The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Tuesday from the owners of a North Dakota truck stop who are challenging government-approved fees that banks charge every time a customer swipes a debit card to pay for gas or a candy bar.
Almost as significant as the argument itself is who will be representing the convenience store when the justices take their seats: a conservative and relatively new law firm that has been landing some of the biggest cases at the nation’s highest court in recent years.
Created a decade ago by two former law school classmates who gave up their jobs at larger practices, the lawyers at Consovoy McCarthy have argued 11 appeals at the Supreme Court in that time – including a landmark case last year that ended affirmative action in college admissions.
The firm has established itself among Supreme Court advocates at a time when the court has moved substantially to the right with a 6-3 conservative majority following the confirmation of former President Donald Trump’s three nominees: Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
Five of its current nine partners clerked for conservative Justice Clarence Thomas.
At issue Tuesday is a Federal Reserve rule adopted in 2011 that caps debit card fees for merchants at 21 cents per transaction plus a .05% fee on the value of the purchase. Several merchant groups sued in 2021, claiming the cap was too high and that the government set it arbitrarily in violation of federal administrative law.
Seeking the case’s dismissal, the government cited a six-year statute of limitations it said barred the lawsuit. In response, the plaintiffs added the truck stop, Corner Post, which didn’t open its doors until 2018.
Bryan Weir, in his debut appearance at the Supreme Court, will…
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