Overview

• The Supreme Court has introduced an online lottery system for reserving seats at oral arguments and non-argument sessions, beginning with its February 2025 calendar.
• The lottery system aims to address longstanding issues with first-come, first-served seating, which often required attendees to wait in line for hours or even overnight for high-profile cases.
• Members of the public can apply for the lottery through the Supreme Court's website, with applications closing four weeks before a session and notifications sent three weeks in advance.
• A waitlist will be available for those who do not initially secure a seat, with notifications sent up to three days before a session in case of cancellations.
• Some seats will still be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, and seating for Supreme Court bar members will remain unchanged during the pilot program.