Neal Kumar Katyal

I was hired to do what no lawyer had done in 237 years.

I get to defend the Constitution of the United States.

I get to, the son of immigrants, remind the country of what it's about.

I get to defend my parents' vision of America.

There's a mahogany podium at the Supreme Court of the United States.

One person died there, mid-argument, the stroke.

Another collapsed there, dying soon thereafter.

That's the podium.

It also happens to be where I practice law, the most powerful court on earth.

Nine minds ready to attack, and you stand 10 feet away from them.

There are no prepared speeches in this court.

Instead, 50 questions thrown at you in 30 minutes.

I'm making hundreds of decisions in real time.

Every argument I choose to make or not make

Every word, every pause, every tone.

There are no rewinds.

Flinch, and the justices pounce.

That's my courtroom, but each of you has something like that, a place in which words matter.

The right words can win, and the wrong words a huge difference.

Five months ago, I stood before that podium asking the Supreme Court to do something it had never done in its history, declare a president's $4 trillion signature initiative unconstitutional.