<Tr> <Th> First holder </Th> <Td> Benjamin Bristow </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Website </Th> <Td> Office of the Solicitor General </Td> </Tr> <P> The United States Solicitor General is the fourth - highest - ranking official in the U.S. Department of Justice . The United States Solicitor General is the person appointed to represent the federal government of the United States before the Supreme Court of the United States . The current Solicitor General, Noel Francisco, took office on September 19, 2017 . The Solicitor General determines the legal position that the United States will take in the Supreme Court . In addition to supervising and conducting cases in which the government is a party, the office of the Solicitor General also files amicus curiae briefs in cases in which the federal government has a significant interest in the legal issue . The office of the Solicitor General argues on behalf of the government in virtually every case in which the United States is a party, and also argues in most of the cases in which the government has filed an amicus brief . In the federal courts of appeal, the Office of the Solicitor General reviews cases decided against the United States and determines whether the government will seek review in the Supreme Court . The Office of the Solicitor General also reviews cases decided against the United States in the federal district courts and approves every case in which the government files an appeal . </P> <P> The Solicitor General is assisted by four Deputy Solicitors General and seventeen Assistants to the Solicitor General . Three of the deputies are career attorneys in the Department of Justice . The remaining deputy is known as the "Principal Deputy," sometimes called the "political deputy" and, like the Solicitor General, typically leaves at the end of an administration . The current Principal Deputy is Jeffrey B. Wall, who succeeded Noel J. Francisco after Francisco was nominated to be Solicitor General in March 2017 . The other deputies currently are Michael Dreeben, Edwin Kneedler, and Malcolm Stewart . </P>

Who acts as the federal government's lawyer before the supreme court