Yale, Harvard Law Taking Over Supreme Court

By Dylan Matthews

Simon Lazarus is public policy counsel to the National Senior Citizens Law Center and a frequent commentator on the Supreme Court and the intersection of the law and economic and labor issues. I called him today to ask about what the next justice will need to do, and be prepared for, when they arrive at the court. A lightly edited transcript of our interview follows. EK: Do you know Elena Kagan personally? SL: No, I don't. EK: By reputation?

Members of the Senate judiciary committee have plenty of ground to cover at this week's confirmation hearing of U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan. But when it comes to what big business should expect from President Obama's pick to replace U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, the talking heads are united in their uncertainty: Who really knows what she'll do? She's a wild card.