Donald Verrilli Jr., a former partner at Jenner & Block, has been nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as the Solicitor General of the United States.

Verrilli, who is a Columbia Law School graduate, will replace acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal if the Senate confirms the nomination. Katyal had stepped in for Solicitor General Elena Kagan, who was nominated to the Supreme Court.

Law experts have hailed the nomination as the office of solicitor general is the only office in government which, by law, must be filled by someone learned in the law and Verrilli is widely regarded as regarded as one of the pre-eminent litigators in the country.

Verrilli, who was the former co-chair of the Supreme Court and Appellate practice group at Jenner & Block's Washington office from 2000 till 2009, is an experienced Supreme Court lawyer, who has represented clients in over 100 cases ranging from copyright infringement to death penalty.

As an associate deputy attorney general, Verrilli has focused on domestic legal policy matters as diverse as immigration, health care, financial regulation and the BP oil spill.

According to Walter Dellinger, who served as acting solicitor general during the Clinton administration, Verrilli was unquestionably one of the best Supreme Court advocates of his time, and would strengthen Obama's legal team.

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