Donald B. Verrilli Jr., former Solicitor General of the United States, participated in a virtual discussion with Professor Todd Berger, director of advocacy programs, as the guest speaker in the Annual Syracuse Law Advocacy Lecture Series. He is currently a partner at Munger, Tolles, and Olson.
Verrilli spoke at length about his time as a law clerk to Justice William Brennan, Jr. and his experiences arguing in front of the Supreme Court as Solicitor General of the United States. He also shared novel concepts for Supreme Court reform, including the time allotted for arguments and term limits for justices. Verrilli also spoke about recent Court decisions and their impact on the law and the growing use of the shadow docket.
During his time as Solicitor General, he argued dozens of cases before the Supreme Court, including landmark decisions upholding the Affordable Care Act (National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Sebelius and King v. Burwell) and recognizing marriage equality (Obergefell v. Hodges).
“There are many career options for law students interested in the field of advocacy and litigation. The Advocacy Lecture Series’ goal is to bring successful litigators and advocates from different backgrounds and areas of the law to our students, so they are exposed to the wide-ranging careers in advocacy and litigation,” says Berger.
The Advocacy Lecture Series is an annual presentation given by a distinguished member of the legal profession. The lecture series aims to deepen our understanding of how advocacy is best practiced and taught by connecting prominent lawyers with the broader law school advocacy community.