The Next Solicitor General

The Economist’s Democracy in America writes:

ELENA KAGAN, the dean of Harvard Law School, will be America’s next solicitor general. That probably won’t get A1 coverage, but it’s pretty important.

Call it a “prelude”:

But the selection of Ms Kagan also invites further speculation about just how far she will rise. On the DC cocktail circuit, the dean is often mentioned as a possible Supreme Court nominee. In the next breath, though, Washington’s politicos add that she doesn’t have experience on the bench—despite her vast experience elsewhere—which might raise concerns about her suitability. Though recent solicitor generals haven’t made their way onto the Supreme Court, the perch will give Ms Kagan ample opportunity to burnish her credentials as a top constitutional scholar as she engages regularly and directly with the justices.

The Chronicle recounts recent achievements:

At Harvard, Ms. Kagan is credited with bridging ideological gaps on the faculty, raising funds, reworking the first-year curriculum, and attracting major legal scholars to Harvard, especially Cass R. Sunstein from the University of Chicago and, more recently, Lawrence Lessig from the Stanford University Law School.