Lisa S. Blatt

Lisa S. Blatt is a star litigator who chairs Williams & Connolly LLP’s Supreme Court and appellate practice. With 46 appearances before the high court, she has argued more there than any other woman in U.S. history — and has racked up an 89% win rate. She joined the firm in 1990 after clerking for then-Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg when Ginsburg was on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Blatt, who was available for only a brief email interview due to a family crisis, said her approach to Supreme Court arguments is to frame the debate in terms of impact. “We try to give the court a real window into how the court’s decision will affect the client and an entire industry.”

She added that a special area of interest is trademark law. “I want to be reincarnated as a trademark lawyer. I love everything about that area. I think it’s because I like to shop and am very loyal to my favorite brands.”

Blatt made her opinions clear last July when she presented a Supreme Court review to the 9th Circuit’s judicial conference in Portland, Oregon.

In Blatt’s analysis, despite his personal scandals, “Justice [Clarence] Thomas still is the leader on the right of the court,” she said. She held that it’s not true that Chief Justice John Roberts successfully took the reins again after having lost control the previous term. “It will be for quite some time a Justice Kavanaugh court. The chief just doesn’t have control in terms of the votes.”

“I think it is very hard to be a judge,” she went on, “and if you don’t necessarily have an ideology, like I don’t — I did not know what the word originalism meant until maybe ten years ago, I never heard of the work textualism, and nor do I care. I just care about trying to win a case.”

Blatt’s open mind led to a broad spectrum of cases last year — and four wins.

In a copyright dispute, Blatt obtained a 7-2 opinion holding that her client, celebrity photographer Lynn Goldsmith, had a valid infringement claim against Andy Warhol’s estate for its copying of a portrait of the musician Prince. It was the first major fair use case of the century. Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc. v. Goldsmith, 21-869 (S. Ct., op. filed May 18, 2023).

“I’m proud of all of our work, but I am always proudest when representing the little guy standing up to bullies and I think we did that in the Warhol v. Goldsmith case,” Blatt said.