Former U.S. Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. will deliver the commencement address at UConn School of Law on May 19, 2019.
As solicitor general from 2011 to 2016, Verrilli argued dozens of cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. His landmark victories include defenses of the Affordable Care Act in National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Sebelius and King v. Burwell and successful arguments for marriage equality in Obergefell v. Hodges and United States v. Windsor.
His other U.S. Supreme Court arguments have included cases involving patents, immigration, civil rights, women’s rights, antitrust, copyright, telecommunications, the environment, the First Amendment, the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, the separation of powers, criminal law and other federal constitutional and statutory matters.
Before becoming solicitor general, Verrilli served as deputy white house counsel, counseling the president and oher senior government officials on a wide range of legal issues. He previously served as associate deputy attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice. Before joining the government, he spent two decades in private practice representing companies in high-stakes matters. He has also taught at Georgetown Law School.
Verrilli is now a partner with Munger, Tolles & Olson, and the founder of its Washington, D.C., office.