Pratik Shah Quoted in NLJ’s Supreme Court Brief on Solicitor General’s Funding Request
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Akin Gump Supreme Court and appellate practice co-head Pratik Shah has been quoted in The National Law Journal’s Supreme Court Brief in a column titled “Solicitor General Seeks Budget Boost.”
The article reports that Solicitor General Noel Francisco has asked for additional funding and support personnel to handle an expanded role in immigration litigation as well as an increase in casework in the appellate courts. According to the article, attorneys in the SG’s office have increasingly been asked to brief and argue important certain criminal cases in the appellate courts.
Although it’s not unusual for the office to take an active role in lower court litigation “that everyone believes will end up in the Supreme Court,” it is unusual to see the Solicitor General or the deputies arguing in the federal appellate courts, said Shah, a former Assistant to the Solicitor General.
“It happens once or twice a term but it is unusual,” Shah said. “In a normal year, there may not be any, but we’re living in unusual times.”