Supreme Court pick Merrick Garland's most cited decision involved an infomercial star
Ravel Law Blog, run by Stanford Law School graduates Nicholas Reed and Daniel Lewis, found that the 2006 case Trudeau v. Federal Trade Commission had been cited in other jurists' decisions more than 480 times.
The case featured Kevin Trudeau, the infomercial star who gained fame along with his "That's not all" pitch.
Trudeau is serving a 10-year sentence in a separate case stemming from repeated lies in infomercials featuring a weight-loss book he wrote.
Trudeau filed the case against the FTC over a press release it issued reporting the settlement of a case against him. The best-selling author and infomercial star claimed the press release itself was false and misleading, and that the FTC violated his First Amendment rights.
The case brought up a litany of questions related to jurisdiction and authority of federal courts, which is why Garland's opinion is cited so frequently by fellow judges.
"It stands out amongst a number of opinions that he's written that are cited heavily by other judges," Lewis told Business Insider. "He consistently delivers high-quality work."
On Wednesday, US President Barack Obama tapped Garland to fill the Supreme Court seat vacated by the recent death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
Editor's note: Nicholas Reed once interned for Business Insider's Editor-in-Chief Henry Blodget when Blodget was at Merrill Lynch.