Appellate Practice
Chastened Supreme Court Litigator Gets the ‘Right Flow’ in Latest Argument
Posted Mar 28, 2008, 09:15 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Some justices’ questions bordered on brutal when they hammered away at an argument by U.S. Supreme Court litigator Eric Brunstad Jr. in a court appearance last month, reports The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.
Things went better for Brunstad, a bankruptcy expert, when he appeared before the Supreme Court in a bankruptcy case Wednesday, the blog reports. Brunstad told the blog that he had a good day this time, and his argument (PDF posted by SCOTUSblog) "had the right flow."
During oral arguments last month, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Anthony M. Kennedy questioned the accuracy of some statements Brunstad made in his brief. Brunstad had argued against arbitration of a dispute involving TV’s “Judge Alex,” and he ultimately lost the case.
This time around, Ginsburg was more solicitous. "There's an aspect of the way this looks that I don't understand, and you're an expert in this area," she said. "Perhaps you can explain it to me." Kennedy, however, remained silent throughout the argument, Brunstad's eighth before the court.