Who Is Neal Katyal? Indian-American Lawyer Set To Challenge Trump’s Tariffs In Supreme Court

Indian-American lawyer Neal Katyal will appear before the US Supreme Court on Wednesday in a case tied to the controversial tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. The case challenges whether Trump exceeded his authority under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which grants power to the US President to act during foreign crises.

Trump has labelled the case as one of the most important in American history. In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump said, “If we lose, our country could be reduced to almost Third World status. Pray to God that that doesn’t happen.”

Neal Katyal is a leading Indian-American attorney and the former Acting Solicitor General of the United States. He is a partner at Milbank LLP in Washington, D.C.

His practice focuses on appellate and complex litigation across patent, securities, criminal, employment and constitutional law, according to the Milbank website.

Katyal has argued 52 cases before the US Supreme Court, with his 53rd and 54th scheduled for November, and January next year. Before joining Milbank, Katyal served as Acting Solicitor General under the Obama administration.

He has taught at Georgetown University Law Centre for nearly two decades, earning a chaired professorship at a young age. He has also been a visiting professor at Harvard and Yale Law Schools.

After earning his law degree from Yale, Katyal worked in the Justice Department as National Security Advisor and Special Assistant to the Deputy Attorney General. Katyal has written many scholarly articles and op-eds for major newspapers, including The New York Times and The Washington Post.

In 2011, he received the Edmund Randolph Award, the highest civilian honour from the Department of Justice.

Katyal earned his Doctor of Law (J.D.) at Yale Law School in 1995. Before law school, he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Government from Dartmouth College, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Katyal previously worked pro bono with prosecutors to hold Minneapolis police officers accountable for George Floyd’s death.