SCOTUSBlog seeks press credentials from the Supreme Court
“We put more effort into covering the Supreme Court than any other organization in American history, including even specialty legal publications like the American Lawyer.”
This from Attorney Tom Goldstein, in a story reported by AP’s legal affairs writer, Mark Sherman (@shermancourt).
Goldstein is a lawyer like few others. A true entrepreneur who set his sights at the highest levels.
Most lawyers who argue cases before the Supreme Court attended Ivy League schools and clerked for justices of the Court. Goldstein did neither.
He built a Supreme Court practice by systematically reviewing cases in which their was a split between circuit courts. Knowing the Supreme Court would be more likely to grant Cert, Goldstein hustled to get those cases, even if it meant being paid little or nothing.
It worked. Goldstein has argued 30 cases, just under 10% of the cases before the Court, in the last 15 years. He’s listed as one of the 40 most influential lawyers of the decade by the National Law Journal.
In October 2002, Goldstein and his wife, Amy Howe, started SCOTUSBlog to help them get work for the firm they were running of their house. No other law blog has come close the impact SCOTUSBlog has had. It’s become the news source of record on the Supreme Court for lawyers, for the press, for the public, and even the justices and their clerks.
Lyle Denniston, who has been covering the Supreme Court for 54 years, is the blog’s lead reporter. Howe, Goldstein, and Kevin Russell, Goldstein’s law partner, are among those who also cover the Court for SCOTUSBlog.
You can see the dilemma for the Court and Goldtsein. Which hat are you wearing, the lawyer’s, the reporter’s, or the publisher’s. Goldstein makes clear, as an officer of the court, he knows where to draw the line.
Goldstein, explained in a C-Span interview cited by Sherman, that the blog was a failed marketing attempt.
Turns out it was a really stupid idea. People don’t say, ‘Get me the guy with the website.’
I’m not certain SCOTUSBlog was a total failure as a marketing tactic. I wouldn’t call it overt marketing anyway. Writing, publishing, and speaking has always been the finest form of professional and business development for a lawyer. Goldstein and Howe grabbed the bull by the horns and did it like no other lawyers.
The blog, along with Goldstein’s legal skill, may have also caused Akin Gump to invite Goldstein to co-chair the firm’s litigation and Supreme Court practices, a position he held until 2010.
Bottom line, Goldstein got known as a ‘go to lawyer for Supreme Court cases’ in a very fast time.
Why the desire for full credentials now? Because the blog should be treated like other news organizations. Goldstein also wants to sell the blog. It costs about $500,000 a year to run and a Bloomberg sponsorship is in its final year.
To that end, he wants a formal press credential for Denniston, whose pass is courtesy of a Boston public radio station for which he works only rarely, and maybe even Howe.
The formal recognition he seeks is part of a series of moves aimed at making SCOTUSblog more attractive to prospective buyers.
The Court is noncommittal. Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg told Sherman she is reviewing a credentialing application for the first time in nearly 40 years and won’t act on any pending requests until the process is complete.
It’s only a matter of time before the SCOTUSBlog and other publications by law firms, such as Food Safety News, sponsored by the Marler Clark law firm, get full press credentials. Such blogs are huge undertakings and do vertical reporting that far surpasses any coverage by the mainstream media.
The fact that law firms run them may only add to their credibility. Sure there will be shills blogging in a cheap attempt to promote their law firm, but they’ll be seen for what they are.
Blogs, such as SCOTUSBlog, are part of the fabric of a free press in this country. To treat them otherwise is only a disservice to the public.