Trump’s Legal Foil Is Ready For His Close-Up… Kind Of

The 37-year-old Seattle lawyer who is 2-0 in legal challenges to the Trump administration has had a rocky road adjusting to life in the national spotlight. Noah Purcell, a Harvard Law grad who clerked at the U.S. Supreme Court and was named Washington State’s chief appellate litigator at just 33, is quick to deflect credit (or blame) for the argument that temporarily banned implementation of Trump’s immigration Executive Order. “I did the argument. … There’s a lot of people who have worked on this case,” Purcell told the Seattle Times. Though Purcell wants to spread the kudos, he is the one receiving calls from “The Daily Show,” being stopped for selfies in the street by high-school students, and getting calls to appear on cable news shows.

When the White House issued its executive order – halting immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries and placing a temporary ban on refugees entering the country – Washington State’s Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit. A federal judge in Seattle placed a hold on Trump’s order. Purcell defended that hold before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The argument before U.S. District Judge James Robart “was probably the most significant argument of my life until the one in the Ninth Circuit, and I had less time to prepare than I’d ever had,” he said. His argument before the three Appeals Court justices was live-streamed by more than 100,000 people and broadcast on CNN. The Times details Purcell’s formative years in Seattle, which forged a left-leaning bent in the fledgling lawyer.