Former U.S. Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. ’83 to Speak at 2026 Columbia Law School Graduation
One of the nation’s premier Supreme Court and appellate advocates, Verrilli will deliver the keynote address at the May 17 ceremony.
Donald B. Verrilli Jr. ’83, who served as the 46th U.S. Solicitor General from 2011 to 2016, will address the Class of 2026 during Columbia Law School’s graduation ceremony on May 17.
As Solicitor General, Verrilli argued dozens of times before the U.S. Supreme Court. He won landmark cases defending the Affordable Care Act (National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius and King v. Burwell) and recognizing marriage equality (Obergefell v. Hodges).
Prior to his government service, Verrilli appeared before the Supreme Court 12 times as co-chair of the law firm Jenner & Block’s Supreme Court practice. After leaving government, he founded the Washington, D.C., office of Munger, Tolles & Olson, where he heads the Supreme Court and appellate practice, representing clients in cases involving antitrust, copyright, criminal law, the environment, the First Amendment, the separation of powers, and voting rights. He recently argued and won Moore v. Harper, the landmark election law case involving the independent state legislature doctrine.
Verrilli’s history with the Supreme Court dates to 1984, when he clerked for Justice William J. Brennan. In 1986, after spending a year as a fellow at Columbia Law School, Verrilli launched his private practice career in Washington, D.C. In 2009, Verrilli joined the U.S. Department of Justice as a deputy associate attorney general focusing on domestic and national security policy. He then served as a deputy White House counsel before becoming Solicitor General.
Verrilli maintains deep ties to the Law School. Since 2017, he has served as a lecturer in law, leading seminars that include Perspectives on the Presidency, The Roberts Court (both co-taught with Gillian Metzger ’96, Harlan Fiske Stone Professor of Constitutional Law), and Political Theory and the First Amendment (co-taught with Vincent Blasi, Corliss Lamont Professor Emeritus of Civil Liberties). He was previously the keynote speaker at the Law School’s graduation in 2012.
In a 2020 interview with Columbia Law School, Verrilli spoke about his path to public service, explaining that while it took him longer than he expected, the move to work at the Justice Department was “the best professional decision I ever made.” Asked what advice he would give students thinking about public service, he said: “Devoting your energy on a full-time basis to the public is something we ought to encourage as a value and as a profession. … My message is: Hold yourself to high ideals, take the concept of justice seriously, and try to make it real in the world in lots of different ways.”
He also acknowledges the impact the Law School has had on his career. “Being a student at Columbia Law School was a very important part of my life,” he said in the 2020 interview. “I still feel a very strong connection to the place.” Upon receiving the Medal for Excellence, the Law School’s highest honor, in 2013, he noted that “the most important thing Columbia Law School has given to me [is] the belief that I could live a life in the law that means something and that I could be happy and fulfilled doing it.”
In addition to Verrilli, speakers at graduation include Olatunde Johnson, Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’59 Professor of Law, who is the recipient of the 2026 Willis L.M. Reese Prize for Excellence in Teaching; and J.D. class speaker Shaquille Profitt ’26 and LL.M. class speaker Beatrice Olivieri ’26 LL.M.
“One of the great joys of academic life is coming together each year to celebrate the extraordinary accomplishments of our graduating students,” said Daniel Abebe, Dean and Lucy G. Moses Professor of Law. “I look forward to hearing from our outstanding speakers and recognizing the achievements of the Class of 2026 on May 17.”
