Most lawyers work within the law; Neal Katyal has helped define it.
As Acting Solicitor General of the United States, he represented the federal government before the Supreme Court. Over the course of his career, he has argued dozens of cases before the Court, making him one of the most experienced Supreme Court advocates of his generation. He has represented presidents, states, businesses, and individuals, but what stands out is his belief that the Constitution belongs to everyone, especially when it is tested.
In the past year alone, Katyal has been at the center of several of the nation’s most closely watched constitutional disputes, including the successful Supreme Court challenge to presidential tariff authority and litigation over the independence of federal agencies. Whatever your politics, these are cases that will shape the balance of power in the United States for years to come.
When I photographed Neal, I wasn’t thinking about politics. I was thinking about institutions. Democracies don’t endure because they’re automatic. They endure because people are willing to defend principles even when doing so is unpopular, difficult, or misunderstood.
