by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
He had filed five cases to be heard in front of the U.S. Supreme Court during his nearly 30 years in law, but it took a win in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals for him to get an invitation to appear in the highest court in the land.
Gerard “Rod” Sullivan, 53, checked off one box on his life plan list when he became a professor at Florida Coastal School of Law about three years ago and an unexpected achievement was realized on March 2 of this year when he stood before the justices of the Supreme Court to plead his case in Atlantic Soundings v. Townsend.
“I have filed five cases during my career with the Supreme Court and none of them were able to be included in the 200 cases a year that they hear,” said Sullivan. “I wasn’t even the petitioner in this one, so I didn’t expect it to make it to the Supreme Court.”
Sullivan has been representing Edgar Townsend, an indigent seaman who was denied medical care by Atlantic Soundings, his employer, after he was injured in an accident on a tugboat in Ft. Lauderdale. Townsend injured his shoulder and broke his clavicle during the accident.
“When he hired me he was in pain, had no money, was living in his car, needed medical care, and was taking Advil by the handful in order to try to get some sleep,” said Sullivan, who is board certified in Admiralty and Maritime Law and AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell. “The issue before the Court was this: A ship owner has a legal obligation to provide a seaman with medical care. If it refuses, particularly as part of a continuing business practice, can it be required to pay punitive damages?”
Having never tried a case in front of the Supreme Court, he was more worried with the mechanics of trying the case than he was about his knowledge of the law. He traveled to the University of Texas to participate in a moot court with “some of the leading scholars of punitive damages and maritime law in the country.”
The task of mooting the case was rigorous.
“They grilled me for a good three-and-a-half, four hours,” said Sullivan. “There were two former Supreme Court Justice Law Clerks involved and they really knew who was going to ask what question and how to prepare.”
Sullivan then returned to Georgetown University, where he earned his LLM in International and Comparative Law in 1983.
“I was able to learn from attorneys who practiced regularly in the Supreme Court,” said Sullivan. “All the tactical decisions I made during the trial came from those two experiences.”
After all that preparation, Sullivan came close to not making it through the front door of the Supreme Court.
“I woke up the day of the trial and it was dumping snow outside,” said Sullivan. “The shoes we have in Florida don’t have the grip for that kind of weather and I slipped on the marble steps walking up to the front door. There I was thinking, I’ve got a chance to practice in the Supreme Court, but I’m not going to make it because I broke my back.”
Sullivan was able to dust himself off and make it to court, along with four of his students and his wife, son and daughter. They became part of the large audience packed in the courtroom “that had been there for a more notable case” that was heard before Sullivan’s.
“I was a little frightened until I got to the podium and started talking,” said Sullivan. “I had hired a sketch artist from CNN to draw my picture, but once I got going I didn’t notice her or my family in the room.”
Some of the justices stood out from the nine-justice bench in Sullivan’s mind.
“Justice (Antonin) Scalia was the toughest because he was adverse to my position, and Justice (Ruth Bader) Ginsburg was the most favorable because she supported my position,” said Sullivan. “Justice (Stephen) Breyer was the most well prepared.”
Sullivan felt he was prepared for the case because of all the mooting he participated in.
“I recommend mooting the argument as many times as you can,” Sullivan said. “In front of as many people as you can.”
A final decision is expected from the Supreme Court by June 15. Of the 8,000 petitions for certiorari filed each year, the Supreme Court only hears about 200 cases.
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