KU News Release

Government advocate in key Supreme Court cases to speak at KU

LAWRENCE — Former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement will discuss his experience as chief litigator for the George W. Bush administration at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 1, at the Dole Institute of Politics.

Clement served as the 43rd solicitor general from June 2005 to June 2008. During that time, he argued in front of the Supreme Court on behalf of the U.S. government in 49 cases, including Rumsfeld v. Padilla, Boumediene v. Bush and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood.

The program, “Arguing the Government’s Case: The Solicitor General in the Supreme Court,” will feature an interview conducted by KU constitutional law professor Stephen McAllister.

“Paul is one of the true superstars in the legal profession today,” said McAllister. “He has been involved in dozens of important cases at the Supreme Court, including all of the controversial and hot button issues of the past eight years. Not only is Paul’s vast experience impressive, but he is a genuinely personable and affable Midwesterner, having grown up in Wisconsin. He has a disarming sense of humor and humility that are part of what has made him such an effective advocate in the nation’s highest court.”

Clement also will give a brief presentation at 12:30 p.m. Monday, March 2, at 104 Green Hall. The afternoon meeting, “Former Solicitor General Paul Clement: Our Nation’s Advocate from 2004-2008,” is hosted by the KU student chapter of the Federalist Society. Both events are free and open to the public.

Clement is a partner in the Washington, D.C., law firm of King & Spalding and is head of the firm’s national appellate practice. Before becoming solicitor general, Clement served as chief counsel for the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Federalism and Property Rights. After his graduation from Harvard Law School, Clement clerked for Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and associate justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court. Clement holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and a master’s degree in economics from Cambridge University.

The programs are co-sponsored by the Dole Institute of Politics, the School of Law and the student chapter of the Federalist Society.

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