues to serve as an independent contractor and reporter for SCOTUSblog. Before turning to full-time blogging, she served as counsel in over two dozen merits cases at the Supreme Court and argued two cases there. From 2004 until 2011, she co-taught Supreme Court litigation at Stanford Law School; from 2005 until 2013, she co-taught a similar class at Harvard Law School. She has also served as an adjunct professor at American University’s Washington College of Law and Vanderbilt Law School. Amy is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and holds a master’s degree in Arab Studies and a law degree from Georgetown University.
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