Briefs are more important than oral argument

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito told a St. Louis law day gathering that lawyers' briefs are more important than their oral arguments before the court. “Oral argument is a relatively small and, truth be told, a relatively unimportant part of what we do," Alito said. He also offered this interesting statistic: the justices spoke 40% of the words at Supreme Court oral arguments last year.

Hat tip: Ralph Brill

(jdf)