WASHINGTON, D.C. – Attorney General Karl A. Racine today issued the following statement after the U.S. Senate confirmed District of Columbia Solicitor General Loren L. AliKhan by a vote of 55-41 to serve as an Associate Judge on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. She was nominated by President Joe Biden and will be the first Asian American to serve on the court. 

“Loren’s confirmation is a testament to the stellar attorney she is and the work she has done as a leader in our office and throughout her career,” said AG Racine. “Simply put, Loren has been the best Solicitor General in the country. It has been a true privilege and pleasure to have assisted her in establishing the District as the leading Solicitor General’s office – bar none – in the United States. Over the last five years, Loren has defended and advanced the District’s legal interest in hundreds of appeals and amicus briefs on a stunning range of local and national issues, including voting rights, immigration rights, reproductive freedom rights, tenants rights, and a host of other issues that implicate the D.C. Charter and the United States Constitution. Loren is destined for greatness on the D.C. Court of Appeals. We look forward to watching her shine.” 

Loren L. AliKhan has served as the Solicitor General for the District of Columbia since 2018. In her role, Ms. AliKhan manages a team of attorneys that handle over 500 new appeals each year in the D.C. Court of Appeals, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. She previously served as Deputy Solicitor General from 2013 to 2018.  

From 2010 to 2013, Ms. AliKhan worked in the Supreme Court and Appellate Practice Group at O’Melveny & Myers LLP in Washington, D.C., where she had an extensive pro bono practice. Ms. AliKhan served as a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice from 2008 to 2009. Prior to that, she served as a law clerk for Judge Thomas L. Ambro on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from 2007 to 2008 and for Judge Louis H. Pollak on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania from 2006 to 2007. Ms. AliKhan received her J.D., magna cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center in 2006 and her B.A., summa cum laude, from Bard College at Simon’s Rock in 2003. Ms. AliKhan has been active in a range of legal and community organizations, such as the American Inns of Court, the D.C. Circuit Advisory Committee on Procedures, and the South Asian Bar Association. 

The D.C. Court of Appeals is the highest local court in the District. Because of the District’s lack of statehood, judges on that Court are nominated by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Nominees are selected by the President from a list of three finalists identified by the District’s Judicial Nomination Commission, which vets applicants for D.C. Court of Appeals and Superior Court judgeships.  

Caroline Van Zile, who serves as the Principal Deputy Solicitor General, will serve as Acting Solicitor General.