#054: Panel Opinion - Oral Argument Techniques from Judge Patricia Millett, Joe Palmore, and Prof. Tiffany Wright

Welcome back to How I Lawyer!  In most episodes of the How I Lawyer Podcast I interview individual lawyers about what they do, why they do it, and how they do it well. This special episode is the fourth in a series called "Panel Opinion" where I bring together experts on a particular topic. In this episode I discuss the important topic of oral argument with a superstar panel including Judge Patricia Millett, Joe Palmore, and Professor Tiffany Wright for this discussion.  Judge Patricia Millett is currently a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit where she has served since December 2013. Prior to becoming a federal judge, she led the Supreme Court Practice at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Field LLP in Washington DC. Earlier in her career she spent fifteen years representing the United States of America in the federal courts of appeal and the United States Supreme Court while working on the Appellate Staff of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division and as an Assistant in the Office of the Solicitor General. In total, she argued 32 cases before the Supreme Court prior to becoming a Judge. She started her career as an associate at Miller & Chevalier and as a law clerk to Judge Thomas Tang on the Ninth Circuit. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois (Go Illini) and Harvard Law School, Go Crimson.  Joe Palmore is the co-chair of Morrison & Foerster’s Appellate and Supreme Court Practice and Managing Partner of its DC Office. Joe is an experienced appellate advocate with 12 arguments in the US Supreme Court and more than 45 in other appeals courts nationwide. Prior to joining MoFo, Joe served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice for nearly five years where he was responsible for briefing the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act’s Minimum Coverage provision. He started his career as a law clerk to Judge John Gleeson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eastern District of New York, Judge Dennis Jacobs of the Second Circuit and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He is graduate of Harvard (Go Crimson) and UVA Law (Go Wahoos). Tiffany Wright is the Co-Director of Howard Law’s Civil Rights Clinic and a Senior Associate at Orrick, Herrington, & Sutcliffe LLP. Professor Wright began her legal career as a law clerk to Judge Royce Lamberth on the United States District Court in DC, Judge David Tatel on the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor on the United States Supreme Court. She has recently briefed and argued a number of key Civil Rights cases and was recognized by the National Bar Association as one of the Best Advocates Under 40 and the Nation’s Best Advocate of the Year. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland (Go Terps) and the Georgetown University Law Center (Go Hoyas) where she completed her law degree at night while also working full-time as a Law Clerk and Paralegal at the US Attorneys Office for the District of Maryland. Tiffany is also the first return guest to the podcast as her story is featured on Episode #13. If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.