Robert Long, who leads Covington & Burling’s appellate and U.S. Supreme Court practice, remembers getting the call from the U.S. Supreme Court to participate as an amicus curiae in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services v. Florida, one of the challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. “Came out of the blue,” recalled Long, who has argued 17 cases in the high court.
He was the first lawyer up in March during the landmark three-day hearing, taking a position the U.S. Justice Department had earlier abandoned — that challenges to the Obama administration’s hallmark legislation were premature until someone is sanctioned for violating the law’s mandate to buy health insurance. “It was a great honor to be asked to participate, and to even be the leadoff hitter,” Long said.
