# Who Was The Least-Experienced Attorney To Ever Argue Before The SCOTUS? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 7, 2017, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-least-experienced-attorney-to-ever-argue-before-the-scotus/781596 "2017-03-07T02:32:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-least-experienced-attorney-to-ever-argue-before-the-scotus/781596/1 "2017-03-07T02:32:19Z")
Has anyone shockingly young in the legal field ever argued before the Supreme Court? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-least-experienced-attorney-to-ever-argue-before-the-scotus/781596/2 "2017-03-07T03:05:18Z")
Sarah Weddington at the age of 26 argued Roe vs Wade > **[Sarah Weddington](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Weddington)** > > Sarah Catherine Ragle Weddington (February 5, 1945 – December 26, 2021) was an American attorney, law professor, advocate for women's rights and reproductive health, and member of the Texas House of Representatives. She was best known for representing "Jane Roe" (real name Norma McCorvey) in the landmark Roe v. Wade case before the United States Supreme Court. She also was the first woman General Counsel for the US Department of Agriculture. > Sarah Ragle was born on February 5, 1945, in Abilene... ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-least-experienced-attorney-to-ever-argue-before-the-scotus/781596/3 "2017-03-07T12:45:38Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Falchion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Falchion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Falchion)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-least-experienced-attorney-to-ever-argue-before-the-scotus/781596/4 "2017-03-07T14:09:33Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Has anyone shockingly young in the legal field ever argued before the Supreme Court? 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. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-least-experienced-attorney-to-ever-argue-before-the-scotus/781596/5 "2017-03-07T21:38:39Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-least-experienced-attorney-to-ever-argue-before-the-scotus/781596/6 "2017-03-07T21:52:37Z")
[Gideon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gideon_v._Wainwright) 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). ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-least-experienced-attorney-to-ever-argue-before-the-scotus/781596/7 "2017-03-08T05:08:50Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > 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. Did he get to keep the pen? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-least-experienced-attorney-to-ever-argue-before-the-scotus/781596/8 "2017-03-08T17:47:01Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > [Gideon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gideon_v._Wainwright) 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). He did draft [his own petition for certiorari](https://research.archives.gov/id/597554), though. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-least-experienced-attorney-to-ever-argue-before-the-scotus/781596/9 "2017-03-08T18:18:38Z")
Thanks for that; hand-written in pencil. I wonder how unusual that is. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-least-experienced-attorney-to-ever-argue-before-the-scotus/781596/10 "2017-03-08T18:56:50Z")
For attorneys, very. For pro se litigants, not at all.