Neal Katyal

Neal Katyal
Born	Neal Kumar Katyal 12 3, 1970
Birthplace	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Lawyer, legal scholar
Title	Paul and Patricia Saunders Professor of National Security Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Employer	Milbank LLP; Georgetown University Law Center
Known for	Acting U.S. Solicitor General; lead counsel in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld; lead attorney challenging Trump tariffs before the Supreme Court
Education	Yale University (JD) Dartmouth College (BA)
Awards	National Law Journal "Lawyers of the Year" (2006); American Lawyer "Fab Fifty" Young Litigators

Neal Kumar Katyal (born March 12, 1970) is an American lawyer, legal scholar, and one of the most active oral advocates before the Supreme Court of the United States. He is a partner at Milbank LLP and the Paul and Patricia Saunders Professor of National Security Law at Georgetown University Law Center. During the administration of President Barack Obama, Katyal served as Acting Solicitor General of the United States from May 2010 until June 2011, the first Indian American and the first Asian American to serve in that role. Prior to that appointment, he served as Principal Deputy Solicitor General. Katyal first gained national prominence as the lead counsel representing Salim Ahmed Hamdan in the landmark Supreme Court case Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006), in which the Court ruled that the military commissions established by the George W. Bush administration to try detainees at Guantanamo Bay violated both the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Geneva Conventions. In February 2026, Katyal argued before the Supreme Court as the lead attorney challenging President Donald Trump's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose sweeping tariffs, successfully securing a ruling that struck down the tariff plan.

Early Life

Neal Kumar Katyal was born on March 12, 1970, in Chicago, Illinois, to parents of Indian descent. He was raised in the Chicago area. His sister is Sonia Katyal, a law professor, and his brother-in-law is Jeffrey Rosen, a legal writer and the president of the National Constitution Center.

Growing up as the child of immigrants, Katyal developed an early interest in law, government, and public service. His Indian-American heritage has been a recurring element of public commentary about his career, particularly as he rose to positions not previously held by Asian Americans in the federal government. Reports have described his upbringing as one shaped by the immigrant experience and by a family that emphasized education and civic engagement.

Little additional detail about Katyal's childhood and adolescence has been published in available sourced material, though his trajectory from Chicago public life to the Ivy League and then to the highest levels of the federal government's legal apparatus reflects the path he began in Illinois.

Education

Katyal attended Dartmouth College, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree. He subsequently enrolled at Yale Law School, where he obtained his Juris Doctor (JD). At Yale, Katyal engaged with constitutional law and national security issues that would come to define his professional career. Following law school, he pursued a career path that combined legal academia with government service, a dual track that he has maintained throughout his professional life.

Career

Early Legal and Academic Career

After completing his legal education at Yale, Katyal embarked on a career that combined academic scholarship with high-profile litigation. He joined the faculty of Georgetown University Law Center, where he was appointed the Paul and Patricia Saunders Professor of National Security Law, a position he continues to hold. At Georgetown, Katyal has published extensively on topics including national security, separation of powers, criminal law, and constitutional law. His academic writings have appeared in leading law reviews, including the Harvard Law Review and the Yale Law Journal.

Katyal's scholarship has focused in particular on the concept of internal separation of powers within the executive branch—the idea that structural checks within the federal government can serve to protect civil liberties and prevent executive overreach. This academic work informed much of his later litigation and government service.

Hamdan v. Rumsfeld

Katyal's most historically significant early case was Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, decided by the Supreme Court in 2006. In this case, Katyal served as lead counsel for Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a Yemeni national who had been captured in Afghanistan and detained at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Hamdan had been Osama bin Laden's former driver and was slated for trial before a military commission established by executive order of President George W. Bush.

Katyal challenged the legality of the military commissions, arguing that they had not been authorized by Congress and that they violated both the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Geneva Conventions. In a landmark 5–3 decision, the Supreme Court agreed, ruling that the military commissions lacked the power to proceed because they had not been expressly authorized by Congress and because their structure and procedures violated the law of war.

The decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld was one of the most consequential rulings on executive power and the War on Terror. It established that the President could not unilaterally create military tribunals without congressional approval and affirmed the applicability of the Geneva Conventions to the conflict with al-Qaeda. Katyal, then a Georgetown law professor, was recognized for taking on the case at considerable professional and personal risk. He argued the case before the Supreme Court at the age of 36.

Katyal's work on the Hamdan case earned him significant recognition. The National Law Journal named him one of its "Lawyers of the Year" in 2006 for his representation of Hamdan. The case also influenced his academic work: Katyal wrote a reflective article in the Yale Law Journal about the experience of a legal academic entering high-stakes Supreme Court practice.

Department of Justice and Acting Solicitor General

Following the election of President Barack Obama in 2008, Katyal was appointed to serve in the United States Department of Justice. He initially served as Principal Deputy Solicitor General beginning on February 3, 2009, succeeding Daryl Joseffer in that position. In this capacity, he served as the second-ranking official in the Office of the Solicitor General, responsible for overseeing the government's Supreme Court litigation.

When Solicitor General Elena Kagan was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Obama in May 2010, Katyal was elevated to serve as Acting Solicitor General on May 17, 2010. In this role, Katyal became the top appellate lawyer for the United States government, responsible for supervising and conducting all litigation on behalf of the federal government before the Supreme Court. He was the first Asian American and the first Indian American to hold the position of Solicitor General (in an acting capacity).

