Ryan Walsh, Wisconsin’s new chief deputy solicitor general as of February, wants to uphold the truth of the law in his new role, something he learned from his former boss, the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Walsh said one of the most important things about litigation is that the outcomes of decisions rely on the logic of the law, rather than politics or twisting facts. He said judicial decisions rely on well-argued reasons that can’t simply be dismissed.
“If you think law is all politics or personal preferences, then you’re not listening to the judges — you’re shortsighted to what you think,” Walsh said.
Walsh graduated with high honors from University of Chicago Law School in 2012. While law school was challenging, Walsh said he thought it was fun. Walsh was a law clerk for Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and a clerk for the Scalia in the U.S. Supreme Court for the October 2013 term.
Walsh said many are cynical about law and believe that when you get behind closed office doors, you’ll see how the “real decisions” are made. He said Scalia was nothing of the sort.
Walsh said Scalia was an example of a jurist who made decisions based on the best possible argument. Scalia would discuss cases with all the clerks in his office and pick a fight in order to figure out what he thought the right answer was in a particular case, Walsh said.
“If you prevailed in an argument with Justice Scalia on how the case should come out, he would recognize that and change his mind accordingly,” Walsh said. “He thought the law was law.”
Scalia was a “brilliant” man who was incredible to work for, Walsh said. Walsh was constantly learning from him, and Scalia was also fun to work for because he was a warm person who cared about his clerks.
When they weren’t discussing litigation, Walsh said he, Scalia and the other clerks in the office would joke around, watch YouTube videos or eat anchovy pizza and have a beer at Scalia’s favorite pizza place.
Walsh said one of the last things he discussed with Scalia was taking on the role of Wisconsin’s Chief Deputy Solicitor General. When Walsh accepted the position in Wisconsin, he said he received an email from Scalia saying that Walsh had “done him proud.”
Walsh now serves as Wisconsin’s chief deputy solicitor general and will assist Attorney General Brad Schimel with court cases in Wisconsin. Walsh said he is excited for the opportunity to be involved in high stakes litigation in his new role.
“It’s all very important and difficult work,” Walsh said.
Though he has only been on the job a couple of weeks, Walsh said he is already dealing with interesting cases, pointing to the case involving the challenge to Wisconsin’s right-to-work law.
Schimel has moved to stay the challenge to the right-to-work law, which would halt further legal action. If that is denied, Schimel would have to argue to stay the appeal. Walsh said he thinks the state of Wisconsin would easily win because no court has ever held that a right-to-work law is unconstitutional, but the case is still intriguing because it deals with the state Constitution.
Walsh said he hopes to live up to the vision of the attorney general’s office by defending the rights of the state of Wisconsin.
“I want to do a really good job for [Schimel]. He was elected by the people on a particular platform of enforcing the law and defending the state from federal overreach,” Walsh said. “Anything that he thinks we ought to do in pursuit of that policy vision … we ought to do zealously.”
