AG Hilgers Announces Cody Barnett as the Next Solicitor General

Attorney General Mike Hilgers is pleased to announce Cody Barnett has joined the Nebraska Department of Justice as its next Solicitor General.

“Our office has a history of elite Solicitors General. Our previous Solicitor General is in a prominent position in President Trump’s Department of Justice, and another was arguing in front of the United States Supreme Court just this week. Cody continues our tradition of gifted and strategic counsel in this role. Cody will play an instrumental role in protecting the constitutional rights of Nebraskans, and I am excited to begin our collaboration,” stated Attorney General Mike Hilgers.

Cody previously worked for three of the most prominent jurists in the country, working as a judicial clerk for Judge Justin Walker on the D.C. Circuit, Judge Raymond Kethledge of the Sixth Circuit, and Judge Amul Thapar of the Sixth Circuit. Prior to joining the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office, Cody served as Legal Counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) in Ashburn, Virginia.

Cody graduated at the top of his class from the University of Kentucky College of Law, where he was on the law journal. 

The Solicitor General is the chief civil appellate lawyer for the State of Nebraska, serving as the chief litigator for all civil appeals to the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, the Nebraska Supreme Court, and the Nebraska Court of Appeals.  

Additionally, the Solicitor General is responsible for drafting and reviewing amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs on behalf of the State of Nebraska to the Supreme Court of the United States, federal courts of appeals, and state appellate courts. Possessing a wide breadth of legal knowledge and experience, the Solicitor General also acts as the primary legal counsel from the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office to Nebraska.