Katyal served as Acting Solicitor General until June 9, 2011, when he was succeeded by Donald B. Verrilli Jr., who was confirmed by the Senate as Solicitor General. Following Verrilli's confirmation, Katyal briefly returned to his role as Principal Deputy Solicitor General from June 9 to August 26, 2011, succeeding Leondra Kruger (who had served in an acting capacity). He was in turn succeeded by Sri Srinivasan in the Principal Deputy role.

During his time as Acting Solicitor General, Katyal argued multiple cases before the Supreme Court on behalf of the United States. His tenure coincided with a period of significant legal activity in areas including national security, health care reform, and immigration.

Private Practice and Supreme Court Advocacy

After leaving the Department of Justice, Katyal returned to the private sector, eventually joining the law firm Hogan Lovells and later Milbank LLP as a partner. In private practice, he has continued to be one of the most frequent oral advocates before the Supreme Court, arguing dozens of cases on a wide range of legal issues.

Katyal has been recognized as one of the leading Supreme Court advocates in the country. The Washingtonian named him one of Washington, D.C.'s best lawyers in the area of Supreme Court practice. The American Lawyer included him in its "Fab Fifty" list of outstanding young litigators.

In addition to his legal practice, Katyal has maintained his teaching position at Georgetown Law and has appeared regularly as a legal commentator on television and in print media, discussing issues related to the Supreme Court, constitutional law, and executive power. He has also been credited as an actor, with an entry on the Internet Movie Database for his appearances.

Supreme Court Challenge to Trump Tariffs (2026)

In February 2026, Katyal returned to the national spotlight as the lead attorney challenging President Donald Trump's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose sweeping global tariffs on imports to the United States. Katyal argued the case before the Supreme Court on behalf of U.S. businesses that contended the tariffs were unlawful.

Katyal argued that Trump's use of the IEEPA to impose tariffs was an unprecedented and unlawful expansion of executive authority, describing the administration's legal position as "fundamentally un-American." He contended that the statute, which was enacted in 1977, did not authorize the President to levy tariffs, and that the tariff powers belong to Congress under the Constitution.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Katyal's clients, striking down the tariff plan. In the wake of the ruling, Katyal stated that the decision "gave us everything that we asked for." He further argued that his clients were entitled to refunds of tariffs already collected by the federal government.

Following the Supreme Court ruling, President Trump announced a revised 15% tariff rate. Katyal publicly questioned the legal basis for the revised tariff plan as well, citing a Department of Justice submission that he argued undermined the administration's position. He called on the administration to "do the American thing" and comply with the Court's ruling.

Former International Monetary Fund chief economist Gita Gopinath expressed support for Katyal's legal arguments, noting the distinction between trade deficits and balance-of-payments deficits—a point central to the legal challenge.

The tariffs case was seen as one of the most consequential Supreme Court decisions on the limits of presidential power over trade and economic policy, drawing comparisons to Katyal's earlier work in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld as a challenge to executive overreach.

Personal Life

Katyal is of Indian descent and has identified publicly as an Indian American. His sister, Sonia Katyal, is a professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, and his brother-in-law is Jeffrey Rosen, a prominent legal writer and president of the National Constitution Center.

Katyal resides in the Washington, D.C. area, where he maintains his dual career as a Georgetown Law professor and a partner at Milbank LLP. He has appeared on numerous television programs and in media outlets as a legal commentator, particularly during periods of significant Supreme Court activity.

Recognition

Katyal's career has been marked by a series of notable professional distinctions. In 2006, the National Law Journal named him one of its "Lawyers of the Year" for his work as lead counsel in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld. The case was widely covered in the legal and national press and established Katyal as a leading figure in Supreme Court advocacy.

The American Lawyer included Katyal in its "Fab Fifty" list of outstanding young litigators in the country, recognizing his achievements in high-profile appellate litigation. The Washingtonian named him one of Washington, D.C.'s top lawyers in the area of Supreme Court practice.

His appearances before the Supreme Court have numbered among the most of any advocate of his generation. In 2026, his successful challenge to the Trump administration's tariff plan drew international media attention and was covered extensively by outlets including NPR, USA Today, The Hill, NDTV, India Today, The Times of India, and Mint, among others.

Katyal's career has been the subject of multiple profiles in legal and general-interest publications. His role as an Indian American in senior government and legal positions has been noted in coverage by both American and Indian media as an example of the contributions of the Indian-American community to U.S. public life.

Legacy

Neal Katyal's legal career spans two of the most significant Supreme Court cases involving presidential power in the 21st century. In Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006), he established the principle that the President cannot unilaterally create military commissions without congressional authorization, a ruling that reshaped the legal landscape of the War on Terror and reasserted the role of Congress and the judiciary in checking executive authority.

Two decades later, his successful challenge to the Trump administration's tariffs in 2026 further established his role as a leading advocate for limits on executive power, this time in the context of international trade and economic policy. The Supreme Court's ruling that the President had exceeded his authority under the IEEPA was hailed by legal commentators as a landmark decision on the separation of powers.

Throughout his career, Katyal has combined academic scholarship at Georgetown Law with practical advocacy at the highest levels of the American legal system. His published work on internal separation of powers and national security law has contributed to academic and policy debates about the structure of the federal government. His service as Acting Solicitor General—the first Indian American to hold the office—placed him at the center of the government's legal apparatus during a period of significant judicial activity.

Katyal's career reflects a consistent engagement with questions about the boundaries of executive power, the role of the courts in reviewing government action, and the importance of congressional authorization in areas traditionally subject to presidential discretion. His work has been cited in legal scholarship, judicial opinions, and public commentary as representative of the tradition of lawyers who use the courts to constrain executive authority.