Paul D. Clement

Paul D. Clement served as the 43rd Solicitor General of the United States from June 2005 until June 2008. Before his confirmation as Solicitor General, he served as Acting Solicitor General for nearly a year and as Principal Deputy Solicitor General for over three years. He has argued over 100 cases before the United States Supreme Court, including Loper Bright v. Raimondo, NetChoice v. Moody, Axon Enterprise v. FTC, Rucho v. Common Cause, Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, Hobby Lobby v. Burwell, United States v. Booker, Tennessee v. Lane, and McConnell v. FEC. Clement has argued more Supreme Court cases since 2000 than any lawyer in or out of government. He has also argued many important cases in the lower courts, including Walker v. Cheney, United States v. Moussaoui, and NFL v. Brady.

Currently, his practice focuses on appellate matters, constitutional litigation, and strategic counseling. He represents a broad array of clients in the Supreme Court and in federal and state appellate courts. In the last two years, for example, he successfully argued Supreme Court cases involving significant issues of administrative law, First Amendment law, federal jurisdiction, and patent law, and he successfully argued court of appeals cases on issues ranging from environmental law and mass torts to contract interpretation and civil procedure. While his practice focuses on appellate matters, he often brings constitutional challenges in district court. He also counsels clients on a variety of strategic legal questions, whether arising from pending legislation, government inquiries, or ongoing litigation.

Clement has undertaken substantial pro bono engagements in the Supreme Court, such as twice successfully representing the defendant in Bond v. United States and successfully representing the Omaha Tribe in Nebraska v. Parker, the guardian ad litem in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, the defendant in Sekhar v. United States, a high school football coach in Kennedy v. Bremerton, and the Little Sisters of the Poor. Paul’s pro bono representation also precipitated the federal government’s confession of error in United States v. Rojas.

Following law school, Paul clerked for Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court. After his clerkships, he went on to serve as Chief Counsel of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Federalism, and Property Rights.

He is a Distinguished Lecturer in Law at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he has taught in various capacities since 1998, and he serves as a Senior Fellow of the Law Center’s Supreme Court Institute. He is also the Justice Joseph Story Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at the Gray Center at Scalia Law School.