President Joe Biden nominated Emory University alumna Elizabeth Prelogar (02C) as the next solicitor general at the U.S. Department of Justice on Aug. 11. The position has been vacant for over a year, following former Solicitor General Noel Francisco’s resignation in July 2020.
The solicitor general is responsible for deciding which legal cases the U.S. government will challenge in the Supreme Court and which strategies to use in arguing those cases. The solicitor general is also tasked with arguing those cases on behalf of the U.S. government in front of the highest court, or assigning others to do so.
University President Gregory L. Fenves congratulated Prelogar on her nomination in an Aug. 13 press release.
“Through the breadth of her studies and the success of her legal career, she exemplifies the lifelong benefits of a liberal arts education, which began here at Emory,” Fenves wrote. “I couldn’t be prouder of Elizabeth’s achievements and seeing her advance the rule of law in service to our nation.”
Prelogar was born in Boise, Idaho in 1980. She was a “Triple Crown” beauty queen, winning Miss Teen Idaho in 1998, Miss Idaho USA in 2001 and Miss Idaho in 2004.
She completed her undergraduate studies at Emory as a Woodruff Scholar and served as a staff writer for the Wheel. After graduating summa cum laude in 2002 with two Bachelors of Arts degrees in English and Russian, Prelogar remained an active alum, mentoring Emory students and speaking at the 2018 Emory College Robert W. Woodruff senior brunch. She was also included on the Emory Alumni Association’s list of “40 Under Forty” honorees in 2019.
Prelogar went on to earn a master’s degree in creative writing at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland as a Bobby Jones Scholar in 2003. That same year, she became a Fullbright Fellow in St. Petersburg, Russia. She then went on to attend Harvard Law School, where she served as an Articles Editor for the Harvard Law Review and graduated magna cum laude in 2008.
Called “exceptionally well prepared” for the appointment by Fenves, Prelogar has had an impressive career.
Prelogar began her professional career with a clerkship for Merrick Garland in 2008, who was a judge in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and was appointed attorney general under Biden. She then clerked for Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 2009 and Elena Kagan in 2010.
After the completion of her clerkship with Kagan, Prelogar entered private practice at Hogan Lovells as an associate in the Supreme Court and Appellate Litigation group. She presented cases in front of several different courts during her time with the firm, including the New York State Supreme Court.
After joining the Department of Justice in 2014, Prelogar served as an assistant to the solicitor general for five years. Her position entailed representing the U.S. government before the Supreme Court and developing the government’s appeals approaches in lower courts. She briefly served on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation team into possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. As an assistant special counsel, Prelogar was responsible for conducting research to advise the investigative and trial teams.
Prelogar served as the Justice Department’s acting solicitor general from Biden’s January 2020 inauguration until her August nomination. She was required by the Federal Vacancies Reform Act to resign as acting solicitor general while her confirmation is underway. During her brief Sept. 14 Senate nomination hearing, Democrats expressed staunch support for Prelogar while Republicans put forth relatively mild criticisms about her office’s shift on stances taken by the Trump administration toward several legal cases.
If the senate confirms her appointment, Prelogar will become the second female solicitor general in U.S. history.
