| Walter Estes Dellinger III | |
|---|---|
| Solicitor General of the United States | |
| In office August, 1996 – October, 1997 |
|
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | Drew S. Days, III |
| Succeeded by | Seth P. Waxman |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 15, 1941 Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Political party | Democratic |
Walter Estes Dellinger III (born May 15, 1941 in Charlotte, North Carolina) is the Douglas B. Maggs Professor of Law at Duke University and head of the appellate practice at O’Melveny & Myers in Washington, D.C. He also currently leads Harvard Law School's Supreme Court and Appellate Litigation Clinic. He served as the acting United States Solicitor General for the 1996-1997 Term of the Supreme Court. Prior to his appointment as acting Solicitor General, Dellinger was an Assistant Attorney General and head of the Office of Legal Counsel under President Bill Clinton. He has also appeared as a commentator on This Week, the ABC News Sunday morning program hosted by George Stephanopoulos. Dellinger is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Yale Law School.
He is the father of lawyer and political candidate Hampton Dellinger.
On March 18, 2008, he unsuccessfully represented the District of Columbia before the United States Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller. The District argued that its Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 should not be restricted by the Second Amendment.[1] The ban was overturned by the Supreme Court.
In February 2008, Dellinger represented Exxon Mobil Corporation in the Supreme Court in Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker, which addressed whether certain punitive damages are available under federal maritime law. This case relates to the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill of 1989.
On March 5, 2010, the Washington Post published an op-ed by Dellinger defending Karl Thompson, a former subordinate of his.[2] Nine lawyers who had been appointed to positions within the Presidency, including Thompson, became the focus of criticism, because they had all worked on behalf of Guantanamo captives. In the op-ed Delligner said that Thompson had added assisting Lieutenant Commander William Keubler in his defense of Omar Khadr at his request. He said Thompson had helped assist Keubler for several months, in addition to his previous duties.
In 2010, North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue inducted Dellinger into the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, calling him "North Carolina’s best friend, legally, that we’ve ever had."[3]
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Drew S. Days, III |
Solicitor General of the United States Acting 1996–1997 |
Succeeded by Seth P. Waxman |
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