Department of Political Science

How important are lawyers in the decision making of the U.S. Supreme Court? Although legal expertise has long been assumed to benefit certain litigants, the frequency with which lawyers appear before the Court has not been directly measured. In this article, I argue that, quite apart from the status of different litigants, lawyers can be viewed as repeat players who affect judicial outcomes. Using data from the U.S. Supreme Court Judicial Data Base with data from the United States Reports, I propose and test a theory in which the informational needs of the Court are better met by more credible litigators. Thus, for example, a more experienced lawyer significantly raises the probability of a party's success. The findings testify to the efficacy of experienced counsel, irrespective of the parties they represent.

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