Whenever the federal government is involved in litigation before the Supreme Court, the Office of the Solicitor General handles the representation.

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It was later that Cheney blocked Philbin's promotion to the number two spot in the Office of the Solicitor General, which represents the government before the U.S. Supreme Court.

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S. Tulsi, a former top lawyer in the office of the solicitor general of India, said the suicide should have no impact on the trail, which is being held in a closed courtroom under a gag order that prevents news organization from publishing details of the proceedings.

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In a brief submitted to the Supreme Court last week and reported by the Volokh Conspiracy and others, the Office of the Solicitor General argued forcefully that courts have no business deciding a policy question of such breadth and potential impact as the regulation of CO2 emissions.

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"What we are trying to do is preserve the FDA's role here, not have juries second-guess on a case-by-case and state-by-state basis imposing different safety obligations on manufacturers when Congress has established a regime for FDA to control this, " said Anthony Yang of the solicitor general's office.

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For all that the Solicitor General serves as the public face of the office, and as an important senior political appointee, the career employees act as its principal representatives to the Court.

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Millet worked with Pillard in the solicitor general's office beginning in 1996, but stayed through most of the Bush administration before leaving in 2007 to join private practice.

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