Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Juan Carlos Alvarez v. Eric Guerrero, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, No. 18-70001 · judgment December 23, 2025
(petition-stage, structural)
About 2.7× the 4.1% base rate. The model weights this up for counsel who has won certiorari before, a Fifth Circuit decision below, and a circuit split argued in the petition, and down for a petition of 3,000 to 6,000 words and a state or local-government respondent.
Question presented
Whether a defendant is denied the Sixth Amendment right to counsel under the established authority of this Court when the defendant’s lawyer sleeps through a critical stage at trial.
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Seth P. Waxman
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP
For respondent
Stephen Matthew Hoffman
Office of the Attorney General
Case
Subject area
Criminal Procedure (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)
Conference history
—
Amicus briefs
2 cert-stage
Linked docket
26A78
Proceedings
- Oct 02 2026Brief amici curiae of Former Judges and Prosecutors, et al. filed.
- Oct 02 2026Brief amicus curiae of National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers filed.
- Sep 29 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including November 2, 2026. See Rule 30.1.
- Sep 28 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response from October 2, 2026 to November 1, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
- Aug 28 2026Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 2, 2026)
- Aug 11 2026Application (26A78) denied by Justice Alito.
- Aug 05 2026Application (26A78) to extend further the time from August 28, 2026 to September 27, 2026, submitted to Justice Alito.
- Jul 16 2026Application (26A78) granted by Justice Alito extending the time to file until August 28, 2026.
- Jul 13 2026Application (26A78) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from July 29, 2026 to August 28, 2026, submitted to Justice Alito.