John Connell RLAW’86, of the Archer law firm in Haddonfield, N.J., successfully argued the First Amendment case representing musician Simon Tam in  Lee v. Tam.

The Supreme Court ruled that Tam’s Portland-based Asian-American rock band will be permitted to trademark the band’s name, “The Slants,” which is a term that’s long been used as an anti-Asian slur. 

Connell made the hour-long oral argument before the Supreme Court on Jan. 18. A partner and chair of both the appellate advocacy and communications law groups at Archer, Connell and the firm represented the band pro bono. His colleagues Ronald Coleman and Joel MacMull litigated the case in the lower courts.

Read more in this Philadelphia Inquirer story:

http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/kevin_riordan/at-the-u-s-supreme...