Lisa Blatt Lisa Blatt, speaking at an ALM Supreme Court event in 2011. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ ALM

Female lawyers can come across as less combative and less confident than male lawyers at the U.S. Supreme Court, two reasons why they have not yet achieved parity with male advocates there, Williams & Connolly partner and veteran appellate lawyer Lisa Blatt said in a personal, widely shared essay.

Blatt, who has argued more high court cases than any other woman, offered her observations in a revealing essay she wrote as a part of a joint publication from 16 law schools that were celebrating having all women editors-in-chief for the first time.

Supreme Court oral advocacy is not focused on "problem-solving, consensus-building or mentorship," Blatt wrote in her essay, attributes she said are generally associated with female stereotypes.

"An 'argument' is just that: it involves combative communication and intense verbal jousting," Blatt wrote. She said she frames every case she argues as if someone is going to die, and "I don't want it to be me."

The dearth of female advocates at the Supreme Court has long been analyzed, and myriad reasons have been offered for why men outnumber the women who argue before the justices. At the Supreme Court itself, male law clerks widely outnumber females.

Blatt's colleague at Williams & Connolly, Sarah Harris, speaking last year at a Women's Bar Association event in Washington, reported that in the last Supreme Court term, 31 of the 184 appearances were women. That amounts to 17%, lower than some other recent terms, as tallied by SCOTUSblog.

Supreme Court advocacy, Blatt wrote in her essay, requires "fearlessness and confidence." It's not that women sell themselves too short, but that many men sell themselves too long. "Only women have told me they could never see themselves arguing in front of the Supreme Court," Blatt said.

Blatt did not discount the "rank discrimination" in the legal profession. But there are things female lawyers can do to succeed at firms in general or in the Supreme Court, she said. Some of her advice: Stop looking for "your passion." Focus on what you're good at and work at a place that wants and needs you for a skill you have. "You will have more control over your work and schedule."

First impressions mean everything so do a good job immediately and it will be easier for bosses to overlook inevitable mistakes. "Accept criticism when it's deserved," Blatt wrote.

On her approach to oral advocacy, Blatt said that truth is the best form of advocacy and don't be afraid to be direct. "Many colleagues have advised me not to go bold, but to play it safe in briefs or arguments," she said. "Thankfully, at key points in my career, I ignored them, and I do not regret it. To the extent I have regrets, I only wish I had stood my ground more often and told more people that they were idiots."

Paul Clement Paul Clement, speaking at the Federalist Society's seventh annual Executive Branch Review Conference, on May 8, 2019. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ ALM

She also tells female lawyers to find mentors who not only care about them but will offer advice. Two of hers, she wrote, were Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Kirkland & Ellis partner Paul Clement, who was the U.S. solicitor general when Blatt worked in that office. In 2019, Blatt rejoined Williams & Connolly from Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer.

Blatt said she would have left practicing law a long time ago were it not for Clement, who she said gave her job flexibility and understood the challenges facing working mothers.

Blatt ended her essay with a shout-out to the judiciary, clients and law firm managers: hire and support more talented women who want to work.

"Women don't look or talk like Perry Mason, and you don't want us to," she wrote. "We often are more creative, smarter, more persistent, and harder-working than men, and we actually win cases. So call me a Lady Lawyer. Just don't underestimate me in court."

 

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