Advocate Hits Supreme Court Argument Trifecta in Just Months

Michael McGinley started the year making his first ever argument before the US Supreme Court. By the end of April, he’ll have argued his third case.

Approximately 118 advocates appeared so far at the lectern in the term that started in October, and only 31 argued more than once. Most of those were from the US Solicitor General’s Office, which participates in all but a handful cases.

McGinley, a Dechert partner, is one of 13 firm attorneys who’ve argued multiple cases at the court this term, with most of the others seasoned veterans. They include Clement & Murphy’s Paul Clement, WilmerHale’s Seth Waxman, and Williams & Connolly’s Lisa Blatt. They’ve collectively argued more than 250 cases.

The justices appointed McGinley to argue his first case in January, a sentencing dispute. He represented a Lebanese bank sued by families of victims in Hamas attacks in a March case, and on Wednesday, he’ll represent a Catholic school seeking to become the first religious charter school in the US.

“It’s been a very exciting spring, for sure,” McGinley said.

Supreme Debut

McGinley, who went to Dechert after a stint in the White House Counsel’s Office in President Donald Trump’s first term, was involved in two of the cases from the start.

BLOM Bank SAL v. Honickman was “purely organic” in that the bank was a firm client. McGinley said Dechert has been litigating the technical civil procedure issue at the heart of that case “for a few years.”

Similarly, McGinley and the firm took Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond pro bono, and have been involved “from the outset.” They’re partnering with the religious liberty clinic at Notre Dame, McGinley’s undergradute alma mater.

But the Harvard Law grad’s first trip to the high court lectern happened more rapidly.

The justices typically “invite” former clerks to make their high court debut after a case has been granted, when the parties no longer disagree on the merits of a dispute. A former clerk for Justice Samuel Alito, McGinley was appointed to the sentencing case Hewitt v. United States in July and argued it Jan. 13.

Having also clerked for then-Judge Neil Gorsuch while on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, McGinley appeared before two of his former bosses. While in the White House Counsel’s Office, McGinley helped shepherd Gorsuch through his high court confirmation in 2017.

McGinley’s wife and two children were in the front row in January. And his parents and brother Peter, who works with him in Dechert’s Philadelphia office, were present in March.

But none plan to attend his third appearance. “My parents did not win the lottery for the tickets,” he said.