ABSTRACT

Francis Biddle, Solicitor General of the United States. Among lawyers, though, especially appellate lawyers, the position of Solicitor General is well known and regarded as the top lawyering job in the United States. The modern Solicitor General is best known for arguing on behalf of the government in the US Supreme Court. First, the Solicitor General is the government's lawyer in the Supreme Court; that is, the Solicitor General represents the United States and its officers and agencies before the Court. Second, the Solicitor General or the OSG decides which cases the government will appeal whenever it loses in any court at any level federal or state, trial or appellate. Third, the Solicitor General must give authorisation before the United States or one of its offices or agencies files an amicus curiae brief in any appellate court. Fourth, the Solicitor General must authorise any petition for an en banc rehearing in a United States Circuit Court of Appeals.