Kannon Shanmugam

Kannon Kumar Shanmugam (born November 15, 1972) is an American lawyer known for his litigation at the U.S. Supreme Court. Shanmugam is a partner at the law firm Davis Polk, where he is the head of the firm’s Supreme Court and appellate litigation practice.

Shanmugam joined Davis Polk in April 2026 after moving from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, where he was co-chair of the firm's litigation department, chair of the firm's Washington, D.C. office, and chair of its Supreme Court and appellate practice group. He also served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States. Both his parents had immigrated to the United States from India in the late 1960s.

Shanmugam graduated from Lawrence High School as co-valedictorian in 1989 at age 16. He then went to Harvard University, where he was editor-in-chief of The Harvard Independent. He graduated in 1998 with a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude. In 2019, Shanmugam moved to the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison to become the managing partner of the firm's Washington, D.C. office, and chair of its newly established Supreme Court and appellate practice.

Shanmugam has argued 40 cases before the Supreme Court. Most notably, in 2020, he argued on behalf of Seila Law in the landmark case Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which held that the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was unconstitutional. He also argued on behalf of the victims of the USS Cole bombing in Republic of Sudan v. Harrison.

On May 29, 2025, Harvard University announced that Shanmugam had been elected to the Harvard Corporation.