Paul Drew Clement (born June 24, 1966) is an American lawyer who served as

U.S. Solicitor General The solicitor general of the United States is the fourth-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. Elizabeth Prelogar has been serving in the role since October 28, 2021. The United States solicitor general represent ...

from 2004 to 2008 and is known for his advocacy before the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

. He established his own law firm, Clement & Murphy, in 2022 after leaving

Kirkland & Ellis Kirkland & Ellis LLP is an American multinational law firm headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1909, Kirkland & Ellis is the largest law firm in the world by revenue and the seventh-largest by number of attorneys, and was the first la ...

, following that firm’s decision to end its

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work. He is also a Distinguished Lecturer in Law at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

and an adjunct professor at

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in N ...

. He was nominated by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

on March 14, 2005, for the post of Solicitor General, confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on June 8, 2005, and took the oath of office on June 13. Clement resigned on May 14, 2008, effective June 2, 2008, and joined the

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

as a visiting professor and senior fellow at the Supreme Court Institute.

Early life and education

Clement was born and raised in

Cedarburg, Wisconsin Cedarburg is a city in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. Located about north of Milwaukee and in close proximity to Interstate 43, it is a suburban community in the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The city incorporated in 1885, and a ...

. He was one of four children born to Jean and Jerry Clement. After graduating from

Cedarburg High School Cedarburg High School (CHS) is a Public Education High School in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. Curriculum Classes offered at Cedarburg High School are grouped into 13 departments: art, business and information technology, engineering/technology education ...

in 1984, Clement attended

Walsh School of Foreign Service The Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS) is the school of international relations at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. It is considered to be one of the world's leading international affairs schools, granting degrees at both ...

, graduating in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service ''summa cum laude''. While at Georgetown, Clement successfully competed in the

American Parliamentary Debate Association The American Parliamentary Debate Association (APDA) is the oldest intercollegiate parliamentary debating association in the United States. APDA sponsors over 50 tournaments a year, all in a parliamentary format, as well as a national champion ...

as part of the university's Philodemic Society. Clement then did graduate study in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

's Darwin College, receiving an

M.Phil. The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil ...

with distinction in 1989. He then attended Harvard Law School, where he became Supreme Court editor of the '' Harvard Law Review''. He was also one of eight editors of the law review's annual lampoon who oversaw publication of a satirical piece mocking an article by Mary Joe Frug on the one-year anniversary of her murder. Clement and the other seven editors apologized for the parody after backlash from students and faculty. He graduated in 1992 with a Juris Doctor ''magna cum laude''.

Legal career

After law school, Clement was a law clerk to judge Laurence Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1992 to 1993 and then for justice Antonin Scalia of the

from 1993 to 1994. After his clerkships, Clement entered private practice as an associate in the

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

office of the law firm

. Clement went on to serve as Chief Counsel of Subcommittee on the Constitution, Federalism and Property Rights of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Afterwards, he was a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of

King & Spalding King & Spalding LLP is an American international corporate law firm that is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and with offices located in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It has over 1,200 lawyers in 23 offices globally. It is A ...

, where he headed the firm's appellate practice. He also served from 1998 to 2004 as an adjunct professor at the

, where he taught a seminar on the separation of powers. Clement joined the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

in February 2001. Before his confirmation as Solicitor General, he served as Principal Deputy Solicitor General, and he became the acting Solicitor General on July 11, 2004, when Theodore Olson resigned. He has argued over 100 cases before the United States Supreme Court, including '' McConnell v. FEC'', '' Tennessee v. Lane'', '' Rumsfeld v. Padilla'', '' United States v. Booker'', '' Hamdi v. Rumsfeld'', '' Rumsfeld v. FAIR'', ''

Hamdan v. Rumsfeld ''Hamdan v. Rumsfeld'', 548 U.S. 557 (2006), is a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that military commissions set up by the Bush administration to try detainees at Guantanamo Bay violated both the Uniform Code of Mili ...

'', '' Gonzales v. Raich'', '' Gonzales v. Oregon'', '' Gonzales v. Carhart'', ''

Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation ''Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation'', 551 U.S. 587 (2007), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court which ruled that taxpayers do not have the right to challenge the constitutionality of expendi ...

'', and '' Sekhar v. United States''. He also argued many of the key cases in the lower courts involving challenges to the Bush administration's conduct of the

war on terrorism The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant ...

.Blum, Vanessa
"Point Man: Paul Clement leads the charge in defending the administration's tactics in the war on terror"
''

Legal Times ALM (formerly American Lawyer Media) is a media company headquartered in the Socony–Mobil Building in New York City, and is a provider of specialized business news and information, focused primarily on the legal, insurance, and commercial rea ...

'', January 16, 2004 he had argued more cases before the Supreme Court since 2000 than any other lawyer. On August 27, 2007, President Bush named Clement as the future acting Attorney General of the United States, to take office upon the resignation of Alberto Gonzales, effective September 17, 2007. According to administration officials, Clement took that office at 12:01 AM September 17, 2007, and left office 24 hours later. On September 17, President Bush announced that Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, Peter Keisler would become acting Attorney General, pending a permanent appointment of a presidential nominee. Clement gave notice of his resignation on May 14, 2008, effective June 2, 2008, and returned to Georgetown University Law Center as a senior fellow. He had been mentioned as a possible Supreme Court nominee in a John McCain presidency, and was a coveted potential hire among D.C. legal firms, who reportedly vied to build a firm around his expertise in appellate matters. Evan Tager of

