Representing the United States in the Supreme Court: A Conversation With U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar

Date of Event

9-4-2024

Description

The Sumner Canary Memorial lecture was established to honor the memory of the late Judge Sumner Canary, a pillar of the Cleveland legal community. Canary served on the Ohio Court of Appeals for the Eighth District and as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. In addition to his public service, Canary was a partner at the firms of Canary & Walsh and Arter & Hadden.

This lectureship, which was made possible due to the generosity of Canary’s widow, Nancy Canary, has featured numerous federal judges, scholars, academics and six U.S. Supreme Court Justices.

Lecture Description

The Solicitor General is responsible for representing the United States government in the U.S. Supreme Court. Sometimes referred to as the “tenth justice,” the Solicitor General’s office is involved in approximately two-thirds of the cases before the Supreme Court. Among other things the office determines whether to seek High Court review of lower court decisions, whether to intervene or submit amicus curiae briefs in pending cases and what positions the federal government should take. As the nation’s 48th Solicitor General, Elizabeth Prelogar has argued more than twenty cases before the Supreme Court, on issues ranging from the Second Amendment and race-conscious college admissions, to the scope of federal regulatory authority and the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In this wide-ranging discussion with Jonathan Adler, Elizabeth Prelogar will discuss the nature of her office, how it has changed over time, her views on Supreme Court advocacy, what it is like to represent the federal government at the highest levels and broader legal trends in the Supreme Court and American law.

Speaker Bio

Elizabeth Barchas Prelogar is the 48th Solicitor General of the United States and serves as the fourth-ranking individual at the Department of Justice. As Solicitor General, she is responsible for conducting and supervising all Supreme Court litigation on behalf of the United States.

Prelogar previously served in multiple roles at the Department of Justice, including Acting Solicitor General, Principal Deputy Solicitor General and Assistant to the Solicitor General. During her prior tenure as a career attorney at the Department, she was detailed to Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and obstruction-of-justice issues, where she served as an Assistant Special Counsel.

Prelogar was born and raised in Boise, Idaho. She received her bachelor’s degree from Emory University, a master’s degree in creative writing from the University of St. Andrews and her law degree from Harvard Law School. After graduating from law school, Prelogar clerked for Judge Merrick B. Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. She then completed consecutive Supreme Court clerkships for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Elena Kagan. After her clerkships, she worked as an associate in the appellate group at Hogan Lovells LLP. She later became a partner at Cooley LLP focused on Supreme Court and appellate litigation, and she also served as a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School, where she co-taught a course on Supreme Court and appellate advocacy.

Lecture Series

The Spangenberg Center for Law, Technology, and the Arts

3rd Lecture Series

Sumner Canary Lecture

Location

CWRU School of Law Moot Courtroom, A59

Document Type

Video

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