Neal Katyal (Image: Milbank LLP official website)
An Indian-American son of immigrants from India took the lead role in the case challenging the imposition of tariffs by US President Donald Trump. It was the latest of many wins Neal Katyal has notched up in a stellar career, and he — and much of the world — hopes he will win against Trump’s appeal before the Supreme Court too.Katyal, 55, has argued dozens of cases before the Supremes. Among some of his more notable wins are the 2023 Moore v. Harper, where he successfully argued against the “independent state legislature” theory, which would have given state legislatures unchecked authority over federal elections. The Supreme Court rejected the theory in a 6-3 decision, a victory a some have described as “the most important case for American democracy ever.” While serving as Acting Solicitor General during the Obama administration, Katyal also successfully argued for the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, served as Special Prosecutor in the George Floyd murder case, and as a young lawyer, he represented Vice President Al Gore as co-counsel in Bush v Gore in 2000/2001.Born in Chicago to a physician mom (Pratibha) and an engineer dad (Surendar) from India, Neal Katyal graduated from Dartmouth, and later went to Yale Law School, where he was a protege of another distinguished Indian-American legal scholar, Akhil Amar, a constitutional expert. Akhil Amar’s brother Vikram Amar is also a legal scholar and was the dean of the University of Illinois College of Law, just as Neal Katyal’s sister Sonia Katyal is also an attorney and teaches law at University of California, Berkeley School of Law.Their high-profile presence in the US legal circles attests to the growing presence of Indians in law, illustrated also in the judicial benches were some half-dozen justices of Indian-origin have heard important cases. Among them: Sri Srinivasan, chief judge of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the first person of South Asian descent to lead a federal circuit court. Appointed by President Obama, he was also on the shortlist for the Supreme CourtAmul Thapar: The first federal judge of South Asian descent, appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit by President Donald Trump. He too is frequently mentioned as a potential nominee for the Supreme Court.Neomi Rao: A circuit judge on the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit — appointed by President Trump to fill the seat vacated by Justice Brett Kavanaugh.Amit Mehta: A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia, he was appointed by President Barack Obama. Mehta notably presided over cases related to the January 6th attack on the US Capitol.
