Dallas attorney Adam Charnes may soon have an old friend on the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.
"It's definitely surreal seeing people you know personally in high government positions," said Charnes, a leading appellate attorney with the firm Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton.
Charnes attended Harvard Law School with President Donald Trump's nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Neil Gorsuch.
"I think he was pretty similar to what you see now," Charnes said. "He was studious and serious and intelligent. Those years at Harvard law school were quite tumultuous. There was a lot of political controversy, and Neil sort of stayed above the fray."
"I think he's going to fit in very well. I mean, he's a very scholarly judge, and I think he'll fit in very well," Charnes said. "I think he's got a very collegial approach to his colleagues on the bench even when they disagree."
After law school, both Charnes and Gorsuch clerked at the Supreme Court for Justice Anthony Kennedy.
"He'll be the first former law clerk to sit on the Supreme Court with the justice for whom he clerked," Charnes said. "I'm sure that will be a very unusual dynamic."
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"He won't impact the balance very much," Charnes added. "Justice (Antonin) Scalia was a judicial conservative, as is Neil, so you're replacing one conservative with another conservative. It shouldn't change the balance very much in most cases."
Charnes is confident his old friend will be confirmed, and hopes to see him soon in Washington.
"Hopefully, when he gets confirmed, there's usually a big ceremony called an investiture, and I hope to be able to get up there for that," Charnes said.
