State solicitor generals typically are chief appellate advocates for their states.
That involves state agencies, it involves defending state laws.
Essentially, we do represent the state, but as the state has been sued as a specific entity or person.
The decision to have a solicitor general or not depends upon the elected public officials
in that state.
In many states, the solicitor general office was created by, uh, the legislature, like in Wisconsin,
and in some states, it was just created as a position appointed by the attorney general
without legislative author- authorization.
In many places, it's a newer development.
It's sort of coincident with the rise of appellate practice as an acknowledged specialty.
In order to protect the interests of your states and their citizens, it's important
to have an office of lawyers dedicated specifically to appellate litigation, core experts in that field.
The duties of an SG will vary state by state, and that's typically defined by the attorney
general, or maybe the attorney general in conjunction with the solicitor general.
And, so there's no standard set of duties.
Um, in Georgia, the SG wears a lot of hats.
The SG is actually reviewing, or having some strategic partnership on almost every appellate
brief that comes through the office, both on the state level, and on the federal level.
In different states, the job is composed a little bit differently, but in Arizona, we
oversee both criminal and civil appeals through the SG's office.
Some of the large cases that we've handled in the state of Wisconsin's solicitor general
office involve defenses of the laws the Wisconsin legislature has enacted.
The attorney general takes it very seriously, that's he sworn a duty to defend the state’s
laws, and so we- we defend them as much as we can, and that can be a challenge sometimes,
it- it certainly involves sometimes taking positions that are not the same I would take
as a- as a voter, or as a legislator.
The work of, uh, pushing back against federal overreach has become sort of a hallmark of
state SG offices now.
So, when states band together in litigation to- to fight some kind of cause together,
or to present some kind of case together, those typically are managed by the solicitor
general's unit.
And an area where that's happened a lot recently is in the area of federal overreach.
That's a new role practiced by both blue and red states alike now, that has sort of elevated
state attorneys general in their- in their role as a check against the federal government.
I'm basically a professional sore loser.
The resolution on some of those federal regulation questions could affect dozens, if- if not
all of the states.
The number of states with SGs is growing.
There are a lot more of us now then there- then there once were.
It's good, because it gives, uh, the counsel that states need in order to uphold the- the
work of democracy.
You spend your whole day running around doing really fun, and exciting, and engaging things,
but it's almost never the thing you thought you were doing when you showed up for work that day.
So, I think that's one of the more fun things about the job, but it's also something that
makes it challenging.
This is the nerdiest occupation in the world.
It is a gift if you love the law, if you really love to do brief writing, and legal research,
and sort of build out arguments that are based on the law.
I think it is increasingly common for young attorneys to want to go back home, or to go
to other states, and to serve the states, whether it's their home state or a different state.
And, in that way, the evolution of the SG's office has been a great thing.
Because, I think it's encouraged young attorneys to go back home, and to enter into public
service.
It is amazing to me to think that we have put together a network of state-level civil
servants, who are so interested in federalism.
State solicitor generals do a lot of exciting work, uh, in- in courts of appeals, at both
the state and the federal level, and they often provide a great opportunity for younger
lawyers to get experience in courtrooms, especially in appellate courtrooms, which may not be
available in other- in other jobs, especially in the private sector.
I think it's inspiring to see how many people take that so seriously, that they're willing
to move across the country, take pay cuts, and- and really devote some serious time and-
and energy to putting together briefs, and- and arguments on these important issues.