Associate Makes Supreme Court Debut in Prosecutor Immunity Case

Lawyer Steve Sanders made his U.S. Supreme Court debut today arguing on behalf of prosecutors accused of conspiring to frame two murder suspects. Sanders is an appellate litigator with Mayer Brown, but in an unusual twist, he is an associate rather than a partner. And it’s a paying case; a story in the Omaha World Herald says the Iowa county defending the suit paid $1.35 million in fees to Mayer Brown this year and more than $304,000 last year. An Associated Press account of oral arguments (PDF) today says several justices appeared worried that allowing a civil rights lawsuit against two former Pottawattamie County, Iowa, prosecutors would have a chilling effect. The justices questioned whether suspects would be able to sue prosecutors simply because they didn’t like the verdict.

Associate Makes Supreme Court Debut in Prosecutor Immunity Case abajournal.com Thu, Nov 5, 2009