Pratik Shah Quoted in New York Times Supreme Court Preview

Pratik Shah, co-head of Akin Gump’s Supreme Court and appellate practice, has been quoted by The New York Times in the article “As the Supreme Court Gets Back to Work, Five Big Cases to Watch,” a preview of the Court’s new term, which begins today. The article describes the new term as one “studded with major cases on gay and transgender rights, immigration, abortion, guns and religion.”

The abortion case, the Times reports, involves a challenge to a 2014 Louisiana law that requires doctors performing abortions in the state to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. Opponents of the law, according to the Times, say it imposes the sort of “undue burden” barred by the 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, making access to abortion more difficult without protecting women’s health. The law’s supporters say that admitting privileges are an important credential.

How Chief Justice John Roberts approaches the case could illuminate his commitment to respecting precedents, said Shah, a former Assistant to the Solicitor General. “It will answer questions about how strong the Chief Justice’s institutionalist bent is. That is going to be a telling case.”