2025 was a year that tested me to the utmost.  I’m grateful to everyone who showed kindness and grace over the last year, and I’m excited about what lies ahead in 2026.  Happy new year.

It was just a joy to see @judgedillard.bsky.social receive the Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence at tonight’s NCSC dinner. Such a worthy recognition of an exemplary ambassador for the American bench.

I’m pleased to announce that Masha Hansford is joining us as a partner in our Supreme Court and appellate practice. Masha is the one of the finest appellate advocates of her generation, and we’re thrilled to welcome her back to the firm.

(Many more pictures over on my Instagram page.)

What we did on our summer vacation. The best vacations change the way we see the world. Our time in South Africa certainly did that.

Buddy’s was the overwhelming winner (so thank you!).

Resorting to a jurisdictional argument, I see…

Though perhaps not for the reason you think…

I’m going to get excommunicated from the Society of Midwesterners for saying this, but Detroit pizza > Chicago pizza…

Today is my first day as a member of the Harvard Corporation. Reflecting this morning on how utterly improbable this journey has been.

I have so many questions. Why the come-hither off-the-shoulder look? What is he wearing around his neck? And what is his left hand doing?

OK, you've given me all the excuse I need to break out the all-time best portrait of a Supreme Court justice again...

And in honor of Justice Brewer's birthday, here he is in what can only be described as a next-level judicial robe:

Kannon Shanmugam to join Harvard Corporation — Harvard Gazette Alumnus of College and HLS elected to University’s senior governing board.

It’s an honor to have been asked to serve on the Harvard Corporation.

We really need to get the remaining circuits to start giving out pens, #AppellateSky…

Many courts of appeals have local rules or internal operating procedures that purport to say how much time the court allots for oral argument. But the actual practice sometimes differs.

My colleague (and budding star) Regina Fairfax and I set out to figure out the answer. It turns out not to be as easy as it might seem.

We’re grateful… for you, friend.

"If you hit a wrong note, it's the next note you play that determines if it's good or bad." -- Miles Davis

In his later years, Ted and I would have lunch every few months. For me, those lunches were my “Tuesdays with Morrie” moments. We would talk about absolutely everything, but (unusually for me) I mostly just listened.

In the decades that followed, Ted was one of my most cherished mentors. I consulted with Ted about every major decision in my life, and he never failed to give good advice -- even if it was not obviously good at the time.

Today would have been my dad's 81st birthday. Here are the remarks I gave at his memorial service. If you haven’t had the chance, I hope you'll take a minute to get to know what an extraordinary man he was.

drive.google.com/file/d/0B-Rm...