UST law professor, teaching in Rome, drafts U.S. Supreme Court brief

A University of St. Thomas law professor recently found himself doing double duty, teaching in the law school's first study-abroad program in Rome and preparing a brief for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Gregory Sisk, the Orestes A. Brownson Professor of Law at St. Thomas, is author of a leading treatise on litigating claims against the federal government, Litigation With the Federal Government (ALI-ABA, 2006), and author of a case book, Litigation With the Federal Government: Cases and Materials (Foundation Press, 2007). When the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case related to the subject, and then counsel for the party invited his expertise, Sisk couldn't resist.

Although the chance to work on a brief before the Supreme Court was intriguing, Sisk initially was doubtful that he could answer the call.  The request came on the eve of his Sisk's departure to Rome, Italy, where he would be teaching for six weeks in the new summer abroad program that the University of St. Thomas law school had just begun in partnership with the Villanova University law school.  But he delved into the case as he prepared for his teaching assignment and completed a rough first draft.

After arriving in Rome he found more challenges: computer and Internet access for only a few hours a day – and never on weekends. A six-hour time difference limited office hours; he and his co-counsel were in their distant offices simultaneously for only a few hours each day. And, of course, he had teaching responsibilities.

When Sisk arrived in his office each morning at the American University of Rome, it was still the middle of the night in the United States.  He would work from morning until late afternoon drafting brief sections and preparing revisions. This work product then would be waiting for counsel Jeffrey Haynes when he arrived each morning at his office in Michigan. After Sisk spent several hours preparing for and teaching his summer class in Rome, he'd return to his office in the early evening, corresponding with Haynes for a few hours before the university would lock up the building each night around 9 p.m.

“Two things made it possible to work on a United States Supreme Court brief while in Italy,” Sisk explained.  “First, the increasing availability of legal materials online allowed me access to most of the important legislative and court documents, even though I was thousands of miles away.  Second, lead counsel Jeffrey Haynes not only was accommodating and gracious, but had such a command of the issues and the ability to identify problems and prepare new arguments, that the brief came together with surprising ease for a joint project conducted across continents.”

Sisk and Haynes drafted the petitioner's brief for the case John R. Sand & Gravel Co. v. United States, which involves the rules for timely filing of monetary claims against the federal government.  According to Sisk, the case raises an issue that “only a lawyer could love” but one that has practical significance for a wide array of cases.  The question the court will consider: Is the statute of limitations jurisdictional for the time in which to file a monetary claim against the federal government? If it is, this means that even when parties agree that a lawsuit was filed in a timely manner and even when the trial court agrees, an appellate court can raise the issue later and reverse a previous judgment.  To read the complete petitioner's brief click here.  The case is likely to be argued before the Supreme Court in late November or December.

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