The list of lawyers employed by groups challenging President Trump’s sweeping tariffs who could have argued the case in front of the Supreme Court included a conservative former federal judge and two longtime Supreme Court litigators.
In the end, it came down to the flip of a coin.
The winner: Neal K. Katyal.
Mr. Katyal, a familiar face to the justices, has argued more than 50 cases before the Supreme Court. A former clerk for Justice Stephen G. Breyer, Mr. Katyal served as acting solicitor general during the Obama administration, stepping into the role after Elena Kagan left the position to join the court. He is now a partner at the law firm Milbank.
Mr. Katyal represents a group of small businesses, led by the wine and liquor distributor VOS Selections Inc. Also representing the businesses is Michael W. McConnell, a conservative and former federal judge appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush.
At oral argument, the case brought by Mr. Katyal and Mr. McConnell’s clients has been consolidated with a separate lawsuit brought by Learning Resources, an educational toy company. That company is represented by Pratik Shah, a lawyer at Akin Gump. Mr. Shah, who also clerked for Justice Breyer, has argued nearly 20 cases before the justices.
On Oct. 23, the court announced that it would hear a divided argument in the case — a total of 40 minutes for the groups challenging the tariffs. The justices added that they would allow only one lawyer to speak for all of the companies.
The court also allotted 20 minutes for argument by the dozen states that have separately challenged the tariffs. Those states will be represented by Benjamin N. Gutman, the solicitor general of Oregon. Mr. Gutman, who has held the job since 2016, will be making his first appearance before the court.
He argued the tariffs case on behalf of the coalition of states in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Mr. Gutman is also involved in another high-profile challenge to the Trump administration’s policies: the legal case over whether the president can deploy Oregon National Guard troops to Portland.
Abbie VanSickle covers the United States Supreme Court for The Times. She is a lawyer and has an extensive background in investigative reporting.
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