Henry C. Whitaker | |
---|---|
9th Solicitor General of Florida | |
Assumed office 2021 | |
Preceded by | Amit Agarwal |
Attorney General | Ashley Moody |
Personal details | |
Born | Falls Church,Virginia,U.S. | April 29,1978
Political party | Republican |
Education | Yale University (BS) Harvard University (JD) |
Occupation | Attorney,Teacher |
Henry Charles Whitaker (born April 29,1978) is an American legal scholar who has served as the Solicitor General of Florida since 2021. Previously he was the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice in the District of Columbia.
Whitaker graduated from Yale University in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude . He then attended Harvard Law School,where he received a Juris Doctor,magna cum laude,in 2003. Whitaker clerked for Judge David B. Sentelle of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Prior to his Florida appointment,he was the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice. In that position,he advised the White House Counsel and cabinet secretaries regarding constitutional and statutory questions. Following his clerkships,he served on the Appellate Staff of the Civil Division of the DOJ where he argued more than 40 federal court appeals. He is a contributor to and member of the Federalist Society. [1]
Whitaker was appointed as Florida Solicitor General by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody in July,2021. He was admitted to the Florida Bar (ID #1031175) on September 22,2021. [2] As Florida Solicitor General,Whitaker oversees civil appeals involving the state's interests in all state and federal appellate courts. He also serves as the Richard Ervin Visiting Professor in the Florida State University College of Law where he teaches. [3] His $165,000 salary was split between the state and FSU. [4]
While Solicitor General,Whitaker argued cases before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal,the Florida Supreme Court,the First District Court of Appeal,several Judicial Circuits,and United States Supreme Court. [4] [5]
Miguel Angel Estrada Castañeda is a Honduran-American attorney who became embroiled in controversy following his 2001 nomination by President George W. Bush to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Senate Democrats,unable to block his nomination in the Senate Judiciary Committee after the Republican Party took control of the U.S. Senate in 2002,used a filibuster for the first time to prevent his nomination from being given a final confirmation vote by the full Senate.
Peter Douglas Keisler is an American lawyer whose 2006 nomination by President George W. Bush to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit became embroiled in partisan controversy. He is a partner at the firm of Sidley Austin in Washington,D.C.,and used to be the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Division at the U.S. Department of Justice. Upon the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales,until November 9,2007,he was also the Acting Attorney General of the United States.
Preeta D. Bansal is an American lawyer who served as the General Counsel and Senior Policy Advisor to the federal Office of Management and Budget from 2009 until 2011. Prior to her work in the Obama administration,she served as a law partner at Skadden,Arps,Slate,Meagher &Flom and as the Solicitor General of New York during Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's first term. She also has been a member and past chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). She is currently a lecturer at MIT and senior advisor at the Laboratory for Social Machines based at the MIT Media Lab.
Todd Sunhwae Kim is an American attorney serving as the United States Assistant Attorney General for the United States Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division. He earlier served as the first solicitor general of the District of Columbia for nearly 12 years. He was twice nominated by President Barack Obama for the District of Columbia Court of Appeals,but the Senate held no hearings on his nominations,which expired without action.
Kannon Kumar Shanmugam is an American lawyer known for his litigation at the U.S. Supreme Court. He became a partner at the law firm of Paul,Weiss,Rifkind,Wharton &Garrison in 2019,and became the managing partner of the firm's Washington,D.C. office and chair of its Supreme Court and appellate practice group. Shanmugam was mentioned as a possible Solicitor General or judicial nominee in the 2017–2021 Donald Trump administration.
Ian Heath Gershengorn is an American lawyer and former acting Solicitor General of the United States under President Barack Obama.
Kenneth Steven Geller is a former managing partner of the global law firm Mayer Brown LLP. Prior to that,he served as Deputy Solicitor General of the United States and as an Assistant Special Prosecutor in the Watergate Special Prosecution Force.
The solicitor general of Florida or Florida solicitor general is the top appellate (appeals) solicitor (lawyer) for the U.S. State of Florida. It is an appointed position in the Office of the Florida Attorney General and the individual serves at the pleasure of the attorney general. Many of the cases handled by the Solicitor are argued in the United States Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of Florida. However some cases within the solicitor's responsibilities are under the jurisdiction of the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and the state appellate courts. The solicitor represents the Florida attorney general before the Florida Supreme Court and other appellate courts,as needed. He also decides whether the State of Florida has an interest in all cases filed in the Florida Supreme Court and if the state should file or join an amicus brief.
Scott Douglas Makar is an American lawyer,college professor and Judge on Florida's Fifth District Court of Appeal,recommissioned from the First District Court of Appeal on January 1,2023 by Governor Ron DeSantis. Previously he was the Florida Solicitor General serving from 2007 until 2012 and in that position,argued five cases before the United States Supreme Court.
William Curtis Bryson is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He also served a 7-year term as a judge on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review,until 2018,and on September 1,2013,became the presiding judge of that court.
John J. Bursch was the 10th Michigan Solicitor General. He was appointed by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette on February 28,2011. Prior to being Michigan Solicitor General,Bursch served as chair of the Appellate Practice and Public-Affairs Litigation Groups at Warner Norcross &Judd. Bursch argued in more than 6% of all the cases the U.S. Supreme Court heard during his tenure as solicitor general. Bursch returned to private practice at Warner Norcross &Judd in December 2013,and founded his own law firm in 2016,Bursch Law.
Kevin Christopher Newsom is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Beth Ann Williams is an American lawyer who has served as a board member of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board since 2022 and the United States Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy from 2017 to 2020. In her role as Assistant Attorney General,Williams served as the primary policy advisor to the United States Attorney General and the United States Deputy Attorney General. Prior to her governmental work,she was a partner at the law firm of Kirkland &Ellis.
Britt Cagle Grant is an American attorney and judge who is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. She is a former Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia.
Andrew Stephen Oldham is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and former General Counsel to Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
Eric David Miller is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Amit Agarwal formerly served as Solicitor General of Florida,an office he held since June 2016. In October 2021,Agarwal joined the law firm of Holland &Knight as a partner.
Nicholas J. Bronni is an American lawyer and Solicitor General of Arkansas.
David A. Strauss is an American legal scholar who is currently the Gerald Ratner Distinguished Service Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School. He is a constitutional law scholar and the author of The Living Constitution (2010),an influential work on the interpretation of the Constitution of the United States and judicial decision-making. He has argued 19 cases before the Supreme Court of the United States.
Brian Fletcher is an American lawyer who serves as the Principal Deputy Solicitor General of the United States. He served as Acting Solicitor General from August 11,2021,until Elizabeth Prelogar's confirmation on October 21,2021.