Pro Se Filer Snags SCOTUS Spot, With Help From Firm

A rare thing happened at the U.S. Supreme Court Jan. 8—the high court agreed to review a pro se cert petition without “relisting” it (Welch v. United States, 84 U.S.L.W. 3382, U.S., 15-6418, review granted 1/8/16).

That makes the grant doubly rare.

Recently, an overwhelming majority of Supreme Court grants are either granted out of the court’s “long conference”—occurring each September, just before the start of the term—or after at least one relist—that is, after considering the petition in at least two private conferences where the justices decided what cases to take up.

Moreover, it is “fairly unusual ...