I used to say that, as Solicitor General, I made three arguments in every case. First came the one I had planned – as I thought, logical, coherent, complete. Second was the one actually presented – interrupted, incoherent, disjointed, disappointing. The third was the utterly devastating argument that I thought of after going to bed that night.
¶ "Advocacy Before the Supreme Court," Morrison Lecture, California State Bar (23 Aug 1951)
Reprinted in the Cornell Law Quarterly (Fall 1951) (full text). Also cite "Advocacy Before the Supreme Court," 37 A.B.A.J. 801, 803 (1951)
