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The Solicitor General of Ohio, Ohio Solicitor General, State Solicitor of Ohio, or Ohio State Solicitor is the top appellate
solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...
or lawyer for the U.S. state of Ohio. It is an appointed position in the Office of the
Ohio Attorney General The Ohio attorney general is the chief legal officer of the state of Ohio in the United States. The office is filled by general election, held every four years. The Ohio attorney general is Republican Dave Yost. History The office of the att ...
that focuses on the office's major appellate cases. The majority of the cases handled by the Solicitor are argued in the
United States 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 turn on question ...
or the
Supreme Court of Ohio The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a chief justice and six associate justices, ...
. However some cases within the Solicitor's responsibilities are under the
jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...
of the United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit and the state appellate courts. The Solicitor represents the
Attorney General of Ohio The Ohio attorney general is the chief legal officer of the state of Ohio in the United States. The office is filled by general election, held every four years. The Ohio attorney general is Republican Dave Yost. History The office of the att ...
before the
Supreme Court of Ohio The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a chief justice and six associate justices, ...
and other appellate courts, as needed. The Solicitor's office writes most of the
amicus brief An amicus curiae (; ) is an individual or organization that is not a party to a legal case, but that is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. Whether an ''amic ...
s filed by the Ohio attorney general’s office.


History

The position was created in 1993 by Ohio Attorney General
Lee Fisher Lee Irwin Fisher (born August 7, 1951) is an American attorney, politician, and academic. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 64th lieutenant governor of Ohio under governor Ted Strickland from 2007 until 2011. Fisher previously ...
and was first filled by
Richard Cordray Richard Adams Cordray (born May 3, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician who served from 2021 to 2024 as COO of Federal Student Aid in the United States Department of Education. From 2012 to 2017, he served as the first director of the Consum ...
. It is a similar position to Solicitors in many states and is modeled after the
United States Solicitor General The solicitor general of the United States (USSG or SG), is the fourth-highest-ranking official within the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), and represents the federal government in cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. ...
. By 2003, twenty-nine states had Solicitors General, although only eight had them fifteen years earlier. Initially, the Solicitor had no support staff except a secretary. In 1999, two "associate solicitors" began to work with the state solicitor in the attorney general’s office with an exclusive focus on appellate litigation. In addition to the solicitor and his assistants, The Simon Karas Fellowship program which was instituted in 2000, supports one lawyer each year to focus on appellate litigation soon after completion of
law school A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...
or a judicial clerkship. It is not a statutory position in Ohio, but since April 2002 the
Supreme Court of Ohio The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a chief justice and six associate justices, ...
has recognized it in its rules. In the first ten years of the position, three former United States Supreme Court Clerks held the appointment. The Solicitor does not always argue
constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...
. Cordray, who served under then-Attorney General Lee Fisher until
Betty Montgomery Betty D. Montgomery (born April 3, 1948) is an American politician from the state of Ohio. A Republican, she formerly served as Ohio State Auditor and is the first woman Ohio Attorney General. Education Montgomery earned a Bachelor of Arts ...
won the position in 1994, argued a technical criminal case on
Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
day in 1993 when the post was created. Most states' attorneys general offices have had separate divisions with chiefs specializing in state and federal appellate works. Organizing the department with a separate solicitor general is a model that states are using in an attempt to promote the professionalism and quality of the work. This strategy generally gives the attorney general more of a specialist who may be somewhat of a legal scholar on staff. Also, the solicitor is typically someone who was not involved in the attorney general's campaign and is thus someone who is more likely to offer a different perspective than other lawyers who are entrenched in the department.


List of Solicitors General

Attorney General Dave Yost selected
Elliot Gaiser Thomas Elliot Gaiser (born September 6, 1989) is an American attorney who has served as the solicitor general of Ohio since 2023. Gaiser studied political economy and speech studies at Hillsdale College, where he was a conservative blogger and ...
to take over as Solicitor General on November 20, 2023. The following is a table of Ohio State Solicitors.


Notes


External links

{{official, https://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/About-AG/Service-Divisions/Appeals Government of Ohio Ohio law