ON DECK CIRCLE:

Bush Nominates Paul Clement to Be Solicitor General (Mark Sherman, 3/11/05, Associated Press)

President Bush on Friday chose Paul D. Clement as solicitor general, the job Clement has held for the past eight months on an acting basis.

The solicitor general supervises government appellate work and is the administration's top Supreme Court lawyer, personally arguing many of the cases. The 38-year-old Clement would have to be confirmed by the Senate. [...]

Viet Dinh, a Justice Department official in Bush's first term, said Clement's youth belies his experience: "I think Paul is one of the most seasoned Supreme Court litigators of this generation. He's had 24 arguments before the Supreme Court including important questions of separation of powers in these difficult times in the war on terror."

Clement is also an adjunct professor of constitutional law at Georgetown University Law Center. Before joining the Justice Department, he was a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of King & Spalding. A native of Cedarburg, Wis., he is a graduate of Georgetown University and Harvard Law School.

Jeez, he'll have a good forty years on the Court when they kick him upstairs.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 11, 2005 7:05 PM