Mayer Brown Mayer Brown is a global white-shoe law firm, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It has offices in 27 cities across the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, with its largest offices being in Chicago, Washington, D.C., Ne ...

said: "Paul Clement is the

Holy Grail The Holy Grail (french: Saint Graal, br, Graal Santel, cy, Greal Sanctaidd, kw, Gral) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miracu ...

of law firm recruiting... The buzz in the legal world about Clement is like the buzz in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

when

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest p ...

was coming out of high school and turning pro. It will be interesting to see where the market will go." As of November 20, 2008, Clement re-joined King & Spalding as a partner in its expanding appellate litigation practice. As part of King & Spalding, he argued on behalf of the NRA in the Supreme Court case '' McDonald v. Chicago'' on March 2, 2010. Clement was part of the legal team that represented NBA players in labor negotiations during the 2011 lockout. Clement also advised 10 NFL players in the spring of 2011 when the NFL was facing a potential lock-out. As a partner at King & Spalding, Clement was hired in April 2011 by the Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives to defend the

Defense of Marriage Act The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was a United States federal law passed by the 104th United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. It banned federal recognition of same-sex marriage by limiting the definition of marr ...

, a law that defined marriage as between one man and one woman, after the

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

chose to stop defending it. King & Spalding withdrew from the case on April 25, 2011, and Clement resigned from the firm to continue his representation, arguing that "representation should not be abandoned because the client's legal position is extremely unpopular in certain quarters." Clement joined Bancroft PLLC, a boutique law firm led by former

Assistant Attorney General Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice are headed by an assistant attorney general. The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the advice and ...

Viet D. Dinh. Clement led the challenge on behalf of 26 states to overturn the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in the Supreme Court on March 26–28, 2012. The Court upheld the "individual mandate" as a tax, but found the States could not be compelled to follow the portion of the law relating to Medicaid expansion. On March 27, 2013, Clement served for the respondent Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the United States House of Representatives at the Supreme Court in ''

United States v. Windsor ''United States v. Windsor'', 570 U.S. 744 (2013), is a landmark United States Supreme Court civil rights case concerning same-sex marriage. The Court held that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which denied federal recognition o ...

''. On June 26, 2013, the Court ruled against Clement and BLAG by finding the

to be unconstitutional. Clement was mentioned as a potential Supreme Court nominee of Republican presidential nominees John McCain and Mitt Romney. In 2014,

Jeffrey Toobin Jeffrey Ross Toobin (; born May 21, 1960) is an American lawyer, author, blogger, and longtime legal analyst for CNN. He left CNN on September 4, 2022. During the Iran–Contra affair, Toobin served as an associate counsel on this investigation ...

named Clement a likely Supreme Court nominee in the event of a Republican victory in the

2016 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kiri ...

. In 2019, Clement was an attorney for the appellants in the landmark '' Rucho v. Common Cause'' Supreme Court case, in which partisan gerrymandering was declared a non-justiciable issue. In September 2020, Clement joined the list of President Donald Trump's potential Supreme Court candidates. In June 2022, following his clients' Supreme Court victory in '' New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen'', Clement separated from Kirkland & Ellis, after the firm announced it would "no longer handle Second Amendment litigation". Subsequently, Clement opened a boutique law firm, Clement & Murphy PLLC, with Erin Murphy, another former partner at Kirkland & Ellis.

Cases before the Supreme Court

He has argued over 100 cases before the United States Supreme Court, and as of November 2011 he had argued more cases before the Supreme Court since 2000 than any other lawyer. * '' McConnell v. FEC'' (2003) * '' Tennessee v. Lane'' (2004) * '' Rumsfeld v. Padilla'' (2004) * '' United States v. Booker'' (2005) * '' Hamdi v. Rumsfeld'' (2004) * '' Rumsfeld v. FAIR'' (2006) * ''

'' (2005) * '' Gonzales v. Raich'' (2005) * '' Gonzales v. Oregon'' (2006) * '' Gonzales v. Carhart'' (2007) * ''

'' (2007) * '' NFIB v. Sebelius'' (2012) * '' Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl'' (2013) * '' U.S. v. Windsor'' (2013) * '' Sekhar v. United States'' (2013) * '' Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores'' (2014) * '' Zubik v. Burwell'' (2016) * '' Cooper v. Harris'' (2017) * ''

Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis ''Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis'', 584 U.S. ___ (2018), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States on how two federal laws, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), relate to whether emplo ...

'' (2018) * '' Rucho v. Common Cause'' (2019) * '' Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau'' (2020) * '' Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania'' (2020) * '' New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen'' (2021) * ''

Kennedy v. Bremerton School District ''Kennedy v. Bremerton School District'', 597 U.S. ___ (2022), is a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court in which the Court held, 6–3, that the government, while following the Establishment Clause, may not suppress an individual ...

'' (2022)

References

External links

Appearances at the U.S. Supreme Court
from the

Oyez Project The Oyez Project at the Illinois Institute of Technology's Chicago-Kent College of Law is an unofficial online multimedia archive of the Supreme Court of the United States, especially audio of oral arguments. The website "aims to be a complete a ...

Biography at Bancroft PLLC

Office of the Solicitor General
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clement, Paul 1966 births Living people Alumni of Darwin College, Cambridge American lawyers Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni George W. Bush administration personnel Georgetown University Law Center faculty Harvard Law School alumni People associated with Kirkland & Ellis Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States Lawyers from Washington, D.C. People from Cedarburg, Wisconsin Washington, D.C., Republicans Wisconsin Republicans United States Solicitors General Federalist Society members Philodemic Society members

Early life and education

Legal career

Cases before the Supreme Court

See also

References

External links