Thomas Fisher

solicitor general, Indiana

Thomas M. Fisher has served as an Indiana Deputy Attorney General since February 2001, and was named Indiana's first Solicitor General in July, 2005. Fisher has successfully defended Indiana's popular Do Not Call law in both state and federal court and has argued successfully in the Indiana Supreme Court for application of Indiana's auto-dialer law to political campaign calls. A two-time recipient of the National Association of Attorneys General Best Brief Award for excellence in U.S. Supreme Court brief writing, Fisher has argued three times before the High Court, most recently in 2008 when he successfully defended Indiana's Voter ID law in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, and persuaded the Court to permit states to require mentally ill criminal defendants to have trial counsel in Indiana v. Edwards. He has also argued significant Indiana constitutional law cases involving abortion regulations, same-sex marriage, toll road leasing, educational funding, and attorney general authority over charitable trusts. Fisher has taught as an adjunct professor at Indiana University Maurer School of Law, is a frequent speaker at a variety of continuing legal education forums, and often addresses civic groups about the mission of the Office of the Attorney General, as well as his work as Solicitor General. In addition, Fisher writes a column on Seventh Circuit practice for the Appellate Advocate, newsletter published quarterly by the Indiana State Bar Association. Prior to joining the Attorney General’s Office, Fisher worked in private practice in Indianapolis and Washington, D.C., and clerked for Judge Michael S. Kanne of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Fisher received a bachelor’s degree in 1991 from Wabash College, graduating with honors. He earned a law degree, also with honors, from Indiana University School of Law, Bloomington, in 1994. Originally from Remington, Indiana, Fisher resides in Indianapolis with his wife and their four children.