Tom Goldstein practices at Akin Gump and teaches Supreme Court litigation at Harvard and Stanford Law Schools. He has argued 21 Supreme Court cases. He founded and manages SCOTUSblog, which is devoted to coverage of the Court. He also spends time working with Sony Pictures Television on a TV series about his practice. Tom has been named one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America and one of the 90 greatest lawyers in Washington in the past 30 years.

Today's confirmation hearings don't have to be a total snooze—so crack open a beer and let the buzz words start flying, says Tom Goldstein, who has argued more than 20 Supreme Court cases and is founder and manager of SCOTUSblog. Who'll be the first to say empathy?