Solicitor General
The Office of Solicitor General represents the Commonwealth in the Supreme Court of the United States, the Supreme Court of Virginia, and federal circuit courts in non-capital cases that call into question the constitutionality of a state statute or that bear on sensitive policies of the Commonwealth. The Office also assists other Divisions of the Office of Attorney General with constitutional and appellate issues.
Bio
Toby Heytens became Virginia's sixth Solicitor General in February 2018. He previously spent eight years as a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served as co-director of the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, coached the three-time national champion undergraduate trial advocacy team, and received an All-University Teaching Award in 2016. Heytens previously spent three years at the Office of the Solicitor General in the United States Department of Justice, where he advised the Solicitor General and the Attorney General and argued six cases before the United States Supreme Court. A former law clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Chief Judge Edward R. Becker, Heytens is a graduate of Macalester College and the University of Virginia School of Law.
Deputy Solicitor General
Bio
Martine Cicconi serves as Deputy Solicitor General. Immediately before joining the Office of the Attorney General, Martine served as Counsel in the appellate group at the Washington, D.C. office of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. During the administration of President Barack Obama, Martine served as Associate White House Counsel and as an Attorney Advisor in the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice. Martine clerked for Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the United States Supreme Court and Chief Judge Merrick B. Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Martine is a graduate of Stanford University and Stanford Law School. Prior to matriculating at Stanford, Martine spent several years as a member of the New York City Ballet.
Deputy Solicitor General
Bio
Michelle Kallen serves as Deputy Solicitor General. Before joining the Office of the Attorney General, Michelle spent seven years in private practice, most recently in the Washington, D.C. office of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. Michelle clerked for the Honorable Jane B. Stranch on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and worked as a litigation associate in Simpson Thacher & Batlett's Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. offices. She holds a bachelor's degree from Stanford University and a J.D. from Vanderbilt Law School.