Big Law Emerging as Pipeline for Female Supreme Court Advocates

Sarah Harris will argue her first case before the Supreme Court in November having taken an unusual route to high court advocacy: up through private practice rather than the U.S. solicitor general’s office.

The former clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas credits Williams & Connolly, where she’s a partner, with grooming her.

The “truth is, I would not be taking the podium in November if I didn’t work with Lisa Blatt and if I wasn’t at Williams & Connolly,” Harris said of her colleague, who’s among a handful of women to regularly argue before the justices.

Private law firms have become ...