William S. Consovoy, partner with Consovoy McCarthy, asked the court to hurry up in response to his client's appeal in a lawsuit against the president and fellows of Harvard College. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM.

Counsel for the plaintiffs in a high-profile lawsuit against the president and fellows of Harvard College appear to be losing patience as litigation winds through the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Consovoy McCarthy partner William S. Consovoy represents nonprofit group Students for Fair Admissions Inc., which sued in 2014 over the use of race in college admissions, alleging the university discriminated against Asian Americans.

Consovoy's clients—the group and its president Edward Blum—appealed Oct. 4, 2019, after U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs of the District of Massachusetts sided with Harvard, finding the school's affirmative action techniques hold "an important place in society."

Now, in a letter filed Tuesday, Consovoy is urging Clerk of Court Maria R. Hamilton to hurry things along. He stresses that "nearly three months have passed … but the parties have not received a briefing schedule from the court."

"Although SFFA understands the many demands on this court's time, it respectfully asks for a briefing schedule as expeditiously as possible," Consovoy wrote. "This case involves issues of national importance regarding the legality of Harvard's use of race in college admissions."

Time is of the essence, the letter explained, because whichever party loses at the next stage is almost certain to appeal.

Meanwhile, costs are likely racking up in the case, which is more than five years old and overflowing with high-powered attorneys, including Consovoy, who is a private attorney for President Donald Trump.

It's not the first time in recent months that a case with high-profile lawyers has included a request for speed. In a similar vein, lawyers for Woodlawn LLC—a party in a Washington, D.C., dispute involving forfeiture matters related to Paul Manafort, a former attorney and lobbyist who served as Trump's campaign chairman—asked U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the District of Columbia to expedite proceedings in the case Dec. 27.

"This case appears to have been placed on the back burner," the motion for a status hearing in the Manafort litigation claimed. "Nothing has been filed, heard or decided for many months. Nor has the government communicated with counsel for Woodlawn."

The judge, Berman, swiftly denied it.

"The court is aware of what is pending on its docket, and will schedule a hearing if and when it determines one is necessary," she ruled.

Appellate cases appear tp stretch over at least a year, according to the last annual statistics on judicial caseloads released in September 2019. Appeals in the First Circuit, for instance, took an average of 13 months from filing to disposition. And in the District of Massachusetts, civil cases took an average of 23 months from filing to disposition, according to the data on federal courts.

Consovoy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Harvard declined to comment on Consovoy's letter, pointing instead to a statement on the appeal from its lead attorney William F. Lee, partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr's Boston office.

"The court's ruling that Harvard does not discriminate on the basis of race in its admissions process, and that Harvard's pursuit of the diverse student body central to its educational mission is lawful, was very gratifying and provides a clear path forward to resolve this important case," Lee's statement said. "Harvard will vigorously defend the court's decision in this case."

Read the letter:

Related stories:

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Meet the Lawyers Fighting Harvard Over Admissions

Judge Tosses Lawsuit Challenging Affirmative Action Policies at Harvard Law Review