Three Alumni Among Nine Fellows Admitted to US Supreme Court Bar
Three Law School alumni were among nine Tony Patiño Fellows admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States last week.
Dave Finkel, ’21, Neha Nigam, ’17, and Grisel Ruiz, ’09, were sworn in to practice before the Supreme Court just before the justices heard arguments in United States vs. Skrmetti, one of the most closely watched cases of the Term. After their admission to the Supreme Court bar, Fellows stayed to watch oral arguments in the case, which addresses Tennessee’s ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender teenagers. Following the oral arguments, Fellows were given a private tour of the Library of Congress.
The Tony Patiño Fellowship program provides merit awards of $17,500 per year to qualifying law students at the University of Chicago Law School, the University of California College of Law, San Francisco, and Columbia Law School. It was established in 1974 by Francesca Turner in memory of her son, and expanded to include the University of Chicago Law School in 1983.