Supreme Court of the United States

The Counsel Table

Who files certiorari petitions, whose petitions get a second look, and whose get granted — across OT2017–2024.

Every paid petition in the archive with a named petitioner’s counsel of record: 8,989 petitions from 4,686 advocates, filed in 8,875 separate cases. The bar is long-tailed — 3,445 advocates (74%) appear exactly once — so an advocate needs at least 5 cases to appear below, and 279 clear that bar. The two tables that publish a rate ask for 8, which 133 reach: at five, eleven of the twenty-five relist rows were the same three-of-five advocate.

This counts petitioner’s counsel of record and nothing else. An advocate who argued a case they did not petition in does not appear, and respondents’ counsel — which is most of what the Supreme Court bar actually does — is invisible here.

Volume

Most cases filed

Companion petitions are counted once: a single dispute is often docketed as several petitions, and counting each one credits an advocate with eight filings for one case.

	Advocate	Cases	Relisted	Granted
1	Paul D. Clement	103	33	24
2	Elizabeth B. PrelogarGovernment	86	57	47
3	Noel J. FranciscoGovernmentNoel Francisco / Noel G. Francisco / Noel J. Francisco / Noel John Francisco	60	33	25
4	Kannon K. Shanmugam	56	17	14
5	Mithun MansinghaniGovernment	56	42	2
6	Raed GonzalezRaed Gonzalez / Raed Gonzalez, Esq.	54	9	1
7	Robert L. Sirianni Jr.Robert L. Sirianni / Robert L. Sirianni Jr.	54	1	0
8	Neal Kumar KatyalNeal K. Katyal / Neal Kumar Katyal	51	14	7
9	E. Joshua Rosenkranz	44	4	4
10	John J. Bursch	38	10	4
11	Gregory George GarreGregory G. Garre / Gregory George Garre	38	2	2
12	Lisa Schiavo BlattLisa S. Blatt / Lisa Schiavo Blatt	36	11	13
13	Paul Whitfield HughesPaul Hughes / Paul W. Hughes / Paul Whitfield Hughes	35	8	5
14	Seth P. Waxman	35	7	3
15	Jeffrey L. Fisher	34	10	8
16	Shay Dvoretzky	31	9	8
17	Dennis P. Derrick	29	0	0
18	Andrew Timothy TuttAndrew T. Tutt / Andrew Timothy Tutt	28	5	4
19	Stuart Banner	28	2	2
20	Carter G. Phillips	27	2	2
21	Daniel L. Geyser	25	6	8
22	Michael B. KimberlyMichael B. Kimberly / MIchael B. Kimberly	24	4	2
23	Adam G. Unikowsky	22	5	3
24	Erick G. Kaardal	22	0	0
25	Lawrence David RosenbergLawrence D. Rosenberg / Lawrence David Rosenberg	21	2	2

A second look

Most often relisted

A relist is a redistribution with no intervening “Rescheduled” entry, no call for a response and no CVSG — those are mechanical rather than the Justices deferring. Published as a share, not a count: the raw count correlates with filing volume at 0.81 and would simply re-rank the table above. Ordered by the lower bound (the muted figure), not the share.

	Advocate	Cases	Relisted	Share
1	Mithun MansinghaniGovernment	56	42	75%62%
2	Elizabeth B. PrelogarGovernment	86	57	66%56%
3	Noel J. FranciscoGovernmentNoel Francisco / Noel G. Francisco / Noel J. Francisco / Noel John Francisco	60	33	55%42%
4	Sarah M. HarrisGovernmentSarah M. Harris / Sarah Michelle Harris / Sarah Michelle Harris III	12	8	67%39%
5	Jeffrey B. Wall	16	8	50%28%
6	Paul D. Clement	103	33	32%24%
7	David J. ZimmerDavid J. Zimmer / David Jacob Zimmer / David Zimmer	10	5	50%24%
8	Thomas M. Fisher	11	5	45%21%
9	Kannon K. Shanmugam	56	17	30%20%
10	David H. ThompsonDavid Clark Thompson III / David H. Thompson	19	7	37%19%
11	Allyson HoAllyson Ho / Allyson N. Ho	9	4	44%19%
12	Roman Martinez VRoman Martinez / Roman Martinez V	20	7	35%18%
13	Lisa Schiavo BlattLisa S. Blatt / Lisa Schiavo Blatt	36	11	31%18%
14	Neal Kumar KatyalNeal K. Katyal / Neal Kumar Katyal	51	14	27%17%
15	Jeffrey L. Fisher	34	10	29%17%
16	Theane Evangelis Kapur	10	4	40%17%
17	Shay Dvoretzky	31	9	29%16%
18	Jeffrey Alan LamkenJeffrey A. Lamken / Jeffrey Alan Lamken	19	6	32%15%
19	Donald B. Verrilli Jr.Donald B. Verrilli / Donald B. Verrilli Jr.	15	5	33%15%
20	Andrew Michael GrossmanAndrew M. Grossman / Andrew Michael Grossman	11	4	36%15%
21	Daniel Roy OrtizDaniel R. Ortiz / Daniel Roy Ortiz	11	4	36%15%
22	John J. Bursch	38	10	26%15%
23	John Patrick ElwoodJohn P. Elwood / John Patrick Elwood	16	5	31%14%
24	Theodore J. Boutrous Jr.Theodore J. Boutrous / Theodore J. Boutrous Jr.	16	5	31%14%
25	Daniel Hirotsu Woofter	8	3	38%14%

