CLAIM OF PRIVILEGE
When Supreme Court plaintiffs speak to the press on the courthouse plaza after their cases have been argued, they usually refer specific questions to their lawyers. But on December 9, after the oral arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas, when I threw some queries at 25-year-old Abigail Fisher, she deferred not to her lawyer, but to “Edward,” the dapper, gray-haired man who had accompanied her to the hearing. Edward Blum is not an attorney, but he deserves much of the credit for getting Fisher’s case before the high court. Eight years ago, the mild-mannered 64-year-old former stockbroker recruited Fisher for his legal challenge to the consideration of race in college admissions, and he arranged a lawyer and financing for her case.
It had been a busy week for Blum. A day earlier, he’d
