Elizabeth B. Prelogar

Elizabeth leads Cooley’s Supreme Court and appellate practice group and is widely considered one of the nation’s top appellate lawyers. Elizabeth served as the 48th Solicitor General of the United States from 2021 to 2025. As Solicitor General, she was responsible for conducting and supervising all Supreme Court litigation on behalf of the United States and overseeing the federal government’s appellate strategy in lower courts throughout the country. She has argued 35 cases in the Supreme Court, delivering more Supreme Court arguments since 2021 than any other advocate. Her matters have included some of the most high-profile, consequential cases of our time, involving pressing and complex issues of constitutional law, administrative law, taxation, statutory interpretation, criminal law, environmental regulation, technology, civil rights, and antitrust. Law360 described Elizabeth as “acclaimed for her oral advocacy in the U.S. Supreme Court’s biggest cases” and said she is a “once-in-a-generation talent who uses her seemingly endless knowledge of case facts and related law” to achieve success on appeal.

Elizabeth has served as counsel of record and led appellate litigation strategy in hundreds of Supreme Court cases at both the certiorari and merits stage and in lower federal and state courts across the nation. She has extensive experience litigating challenges involving innovative companies and new technologies. She has also focused on administrative law and argued key Supreme Court cases implicating statutory interpretation, principles of deference, and the major questions doctrine. She has deep experience handling emergency motions practice and arguing matters on an expedited timeline, including a Supreme Court case that was set for argument just 10 days after the filing of an emergency petition and two other emergency matters that were briefed and argued in less than a month. Elizabeth’s practice also focuses on counseling clients on complex legal issues in anticipation of litigation or regulatory enforcement actions and crafting legal strategy while a case is pending in district court. Elizabeth dedicates substantial time to pro bono representation and has a particular interest in civil rights, democracy, and the rule of law.

Elizabeth’s appellate victories have spanned a broad range of subject matters. In the Supreme Court, she secured favorable decisions in cases focused on social media regulation, administrative and regulatory law, redistricting and election law, standing and remedies, and novel constitutional questions. She persuaded the Supreme Court to rule in line with the government’s position in a tax case with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, in an antitrust case involving compensation for student athletes, in a Fair Labor Standards Act case concerning class-certification standards, and in a constitutional case challenging a municipality’s liability on a takings claim. Law360 noted her “hands-on strategy” and lauded her for “pulling off some exceptionally difficult wins.” Elizabeth argued 10 times in the 2023-2024 Supreme Court term alone – more than 16% of all cases heard that year – including twice arguing back-to-back cases on the same day.

Elizabeth’s appellate advocacy, analytical skills, and leadership have been recognized in a variety of contexts. Time Magazine included her on the TIME100 Next 2024 list, describing her as a “phenomenally talented advocate” who litigates with “eloquence, clarity, and rigor.” Law360 called her “one of the bar’s leading voices,” explaining how she “maintain[s] a rapport with members of the court across the ideological spectrum,” “has a command of the facts and record before the court and doesn’t back down from her legal arguments,” and is “down-to-earth and responsive,” which “gives her arguments a unique authority and appeal.” Washingtonian magazine listed her as one of Washington’s Best Lawyers and one of the Most Powerful Women in Washington. The National Association of Women Lawyers awarded her its Public Service Award, noting that she is only the second woman in history to serve as US Solicitor General. She received the Harvard Law School Association Award, the law school’s highest alumni honor recognizing leadership in the legal profession. In 2025, the Attorney General presented her with the Edmund J. Randolph Award, the highest award given by the US Department of Justice.

Elizabeth received her JD magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she was an articles editor on the Harvard Law Review. After graduating from law school, she clerked for Judge Merrick Garland of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She then completed consecutive Supreme Court clerkships for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Elena Kagan. In addition to her recent tenure as Solicitor General, Elizabeth has held various roles in government, including Principal Deputy Solicitor General, Assistant to the Solicitor General, and Associate Special Counsel. She also served as a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, where she taught a class on changing paradigms in the Supreme Court. Elizabeth completed a master’s degree in creative writing at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and was a Fulbright Fellow in St. Petersburg, Russia.