Edwin Kneedler

{{Refimprove|date=April 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2020}} {{Short description|American lawyer (born 1946)}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Edwin Kneedler |image = Edwin Kneedler.jpg |office = Acting [[Solicitor General of the United States]] |president = [[Barack Obama]] |term_start = January 20, 2009 |term_end = March 19, 2009 |predecessor = [[Gregory G. Garre]] |successor = [[Elena Kagan]] |birth_date = {{birth date and age|1946|1|4}} |birth_place = |death_date = |death_place = |education = [[Lehigh University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]]) [[University of Virginia]] ([[Juris Doctor|JD]]) |module = {{Listen |pos=center |embed=yes |filename=Edwin Kneedler's opening statements to the Supreme Court in Haaland v. Brackeen.ogg |title=Kneedler's voice |type=speech |description=Kneedler's opening statements to the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] in [[Haaland v. Brackeen]]. Recorded November 9, 2022}} }} '''Edwin S. Kneedler''' (born January 4, 1946) is an American lawyer who was appointed to serve as acting [[United States Solicitor General]] by President [[George W. Bush]] on the day of President Obama's inauguration, Jan 20, 2009, served until March 19, 2009 , with bracketing appointment as Deputy [[United States Solicitor General]], a position he has held since 1993. At his retirement from this position in April 2025, Kneedler had argued the position of the [[United States]] government in 160 cases before its [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]], more than any other modern advocate.<ref name="nyt2025"/>

== Early life and education == Edwin Smiley Kneedler was born on January 4, 1946 (place of birth not yet ascertained, place of Presbyterian baptism, [[Abington, Pennsylvania]]),<ref name = PCRancestry/>{{primary source inline|date=May 2025}} to the Kneedlers, Harry L. and Isabella S. (née Jones),<ref name = PCRancestry>{{cite web |author= Ancestry Staff |date= 2016 |title= U.S., Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-1970 [database on-line]: Edwin Smiley Kneedler | work = Presbyterian Historical Society | via = [[Ancestry.co]]m | format = record summary, database search result | url= https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/search/collections/61048/records/771929?tid=&pid=&queryId=8493e150-ca67-41a5-8fbf-9ed5c9bbf78c | access-date = 2025-05-01 | url-access=subscription | language= en |location= [[Lehi, Utah]]|publisher= Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. | quote= Name: Edwin Smiley Kneedler / Baptism Age: 0 / Record Type: Baptism / Birth Date: 4 Jan 1946 / Baptism Date: 12 May 1946 / Baptism Place: Abington, Pennsylvania, USA / Church: Presbyterian Church / Father: Harry L. Kneedler / Mother: Isabella Smiley Kneedler.}}{{primary source inline|date=April 2025}}</ref>{{primary source inline|date=April 2025}}<ref name=SteinTH_20210924/> both employed at times by the North Penn School District, his father Harry "as a coach in the 1930s", and his mother Isabella as a guidance counselor "retir[ing] in 1980".<ref name=SteinTH_20210924/>

Kneedler was raised in [[Lansdale, Pennsylvania]],<ref name=SteinTH_20210924>{{cite news |author= Stein, Linda |date= September 24, 2021 |title= NPHS Grad Argues Health Care Issue Before Supreme Court | newspaper = [[The Times Herald]] (timesherald.com) | url= https://www.timesherald.com/2012/03/28/nphs-grad-argues-health-care-issue-before-supreme-court/ | url-access= | language= en |location= Exton, PA |publisher= Media News Group |quote= Kneedler and his wife, Lynn, who works for the Peace Corps, make their home in Washington, D.C. The couple has two daughters, Jenny, a lawyer who works for the Justice Department, and Anne, who works for the Cargill Co. in Minneapolis. }}</ref> and the family included an older brother, Lane, who went on to serve as a faculty member at the [[University of Virginia Law School]].<ref name=BarnesWashPo20230415/> Edwin Kneedler graduated in the Class of 1963, from [[North Penn High School]],<ref name=SteinTH_20210924/> in [[Lansdale, Pennsylvania|Lansdale]].<ref>{{cite web | author = IES-NCES Staff | date = 1 May 2025 | title = Search for Public Schools, Directory Information (2023-2024 school year)—School Name: North Penn SHS | work = NCES.ed.gov | url = https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=4217280&ID=421728005345 | access-date = 1 May 2025 | location = Washington, DC | publisher = [[Institute of Education Sciences]] (IES)-[[National Center for Education Statistics]] (NCES) | quote = District Name: North Penn SD ... Mailing Address: 1340 S Valley Forge Rd / Lansdale PA, 19446–4798 ...Physical Address: [same]}}</ref> He attended and graduated from [[Lehigh University]] in [[Bethlehem, Pennsylvania]],<ref name=SteinTH_20210924/><ref>{{Cite web | author = USN&WR Best Colleges Staff | date = 2025-05-01 | title = Best Colleges Ranking: Lehigh University, Overview | work = [[U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Ranking|U.S. News & World Report]] (USN&WR) Best Colleges Ranking | url = https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/lehigh-university-3289 | access-date = 2025-05-01 | language = en-US | archive-date = December 27, 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221227202252/https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/lehigh-university-3289 | url-status = live }} This citation establishes the location of the University, while the preceding does not.</ref> where he earned a [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] in economics in 1967.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

