Ryan C. Black is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Michigan State University where he teaches about the federal judiciary, with a particular emphasis on the United States Supreme Court and the United States Courts of Appeals. His work has been published in the Journal of Politics, Political Research Quarterly, the Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, American Politics Research, Presidential Studies Quarterly, the Justice System Journal, Law and Social Inquiry and a variety of law reviews. He is also a co-author of Oral Arguments and Coalition Formation on the U.S. Supreme Court: A Deliberate Dialogue.

Ryan J. Owens is a Lyons Family Faculty Scholar and Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin. His work analyzes the United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeals and American political institutions. His work has appeared in the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, Political Research Quarterly, Judicature, the William and Mary Law Review, the Law and Society Review and the Justice System Journal.

This book examines whether and how the Office of the Solicitor General influences the United States Supreme Court. Combining archival data with recent innovations in the areas of matching and causal inference, the book finds that the Solicitor General influences every aspect of the Court's decision making process.