Legal Adviser of the Department of State

Legal Adviser of the
United States Department of State
Legal Adviser of the; United States Department of State
	Seal of the United States Department of State
	Incumbent; Joshua Simmons (acting); Acting since March 29, 2025
Reports to	United States Secretary of State
Inaugural holder	Green Hackworth
Formation	1931
Website	Official Website

Last updated May 18, 2025

The Legal Adviser of the Department of State is a position within the United States Department of State. The legal adviser provides legal advice on all issues (domestic and international) arising in the course of the department's activities. The legal adviser heads the State Department's Office of the Legal Adviser. As such, the legal adviser has the rank of Assistant Secretary.^[2]^[3]

History

From 1870 to 1891, the examiner of claims had been the chief legal officer of the department. The solicitor, a Department of Justice employee, had functioned as the Department of State's chief legal officer from 1891 to 1931. Solicitors and examiners of claims were by statute officials of the Department of Justice. The position of Legal Advisor was created by an Act of Congress on February 23, 1931 (P.L. 71-715; 46 Stat. 1214). The first legal adviser was Green Hackworth, who served until 1946 and then became a judge on the International Court of Justice.

List of legal advisers of the Department of State

#	Name	Assumed office	Left office	President served under
1	Green Hackworth	July 1, 1931^[4]	March 1, 1946	Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman
2	Charles H. Fahy	June 19, 1946	August 15, 1947	Harry S. Truman
3	Ernest A. Gross	August 16, 1947	March 3, 1949	Harry S. Truman
4	Adrian S. Fisher	June 28, 1949	January 27, 1953	Harry S. Truman
5	Herman Phleger	February 2, 1953	April 1, 1957	Dwight D. Eisenhower
6	Loftus Becker	June 13, 1957	August 15, 1959	Dwight D. Eisenhower
7	Eric H. Hager	September 9, 1959	January 20, 1961	Dwight D. Eisenhower
8	Abram Chayes	February 6, 1961	June 27, 1964	John F. Kennedy
9	Leonard C. Meeker	May 18, 1965	July 13, 1969	Lyndon B. Johnson
10	John Reese Stevenson	July 14, 1969	January 1, 1973	Richard Nixon
11	Carlyle E. Maw	November 27, 1973	July 9, 1974	Richard Nixon
12	Monroe Leigh	January 21, 1975	January 20, 1977	Gerald Ford
13	Herbert J. Hansell	April 8, 1977	September 20, 1979	Jimmy Carter
14	Roberts Bishop Owen	October 4, 1979	February 16, 1981	Jimmy Carter
15	Davis Rowland Robinson	July 30, 1981	February 27, 1985	Ronald Reagan
16	Abraham David Sofaer	June 10, 1985	June 15, 1990	Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush
17	Edwin D. Williamson	September 20, 1990	January 20, 1993	George H. W. Bush
18	Conrad K. Harper	May 24, 1993	June 30, 1996	Bill Clinton
19	David Andrews	September 2, 1997	April 25, 2000	Bill Clinton
20	William Howard Taft IV	April 16, 2001	March 1, 2005	George W. Bush
21	John B. Bellinger III	April 6, 2005	March 23, 2009^[5]	George W. Bush, Barack Obama
-	Joan E. Donoghue (acting)	March 23, 2009	June 25, 2009	Barack Obama
22	Harold Hongju Koh	June 25, 2009	January 22, 2013	Barack Obama
-	Mary McLeod (acting)	January 23, 2013	February 1, 2016	Barack Obama
23	Brian Egan	February 2, 2016	January 20, 2017	Barack Obama
-	Richard C. Visek (acting)	January 20, 2017	January 22, 2018	Donald Trump
24	Jennifer Gillian Newstead	January 22, 2018	May 31, 2019
-	Marik String (acting)	June 1, 2019	January 20, 2021
-	Richard C. Visek (acting)	January 20, 2021	September 24, 2024	Joe Biden
25	Margaret L. Taylor	September 24, 2024	January 20, 2025	Joe Biden
-	Richard C. Visek (acting)	January 20, 2025	March 29, 2025	Donald Trump
-	Joshua Simmons (acting)	March 29, 2025	Incumbent	Donald Trump

References

↑ https://www.state.gov/biographies/joshua-simmons/
↑ "Assistant Secretaries and Equivalent Rank". state.gov. January 20, 2009. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
↑ "Department Organization Chart". state.gov. March 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
↑ Initially commissioned during a Senate recess; subsequently confirmed and re-commissioned on December 17, 1931.
↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 3, 2009. Retrieved April 25, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

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[1] ttps://www.state.gov/biographies/joshua-simmons/

[2] "Assistant Secretaries and Equivalent Rank". state.gov. January 20, 2009. Retrieved November 15, 2015.

[3] "Department Organization Chart". state.gov. March 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2015.

[4] Initially commissioned during a Senate recess; subsequently confirmed and re-commissioned on December 17, 1931.

[5] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 3, 2009. Retrieved April 25, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

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v t e United States Department of State
Headquarters: Harry S Truman Building Marco Rubio, Secretary of State Christopher Landau, Deputy Secretary of State Vacant, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Lisa D. Kenna, Acting Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
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v t e United States assistant secretaries of state (and equivalent ranks)
Reporting to the under secretary for political affairs	African Affairs East Asian and Pacific Affairs European and Eurasian Affairs International Organization Affairs Near Eastern Affairs South and Central Asian Affairs Western Hemisphere Affairs
Reporting to the under secretary for economic growth, energy, and the environment	Economic and Business Affairs Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Energy Resources Chief Economist of the Department
Reporting to the under secretary for arms control and international security	Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance International Security and Nonproliferation Political-Military Affairs
Reporting to the under secretary for public diplomacy and public affairs	Educational and Cultural Affairs Global Public Affairs
Reporting to the under secretary for management	Administration Consular Affairs Diplomatic Security Chief Information Officer of the Department Chief Medical Officer and Designated Agency Safety and Health Official Comptroller of the Department and Director of Global Financial Services Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Global Talent Director of Budget and Planning Director of Overseas Buildings Operations Director, Foreign Service Institute Director, Office of Foreign Missions, with the rank of Ambassador Director, Office of Management Strategy and Solutions
Reporting to the under secretary for civilian security, democracy, and human rights	Conflict and Stabilization Operations Coordinator for Counterterrorism, with rank and status of Ambassador-at-Large Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Population, Refugees, and Migration Director, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking (Ambassador-at-Large) Global Criminal Justice (Ambassador-at-Large)
Reporting directly to the secretary	Intelligence and Research Legislative Affairs Special Assistant to the Secretary and Executive Secretary of the Department Inspector General Legal Adviser Director, Policy Planning Staff Director, Office of Foreign Assistance Director, Office of Civil Rights and Chief Diversity Officer Chief of Protocol of the United States, with the rank of Ambassador Global Women's Issues (Ambassador-at-Large) Coordinator of United States Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS Globally (Ambassador-at-Large)

Legal Adviser of the United States Department of State
Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent Joshua Simmons (acting) Acting since March 29, 2025^[1]
Reports to	United States Secretary of State
Inaugural holder	Green Hackworth
Formation	1931
Website	Official Website

Legal Adviser of the Department of State

Contents

History

List of legal advisers of the Department of State

References