The small Bancroft firm of D.C. catapulted to the top of the list of firms with the most arguments before the Supreme Court last term, thanks to partner Paul Clement’s knack for attracting clients, large and small, with cases before the high court.
The National Law Journal’s annual tally of the advocates who appear before the Court showed Bancroft well ahead of firms several times its size.
Clement, who joined the eight-year-old firm in April 2011, argued nine times before the high court including three times in the historic Affordable Care Act cases and set a modern-day record for private practitioners. He racked up full or partial wins in six of the nine cases.
The firm has doubled in size since Clement landed there after a well-publicized exit from King & Spalding, but still has only 15 lawyers.
The next three firms with the most arguments have 500 lawyers or more: Sidley Austin, with six arguments, and Latham & Watkins and Mayer Brown, with five each. The list of firms with three or more arguments last term follows:
| FIRM | NO. OF CASES | WINS* | NO. OF LAWYERS | SIZE OF FIRM |
| Bancroft | 9 cases | 6 | 1 | 10-50 lawyers |
| Sidley Austin | 6 cases | 5 | 2 | More than 500 lawyers |
| Latham & Watkins | 5 cases | 2 | 2 | More than 500 lawyers |
| Mayer Brown | 5 cases | 1 | 4 | More than 500 lawyers |
| Kellogg Huber | 4 cases | 2 | 2 | 50-150 lawyers |
| Wilmer | 4 cases | 2 | 3 | More than 500 lawyers |
| Akin, Gump | 3 cases | 2 | 1 | More than 500 lawyers |
| Goldstein & Russell | 3 cases | 0 | 2 | Less than 10 lawyers |
| Jones Day | 3 cases | 3 | 3 | More than 500 lawyers |
*Includes partial wins