Certiorari granted

Whose petitions are granted

50.3%

For the United States

167 cases

14.3%

For a State

203 cases

4.6%

For a private party

8,230 cases

Which is why there are two boards rather than one. A pooled grant ranking would be the Solicitor General’s office at the top, and that measures who the client is, not how the petition was written. The split is made case by case, so an advocate who did both work appears on both boards.

For a private client

Ranked by the lower bound of a 95% confidence interval on the grant rate, with the rate itself shown in bold. Ranking on the raw rate instead puts 3 grants in 10 above 22 in 94 — a higher number on a tenth of the evidence.

	Advocate	Cases	Granted	Rate
1	Lisa Schiavo BlattLisa S. Blatt / Lisa Schiavo Blatt	33	13	39.4%24.7%
2	Daniel L. Geyser	23	8	34.8%18.8%
3	Andrew John PincusAndrew J. Pincus / Andrew John Pincus	14	5	35.7%16.3%
4	Paul D. Clement	94	22	23.4%16.0%
5	Kannon K. Shanmugam	50	13	26.0%15.9%
6	Shay Dvoretzky	28	8	28.6%15.3%
7	Jeffrey L. Fisher	34	8	23.5%12.4%
8	Roman Martinez VRoman Martinez / Roman Martinez V	19	5	26.3%11.8%
9	Mark Andrew PerryMark A. Perry / Mark Andrew Perry / Mark Perry	10	3	30.0%10.8%
10	Andrew Michael GrossmanAndrew M. Grossman / Andrew Michael Grossman	11	3	27.3%9.7%
11	Michael A. Carvin	11	3	27.3%9.7%
12	Michael Hugh McGinleyMichael H. McGinley / Michael Hugh McGinley	8	2	25.0%7.1%
13	Neal Kumar KatyalNeal K. Katyal / Neal Kumar Katyal	50	7	14.0%7.0%
14	Paul Whitfield HughesPaul Hughes / Paul W. Hughes / Paul Whitfield Hughes	32	5	15.6%6.9%
15	Aaron Michael StreettAaron Michael Streett / Aaron Streett	9	2	22.2%6.3%
16	Andrew Timothy TuttAndrew T. Tutt / Andrew Timothy Tutt	26	4	15.4%6.1%
17	David J. ZimmerDavid J. Zimmer / David Jacob Zimmer / David Zimmer	10	2	20.0%5.7%
18	Jeffrey Alan LamkenJeffrey A. Lamken / Jeffrey Alan Lamken	19	3	15.8%5.5%
19	Adam G. Unikowsky	20	3	15.0%5.2%
20	Daniel Roy OrtizDaniel R. Ortiz / Daniel Roy Ortiz	11	2	18.2%5.1%
21	Michael R. Dreeben	11	2	18.2%5.1%
22	Tejinder Singh	11	2	18.2%5.1%
23	David C. Frederick	14	2	14.3%4.0%
24	Donald B. Verrilli Jr.Donald B. Verrilli / Donald B. Verrilli Jr.	14	2	14.3%4.0%
25	Vincent Gregory LevyVincent Gregory Levy / Vincent Levy	14	2	14.3%4.0%

For a government

Federal and state governments together — 4 advocates clear the minimum on government cases alone.

