Now, only attorneys can argue in front of Supreme Court

By: DOLAN MEDIA NEWSWIRES//July 10, 2013//

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By Gary Gosselin
Dolan Media Newswires

If you’ve dreamed of arguing a case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, you’d better make sure you’re an attorney, because the court just shut the door on non-attorney arguments.

Literally, anyone could have argued in front of the Supreme Court, but practically, very few non-lawyers were allowed to try. The last was Samuel H. Sloan, when he represented himself in 1978 in a lawsuit involving stock trading, according to The Washington Post.

He won 9-0.

The Court updated its 80-page rule book last week and added Rule 28.8, which requires anyone arguing in front of the court be a lawyer.

The Post reports that until now, non-lawyers were not shy about applying to argue, and recently included a magazine publisher, an entrepreneur and a paralegal-in-training. They were turned down — the paralegal-in-training in the past year.

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