This morning an attorney arguing via Zoom before @SupremeCourt_TX lost all power to his building. I want to talk about it because I think both the attorney and the Court handled it with grace and a great deal of aplomb. And because there are some lessons to be learned. A thread.

The first lesson is one the Boy Scouts teach—always be prepared. @BigCaseyK and I meet with the lawyers in a “pre-argument Zoom.” Among other things, we discuss what to do when there is a major problem. And we tell them to be prepared to call in to the Zoom session from a phone.

Each Zoom invitation has a number that can be used to call into the meeting. And we advise the attorneys to write that number down. But they also have our cell phone numbers. And we send a group text to everyone before the argument so we can communicate when things go wrong.

Today the attorney replied to our group text that he lost power. We made sure he had the dial in number. We tested his connection and advised that he should hold the phone to his ear during his argument to be better understood.

We told the Court the attorney would not be able to see the timer. @NathanLHecht agreed to give a verbal warning at 5:00 minutes and at two minutes left. We also suggested to the Court that they state their names when asking a question.

I thought the Court and the attorney did a great job adjusting on the fly to this unexpected, but planned for, set of circumstances. I was proud of how everyone handled it.