Paul Clement

Paul Drew Clement (born June 24, 1966) is an American lawyer who served as Solicitor General of the United States 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 a founding partner of the law firm Clement & Murphy. After serving as Solicitor General during the George W. Bush administration, Clement joined the Georgetown University Law Center as a visiting professor and senior fellow at the Supreme Court Institute. He was a partner at the law firms King & Spalding, Bancroft PLLC, and Kirkland & Ellis. In 2022, Clement left Kirkland & Ellis after the firm decided to stop handling Second Amendment cases and founded Clement & Murphy with fellow Kirkland partner Erin Murphy. As of April 2026, Clement had argued 124 cases before the Supreme Court. 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. Clement has also been a vocal advocate of the principle that all legal clients, even if they are unpopular, deserve representation. He has represented multiple clients challenging Trump administration actions.