Pratik Shah Quoted on Death of Justice Scalia, Srinivasan as Nominee

Akin Gump Supreme Court and appellate co-head Pratik Shah was quoted by several media outlets regarding the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and on D.C. Circuit Judge Sri Srinivasan as a leading candidate to replace him on the nation’s highest bench.

Regarding the passing of Justice Scalia, The National Law Journal quoted Shah as saying, “Although ‘originalism’ and ‘textualism’ may be charged terms, his judicial philosophy informs how all of us brief and argue cases before the Court. Justice Scalia’s sharp wit and deep intellect evoked both laughter and chills in anyone standing behind the lectern.”

For Law360’s article “GOP Attys Would Likely Back Srinivasan To Replace Scalia,” Shah, who worked closely with Judge Srinivasan in the Office of the Solicitor General, called him a “careful” lawyer with the “utmost fidelity to the rule of law.” In a lighter vein, Shah noted that his long acquaintance with Srinivasan did not help at all when he argued a case before him, as the judge was “out of the gate asking the toughest questions.”

In an interview for online news provider Fusion’s “Meet potential Obama nominee Sri Srinivasan, who could be the first Asian-American on the Supreme Court,” Shah said of the judge, “He’s never the loudest or the most talkative in the room… he’s not a pound your fist on the lectern type. He has the temperament that really could make him a true consensus-builder on the Court, someone who justices from across the spectrum would listen to.”