Courses

    This seminar will examine the role of the Solicitor General of the United States. The Solicitor General, the only official in any branch of the U.S. government who is required by statute to be "learned in the law," is responsible for representing the federal government before the U.S. Supreme Court. Current members of the Solicitor General's staff will join students to discuss aspects of the Solicitor General's conduct of litigation in the Supreme Court, the Solicitor General's role in supervising federal litigation in the lower courts, and the Solicitor General's relationship to the Attorney General, the President, and the Supreme Court. We will use one or more pending Supreme Court cases to develop issues discussed in the seminar and hope to arrange for students to attend the oral argument of one of those cases.

Classes will meet once a week for two hours over a period of seven weeks. There will be no examination or paper requirement. Students will receive a weekly reading assignment and will be graded on class participation.