New Supreme Court Term Begins With Familiar, Mostly Male, Faces

The Supreme Court kicks off its new term Oct. 7 with a higher percentage of women arguing cases compared to last term, but still lagging far behind their male counterparts.

Six women, or 23%, will argue during the court’s two-week October sitting, compared to 20 men, or 77%.

Women advocates at SCOTUS for the October 2019 sitting

Graphic: Jonathan Hurtarte/Bloomberg Law

Those figures were starker for the entirety of last term. Of the 185 advocates, just 32, or 17%, were women.

That number has remained largely unchanged from five years ago, a Bloomberg Law analysis found.

High court arguments are dominated by Supreme Court veterans—those attorneys that have argued five or more ...