Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti Announces New Top Appellate Litigator

NASHVILLE - On Monday, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced a key senior staff update:  Solicitor General Andrée Blumstein has returned to private practice and Matt Rice has been promoted to Solicitor General.

“It’s nearly impossible to express sufficient gratitude to Solicitor General Blumstein for her extraordinary contributions to the great State of Tennessee,” Attorney General Skrmetti said in a statement. “Solicitor General Blumstein has been a pillar of the Office for nearly a decade and a fixture of the Tennessee legal community for many years. She was a trailblazer in the legal profession and the first woman solicitor general for the State of Tennessee. Her commitment to quality has consistently elevated the Office’s legal practice and improved the work product of each and every one of our attorneys. She is the consummate professional, and the State of Tennessee has greatly benefited from her service.”

Matt Rice is Tennessee’s new solicitor general.  Rice is a Johnson City native who joined the Office in June 2022 and was most recently Special Assistant to the Solicitor General. He returned to Tennessee after a stint at Washington, D.C. litigation powerhouse Williams & Connolly. Rice attended Western Kentucky University and then, after playing minor league baseball, graduated at the top of his class from the UC Berkeley School of Law. Following law school, he clerked for Judge Sandra Ikuta on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Justice Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court of the United States.

“Solicitor General Matt Rice is a brilliant lawyer and an exceptional writer with a renowned work ethic and a remarkable record of success. Matt learned from some of the top legal minds in the country and has been a consistently excellent contributor since he joined the Office," Attorney General Skrmetti said in a statement. "Matt's love for his home is on display every day as he works to defend the rule of law in the Volunteer State.”

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