Missouri Solicitor General Louis Capozzi has built one of the state’s most formidable litigation teams in less than a year. From successfully defending Missouri’s congressional map and voter ID law to pursuing high-profile challenges against the federal government, the Office of the Solicitor General has compiled a strong record across election law, constitutional litigation, consumer protection, and affirmative enforcement.

Over the past 10 months, the Office secured eight victories and two losses before the Missouri Supreme Court, along with several additional wins in state and federal court. Capozzi attributes that success to his team’s collaborative model that gives young attorneys meaningful courtroom responsibility, including appellate arguments, witness examinations, and depositions.

Appointed in July 2025, Capozzi became the youngest state solicitor general in the nation. Before assuming the role, he clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, served as a litigator at Jones Day, where he first chaired a trial on behalf of the Republican National Committee, and graduated as valedictorian from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.

“I came in with a bit of humility,” Capozzi said. “There’s a lot of things I don’t know how to do, and I knew coming in that building the team was going to be really important.”

While Missouri’s attorney general is elected, the solicitor general is appointed to oversee the state’s most significant appellate and constitutional litigation. The Office defends state laws, represents Missouri in appellate courts, and initiates affirmative litigation advancing the attorney general’s legal priorities.

For Capozzi, his position extends beyond defending existing laws. The Office would regularly bring its own lawsuits challenging federal regulations, pursuing consumer protection actions, and litigating matters with statewide policy implications.

“My most important job is to defend state laws,” Capozzi said. “When the state gets sued, it’s ultimately my responsibility to make sure that our laws are upheld and that our policies stand … then there’s the offensive work, which I think is maybe the more interesting stuff.”

To execute these two missions, Capozzi prioritized building a litigation team capable of handling a demanding and expanding docket.

Within his first year, he recruited 12 of the Office’s 14 attorneys. Collectively, the team includes 16 federal judicial clerkships, while 10 attorneys graduated from law schools that consistently rank in the top 14 by U.S. News & World Report.

Capozzi said credentials alone were not enough. Beyond academic achievement, he sought lawyers eager to develop courtroom experience early in their careers.

“Law schools and young lawyers often put too much value on credentials and on money,” Capozzi said. “My first job as a boss is to be a mentor and to help these guys become real lawyers, and you got to get into the courtroom. I think that’s my best value pitch for how I was able to convince these people to come out to Missouri for relatively low salaries and pretty hard hours.”

Rather than reserving major responsibilities for senior attorneys, the Office deliberately distributes meaningful litigation opportunities throughout the team. Attorneys regularly argue appeals, conduct depositions, examine witnesses, and take leading roles in significant cases.

The Office currently manages approximately 100 active cases and averages a new major lawsuit roughly every three weeks, making collaboration a necessity rather than a preference.

Among the Office’s most visible victories was the successful defense of Missouri’s new congressional map, adopted shortly after Capozzi assumed office. The map added another Republican congressional seat and faced numerous legal challenges in multiple jurisdictions backed by national law firms. But the Office ultimately prevailed in every case.

The Missouri Supreme Court also unanimously upheld the state’s voter ID law and its law restricting gender transition procedures for minors. The Office further defended ballot measures involving abortion restrictions, initiative petition reform, and the elimination of the state income tax.

Despite the political nature of many of these disputes, Capozzi emphasized that his role is not to determine public policy but to defend the decisions made by Missouri’s elected officials.

“My job fundamentally is to implement (the Attorney General Catherine Hanaway’s) priorities, and her job is to be the agent of the state government. The people’s elected representatives enacted the laws, and when defending state law, it’s not really my job or my right to second-guess those policy choices,” Capozzi said. “That’s just how democracy works. That’s the republican form of government, and we just play a limited role as the people’s agents.”

Along with defending state laws, Capozzi has also initiated challenges to federal actions and pursued cases he believes have broad public impact.

Capozzi sued to block the counting of illegal aliens in the U.S. census, secured a permanent injunction against former President Joe Biden’s Saving on a Valuable Education Plan, and reached a favorable settlement in Murthy v. Missouri, which challenged alleged federal censorship on social media.

To determine whether a suit is worth pursuing, Capozzi’s team filters potential cases through three criteria. First, they ask if the litigation will actively improve the lives of Missourians. Second, they evaluate their confidence in the strength of the legal arguments. Finally, they weigh the potential payoff against the investment of time and state resources.

As the Office moves forward, Capozzi plans to expand his focus in promoting public safety in areas like downtown St. Louis and protecting local energy production. While the team is small compared to the vast apparatus of state government, Capozzi said he believes a solicitor general’s office is a good investment to help keep money in the public treasury, preserve civil liberties, and represent Missouri’s values both locally and nationally.

“Our number one goal with this team is to give the people of Missouri a stable, durable investment that will pay off for years to come,” Capozzi said.