The U.S. Supreme Court advises advocates generally will get two minutes of uninterrupted argument time at the start.

It was a packed house at the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday morning. Was it because this was the first Monday in October, the big day for Supreme Court aficionados? Or was it because Supreme Court practitioners wanted to see how the court's new policy giving advocates two uninterrupted minutes of argument time would work out?

Either way, the lawyers' section was full. Former deputy solicitor general Michael Dreeben, who was accustomed to sitting at the counsel table for his hundred-plus arguments, this time had to sit in the public seating because of the crowd. And outside, the lines were growing longer by the minute, with some stalwarts waiting to hear Monday's arguments and others camping out for seats Tuesday, when the justices hear landmark arguments over workplace civil rights protection for LGBTQ employees.

Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. started off the session by alerting spectators that Justice Clarence Thomas was "indisposed because of illness." Then Roberts paid tribute to Justice Stephen Breyer for his "distinguished service" of 25 years on the court, and to the late Justice John Paul Stevens, who died in July. "His kindness, humility, independence and wisdom have left us a better court," Roberts said. He added: "His commitment to justice has left us a better nation."

After swearing in a passel of lawyers to the Supreme Court bar, the first oral argument began: Kahler v. Kansas, a debate over whether states can abolish the insanity defense. Sarah Schrup, head of Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law's Supreme Court practicum, rose to argue at the high court for the first time. And she was the first lawyer to make use of the two uninterrupted minutes of argument time.

Two minutes turns out to be a long time with a court whose members are accustomed to asking questions almost immediately after the lawyer says "May it please the court." It may have felt long, but it also felt civil, giving lawyers a brief and dignified chance to frame their arguments before the melee begins.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/National Law Journal.

And sure enough, as soon as the white light flickered on to signal that the two minutes were up, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg jumped in forcefully with a question for Schrup. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who is often the first questioner, was silent as Schrup argued for the insanity defense against a barrage of skeptical questions from other justices.

But Sotomayor made up for her silence by being the first questioner at the end of the two-minute allotments for Kansas Solicitor General Toby Crouse and assistant to the solicitor general Elizabeth Prelogar. The questioning was brisk from all the justices on the bench, and every remaining minute was used.

The shiny two-minute gifts seemed to be a hit. After the argument was over, Schrup said, "It was fine." And Dreeben, who had been skeptical about the change, said, "it was better than I expected."

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