	Advocate	Cases	Granted	Rate
1	Elizabeth B. Prelogar	78	41	52.6%41.6%
2	Noel J. FranciscoNoel Francisco / Noel G. Francisco / Noel J. Francisco / Noel John Francisco	47	22	46.8%33.3%
3	D. John Sauer	9	5	55.6%26.7%
4	Mithun Mansinghani	47	1	2.1%0.4%

At the lectern

Who argues

A different question, from a different record: the docket names the advocate who actually stood up, and the side they stood on. 458 arguments in 456 cases by 473 advocates, February 2018 to January 2026 — 54 of them argued 5 or more times. Companion cases argued together count once. An argument made as amicus counts here and nowhere below: the judgment ran for or against the parties, and an amicus is neither.

	Advocate	Arguments	For pet’r	For resp’t	Won
1	Paul D. Clement	29	24	4	23 of 28
2	Elizabeth B. PrelogarSG’s Office	28	10	14	13 of 23
3	Malcolm L. StewartSG’s Office	26	17	7	11 of 24
4	Eric J. FeiginSG’s Office	24	7	15	13 of 19
5	Edwin S. KneedlerSG’s OfficeEdwin S. Kneedler / Edwin Smiley Kneedler	22	12	7	7 of 18
6	Lisa Schiavo BlattLisa S. Blatt / Lisa Schiavo Blatt	20	11	9	9 of 18
7	Jeffrey B. WallSG’s Office	19	11	3	13 of 14
8	Noel J. FranciscoSG’s OfficeNoel Francisco / Noel G. Francisco / Noel J. Francisco / Noel John Francisco	18	14	3	6 of 13
9	Jeffrey L. Fisher	16	11	5	8 of 16
10	Kannon K. Shanmugam	16	13	3	8 of 14
11	Anthony A. YangSG’s OfficeAnthony A. Yang / Anthony Yang	15	9	6	11 of 15
12	Frederick LiuSG’s Office	15	4	9	8 of 13
13	Neal Kumar KatyalNeal K. Katyal / Neal Kumar Katyal	15	8	7	5 of 13
14	Shay Dvoretzky	15	9	5	4 of 14
15	Sopan JoshiSG’s Office	14	6	4	8 of 10
16	Erica L. RossSG’s OfficeErica L. Ross / Erica Ross	14	5	6	7 of 11
17	Matthew GuarnieriSG’s Office	13	3	9	8 of 12
18	Daniel L. Geyser	13	8	5	5 of 11
19	Vivek SuriSG’s Office	12	5	5	5 of 10
20	David C. Frederick	12	3	9	2 of 12
21	Curtis E. GannonSG’s Office	11	7	3	7 of 10
22	Colleen R. SinzdakSG’s OfficeColleen E. R. Sinzdak / Colleen E. Roh Sinzdak / Colleen E. Sinzdak / Colleen Elizabeth Roh Sinzdak / Colleen R. Sinzdak	11	6	5	5 of 10
23	Brian H. FletcherSG’s OfficeBrian H. Fletcher / Brian Halligan Fletcher	11	6	4	4 of 9
24	Michael R. HustonSG’s OfficeMichael Huston / Michael R. Huston / Michael Robert Huston	10	6	3	7 of 9
25	Christopher G. MichelSG’s OfficeChristopher G. Michel / Christopher George Michel	10	5	4	6 of 8

Winning, against a Court that reverses

73.5%

Arguing for the petitioner

558 arguments

32.9%

Arguing for the respondent

490 arguments

The Court takes cases in order to reverse them — case by case it did so in 70% of the 426 cases scored here — so which side of the “v.” an advocate stood on matters more than anything they said. A pooled ranking would mostly sort advocates by that, and its top would be the Solicitor General’s office, which chooses the cases in which the United States petitions. So the record is split in two and each board is read against its own figure above.

Those two figures do not add to 100%, because they are rates over arguments rather than two halves of one case. A side can send more than one advocate to the lectern, and the side that wins usually does; and in 14 cases the judgment below was defended by a court-appointed amicus, who has no client and is not scored, so the petitioner’s win has no counterpart. The judgment below either stood or it did not: it stood on an affirmance and on a dismissed appeal, it fell on a reversal or vacatur. 17 arguments ended in a split judgment or a writ dismissed as improvidently granted and are scored for neither side.

