Lisa Blatt

Blatt was born Lisa Carol Schiavo in San Angelo, Texas[8] to Dr. Lois Friedman, a psychologist and professor, and Dr. Luigi Schiavo, a software engineer.[1] She grew up in Texas in San Angelo and Bryan–College Station.[9] Blatt was inspired by Thurgood Marshall to pursue a career in law and began speech and debate in seventh grade.[4] Blatt attended the University of Texas at Austin for college and law school, graduating summa cum laude both times.[10][11] After law school, she clerked for then-Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.[10] In 1990, Blatt joined the Washington, D.C. law firm Williams & Connolly.[12] In 1993, she moved to the General Counsel's Office at the Department of Energy.[13] In 1996, she became an Assistant to the U.S. Solicitor General.[11] She worked in the Office of the Solicitor General until 2009, when she joined Arnold & Porter.[11] She returned to Williams & Connolly in 2019 as chair of the Supreme Court and Appellate Practice.[14][15] Blatt is also an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University, teaching classes on constitutional law and the separation of powers.[16][17] She was previously a visiting professor at Yale University.[18]

Blatt has argued 46 cases before the Supreme Court, prevailing in 41 cases.[2] Law360 has called her approach to litigation "equal parts Sun Tzu and Vince Lombardi."[19]

• United States v. Flores-Montano (2004): Blatt represented the United States in a criminal case asking whether federal customs officers need reasonable suspicion to search a gas tank at the border.[20] Ruling in favor of Blatt's client, the Court held 9-0 that customs officers could search gas tanks without any showing of reasonable suspicion.[20] At oral argument, Blatt recounted how customs officers conduct gas tank and upholstery searches.[21] The Supreme Court's official Guide for Counsel offers Blatt's argument as “an excellent example of a counsel who was intimately familiar with her client’s business.”[22]
• Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl (2013): Blatt represented adoptive parents in a dispute under the Indian Child Welfare Act.[23] The child's biological father, an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation who had texted the birth mother to give up all parental rights, argued that the Act gave him the right to later block an adoption by a non-Native American family.[23] The Supreme Court ruled 5–4 in favor of Blatt's client, holding that the Act does not apply where the Indian parent never had custody of the child.[24] A law-review article on legal writing highlighted Blatt's “powerful” brief as an example of “brilliance” and “powerful emotional hooks.”[25]
• SmithKline Beecham v. Abbott Labs (9th Cir. 2014): Blatt represented SmithKline Beecham in a Ninth Circuit appeal involving sexual-orientation discrimination in jury selection.[26] The court ruled unanimously in favor of Blatt's client, holding that equal protection prohibits peremptory strikes based on sexual orientation, just as it does for race and sex.[26] The Ninth Circuit was the first federal appeals court to bar such strikes.[27] The American Lawyer Litigation Daily named Blatt “Litigator of the Week” for this win.[28]
• Pro-Football Inc. v. Blackhorse (4th Cir. 2018): Blatt represented the Washington Redskins in an appeal involving the Patent and Trademark Office’s cancellation of the team’s trademark registrations on the grounds that they were offensive.[29] Blatt argued that federal trademark registrations are not forms of government speech exempt from First Amendment scrutiny.[29] Blatt’s brief drew attention for its list of vulgar registrations that the government had previously allowed, which The Washington Post described as the “‘Take Yo’ Panties Off’” defense.”[29] While the appeal was pending, the Supreme Court decided Matal v. Tam (2017), which adopted Blatt's position that trademarks are not government speech and the Lanham Act’s disparagement clause violated the First Amendment.[30] Blatt submitted an amicus brief on behalf of the Redskins, which the Court’s opinion cited multiple times.[31] The Native American group challenging the team’s trademarks later dropped its suit.[32]
• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com (2020): Blatt represented Booking.com in its trademark dispute with the Patent and Trademark Office, which had rejected Booking.com’s trademark applications as generic.[33] Ruling in Blatt’s client’s favor, the Supreme Court held 8-1 that Booking.com is not a generic term and is thus eligible for federal trademark registration.[33] The case, argued during the COVID-19 pandemic, was the first in the Supreme Court’s history to be argued remotely.[34] Blatt, selected by the Court to have the first argument using the new telephonic format, argued the case from her dining room.[3]
• Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. (2021): Blatt represented Mahanoy Area School District in its dispute with a student over schools’ ability to regulate student speech off-campus.[35] Blatt argued that the Court's decision in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969), which held that the First Amendment allows schools to regulate or punish disruptive student speech, applies to off-campus student speech.[36] The Court ruled 8–1 in favor of the student, but agreed with Blatt that the First Amendment allows schools to regulate at least some off-campus speech.[37] SCOTUSblog described Blatt's client as having “lost the battle” but “won the war.”[37]
• Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith (2022): Blatt represented fine-art photographer Lynn Goldsmith in her copyright dispute with the Andy Warhol Foundation.[38] Blatt argued that the Warhol Foundation did not make fair use of Goldsmith's photograph of the musician Prince when it licensed a Warhol silkscreen based on her photograph to Condé Nast.[39] Commentators have predicted that Goldsmith will “be the most important copyright case decided by the Supreme Court in almost 30 years.”[40] Blatt's oral argument touched on Steven Spielberg, Jimi Hendrix, Darth Vader, and All in the Family.[41] The Court ruled 7-2 in favor of Goldsmith.[42]
• Gonzalez v. Google LLC (2023): Blatt successfully represented Google in a case asking whether Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 bars claims alleging that YouTube’s recommendation algorithms fueled the rise of ISIS.[43] Blatt persuaded the Court not to address the scope of Section 230(c)(1) of the Communications Decency Act, scoring a win for Google as the Court declined to hold them liable for content posted by their users.[44] The Washington Post and CNN describe the case as having the potential to “reshape the internet,”[45] although the Post noted that the Supreme Court appeared “wary of sudden change” after hearing from Blatt.[46]
• Jack Daniel’s Properties, Inc. v. VIP Products LLC (2023): Blatt represented Jack Daniel's in its trademark and First Amendment dispute with dog-toy seller, VIP Products.[47] Blatt argued that VIP's poop-themed dog toy imitating a Jack Daniel's whiskey bottle should not receive special First Amendment protection from trademark liability.[47][48] The Court unanimously ruled for Jack Daniel's, and held that a defendant’s “humorous” or “expressive” use of another’s trademark did not protect the defendant from liability for infringing or diluting the trademark.[49] Justice Kagan authored the Court's opinion, and when reading it aloud, Kagan sang a few lines from the song "Barbie Girl" ("Life in plastic, it's fantastic"), lyrics that were the subject of an earlier trademark dispute.

