This week 31 members of the Supreme Court bar — lawyers who argue regularly before the court — sent the Senate Judiciary Committee a letter expressing their “strong support” for Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s nominee to fill the vacancy left on the court by last year’s death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Characterizing themselves as holding “a broad range of political, policy, and jurisprudential views,” the signatories had unqualified praise for Gorsuch, whom they described (among other things) as “unfailingly polite” and “principled in his approach to the law, but also keenly aware of practical consequences.” Gorsuch possesses, the letter concluded, “the unusual combination of character, dedication, and intellect that would make him an asset to our Nation’s highest court.”

The signatories to the letter are listed in alphabetical order, beginning with Lisa Blatt of Arnold & Porter. But perhaps reflecting the broader dearth of women in private practice who appear at the court, only three other women signed the letter: Deanne Maynard of Morrison & Foerster, Kathleen Sullivan of Quinn Emmanuel, and Maureen Mahoney, a retired partner at Latham & Watkins.