While serving at the Justice Department, Katyal argued numerous cases before the Supreme Court, including his successful defense (by an 8–1 decision) of the constitutionality of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 in
Northwest Austin v. Holder.[13] Katyal also successfully argued in favor of the constitutionality of the
Affordable Care Act, and won a unanimous decision from the Supreme Court defending former Attorney General
John Ashcroft against alleged abuses of civil liberties in the war on terror in Ashcroft v. al-Kidd. Katyal is also the only head of the Solicitor General's office to argue in the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.[14]
On May 24, 2011, speaking as Acting
Solicitor General, Katyal delivered the keynote speech at the Department of Justice's Great Hall marking
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Developing comments he had posted officially on May 20,[16] Katyal issued the Justice Department's first public confession of its 1942 ethics lapse in arguing the
Hirabayashi and
Korematsu cases in the US Supreme Court, which had resulted in upholding
the internment of American citizens of Japanese descent. He called those prosecutions – which were only vacated in the 1980s – "blots" on the reputation of his office, which the Supreme Court explicitly considers as deserving of "special credence" when arguing cases, and "an important reminder" of the need for absolute candor in arguing the United States government's position on every case.[17] Katyal also lectured at
Fordham Law School concerning that decision.[18]
Upon leaving the Obama Administration, Katyal returned to Georgetown University Law Center, but also became a partner at the global law firm
Hogan Lovells.[21] He specializes in
constitutional law,
national security,
criminal defense, and
intellectual property law, as well as running the appellate practice once run by
John Roberts. During law school Katyal clerked one summer at Hogan Lovells, where he worked for Roberts before Roberts's nomination to the US Supreme Court.[22]
In 2015, Katyal had a cameo performed in the
third season of the American television series
House of Cards, portraying a lawyer arguing a case in the Supreme Court .[23]
In 2017, The American Lawyer magazine named Katyal its Grand Prize Litigator of the Year for 2016 and 2017.[24]
In 2021, Katyal represented financial giant
Citigroup in their efforts to recoup a mistaken transfer of $900 million to creditors of
Revlon Inc.[31] He also worked with the prosecution team in State v. Chauvin.[32]
In 2022, Katyal argued for the respondents in Moore v. Harper before the Supreme Court, a case involving election law,
redistricting and the
independent state legislature theory.[34] The court rejected the independent legislature theory and thus upheld Katyal's position by a 6–3 vote.
Also in 2022, Katyal represented
Johnson & Johnson in a civil suit against the company for
selling talcum
baby powder contaminated with carcinogens. His billing rate for this was $2,465 per hour.[35]
Political positions
Katyal endorsed President
Donald Trump's nomination of
Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court in an
op-ed to The New York Times.[36] When that newspaper's
public editor criticized the op-ed for failing to disclose Katyal had active cases being considered by the Court, Katyal responded that it would have been obvious he always has cases being heard by the Supreme Court.[37] Katyal formally introduced Gorsuch on the first day of his
Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings.[38]
In addition to Gorsuch, Katyal spoke highly of Trump's nomination of
Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.[39] In multiple tweets that were cited by Republican Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell in favor of Kavanaugh's confirmation,[40] Katyal praised Kavanaugh's "credentials [and] hardworking nature",[41] and described his "mentoring and guidance" of female law clerks as "a model for all of us in the legal profession".[42] Katyal has also called Kavanaugh "incredibly likable".[43]
Honors and awards
The US Justice Department awarded Katyal the Edmund Randolph Award, the highest honor the department can bestow on a civilian. The National Law Journal named Katyal its runner-up for "Lawyer of the Year" in 2006 and in 2004 awarded him its Pro Bono award.[44][45]American Lawyer Magazine considered him one of the top 50 litigators nationally.[46]Washingtonian Magazine named him one of the 30 best living Supreme Court advocates;[47]
Katyal attended
Burning Man 2023, during which heavy rainfall caused flash flooding. He hiked six miles in the mud to get out of the festival, which he called "incredibly harrowing".[52]
Works
Katyal, Neal (2019). Impeach: The Case Against Donald Trump. Mariner.
ISBN978-0358391173.
^
abKatyal, Neal Kumar.
"Curriculum vitae"(PDF). Georgetown University Law Center.
Archived(PDF) from the original on September 3, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
^"Remarks to Representatives of the Legal Community"(PDF). Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents. 35 (29). U.S. Government Publishing Office: 1430. July 20, 1999.
Archived(PDF) from the original on March 10, 2010. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
^Pareene, Alex; Noah, Timothy; Noah, Timothy; Caldwell, Christopher; Caldwell, Christopher; Bahadur, Gaiutra; Bahadur, Gaiutra; Ford, Matt; Ford, Matt (December 8, 2020).
"Neal Katyal and the Depravity of Big Law". The New Republic.
ISSN0028-6583. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
^Deanna Paul, Jacob Gershman and Joe Barrett.(22 April 2021). "The Derek Chauvin Prosecutors and Their Big Gamble".
Wall Street Journal website Retrieved 22 April 2021.
^Press release (December 18, 2006). "The Natw Journal Selects Libby Defense Lawyer Theodore Wells as 2006 Lawyer of the Year,"
National Law JournalArchived 2017-02-24 at the
Wayback Machine ("The (National Law Journal) also named Neal K. Katyal and Carter G. Phillips as this year's runners-up.") Retrieved February 22, 2017.
^Staff (November 5, 2015). "Washington, DC's Best Lawyers: Supreme Court,"
WashingtonianArchived 2017-02-24 at the
Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 22, 2017