December 9, 2009
Sotomayor Draws Retort From a Fellow Justice
By ADAM LIPTAK

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court released its first four decisions in argued cases this term on Tuesday. They were all minor, but one was notable for being Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court debut and for prompting a testy concurrence from Justice Clarence Thomas.

The case concerned whether federal trial-court rulings concerning the lawyer-client privilege may be appealed right away. Justice Sotomayor, with methodical reasoning and a formal writing style, said no.

“Permitting parties to undertake successive, piecemeal appeals of all adverse attorney-client rulings,â€