A Hot New Trend: State Solicitors General
Former Supreme Court clerks, also known as the Elect, have no shortage of job opportunities. And a new development in state government is giving them even more. From the National Law Journal:
A trend among states in recent years to appoint a solicitor general has increased opportunities for young attorneys to get into court and ultimately return to private practice far from Washington, the traditional heart of the nation's appellate bar.In the past decade, a dozen states, including California, Florida and North Carolina, have added state solicitor generals [sic], many of whom oversee large staffs, said Dan Schweitzer, Supreme Court counsel for the National Association of Attorneys General. Nationwide, 37 states have a solicitor general, he said.
"There are a lot more appellate positions that attract top-notch lawyers," Schweitzer said.
There are shout-outs to several hot young lawyers whose names should be familiar to ATL readers.
Find out who, after the jump.
From the NLJ article:
"I want to raise my family here,'' said Kevin C. Newsom, 35, a native of Birmingham, Ala. He joined Bradley Arant Rose & White in Birmingham as co-chairman of the firm's appellate group in 2007 following service as state solicitor general....Texas native R. Ted Cruz, who clerked for Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist in 1996 and was a founding member of the 2000 Bush presidential campaign, was a rising Washington star when he got a call to serve as Texas solicitor general. In December 2002, while he was serving as chief of policy at the Federal Trade Commission, a friend called to ask if his name could be considered as Texas solicitor general.
"Until my buddy called, my plan had been to continue serving the [Bush] administration,'' Cruz said. "I talked about it with my wife and called the next day to say I would be honored.''
When Cruz left to become a partner at Morgan Lewis & Bockius, he was replaced by Jim Ho, another former SCOTUS clerk with a blindingly bright future.
Cruz and Ho are Republicans and clerked for conservative justices (Rehnquist and Thomas, respectively). But a number of state SGs come from more left-leaning backgrounds, including Caitlin Halligan -- former New York solicitor general, now at Weil Gotshal & Manges -- and Ohio's newly appointed SG, Benjamin Mizer. Halligan and Mizer clerked for more liberal justices (Breyer and Stevens, respectively).
State solicitor general appointments open doors for appellate practitioners [National Law Journal]
Attorney General names new solicitor general [Business First of Columbus]
(20) Comments
Solicitors General, not Solicitor Generals. They aren't generals, they're solicitors.
HTH
Most state solicitors general do NOT oversee large staffs, for better or for worse. They are simply employees of the state attorneys general.
I had the privilege of watching Kevin Newsom argue Riley v. Kennedy from last term, a case he won 7-2 against Pam Karlan. The dude knows his shit.
This seems like a good time to list a few ways that I am different from Barack Obama:
1. I have published a scholarly note & article.
2. My father didn't go to Harvard.
3. I'm not a millionaire.
4. I've never done crack.
That about sums it up. Vote for Barry O in 2008.
A well-known professor from my law school likes to claim that states are the most poorly represented entities at the Supreme Court.
I also suspected that this was basically a sham of an argument used to shore up his intense dedication to 'federalism.'
Looks like I might not have been too far off.
The trolls are out before lunch.
If one is well connected enough to become a state solicitor, why not just use those connections for something better/more prestigious.
I went to law school with Ben Mizer, and I can truly say that he is not only a brilliant legal mind, but also truly kind and generous. This position is well deserved, and I am certain he will represent Ohio well.
Wow, you're right.
That Ohio SG certainly is a hot new trend
Cruz is highly prestigious.
I had the pleasure of meeting Ted Cruz at a briefing before he argued Medellin v. Texas as well as I watched at the oral arguments in that case. I found him to be an extremely strong advocate and Texas was lucky to have him. I disagreed with him on the law and ultimate decision in that case but that did not take away from his skills.
4 --nobody believes you've never done crack.
War with Russia! Vote McCain!
North Carolina doesn't have a solicitor general.
5, your professor is correct, or at least used to be. Many professors and journalists who cover the S.Ct. have said the same thing for years, and I think some Supreme Court justices have hinted at it as well in speeches. It doesn't have anything to do with federalism, but with ego. When a state gets to the Supreme Court, the state's Attorney General often can't resist the opportunity to argue the case personally. Most state AGs are elected, and even if they are not, their forte is politics, and maybe criminal prosecution, not appellate litigation. Typically they don't know anything about the area of law at issue in the case in which their state happens to reach the court, and they are usually way out of their depth. They would be better off hiring a firm to represent the state, or at least leaving oral argument to a more junior member of their staff who knows the case. But that would require a degree of humility many elected officials lack, and the state AGs are often the worst oral advocates in any given term. (There is also a tradition that the AG of the United States argues a case sometime during his or her tenure too, but that usually goes ok because they pick one of the easier cases of the dozens in which the US is participating, and in an area that that particular AG has some experience in - typically criminal law.)
The new trend towards state SGs may change this.
7, a state SG isn't a prestigious position? What great things, exactly, have you accomplished that would allow you to say that?
15, what makes you think only the prestigious can judge prestige? Seems like you're assuming a pretty stupid conclusion.
These guys pictured look like Bill Rancic, Donald Trump's first apprentice.
17 - yes!! same balding pattern, here shown with and without poof in the front peninsula.
Guilty as charged, 6 and 12.
-4
13, North Carolina has a solicitor general, Chris Browning, who has argued in Supremes and has another case there this upcoming term. He is top flight.