Neal Kumar Katyal

So was this secret a team of relentless lawyers who never slept, who pressure-tested everything?

Closer, but that's not it either.

The third thing I needed was the hardest, and it's something we've been talking about today, connection.

Here I needed to connect with nine very skeptical legal minds, and to do so in real time.

Enter Liz, my improv coach.

What does improv have to do with the Supreme Court of the United States?

Everything.

Liz's secret.

Neil, you need to actually listen.

actually listen.

She taught me to quiet my own thoughts and to trust myself to come up with the words after the other person had spoken.

That's the essence of yes and.

Absorb the question and then build on it.

When the justices attacked, I validated their concerns and then bridged back.

The interrogation became a dialogue.

The room's energy flipped.

This power, as Justice Gorsuch said, as Justice Barrett said, is going to be stuck with us forever.

Justice Alito, I think you've said many times the purpose isn't what you look at.

You look to actually what the government is doing.

Thank you, Justice Kavanaugh.