After graduating from Lehigh, Kneedler served as a [[AmeriCorps VISTA|VISTA]] volunteer in [[Oregon]].<ref name=BarnesWashPo20230415>{{Cite news |last=Barnes |first=Robert |date=2023-04-15 |title=Edwin Kneedler Found a Career and a Calling Arguing Before the Supreme Court |language=en-US |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/edwin-kneedler-found-a-career-and-a-calling-arguing-before-the-supreme-court/2014/09/10/bfde2bc6-345a-11e4-9e92-0899b306bbea_story.html |access-date=2023-08-07 |issn=0190-8286 |quote=Kneedler, though, describes his legal career as somewhat accidental. He went to Lehigh University intending to be an engineer. He became a math major before settling on economics. After graduation, he went west, a VISTA volunteer working in Oregon. |archive-date=November 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111232433/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/edwin-kneedler-found-a-career-and-a-calling-arguing-before-the-supreme-court/2014/09/10/bfde2bc6-345a-11e4-9e92-0899b306bbea_story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> His pursuit of law as a career has been described as "somewhat accidental", as his academic path evolved from engineering, through mathematics, to economics, with application to law school at the suggestion of Lane, his older brother and a law school faculty member—after Edwin "saw the ways attorneys were able to improve the lives of migrant workers".<ref name=BarnesWashPo20230415/> Kneedler graduated from the [[University of Virginia School of Law]],<ref name=SteinTH_20210924/> [[Charlottesville, Virginia]], with a [[Juris Doctor|J.D.]] degree in 1974.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

==Career== {{expand section | with = an up-to-date, gap-free, third party source-derived outline of the title subject's career that includes noteworthy cases, en route to his several "longest serving" milestones | small = no|date=April 2025}} Kneedler clerked for Judge [[James R. Browning]] on the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit]] in 1974-1975.<ref name=HILJ>{{cite conference |author= Kneedler, Edwin S. & HILJ Staff |date= April 18, 2008 |title= The 2008 ILJ Symposium Speaker Bios |work= HarvardILJ.org | format = conference speaker autobiographies | conference= 2008 ILJ Symposium: The Interaction Between Domestic Constitutions and International Law |location= Cambridge, MA |publisher= [[Harvard Law School]], Harvard International Law Journal (HILJ) |url= http://www.harvardilj.org/index.php?page=2008+Symposium+Bios|access-date= 28 April 2025 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081225073904/http://www.harvardilj.org/index.php?page=2008+Symposium+Bios | archive-date = 2008-12-25 | url-status = dead }}{{third party inline|date=April 2025}}</ref>{{better source|date=April 2025}} He was admitted to the bar of the state of Oregon in 1975,<ref>{{cite web |author= Westlaw Staff |date= 2011-06-06 |title= Thomson Legal Record: Edwin S Kneedler | format = litigation record database search result | url= http://pview.findlaw.com/view/1011316_1?&channel=LP | url-access= | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606064952/http://pview.findlaw.com/view/1011316_1?&channel=LP |archive-date=June 6, 2011 |url-status=dead | website= FindLaw.com |language= en |location= [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]]|publisher= Thomson Reuters | via= West Legal Directory/Westlaw (findlaw.com) |quote= Bar Admissions: Oregon, 1975}}{{better source|date=April 2025}}</ref>{{better source|date=April 2025}} and joined the [[Office of Legal Counsel]] in the [[United States Department of Justice]] in October of that year.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

In 1979, Kneedler joined the Office of the [[United States Solicitor General]], the unit of the federal government, under the U.S. [[Department of Justice]], that argues for the federal government in its cases before the [[United States Supreme Court]].<ref name="nyt2025"/>{{update after|2025|4|29}} He was appointed a Deputy Solicitor General in 1993.<ref name=HILJ/>{{better source|date=April 2025}}{{update after|2025|4|29}} In his decade-spanning career, he is known for having "served in many presidential administrations" and for having "helped tutor the solicitors general who came and went" over the years.<ref name="nyt2025"/>

On January 16, 2009, Kneedler was appointed acting [[Solicitor General of the United States]] by President [[George W. Bush]], to replace [[Gregory G. Garre]];<ref name = LiptakCaucusNYT20090116/><ref name=SteinTH_20210924/> the appointment was understood to be short in duration, as President-elect [[Barack Obama]] had already nominated [[Elena Kagan]], who was serving as [[Dean of Harvard Law School]], to replace Garre.<ref name = LiptakCaucusNYT20090116>{{cite web | author = Liptak, Adam | date = January 16, 2009 | title = Kneedler Will Be Solicitor General, Briefly | url = https://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/16/kneedler-will-be-solicitor-general-briefly/ | access-date = April 28, 2025 | quote = Mr. Kneedler has served in the solicitor general’s office for almost 30 years and has argued more than 100 cases in the Supreme Court, including perhaps the most important business case of the current term, Wyeth v. Levine. / In March, after Mr. Kneedler completed his argument in Republic of Philippines v. Pimintel, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. asked him to return to the lectern to congratulate him on his 100th argument. “We look forward to hearing you many more times,” the chief justice said. / The gesture was an unusual one... | archive-date = November 22, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211122003431/https://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/16/kneedler-will-be-solicitor-general-briefly/ | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name=SteinTH_20210924/> In March 2009, Kneedler's tenure as acting Solicitor General ended with the confirmation of [[Elena Kagan]].<ref name=SteinTH_20210924/>

