Arnold & Porter’s Lisa Blatt, who has won more U.S. Supreme Court cases—32—than any other woman in history, has set a few personal rules in her practice. For example: Don’t get caught up in client drama; stick to high-minded legal arguments. “I did appellate advocacy for a reason,” she quips. “For the emotional distance.”
In September 2012, after a single phone call from a lawyer she didn’t know, Blatt jumped into a case destined to break that rule. The facts in the complicated pro bono matter captivated Blatt, a veteran of the U.S. Solicitor General’s Office who joined Arnold & Porter as appellate chief in 2009, and others on the team that she hastily assembled. That group included three associates from her firm, plus former solicitors general Greg Garre of Latham & Watkins and Paul Clement of Bancroft.
