The first Monday in October has come and gone, and the 2013 Term of the Supreme Court of the United States is well under way. Notwithstanding the government shutdown, the Court managed to hear 11 cases during its October sitting, and has 41 more cases on its certiorari-granted docket.

As usual, the cases range from the important and controversial to those only the litigants and their lawyers could find interesting. And the subject matter is enormously diverse. Among the cases likely to make the news (or at least be of interest to lawyers) between now and the end of June:

  • American Chemistry Council v. EPA (and five other consolidated cases): Whether stationary sources of greenhouse gases are subject to the permitting requirements under the Clean Air Act (argument not yet scheduled)
  • Atlantic Marine Construction Co. v. U.S. District Court: Standards for enforcing or avoiding forum-selection clauses (argued Oct. 9)
  • Bond v. US: Scope of Congress's power to enact legislation to implement treaties (to be argued Nov. 5)
  • Cline v. Oklahoma Coalition for Reproductive Justice: Constitutionality of state law banning off-label use of abortion-inducing drugs (certified to the Oklahoma Supreme Court)
  • Daimler AG v. Bauman:  Whether it violates due process for a court to exercise personal jurisdiction over a corporation based solely on the fact that an indirect subsidiary performs services on behalf of the defendant in the forum state (argued Oct. 15)
  • Kaley v. US: Due process requirements for an order freezing assets needed to hire counsel (argued Oct. 16)
  • McCutcheon v. FEC: Constitutionality of contribution limits to non-candidate political action committees (argued Oct. 8)
  • National Labor Relations Board v. Canning: Scope of and limitations on the President's power to make recess appointments (argument not yet scheduled)
  • Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action: Constitutionality of a state constitutional amendment banning racial or gender preferences in public university admissions (argued Oct. 15)
  • Town of Greece v. Galloway: Constitutionality of denominationally non-discriminatory legislative prayer (to be argued Nov. 6)

And, although it didn't make the "top ten" list, don't forget Strasburger's pending case:

  • Chadbourne & Parke LLP v. Troice (and two other consolidated cases): Application of the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act to litigation against aiders and abetters of the Stanford Ponzi scheme (argued Oct. 7)

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.