===Milestones and recognition=== On March 17, 2008, Kneedler was recalled to the lectern at the [[United States Supreme Court]] by Chief Justice [[John G. Roberts]] after arguing his 100th case before that Court, in an "unusual... gesture" of recognition.<ref name = LiptakCaucusNYT20090116/><ref>{{cite web |author= Mauro, Tony |date= March 17, 2008 |title= March 17, 2008: Milestone for the New Millennium |work= The Blog of Legal Times (LegalTimes.Typepad.com) |url= https://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2008/03/milestone-for-t.html |url-access= |language= en |location= New York, NY |publisher= ALM Global |quote= |access-date= June 26, 2025 |archive-date= September 18, 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240918044025/https://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2008/03/milestone-for-t.html |url-status= live }}{{better source|date=April 2025}}</ref>{{better source|date=April 2025}} On April 27, 2022, Kneedler argued the U.S. position for Victor Manuel Castro-Huerta in ''[[Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta|Oklahoma v. Victor Manuel Castro-Huerta]]'', which was his 150th case before the Supreme Court.<ref>{{cite web | author = Sherman, Mark & Miller, Ken | date = April 27, 2022 | title = Listen: Supreme Court Seems Divided in Case Over Jurisdiction of Oklahoma Tribal Lands | work = [[Associated Press|AP]] | via = [[PBS]].org | url = https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/listen-live-supreme-court-hears-arguments-over-jurisdiction-of-oklahoma-tribal-lands | location = New York, NY | access-date = May 2, 2022 | archive-date = May 3, 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220503014726/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/listen-live-supreme-court-hears-arguments-over-jurisdiction-of-oklahoma-tribal-lands | url-status = live }}</ref>{{better source|date=April 2025}} Kneedler was first inductee to North Penn High School’s ‘Lifetime Achievement Hall of Fame’ in October 2021.<ref name=SteinTH_20210924/>{{verification needed|date = April 2025}}

Kneedler argued his 160th case before the Supreme Court on April 23, 2025. Following the argument, he was called back to the lectern and recognized by Chief Justice [[John Roberts]] for the milestone, who also stated that he understood that Kneedler planned to retire. Roberts praised Kneedler's "extraordinary care and professionalism." This was followed by general applause in the court and a standing ovation, in which the justices joined.<ref name="nyt2025">{{cite news |last1=Liptak |first1=Adam |author1-link=Adam Liptak |title=A 'Citizen Lawyer' Gets a Standing Ovation at the Supreme Court |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/28/us/politics/supreme-court-lawyer-standing-ovation.html |access-date=28 April 2025 |work=The New York Times |date=28 April 2025 |archive-date=June 20, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250620204456/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/28/us/politics/supreme-court-lawyer-standing-ovation.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Early in 2025, Kneedler was named one of the year's recipients of a [[Thomas Jefferson Foundation]] and [[University of Virginia School of Law]] medal, their [[Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Law|Medal in Law]], which he received on April 11, 2025, in a ceremony with accompanying lecture at the law school.<ref>{{cite web |author= Wood, Mary |date= March 17, 2008 |title= At Jefferson Medal Talk, Deputy Solicitor General Encourages Public Service |work= Law.Virginia.edu |url= https://www.law.virginia.edu/news/202504/jefferson-medal-talk-deputy-solicitor-general-encourages-public-service |url-access= |language= en |location= Charlottesville, VA |publisher= [[University of Virginia School of Law]] |quote= |access-date= June 26, 2025 |archive-date= May 24, 2025 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250524215604/https://www.law.virginia.edu/news/202504/jefferson-medal-talk-deputy-solicitor-general-encourages-public-service |url-status= live }}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== * {{cite news |author= Stein, Linda |date= September 24, 2021 |title= NPHS Grad Argues Health Care Issue Before Supreme Court | newspaper = [[The Times Herald]] (timesherald.com) | url= https://www.timesherald.com/2012/03/28/nphs-grad-argues-health-care-issue-before-supreme-court/ | url-access= | language= en |location= Exton, PA |publisher= Media News Group |quote= }}

==External links== *{{C-SPAN|9275157}}

{{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before=[[Gregory G. Garre]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Solicitor General of the United States]] {{small|Acting}}|years=2009}} {{s-aft|after=[[Elena Kagan]]}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kneedler, Edwin S.}} [[Category:1946 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Lawyers who have represented the United States government]] [[Category:Lehigh University alumni]] [[Category:Solicitors general of the United States]] [[Category:University of Virginia School of Law alumni]]