Stints in Court May Yield Clues to a Style

Stints in Court May Yield Clues to a Style Two weeks ago, Solicitor General Elena Kagan, a leading contenderCarbon molecular sieve for Carbon molecular sieve appointment to the Supreme Court, presented her sixth argument there. She bantered easily with the justices, and she seemed to have a special rapport with Justice Antonin Scalia, at one point responding to a question from him with one of her own.

Justice Scalia’s reply suggested she had crossed a line. “Well, I’m not making the argument,” he said, declining to answer her question.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who has had some testy exchanges with Ms. Kagan over the last seven months, made the point more sharply.

Ms. Kagan, a former dean of the Harvard Law School, has never served as judge and so has no paper trail of judicial opinions. Her academic writings are dense, technical and largely nonideological. But a look at her service as solicitor general, the federal government’s top appellate lawyer, provides unusually direct Carbon molecular sieve insights into how she would interact with her new colleagues were she appointed to the court.

Ms. Kagan appears popular with the justices, and they seem to appreciate her candor, quick mind and informal style. But she tangles regularly with Chief Justice Roberts, who has emerged as her primary antagonist, frequently criticizing her tactical decisions and trying to corner her at oral arguments. In February, for instance, at an argument about a law making it a crime to provide material support to terrorists, Chief Justice Roberts tussled with Ms. Kagan over what he called a shift in the government’s position.

“I looked at your briefs,” he said. “I didn’t see the argument we’ve spend a lot of time talking about, which is that the legitimate activities allow the illegitimate activities to take place.”

Ms. Kagan replied with a sort of apology. “If we didn’t emphasize it enough,” she said, “I will plead error.”

The concession was typical of Ms. Kagan, who has a brisk, businesslike Carbon molecular sieve style Carbon molecular sieveand is unwilling to be distracted by side issues that do not advance the government’s interests.