Hon. Paul D. Clement

Paul D. Clement is a partner at Bancroft PLLC. Mr. Clement served as the 43rd Solicitor General of the United States from June 2005 until June 2008. Prior to his confirmation as Solicitor General, he served as Acting Solicitor General for nearly a year and as Principal Deputy Solicitor General for over three years. His more than seven years of service in the Office of Solicitor General is the longest period of continuous service in the Office by a Solicitor General since the Nineteenth Century. He has argued over 50 cases before the United States Supreme Court, including McConnell v. FEC, Tennessee v. Lane, Rumsfeld v. Padilla, Credit Suisse v. Billing, United States v. Booker, MGM v. Grokster, and McDonald v. Chicago. He also argued many of the government’s most important cases in the lower courts, such as Walker v. Cheney and the successful appeal in United States v. Moussaoui.

Mr. Clement’s practice focuses on appellate matters, constitutional litigation and strategic counseling. He represents a broad array of clients in the Supreme Court and in federal and state appellate courts. In the past year, for example, he argued a successful Fourteenth Amendment case in the Supreme Court, a successful securities case in the Ninth Circuit, a major administrative law appeal in the D.C. Circuit, and a successful certified appeal concerning auditor liability in the New York Court of Appeals. He has initiated major constitutional litigation against the federal government, such as the First Amendment challenge in Allergan v. United States. He also counsels clients on a variety of strategic legal questions whether arising from pending legislation, legislative inquiries or ongoing litigation. Mr. Clement has also undertaken substantial pro bono engagements, such as his representation of respondents Terry Harrington and Curtis McGhee in Pottawattamie County v. McGee, a case that produced a significant settlement for the respondents after argument in the Supreme Court. He was recognized as a finalist for the Public Justice Foundation’s 2010 Trial Lawyer of the Year award.

Mr. Clement is a native of Cedarburg, Wisconsin, and a graduate of the Cedarburg public schools. He received his bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and a master’s degree in economics from Cambridge University. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was the Supreme Court editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Following graduation, Mr. Clement clerked for Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court. After his clerkships, Mr. Clement went on to serve as Chief Counsel of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Federalism and Property Rights. Afterwards, he was a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of King & Spalding. Mr. Clement rejoined the firm in November 2008.

Mr. Clement has served as an Adjunct or Visiting Professor at the Georgetown University Law Center since 1998, where he teaches a seminar on the separation of powers. He also serves as a Senior Fellow of the Law Center’s Supreme Court Institute.

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