Like her mentor Paul Clement, Erin Murphy of Bancroft PLLC now knows what it’s like to deliver the winning argument in a polarizing U.S. Supreme Court case. Clement could surely offer some advice for dealing with the backlash, though Murphy doesn’t seem too worried about it.
The Supreme Court handed Murphy and her clients a major victory on Wednesday in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, ruling 5-4 to strike down federal limits on the aggregate amounts that individual donors can contribute to political candidates and committees. Last fall, in her very first argument at the high court, Murphy made the case for the Republican National Committee and test plaintiff Shaun McCutcheon, an obscure but well-to-do Alabama businessman who said the campaign finance law violated his First Amendment rights. Murphy had an assist from Bobby Burchfield of McDermott Will & Emery, who was granted ten minutes to elaborate on an amicus brief he filed on behalf of U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell.
