As chairman of the appellate and constitutional law practice at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Thomas Hungar is accustomed to analyzing high court opinions. An amicus brief he wrote on behalf of six law professors in Courtney v. Danner let him delve into Reconstruction-era history.

“My son is a history buff,” said Hungar, who has argued 25 times before the U.S. Supreme Court. “I’m planning to send him our brief in this case, which is not the case for the vast majority of what I work on.”