NASHVILLE – State Solicitor General Michael E. Moore died Sunday after a lengthy battle with cancer, Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper’s office announced today.
Moore, 60, served as solicitor general for 17 years. The office oversees and coordinates the state’s appellate litigation practice before the state court of Appeals, state Court of Criminal Appeals, Tennessee Supreme Court, U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals and U.S. Supreme Court.
Moore also supervised the drafting of legal opinions by the Attorney General’s office.
In a release, Cooper said “words cannot express what we have lost both personally and professionally. As solicitor general, Mike was brilliant, principled and fearless, and under his leadership, our solicitor general’s office was second to none.”
He said that on a personal level, Moore “was always ready with a quick wit, kind word or helpful thought as the situation required.”
A graduate of Standford University’s law school, Moore joined the state attorney general’s office in 1993. He argued three cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. The National Association of Attorneys General awarded him its U.S. Supreme Court Best Brief Award during the 1999 term for his contribution to a friend of the court brief for states in Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents.
He is survived by a brother and two nieces. Arrangments have yet to be announced.