State Solicitors General – who are they and what do they do? With former Solicitor General of West Virginia, Elbert Lin

Each year, lawyers from the office of the solicitor general, or the SG for short, appear before the Supreme Court to argue on behalf of the federal government, but who argues on behalf of the states?

It turns out that most states have their own solicitors general, but unlike their counterparts in Washington, D.C., state SGs frequently appear at all levels of the judiciary, both state and federal. Who are these SGs? What do they do? And do we really have to address them as general?

To help us answer these questions we are joined by the former Solicitor General of West Virginia, Elbert Lin.