Reuters Quotes Pratik Shah on Justice Barrett’s First Term on High Court
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Pratik Shah, head of Akin Gump’s Supreme Court and appellate practice, has been quoted in the Reuters article “Analysis: Barrett finds own voice at center of conservative U.S. Supreme Court.” The article looks back at Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s inaugural term on the Court.
According to the article, while Justice Barrett helped the Court’s conservative majority prevail in major cases, her record seems to put her more at the center of the Court with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, rather than being aligned further to the right with Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch.
Based on the past term, Reuters reports that some feel the Court now has something of a 3-3-3 split between liberals, conservatives willing to compromise and the more hardline conservatives.
Shah, who has argued 15 cases before the Supreme Court, said there is evidence that Barrett and Kavanaugh have sought compromises but questioned whether that would hold true in the long term.
“To me, the jury is still very much out on Justice Barrett,” Shah said, noting that the conservative majority is likely to remain for years and has no need to act quickly.
