"Mike Scodro has struck me with his mastery of appellate strategy and the ability to select the right arguments to focus on and then articulate them concisely and persuasively."Legal 500 US
Overview
Michael A. Scodro is a partner in Mayer Brown's Chicago office and a member of the Supreme Court & Appellate practice. Prior to joining Mayer Brown from another prominent firm, he spent more than six years as the Illinois Solicitor General, where he oversaw the civil and criminal appeals divisions of the Attorney General’s Office, supervising more than 40 attorneys in appeals in which the state was a party. He also advised the Illinois Attorney General on constitutional and other significant legal issues.
An accomplished litigator and appellate advocate, Michael has argued dozens of cases before the US Supreme Court, state supreme courts, US courts of appeal and all five districts of the Illinois Appellate Court. Additionally, as Illinois Solicitor General, he coordinated with other state attorneys general's offices in the preparation and filing of multi-state amicus briefs in the US Supreme Court and brought Illinois to the forefront among the states in this area of Supreme Court advocacy.
Earlier in his career, Michael served as a law clerk for US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and for the Honorable Jose Cabranes of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Michael is an active member of the legal community, including serving as a long-time Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago Law School, where he teaches a seminar on US Supreme Court practice. He is an elected member of the prestigious American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and American Law Institute, and he recently served as president of the Illinois Appellate Lawyers Association. In addition to being selected as a Fellow of Leadership Greater Chicago, Michael was appointed to the American Bar Foundation and multiple Illinois Supreme Court, Seventh Circuit and ABA committees. He also served as a member of the Special Supreme Court Committee on Illinois Evidence, which developed the state’s first code of evidence, and was recently appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to chair its Commission on Professionalism.
As a prominent voice in the legal community, Michael has written numerous articles and is a prolific speaker on issues surrounding appellate advocacy and the US Supreme Court. He has received a variety of honors and accolades, including the Supreme Court Best Brief Award from the National Association of Attorneys General on six occasions.
Perspectives
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Third Edition 2018
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June 182018Chicago Lawyer (subscription required)
Events
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May 292019
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September 27 – 282018
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April 29 – 302018
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April 192018
News
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April 192023
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April 182023
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December 142022
Education
Yale Law School, JD
Executive Editor, Yale Law Journal; Articles Editor, Yale Journal of International Law
Dartmouth College, AB, summa cum laude
Phi Beta Kappa; Rufus Choate Scholar
Admissions
- Illinois
Court
- US Supreme Court
- US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
- US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois