Lawyer Ryan Lockman’s name was listed on the brief and he had a front-row seat on Tuesday when the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a First Amendment case brought by his Philadelphia law firm.

“It was kind of amazing to be there, and to know that I had a significant part of this case,” Ryan ’01 said later of his role as co-counsel.

His firm, Mark B. Frost and Associates, specializes in civil rights cases, including First Amendment issues involving public employees. The firm learned in October that the high court would hear its appeal. “We’ve been working on it ever since,” Ryan said.

The case involves a Paterson, N.J., police detective, who, on his day off, picked up a political lawn sign as an errand for his bedridden mother. The officer, Jeff Heffernan, alleged in the lawsuit that he was demoted the next day by the police chief, who said the officer was “overtly involved in a political election.” This all occurred during a primary election pitting an incumbent mayor, who had appointed the police chief, and an opponent, who was a former police chief. The lawn sign — you guessed it — supported the mayor’s opponent.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, in part, because different Circuit Courts, reviewing separate cases, had ruled differently. Ryan’s boss, attorney Mark Frost, made the oral argument before the justices, and Ryan sat in the front row of the courtroom. His wife, parents and other family members made the trip to Washington and were in the courtroom, too, to show their support for him.