# Solicitor General The Solicitor General is the officer of the [[Department of Justice]] who represents the United States before the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] — deciding which cases the federal government appeals, authorizing every government petition and brief, and personally arguing the most important ones. Sometimes called the "Tenth Justice," the office enjoys unusual credibility with the Court: it wins cert and prevails on the merits at rates no private litigant approaches, and the Court routinely invites its views on cases the government is not even a party to (a "CVSG" — Call for the Views of the Solicitor General). That closeness makes the office a quiet but powerful lever over the Court's docket and doctrine: by choosing which losses to appeal, which positions to abandon, and which cases to flag as certworthy, the Solicitor General shapes what the Court hears. The office's role in the path to review is mapped in [[How a Case Reaches the Supreme Court]]. See also [[Amicus Brief]] — the friend-of-the-court filing the government uses to weigh in on private disputes.