Good morning and welcome to Supreme Court Brief. The justices are off the bench for two weeks. The final round of oral arguments is just around the corner, beginning April 18. We check in with Orrick's Mel Bostwick, a regular at the Federal Circuit in patent appeals, who also has a passion for representing veterans. She makes her high court debut this month. If you wondered who participated in the ABA's practitioners' reading group that vetted the legal writings of Ketanji Brown Jackson, we have their names. And scroll down to read Justice Barrett's advice on how to distinguish between agenda-driven and nonpartisan decisions: "Read the opinion."

Thanks for reading. We welcome feedback and tips. Contact Marcia Coyle at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @MarciaCoyle. 

Mel Bostwick of Orrick. Courtesy photo

Fighting for Veterans

In her first job out of law school, Orrick partner Mel Bostwick clerked for Judge Timothy Dyk of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

"Most people know the court for its patent appeals, but it also hears appeals from the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims," Bostwick, a patent specialist in Orrick's Supreme Court and appellate practice, said. "As a law clerk, seeing the kinds of obstacles that veterans face in what is supposed to be a non-adversarial and claimant friendly system, and seeing how much a difference legal representation can make, really motivated me to make this a part of my practice."