Office of the Florida Solicitor General.

• Author: Warner, Tom

The Greatest Job for a Lawyer in Florida

The Solicitor General is not a neutral, he is an advocate; but an advocate for a client whose business is not merely to prevail in the instant case. My client's chief business is not to achieve victory but to establish justice. We are constantly reminded of the now classic words penned by one of my illustrious predecessors, [Solicitor General] Frederick William Lehman, that the Government wins its point when justice is done in its courts.(1)

These reflective remarks provide an excellent description of the important role and high ideals of the U.S. Solicitor General. It also provides a great model for the new office of Florida's solicitor general, which was conceived by Attorney General Bob Butterworth and President Sandy D'Alemberte of Florida State University and created in July 1999. The specific duty of Florida's solicitor general is to represent the State of Florida in the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court in civil cases involving constitutional issues. The concept of the office is to infuse private legal expertise and experience into government practice, to elevate the state's appellate practice, and to provide coordination of both legal and policy issues in the state's most important cases. As Florida's first solicitor general, my goal for the office is embodied in the substance of the quote above: not merely to prevail in the instant case or to achieve victory, but to establish justice.

Florida's solicitor general serves in two roles. First, by memorandum of authority from the attorney general, the solicitor general has plenary authority over all civil appeals for the State of Florida.(2) In that role, the solicitor is appointed by and reports directly to the attorney general and serves at his pleasure. The Office of the Solicitor General exists as a separate unit in the Office of the Attorney General and consists of the solicitor general, two deputy solicitors, a legal assistant, and an administrative assistant.

The second role of Florida's solicitor general is to hold the Richard W. Ervin Eminent Scholar Chair and teach a seminar at the Florida State University College of Law. Richard Ervin, who is 95 years old and attends the seminar once each semester, is a former chief justice of Florida's Supreme Court and served as Florida's attorney general from 1949 to 1964.(3) This chair was endowed with the assistance of Attorney General Bob Butterworth and provides funds for one-half the salary of the solicitor general. Because of this second role, the solicitor general is appointed by the attorney general with the advice and approval of the president of Florida State University and the College of Law.

In regard to the solicitor general's role in civil appeals, the main responsibility is to oversee the representation of the state in significant litigation affecting the powers, duties, and responsibilities of all branches of state government. The solicitor general has the authority, subject to the attorney general's final approval, to decide whether the state should appeal a case to the Florida Supreme Court, the U.S. Supreme Court, or the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The office also has the authority to decide whether the state will file or join an amicus brief in state or federal court, primarily in cases pending in the Florida Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court. To implement this broad delegation of authority, our office...