The court's highly selective docket for the current term will give Roberts and Alito, assuming the latter is confirmed, ample opportunity to shape the court. Among the critical issues for companies are the Supreme Court's decisions in antitrust cases, government regulation of land development, and the commerce clause.
Certain to catch any court-watcher's attention is how the new justices decide on whether to limit punitive damages in lawsuits against corporations.
''Both of them come out of a tradition of reading statutes narrowly. Both of them come out of a tradition of confining congressional power to the proper sphere," said Nathaniel Persily, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. ''In contrast to the more liberal members . . . I see them more in favor of business."
Roberts spent more than a decade with the private law firm of Hogan & Hartson, arguing on behalf of Toyota and health maintenance organizations. He wrote friend-of-the-court briefs for the US Chamber of Commerce, participated in its moot court and earned its endorsement.
Alito compiled a record of backing businesses in employee claims of sex and racial discrimination during 15 years on the Philadelphia-based 3d Circuit US Court of Appeals. Corporate cases were prevalent in the appellate court, whose jurisdiction includes Delaware. More than half a million business entities call Delaware their legal home.
In December, the National Association of Manufacturers endorsed Alito, saying, ''With justices like Judge Roberts and Samuel Alito on the Supreme Court, we can begin to reduce the exorbitant cost of our legal system that consumes 2.3 percent of our GDP."
