Missouri Solicitor General Louis Capozzi has built one of the state’s most powerful litigation operations in under a year, compiling a strong record across election law, constitutional litigation, and consumer protection.
Appointed in July 2025, Capozzi became the youngest state solicitor general in the United States, arriving with an impressive background in high-stakes legal work.
Before taking the role, he clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, worked as a litigator at Jones Day, and graduated as valedictorian from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.
At Jones Day, Capozzi first-chaired a trial on behalf of the Republican National Committee, giving him early and direct experience in consequential courtroom litigation before entering public service.
“I came in with a bit of humility,” Capozzi said. “There’s a lot of things I don’t know how to do, and I knew coming in that building the team was going to be really important.”
Over his first ten months, the Office of the Solicitor General secured eight victories and two losses before the Missouri Supreme Court, alongside several additional wins in state and federal courts.
Within his first year, Capozzi recruited 12 of the Office’s 14 attorneys, building a team that collectively holds 16 federal judicial clerkships and includes 10 graduates from law schools ranked in the top 14 by U.S. News and World Report.
Rather than relying solely on credentials, Capozzi sought attorneys eager to gain meaningful courtroom experience early, including appellate arguments, witness examinations, and depositions, regardless of seniority.
“Law schools and young lawyers often put too much value on credentials and on money,” Capozzi said. “My first job as a boss is to be a mentor and to help these guys become real lawyers, and you got to get into the courtroom.”
The Office currently manages approximately 100 active cases and initiates a major new lawsuit roughly every three weeks, making a collaborative and distributed approach to litigation essential.
Among the Office’s most significant victories was the successful defence of Missouri’s new congressional map, which added a Republican congressional seat and survived legal challenges mounted by national law firms across multiple jurisdictions.
The Missouri Supreme Court also unanimously upheld the state’s voter ID law and its law restricting gender transition procedures for minors, both of which were defended by Capozzi’s team.
The Office further defended ballot measures involving abortion restrictions, initiative petition reform, and the elimination of the state income tax, navigating some of the most politically charged legal disputes in Missouri’s recent history.
On the offensive side, Capozzi sued to block the counting of illegal aliens in the U.S. census, secured a permanent injunction against former President Joe Biden’s Saving on a Valuable Education Plan, and reached a favourable settlement in Murthy v. Missouri, which challenged alleged federal censorship on social media.
“My most important job is to defend state laws,” Capozzi said. “When the state gets sued, it’s ultimately my responsibility to make sure that our laws are upheld and that our policies stand … then there’s the offensive work, which I think is maybe the more interesting stuff.”
Before pursuing any litigation, the Office applies a three-part filter, assessing whether a case will improve life for Missourians, whether the legal arguments are strong, and whether the likely outcome justifies the investment of time and public resources.
Capozzi is careful to distinguish his legal role from the policymaking function of elected officials, describing his position as one of implementing priorities rather than setting them.
“My job fundamentally is to implement (the Attorney General Catherine Hanaway’s) priorities, and her job is to be the agent of the state government,” Capozzi said. “The people’s elected representatives enacted the laws, and when defending state law, it’s not really my job or my right to second-guess those policy choices.”
Looking ahead, Capozzi plans to expand the Office’s focus on public safety in areas like downtown St. Louis and on protecting local energy production, viewing the solicitor general function as a durable public investment.
“Our number one goal with this team is to give the people of Missouri a stable, durable investment that will pay off for years to come,” Capozzi said.