What is the setting of The Pelican Brief by John Grisham?

The Pelican Brief by John Grisham opens on the first Monday in October in an unspecified year preceding a general election—therefore, 1991, 1995, or 1999. The main action covers three weeks, from the opening of a new session of the Supreme Court through the publication in the Washington Post of the story of how and why a deranged, incredibly rich, and reclusive oilman pays to have two justices assassinated on a single night. A law professor at Tulane University in New Orleans idolizes one of the dead justices, and his student/lover takes time to analyze who would most benefit from the justices' sudden "retirement."