Paul Clement
Paul Clement | |
|---|---|
Official portrait, 2005 | |
| Acting United States Attorney General | |
| In office September 17, 2007 – September 18, 2007 | |
| President | George W. Bush |
| Deputy | Craig S. Morford (acting) |
| Preceded by | Alberto Gonzales |
| Succeeded by | Peter Keisler (acting) |
| 43rd United States Solicitor General | |
| In office July 11, 2004 – June 19, 2008 Acting: July 11, 2004 – June 13, 2005 | |
| President | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Ted Olson |
| Succeeded by | Gregory Garre |
| United States Principal Deputy Solicitor General | |
| In office February 2001 – July 11, 2004 | |
| President | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Barbara Underwood |
| Succeeded by | Daryl Joseffer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Paul Drew Clement June 24, 1966 Cedarburg, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Education | Georgetown University (BS) Darwin College, Cambridge (MPhil) Harvard University (JD) |
Paul Drew Clement (born June 24, 1966) is an American attorney who served as U.S. Solicitor General from 2005 to 2008 and is known for his advocacy before the U.S. Supreme Court. He is a distinguished lecturer in law at Georgetown University and an adjunct professor at the New York University School of Law. He was nominated by President George W. Bush on March 14, 2005, for the post of Solicitor General, confirmed by the United States Senate 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 as a visiting professor and senior fellow at the Supreme Court Institute. He established his own law firm, Clement & Murphy, in 2022 after leaving Kirkland & Ellis, following that firm's decision to end its Second Amendment work.
During his career, Clement has argued cases on behalf of many conservative causes, such as opposing gun control; defending a ban on federal recognition of same-sex marriage; advocating to enjoin the Affordable Care Act; defending Republican gerrymandering in North Carolina; and, as Acting Solicitor General, defending the Controlled Substances Act under the Commerce Clause, as well as the Bush administration's treatment of terrorism suspects.