AP is reporting that Solicitor General Ted Olson is resigning to return to private practice. The Solicitor General is the principal advocate of the United States government before the United States Supreme Court. I have a great deal of personal admiration for Mr. Olson. His wife Barbara was on the plane which crashed into the Pentagon on September 11th. He actually received a call from her before the plane went down, and talked about it in an interview just days after the attack. To this day, I don’t know how he was able to keep his composure through the interview. I have also been told that he took a very personal interest in the terrorism trials, actually making appearances on behalf of the government in district court cases--something which is uncommon for the SG. I am told that he did this for two reasons: he wanted to oversee the development of the record himself so that there would not be any cheap bases for reversal, and he did so as a gesture to his late wife. Best wishes in private practice, Solicitor Olson.