Arguing for the petitioner

	Advocate	Arguments	Won	Rate
1	Paul D. Clement	24	22	92%74%
2	Jeffrey B. WallSG’s Office	11	11	100%74%
3	Curtis E. GannonSG’s Office	7	7	100%65%
4	Jonathan Y. EllisSG’s OfficeJonathan Ellis / Jonathan Y. Ellis / Jonathan Yates Ellis	6	6	100%61%
5	Michael R. HustonSG’s OfficeMichael Huston / Michael R. Huston / Michael Robert Huston	6	6	100%61%
6	Elizabeth B. PrelogarSG’s Office	10	9	90%60%
7	Eric J. FeiginSG’s Office	5	5	100%57%
8	Hashim M. MooppanSG’s Office	5	5	100%57%
9	Anthony A. YangSG’s OfficeAnthony A. Yang / Anthony Yang	9	8	89%56%
10	Roman Martinez VRoman Martinez / Roman Martinez V	7	6	86%49%
11	Sarah M. HarrisSarah M. Harris / Sarah Michelle Harris / Sarah Michelle Harris III	6	5	83%44%
12	Seth P. Waxman	6	5	83%44%
13	Malcolm L. StewartSG’s Office	17	11	65%41%
14	Allon Kedem	5	4	80%38%
15	Erica L. RossSG’s OfficeErica L. Ross / Erica Ross	5	4	80%38%

Arguing for the respondent

	Advocate	Arguments	Won	Rate
1	Jonathan C. BondSG’s OfficeJonathan C. Bond / Jonathan Charles Bond	8	6	75%41%
2	Eric J. FeiginSG’s Office	14	8	57%33%
3	Frederick LiuSG’s Office	9	5	56%27%
4	Matthew GuarnieriSG’s Office	9	5	56%27%
5	Nicole F. ReavesSG’s OfficeNicole F. Reaves / Nicole Reaves	5	3	60%23%
6	Anthony A. YangSG’s OfficeAnthony A. Yang / Anthony Yang	6	3	50%19%
7	Austin RaynorSG’s OfficeAustin L. Raynor / Austin Raynor	6	3	50%19%
8	Erica L. RossSG’s OfficeErica L. Ross / Erica Ross	6	3	50%19%
9	Elizabeth B. PrelogarSG’s Office	13	4	31%13%
10	Lisa Schiavo BlattLisa S. Blatt / Lisa Schiavo Blatt	9	3	33%12%
11	Aaron L. NielsonStateAaron L. Nielson / Aaron Lloyd Nielson	5	2	40%12%
12	Benjamin W. SnyderSG’s OfficeBenjamin Snyder / Benjamin W. Snyder / Benjamin William Snyder	5	2	40%12%
13	Vivek SuriSG’s Office	5	2	40%12%
14	Jeffrey L. Fisher	5	1	20%4%
15	Shay Dvoretzky	5	1	20%4%

The strongest 15 records on each side, of 27 and 20 advocates who argued 5 or more times for that side. These are records inside this window, not careers — several of the advocates here have argued well over a hundred cases, and a handful of arguments on one side of the “v.” is a small sample of anyone.

How to read this

An advocate here is a name, not a verified identity. Rows are keyed on a first and last name, so “Neal K. Katyal” and “Neal Kumar Katyal” merge — and so would two different lawyers who share both names. Every row that merged more than one spelling prints them beneath the name so the merge is visible. The dockets carry no firm, so there is nothing else to disambiguate on.

Whether a petition was filed for a government is read from the petitioner’s name, never from the case caption — a private petitioner suing the government has the government in their caption. That test almost never calls a private petition governmental, but it misses roughly one government petition in six, so an advocate who files for a government in at least a quarter of their cases is kept off the private board entirely rather than appearing on it with whatever the test failed to catch.

Paid petitions only, from OT2017–2024, through June 18, 2025. Self-represented petitioners are excluded. Pending petitions count toward cases filed and relists but not toward a grant rate.

The argument boards come from a different record and cover a different span: the argument and judgment entries for a Term’s granted cases appear after that Term’s archive was taken, so they are read from a re-fetch of the argued grants. An advocate can therefore appear at the lectern without appearing above it — much of the Solicitor General’s office argues cases it did not petition in — and the counts are of arguments made, not of cases won for a client.

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