Blatt is a pro-choice Democrat.[50] She supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.[51] On August 2, 2018, Blatt endorsed then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, touting him as “the most qualified conservative for the job.”[50] Blatt introduced Kavanaugh at his Senate confirmation hearing alongside former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Ohio Senator Rob Portman.[51] Maine Senator Susan Collins cited Blatt's remarks in announcing her vote to confirm Kavanaugh.[52] Blatt's support for Kavanaugh led progressive activists to lobby President-elect Joe Biden to not nominate Blatt as U.S. Solicitor General.[53]

Blatt has criticized the Senate's failure to confirm then-Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court.[51]

Blatt is a self-identified liberal feminist.[50] She has described the legal profession as “overrun with men” whom she has criticized as “obviously clueless that they have no talent.”[54] Blatt has advocated for diversifying the pool of lawyers arguing before the Supreme Court, urging that “[t]he numbers won’t change until we act instead of just talk.”[55] Since Blatt's return to Williams & Connolly in 2019, Blatt and two of her female partners, Sarah Harris and Amy Saharia, have collectively appeared 15 times before the Supreme Court (as of March 2023).[56][57][58] American Lawyer has called this all-female practice “an anomaly among its peers.”[59] Blatt also promoted the first argument by one of only two black men in private practice to argue before the Supreme Court since 2003, Luke McCloud.[60]

Blatt is married to David Blatt, a fellow partner at Williams & Connolly who specializes in commercial litigation.[61] Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg officiated their wedding in 1995.[10] Blatt's father-in-law, Sidney Blatt, was a noted psychologist at Yale University.[62] Blatt has two children, Daniel and Rachel, who both attend Stanford Law School.[4] She also has a goldendoodle, Jackson.[3] She is Jewish.[4] She enjoys dancing[63] and cowboy boots.[4]

• Lisa S. Blatt, In Front of the Burgundy Curtain, 14 Green Bag 2d (2010)
• Lisa Blatt, I’m a Liberal Feminist Lawyer. Here’s Why Democrats Should Support Judge Kavanaugh, Politico (Aug. 2, 2018)
• Lisa Blatt, Reflections of a Lady Lawyer, Women & the Law 59 (2020)

• Williams & Connolly biography
• Lisa S. Blatt: Cases argued – Oyez
• C-SPAN appearances

• Lisa Blatt's biography at the Williams & Connolly website
• Appearances at the U.S. Supreme Court from the Oyez Project
• Appearances on C-SPAN