This week marks the Court’s first week of oral arguments for the 2026 Term. The Court heard two arguments on Monday, heard one argument on Tuesday, and will hear one argument on Wednesday in the following cases:

1. Suncor Energy (U.S.A.) Inc. v. Commissioners of Boulder County, Docket No. 25-170.
2. Johnson v. United States Congress, Docket No. 25-735.
3. Anderson v. Intel Corp. Investment Policy Committee, Docket No. 25-498.
4. Department of Air Force v. Prutehi Guahan, Docket No. 25-579.

So far, the oral advocates for the first week have been announced and each day will include one woman oral advocate before the Court.

On Monday, Ms. Sarah M. Harris (Principal Deputy Solicitor General) argued as amicus curiae in Suncor Energy. On Tuesday, Ms. Aimee Brown (Assistant to the Solicitor General) argued as amicus curiae in Anderson. And on Wednesday, we will hear Ms. Caroline A. Flynn (Earthjustice) argue on behalf of Respondents in Prutehi Guahan.

In total, woman oral advocates will make up 30% of the oral advocates before the Court this week.

This percentage is generally consistent with what we have seen over the last few terms as far as overall percentages of women oral advocates.

But, of course, this is not the full picture. Next, lets take a deeper look at the counsel involved and listed on each of the briefs filed in the cases heard by the Court on Monday. (Listen to the arguments here).

Starting with Suncor, the opening brief (available here) lists eleven counsel with Mr. Kannon Shanmugam as counsel of record:

In sum, there were only two women, both associates, who were listed as counsel on Petitioner’s opening brief. This was further reduced when Petitioners filed their reply brief which listed only six counsel. One woman associate, Eleanor K. Ritter was listed on both of Petitioner’s briefs.

Turning next to the Respondent’s brief (available here) nine counsel were listed with Mr. Kevin K. Russell being counsel of record.

Of Respondent’s nine counsel, three are women: Michelle C. Harrison, Alison Borochoff-Porte, and Easha Anand.

Given the great number of amicus briefs filed, we won’t touch on the gender makeup of those for today. Instead, we’ll look at the second case heard by the Court on Monday: Johnson v. United States Congress.

In this case, Petitioner listed six counsel (anyone look familar?) in total (available here).

Of those six, two are women advocates: Easha Anand and Pamela S. Karlan. All counsel remained on the reply brief (available here).

Turning to our final brief of the day, the Respondent listed ten counsel, with D. John Sauer as counsel of record (available here).

Of the ten total counsel, two are women: Julie M. Honan and Caroline D. Lopez.

Being involved in a case before the Supreme Court of the United States is a career-defining moment for many, so we look forward to even more women attorneys having their opportunities to be not only involved in brief writing advocacy but oral advocacy as well this term. I intend to post regular updates to keep track of how the term is progressing. Come back in the coming days to see the breakdown of the rest of the briefs filed in cases argued this week.

– Nicole