SCOTUS arguments

To be filed under "problems we wish we had," Law.com has How Advocates Are Adapting to Changing Supreme Court Arguments -- Nobody ever said arguing before the justices was easy. But it seems to be getting harder as the formerly freewheeling, hourlong sessions have been replaced by more orderly questioning—and often exceed 60 minutes.

“I can remember the old, old days when prep was very different because you would only get maybe five to 10 questions in a 30-minute presentation,” said Carter Phillips, a veteran Supreme Court lawyer at Sidley Austin. “And then in the Rehnquist court, things got a little more intense because Scalia went on the bench,” Phillips said. “That seemed to change the dynamic for oral argument pretty dramatically, and I suppose for all time, or at least for the foreseeable future.” It took nearly four decades before the next transformation of high court hearings, when COVID-19 gripped the country and forced the Supreme Court to make a series of changes to its argument format. Those changes have created a “fundamental shift” in the substance and style of high court hearings, Phillips said. Perhaps most noticeably, hearings are lasting far longer—in some cases, more than three hours.

Law.com also has Solicitor General Prelogar: Expedited SCOTUS Briefings Mark 'Real Shift in How We Practice' -- The nation's second female solicitor general shared her thoughts Wednesday evening at the Third Circuit Judicial Conference on topics ranging from Oxford comma to a lengthier format for questioning advocates in Supreme Court hearings.