“If you've ever been in the West Wing, it's like a little rabbit warren. Everybody's crammed in there on top of each other, and you're eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the mess with people. And so you really get to know each other very well. So, I think they just weren't worried.” PeopleIfsThinkingKnowsWellsLittlesEatingWingsWestDinnerMessWorriedBreakfastLunchRabbitsEating Breakfast Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“I do a little bit of hand-holding on the big cases. You know, like health care, I'll call over and say, "Don't worry. We've got it under control. We have the best people working on it. We're on schedule. Stay calm." So, those kinds of things.” PeopleKnowsKindLittlesHandsBigsCareBitsCasesWorryLittle BitCalmHealth CareSchedulesHolding OnStay CalmHand Holding Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“Sometimes one of the justices, because they're, you know, they're brilliant lawyers themselves, can put the question in a particular way so that, even if you've prepared to talk about the topic, the question is put in such an excruciatingly difficult way that there's just no good way to handle it.” IfsKnowsWaySometimesDifficultJusticeParticularPreparedBrilliantLawyerHandleTopicsGood Way Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“There was this point about, you know, the basic point there as well - this statute treats some parts of the country different from others, and what's the justification for that? Well, you know, I had eight million things to say about that, but he put it in such a sharp, excruciating way that it was just very hard to handle it effectively.” KnowsWayWellsDifferentCountryHardMillionsTreatsEightHandleJustificationStatutesHard To Handle Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“I think what happened is that everybody's impressions got formed in those first few minutes. And I felt like, by the latter part of it, I kind of clawed my way back into the discussion. But everybody's impressions were set at the beginning. And wholly apart from me and whether I was good or bad, you know, there were a lot of hostile questions.” ThinkingKnowsWayFirstsKindFeltHappenedMinutesImpressionMy WayDiscussionLatterHostile Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“I'm representing the United States. And I'm representing the United States, and my office is representing the United States day after day in front of the court. And I think it's the right thing to do, to carry that out with some dignity and some respect for the process and respect for the institution. And so that led me to just, you know, move the dial a little bit in the direction of calmness.” ThinkingKnowsLittlesStatesMovingBitsProcessUnitedUnited StatesFrontsOfficeLittle BitDignityInstitutionsCourtThings To DoRight ThingCalmnessRepresenting Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“One thing I've experienced and I feel really grateful for now that I'm on my way out is that I felt that the justices gave that back to me. I really did. You know, of course, you can have some sharp exchanges. That's the nature of the thing, and that's fine. But really in the main I felt like the tone from them was, "Yeah. We may not agree with you, but we're going to have a discussion about this." And it did.” KnowsWayFeelsMayCoursesFeltJusticeOne ThingFineAgreeYeahGratefulMy WayDiscussionToneDid You Know Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
