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Who is Neal Katyal, the Indian American lawyer fighting Trump's Tariffs at the Supreme Court
A former Acting Solicitor General of the United States, Katyal will be representing Illinois-based Learning Resources Inc.,
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Jeffin T. Kaleekal - Mon, 03, Nov 2025
- 23:15 EST
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Neal Katyal / Wikimedia Commons
Indian American attorney Neal Katyal is all set to appear before the US Supreme Court on Nov. 4. Appearing for a case described as one of the most important in American History by President Trump and a "matter of national security" by Trump's Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Katyal is challenging President Trump's use of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose sweeping "Liberation Day" tariffs on imports from nearly every trading partner, citing a $1.2 trillion trade deficit and fentanyl overdoses as national emergencies.
Challengers, including small businesses and states, argue the tariffs exceed IEEPA's scope, violate separation of powers, and lack genuine emergency justification, while the administration defends them as essential for national security and economic leverage.
ALSO READ: Supreme Court won't stop Trump's tariffs. Deal with it, officials say
A ruling in favour of Katyal would limit Trump's ability to use tariffs as a tool to force other countries into towing his line.
Who is Neal Katyal?
Born in Chicago to Indian immigrant parents, a doctor and an engineer, Katyal has frequently challenged Trump’s policies, notably the 2017 travel ban. He is also the author of 'Impeach: The Case Against Donald Trump'.
He is a partner at Milbank LLP and is presently one of the top litigators in the country.
He was appointed Acting Solicitor General of the United States in 2010 by then President Barack Obama, serving in that role until June 2011.
Katyal focuses on appellate and complex litigation. He has argued 52 cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, with his 53rd and 54th expected in November and January, as per Milbank.
Training and experience
With extensive experience in matters of antitrust, corporate, constitutional and securities law, among other specialities, Katyal is armed with experience arguing several cases such as his successful defense of the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, his victorious defense of former Attorney General John Ashcroft for alleged abuses in the war on terror, his unanimous victory against eight states who sued the nation's leading power plants for contributing to global warming, and a variety of other matters.
A Yale Law School and Dartmouth College graduate, Katyal clerked for Judge Guido Calabresi on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Justice Stephen G. Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court. He also served as National Security Advisor and Special Assistant to the Deputy Attorney General at the Justice Department from 1998 to 1999.
For over two decades, Katyal has taught at Georgetown University Law Center, where he was among the youngest professors to earn tenure and a chaired professorship in the school’s history.
Awards and recognitions
Katyal received the Justice Department’s highest civilian honor, the Edmund Randolph Award, presented by the Attorney General in 2011. The Chief Justice of the United States appointed him to the Advisory Committee on Federal Appellate Rules in 2011 and reappointed him in 2014.
Among other honors, he was named Litigator of the Year in 2017 and 2023 by The American Lawyer and one of the top 200 lawyers in the United States by Forbes magazine in 2024 and 2025.
ALSO READ: Forbes names Neal Katyal among America's top lawyers for 2024
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