Tony Mauro

May 19, 2016 | National Law Journal

In a ruling that could mean more attorney fee awards for employers in workplace discrimination cases, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday said defendants don't have to win on the merits to be counted as the “prevailing party.”

By Tony Mauro

7 minute read

May 19, 2016 | National Law Journal

Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Jr., the first African-American leader of the U.S. Justice Department, is joining the national board of directors of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. "Those who make it unnecessarily difficult for some of their fellow citizens to cast a ballot are on the wrong side of history and will be considered harshly by it," Holder recently told a graduating law school class in Wisconsin.

By Tony Mauro

3 minute read

May 17, 2016 | Law.com

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said Monday that all lawyers should be required to provide pro bono legal services. "I believe in forced labor" when it comes to improving access to justice for the poor, she said during an appearance at the American Law Institute's annual meeting in Washington. "If I had my way, I would make pro bono service a requirement."

By Tony Mauro

5 minute read

May 16, 2016 | Supreme Court Brief

Advanced Appellate Advocacy, a new book, delves into the craft of framing, researching, writing and arguing cases on appeal at the Supreme Court and lower courts.

By Tony Mauro

6 minute read

May 16, 2016 | National Law Journal

The U.S. Supreme Court, ruling Monday on the contraceptive insurance requirement in the Affordable Care Act, returned the dispute to lower courts without weighing whether the mandate violates First Amendment rights of religious nonprofit employers.

By Tony Mauro and Marcia Coyle

4 minute read

May 13, 2016 | Law.com

At least three of the four law clerks hired by the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia for the next term will work for other justices. Scalia's four current-term clerks were reassigned to other justices soon after Scalia died on Feb. 13, with two going to work for Justice Clarence Thomas and two for Justice Samuel Alito Jr.

By Tony Mauro

8 minute read

May 12, 2016 | National Law Journal

For all the legal academics who want to write about 18th century Bulgaria, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan has your back. In remarks in Chicago on May 2, Kagan pushed back at Chief Justice John Roberts Jr.'s infamous putdown of law reviews as filled with useless writings.

By Tony Mauro

7 minute read

May 11, 2016 | Supreme Court Brief

With oral arguments over for this term at the U.S. Supreme Court, Bancroft has topped the list of law firms with the most arguments at eight—a number rarely reached by any outfit other than the U.S. solicitor general's office.

By Tony Mauro

36 minute read

May 10, 2016 | National Law Journal

U.S. Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland told the U.S. Senate in writing Tuesday that neither President Barack Obama nor White House staffers sought assurances from him about how he would rule on specific cases or legal issues.

By Tony Mauro and Zoe Tillman

6 minute read

May 09, 2016 | National Law Journal

The new edition of a 37-year-old Supreme Court novel in which the chief justice is promoted to pope features a foreword by a real Supreme Court justice: Samuel Alito Jr. The book's late author, Walter Murphy, a political science professor at Princeton University, was Alito's senior thesis adviser. Alito writes, after re-reading the book: "I was struck by the things, both big and small, that Murphy somehow anticipated." The main character, Alito says, "shares some personal traits with Robert Bork," who was nominated to the high court eight years after the book came out.

By Tony Mauro

4 minute read