Federal Judiciary

The week ahead

By Akin Gump Supreme Court Practice Group

The Court is not in session today in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and therefore will not release orders, but orders are expected on Tuesday and opinions on Wednesday.  Oral arguments will be heard on Tuesday and Wednesday in the following cases:

Tuesday, Jan. 19:

• Mac?s Shell Service, Inc. v. Shell Oil Products Company; Shell Oil Products Company v. Mac?s Shell Service (08-240; 08-372) ? the rights of service station operators to sue to challenge the loss or non-renewal of their franchises from oil companies
• Granite Rock Company v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters (08-1214) ? federal court?s jurisdiction to determine collective bargaining agreement formation

Wednesday, Jan. 20:

• Berghuis v. Smith (08-1402) ? the proper test to assess the fairness of community representation on a jury
• Conkright v. Frommert (08-810) ? the proper standard of review for an ERISA denial-of-benefits case

A private conference of the Justices is scheduled for this Friday.  Our list of petitions to watch for that conference will be published soon.

Merits briefs are also due this week in the cases listed after the jump.

Tuesday, Jan. 19:

• Morrison v. Australia National Bank (08-1191) ? petitioner’s brief
• Berghuis v. Thompkins (08-1470) ? respondent’s brief

Thursday, Jan. 21:

• Humanitarian Law Project v. Holder (09-89) ? reply brief of Humanitarian Law Project

Full post as published by SCOTUSBLOG on January 18, 2010 (boomark / email).