The Easha Anand Supreme Court File
Tom Borman, LawFuel ‘Law Star’ writer and legal contributor
Described by leading legal commentator David Lat as a ‘Rising Star of the Supreme Court’, Easha Anand switched from a career as a potentially brilliant mathematician to journalism before switching to law – where she has become more than merely an emerging figure in law, but a major star in Supreme Court litigation.
As David Lat wrote recently in his substack blog:
| How many Supreme Court advocates wind up with three or more arguments in the same Term? Some of my past podcast guests . . . can claim this distinction. But it’s very, very rare (especially if you don’t work—or have never worked—in the Office of the Solicitor General).What’s even more rare is having three oral arguments in your very first Term arguing before the Court. But Easha Anand, the 38-year-old co-director of Stanford Law School’s renowned Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, just pulled off this feat David Lat |
The 38-year-old co-director of Stanford Law School‘s renowned Supreme Court Litigation Clinic joined Stanford’s faculty in 2023 and has developed an impressive CV that includes clerkships at the highest levels of the judicial system and a keen focus on legal issues such as police excessive force and prison conditions.
She has become an influential voice in Supreme Court advocacy and legal education. She first appeared in the Court last year on a whistleblower case where she argued to toss out a US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decision that said her client Trevor Murray needed to prove UBS Securities fired him with retaliatory intent for reporting financial wrongdoing.
Her appearances before the Supreme Court and her role at the Stanford Clinic mean she plays a crucial part in shaping how emerging lawyers view and engage with the law, signifying her integral position in not just practicing law but also in guiding its future direction.
Impressive credentials for someone who is yet to have her 40th birthday.
Before her current role at Stanford, she served as Supreme Court & Appellate Counsel at the MacArthur Justice Center, where she litigated significant cases centered on civil rights.
Her work and influence extend into her position as co-director of the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic at Stanford, where she molds the next generation of litigators. Through
Her Academic & Legal Background
Anand grew up in both India and the US before attending Yale and the law school at the University of Calfirnia Berkley, which lead to a clerking role with Judge Paul Watford on the Ninth Circuit and later Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
Easha Anand is a Yale Law School graduate who harbored an early passion for mathematics. She took an abstract algebra class at Yale, but subsequently changed to another interest: literature.
She worked as a newspaper reporter instead, ultimately working for the Wall Street Journal before taking a job as a capital defense investigator when she failed to find a journalism job she wanted in California.
That led to law school and a clerkship with Justice Sotomayor, and she also made her mark as Supreme Court & Appellate Counsel at the MacArthur Justice Center, engaging in civil rights and related litigation, which lead ultimately to her role as the co-head of Stanford’s Supreme Court Litigation Clinic where she can blend practical court experience with law teaching at Stanford.
Her appellate skills and oral argument are impressive, as Bloomberg Law reported from a former colleague, Amir Ali, president and executive director of the MacArthur Justice Center: “She brings just a degree of intellect and attention to details that is the type of stuff that wins cases,” he said.
“Maybe that comes from her journalism and investigative background, but it’s also an understanding of complexity,” he said. “Maybe that comes from her mathematical background.”
Awards and Recognition
Easha Anand’s expertise has earned her the position of co-director of Stanford Law’s Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, and a visiting professorship, specifically holding the Edwin A. Heafey, Jr. Visiting Professor of Law title in 2022.
Her work has not only been pivotal in legal academia but has also garnered attention in the form of various awards and accolades within the legal community.
She has also published with various publications and the array of her speaking engagements at academic and legal forums.
Her articles often reflect on the intersections of law and social justice, such as the complex issues surrounding juvenile sentencing and Supreme Court jurisprudence.
So too with her lead role at the Stanford Clinic. As with other law school clinics a goal of Stanford’s Supreme Court Litigation Clinic is for the students to take as much ownership of the lawyering as possible and her Supreme Court advocacy has involved students who also take ownership of the work – along with their mentor and lead advocate Easha Anand.
