Biography
Solicitor General of the United States from 1997 to 2001, Seth Waxman is a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr and a member of the faculty at the Georgetown University Law Center. A graduate of Harvard College and the Yale Law School, Mr. Waxman represents clients in civil and criminal litigation, at the trial and appellate stages, in both federal and state courts. He has argued 83 cases in the United States Supreme Court and several times that in the state and lower federal courts.
Mr. Waxman is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American College of Trial Lawyers, the American Academy of Appellate Attorneys, and he serves on the Council of the American Law Institute. He writes and lectures on constitutional law and history, civil rights, intellectual property, and advocacy. Mr. Waxman has received numerous awards for scholarship, public service, and advocacy, including the Thomas Jefferson Medal in Law, and the American Bar Association’s Pro Bono Publico award. For extraordinary service to law enforcement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has installed him as a permanent honorary Special Agent.
Mr. Waxman represents and provides counselling to many colleges and universities, including on issues relating to diversity. With colleagues at WilmerHale, he conducted Harvard’s successful trial defense of its admissions procedures in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, 397 F. Supp.2d 126 (D. Mass. 2019) and is lead counsel for Harvard on the appeal.