Today at the Court

Today at 10 a.m. the Court is expected to release orders from its conference on Friday.  Our list of petitions to watch for that conference is here.  Oral arguments will also be heard in the following two cases:

10 a.m. – In Astrue v. Ratliff (08-1322), the Court will consider whether attorneys’ fees awarded under the Equal Access to Justice Act can be used to cover a separate debt owed by the prevailing party to the government.  Matthew Sundquist discussed the issues in the case last week on SCOTUSblog.

11 a.m. – In Lewis v. City of Chicago (08-974), the Court will consider what the filing deadline should be for a complaint about the use of an employment test that has a disparate negative impact on minority applicants.  Josh Friedman, an associate at Akin Gump, previewed the case this morning.  [Disclosure: Howe & Russell filed an amicus brief supporting the petitioners.]