Who Was The Least-Experienced Attorney To Ever Argue Before The SCOTUS?

Has anyone shockingly young in the legal field ever argued before the Supreme Court?

Sarah Weddington at the age of 26 argued Roe vs Wade

Samuel Sloan was 34 years old in 1978 when he argued (and won!) 9-0 in front of the Supreme Court. He was not a lawyer, but was permitted to argue the case because he was the defendant.

Yup – Sloan was a pro se, self-represented party when the SEC sued him.

If the question is “experienced,” then I wold think Elena Kagan would be a likely candidate: she had never argued any case in any court before becoming solicitor general.

How about Clarence Earl Gideon ? He was to poor to hire a lawyer and was forced to act as his own counsel. He lost but certainly made a name for himself in the legal community.

Gideon represented himself during the trial, but not in the Supreme Court. There, he was represented by Abe Fortas (who was later a Justice on the Supreme Court).

Did he get to keep the pen?

He did draft his own petition for certiorari, though.

Thanks for that; hand-written in pencil. I wonder how unusual that is.

For attorneys, very. For pro se litigants, not at all.