Chief Justice Roberts on Oral Argument

do you remember your first oral argument oh sure yes absolutely case called United States against helper I was very nervous but I was very nervous when I did my last oral argument as well I think if you're a lawyer appearing before the Supreme Court and you're not very nervous you don't really understand what's what's going on this is a question for all the members of the bar up there I guess and for all those attorneys who eventually find themselves lucky enough to have a case before the court what is it that you wish you had known about the process when you were on that side that you now know everybody tells a lawyer in that position you have to answer the questions don't try to avoid the questions or distinguish your case in any way I hope I did that when I was a lawyer but the importance of that is very accentuated I appreciate it so much more now that I'm on the other side of the bench you have to appreciate that the justices are engaged in the process of trying to help themselves decide the case correctly so they're gonna ask hard questions they're gonna ask questions that don't put your case in the best possible light and you need to appreciate that it's good to establish like I think I didn't appreciate this as much as I should have some dispassion yes you want to have a certain level of zeal and commitment to your clients cause the justices know that but when they ask you a question about a difficult case it's it's better to sometimes say you know I appreciate that that case doesn't support my side I appreciate that that causes us some difficulty here's why I think you shouldn't rely so heavily on that case as opposed to as soon as they ask us you know know that case doesn't hurt us at all and here's why they like you to be part of the process that is helping them come to the right result they understand you've got a client to represent and they expect you to do that but if you can convince them that you're on their side and helping them reach the right decision as opposed to something they have to push against to get you to give a answer I think that's very helpful not only the court but also do your client

Channel: C-SPAN

Views: 203,644

Keywords: John, Roberts, Supreme, Court

Id: UJQ7Ds4nAmA

Length: 2min 22sec (142 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 06 2009