Former Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar to Deliver Powell Lecture Prelogar served as the 48th Solicitor General of the United States during the Biden administration.

By Law Communications
March 4, 2025

Elizabeth Prelogar, Solicitor General of the United States during the Biden administration, will be the speaker at the annual Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Distinguished Lecture. The lecture will be held on Wednesday, March 19 at 5:00 p.m. in the Millhiser Moot Court Room, Sydney Lewis Hall, on the campus of Washington and Lee University. The event is free and open to the public.

The format of this year’s event will be a “fireside chat” between Prelogar and W&L Law Professor Alan Trammell. Topics will include her path to becoming the Solicitor General and her time serving as the U.S. government’s top advocate. They also will discuss some of the cases she argued before the Supreme Court, as well as any lessons she has learned throughout her career. An audience Q&A will follow the discussion.

Prelogar served as the 48th Solicitor General of the United States. As Solicitor General, she was the fourth-ranking individual at the Department of Justice and was responsible for conducting and supervising all Supreme Court litigation on behalf of the United States. Prelogar has argued over 30 cases in the Supreme Court and previously served in multiple roles at the Department of Justice.

Before her confirmation as Solicitor General, Prelogar served as Acting Solicitor General and Principal Deputy Solicitor General. She also served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General from 2014 to 2019. During her prior tenure as a career attorney at the Department, she was detailed to Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and obstruction-of-justice issues, where she served as an Assistant Special Counsel.

Prelogar was born and raised in Boise, Idaho, and graduated from the area’s public schools. She received her bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from Emory University and a master’s degree in creative writing with distinction from the University of St. Andrews. She subsequently spent a year living and studying in St. Petersburg, Russia, as a Fulbright Fellow. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School where she was an Articles Editor of the Harvard Law Review.

After graduating from law school, Prelogar clerked for Judge Merrick B. Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. She then completed consecutive Supreme Court clerkships for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Elena Kagan. After her clerkships, she worked as an associate in the appellate group at Hogan Lovells LLP. She later became a partner at Cooley LLP, where she focused on Supreme Court and appellate litigation.

The students at Washington and Lee University School of Law founded the Lewis Powell, Jr. Distinguished Lecture Series in 2002 in honor of Justice Powell ’29A, ’31L, who was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1972.  Justice Powell’s judicial legacy was defined by a respect for both sides in a dispute and a desire to craft judicial opinions that struck a middle ground.  The student-run lecture series features nationally prominent speakers who embody Powell’s spirit in their life and work.