Samir Deger-Sen, a newly appointed partner at Latham & Watkins, will debut at the US Supreme Court in Smith v. United States, a pro-bono criminal case. Deger-Sen’s accomplishment is rare for an attorney at his level, given the intense competition among the Supreme Court bar and the dwindling number of cases the justices hear.
The case unusually came to Latham, with the client, Timothy Smith, reaching out to the firm. Smith was charged with hacking into a website that collects location data on artificial reefs and sells the information for a substantial sum. Fishermen create the reefs to avoid overfishing and to develop private fishing spots. Smith exposed the company on social media, and a federal court convicted him in Florida, where the company is located. However, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit vacated that decision, stating that Smith should have been tried in his home state.
The justices are now considering a technical question over the consequence of the government bringing the charges to the wrong courthouse. Deger-Sen describes Smith as a “highly articulate person and avid court watcher” who identified a split among the federal appeals courts on the technical “venue” issue.
Deger-Sen’s impressive resume includes a World University Debating championship, degrees from Oxford and Yale Law School, and a clerkship at all three levels of the federal judiciary, including the Supreme Court, for then-Justice Anthony Kennedy. He is a London native, and his parents immigrated to the UK via India and Turkey. Deger-Sen came to the US for law school and has worked hard since his career to create opportunities to argue in court.
“I always asked to do the argument” and “really stretched to take on an additional case even if I was swamped,” Deger-Sen said. “I was going to take every opportunity to argue.” His colleague at Latham, Elana Nightingale Dawson, who clerked with Deger-Sen at the Supreme Court, believes associates looking to forge similar paths must build their profile within the firm and be proactive about their careers.
“You have to be willing to raise your hand and put yourself in the position to be thought of for those opportunities,” she said. “That’s how these opportunities are created. They don’t just fall into your lap.”
Margaret Upshaw, an associate in Latham’s appellate group, said she is trying to replicate how Deger-Sen has created argument opportunities. Upshaw has argued a case in the Eleventh Circuit and hopes to make it to the high court lectern eventually. She will be at the counsel’s table for Smith and says, “I’m inching my way closer to the podium.”
Deger-Sen’s success highlights the importance of hard work, persistence, and luck in securing coveted opportunities at the Supreme Court. Pro bono work is a common way for attorneys to gain experience and make their first arguments in the circuit courts and the Supreme Court. But as Deger-Sen’s experience demonstrates, securing a Supreme Court argument takes more than luck. Associates must proactively create opportunities for themselves, build their profile within the firm, and consistently produce excellent work to back up their claims for coveted opportunities.
As for Deger-Sen’s Supreme Court debut is a significant achievement, but it’s just the beginning of what promises to be an illustrious career in law.