The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all legal matters. The attorney general is a statutory member of the Cabinet of the United States.
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United States. It is equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries. The department is headed by the U.S. attorney general, who reports directly to the president of the United States and is a member of the president's Cabinet. The current attorney general is Merrick Garland, who has served since March 2021.
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enforcement, prosecutions or even responsibility for legal affairs generally. In practice, the extent to which the attorney general personally provides legal advice to the government varies between jurisdictions, and even between individual office-holders within the same jurisdiction, often depending on the level and nature of the office-holder's prior legal experience.
A solicitor general or solicitor-general, in common law countries, is usually a legal officer who is the chief representative of a regional or national government in courtroom proceedings. In systems that have an attorney-general, the solicitor general is often the second-ranked law officer of the state and a deputy of the attorney-general. The extent to which a solicitor general actually provides legal advice to or represents the government in court varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and sometimes between individual office holders in the same jurisdiction.
The attorney general of Ireland is a constitutional officer who is the legal adviser to the Government and is therefore the chief law officer of the State. The attorney general is not a member of the Government but does participate in cabinet meetings when invited and attends government meetings. The current attorney general is Rossa Fanning, SC.
The law officers are the senior legal advisors to His Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom and devolved governments of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. They are variously referred to as the Attorney General, Solicitor General, Lord Advocate, or Advocate General depending on seniority and geography – though other terms are also in use, such as the Counsel General for Wales. Law officers in these roles are distinguished by being political appointees, while also being bound by the duties of independence, justice and confidentiality among the other typical professional commitments of lawyers. These roles do not have any direct oversight of prosecutions nor do they directly lead or influence criminal investigations. This is a distinguishing factor between law officers and the state attorneys general of the United States or US Attorney General.
The Attorney General for India is the chief legal advisor of the Government of India. The Attorney General is appointed by the President of India at the instance of the Union Cabinet under Article 76(1) of the Constitution and hold office during the pleasure of the President. The Attorney General must meet the qualifications necessary for an appointment as a Judge of the Supreme Court. Therefore, the Attorney General should have served as a judge in a high court for a minimum of five years, or as an advocate in a high court for at least ten years. Alternatively, the President may consider an individual as eligible for the role if they are deemed an eminent jurist.
The Ohio attorney general is the chief legal officer of the State of Ohio in the United States. The office is filled by general election, held every four years. The current Ohio attorney general is Republican Dave Yost.
The solicitor-general of Australia is the country's second highest-ranking law officer, after the Attorney-General for Australia. The current officeholder is Stephen Donaghue, who took office on 16 January 2017 following the resignation of Justin Gleeson.
William Holcombe Pryor Jr. is an American lawyer who has served as the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit since 2020. He was appointed as a United States circuit judge of the court by President George W. Bush in 2004. He is a former commissioner of the United States Sentencing Commission. Previously, he was the attorney general of Alabama, from 1997 to 2004.
Holmes Conrad was an American politician, lawyer and military officer.
Charles J. "Chuck" Cooper is an appellate attorney and litigator in Washington, D.C., where he is a founding member and chairman of the law firm Cooper & Kirk, PLLC. He was named by The National Law Journal as one of the 10 best civil litigators in Washington. The New York Times described him as "one of Washington’s best-known lawyers." He has represented prominent American political figures, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in response to the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections; Attorney General John Ashcroft; and former National Security Adviser and United States Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton.
The Office of the Missouri Attorney General was created in 1806 when Missouri was part of the Louisiana Territory. Missouri's first Constitution in 1820 provided for an appointed attorney general, but since the 1865 Constitution, the Attorney General has been elected. As of January 2023, there have been 44 attorneys general in Missouri.
The Indiana Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of Indiana in the United States. Attorneys General are chosen by a statewide general election to serve for a four-year term. The forty-fourth and current Attorney General is Todd Rokita.
The attorney general of Mississippi is a statewide elected office in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The attorney general is a constitutional officer responsible for representing state agencies in legal matters, supplying other state officials and prosecutors with legal advice, and bringing lawsuits on behalf of the state. They serve a four-year term with no term limits.
The Attorney General of Iowa is the chief legal officer of the State of Iowa, United States.
Barbara Dale Underwood is an American lawyer serving as the solicitor general of New York. She was first appointed to the position in January 2007 by Andrew Cuomo, who was then serving as the state's attorney general. Underwood was reappointed in 2011 by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
Kottayan Katankot Venugopal is an Indian constitutional lawyer and a senior advocate in the Supreme Court of India. He was enrolled as an advocate on 27 January 1954. On 1 July 2017, he was appointed as the Attorney General of India and retired on 30 September 2022. He is Patron of SAARCLAW and earlier has been its President. He is founder of M K Nambyar SAARCLAW Centre For Advanced Legal Studies at the NALSAR University of Law.
Joseph W. Jacquot is the general counsel to the governor of the State of Florida. Previously Jacquot was the chief deputy attorney general of the State of Florida from 2007 to 2011. He successfully argued before the United States Supreme Court in the landmark Miranda warning case Florida v. Powell and initiated the constitutional lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare").
Luther Johnson Strange III is an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Alabama from 2017 to 2018. He was appointed to fill that position after it was vacated by Sen. Jeff Sessions upon Sessions's confirmation as U.S. Attorney General.
