Paul Clement’s Dominant Term Boosts His Supreme Court Legacy (1)

Over a two-week sprint in March, Paul Clement argued in three courts on opposite coasts—including the US Supreme Court, where he matched his personal best with nine appearances at the lectern this term.

Absent Elizabeth Prelogar’s 10 appearances as solicitor general in 2023, no one has beaten that number in the past three decades, according to a Bloomberg Law analysis.

Clement’s long been prolific. He frequently tops the Supreme Court bar in appearances. He’s now notched 128 arguments before the court by his count, bringing Edwin Kneedler’s modern record of 160 into view.

He noted that his law partner, Erin Murphy, also had an argument. Their “plucky little firm,” Clement & Murphy, accounted for just over 15% of all cases argued before the justices since October.

“At some point you’re conscious of how many arguments you have, but I don’t think you ever lose sight that any chance to argue before the court is an amazing opportunity,” Clement said. “A lot of excellent lawyers never get the chance to argue one.”

Go-To Advocate

Clement’s Supreme Court cases include some of the most high-profile of the past two decades, including National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, which upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act—Clement represented the challengers—and McDonald v. Chicago, which incorporated the Second Amendment right to bear arms to the states.

He argued many of those cases as a partner at King & Spalding and then Kirkland & Ellis, which he left in 2022 after the firm announced it would no longer represent clients in gun rights litigation. Clement argued nine cases in a term once before in 2011 when the court broke challenges to the ACA up into four separate arguments over three days.

This term, the former US solicitor general under George W. Bush represented business interests in several big appeals, including two he brought to the court: Chevron USA Inc. v. Plaquemines Parish, centered onWWII-era damage to Louisiana wetlands, and Monsanto Co. v. Durnell, dealt with lawsuits targeting pesticide makers. He won Chevron USA unanimously, and a ruling in Monsanto is expected by July.

His remaining six cases ran the gamut from mail-in ballots to property seizures by the Castro regime to the limits of executive power.

Clement was one of 12 former clerks Justice Antonin Scalia to argue before the court this term. The late conservative justice’s protégés argued in more than half of the cases the court heard—driven in no small part by Clement’s regularity at the court.

He’s also become a go-to advocate for parties targeted by President Donald Trump and his administration.

At the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, he’s representing a group of federal judges in Maryland sued by the Trump administration over a standing order in immigration cases. Also, law firms targeted by executive orders in early 2025 have brought Clement on to argue their case next week at the DC Circuit. In January, Clement argued before the Supreme Court in a case testing whether Trump can remove Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook.

Never Stops

A Feb. 27 filing provided a snapshot of his packed calendar:

Over a two-week period in March, Clement argued in the Supreme Court in a trucking regulation dispute; the Ninth Circuit in an antitrust case and the Tenth Circuit, where he represented the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a class action.

He also had two petitions due at the Supreme Court and—though not yet scheduled to do so at the time—would argue another case about mail-in ballots before the justices on behalf of the Republican and Libertarian parties.

Three days prior to the filing, he appeared before the justices on behalf of cruise lines sued over their use of Cuban docks.

Clement credited the other attorneys at his firm with helping him prepare and sometimes taking over arguments entirely when his schedule gets too packed.

He’s also developed an understanding of “what kind of preparation will pay the greatest dividends,” be it a deep-dive in to the record or a focus on the administrative scheme at play.

Clement, who turns 60 in June, doesn’t expect another nine-case term in the near future.

“I doubt I’ll ever have a term like this again,” Clement said. “But, if I had nine clients who were interested in giving me a chance, I’d give it a go.”