Neal Katyal, an Indian-origin lawyer, who is the son of Indian immigrant parents, played a major role in challenging US President Donald Trump for his decision to impose additional tariffs on several nations, a move that has been ruled as illegal by a federal court.

The ruling affects Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs that he imposed on several nations across the globe, an incident that led to global trade tension.

In a 7-4 decision, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rejected Trump's argument that the tariffs were permitted under an emergency economic powers act, calling them "invalid as contrary to law", BBC reported.

The ruling, however, will not be effective until October 14, giving time to the administration to ask the country's Supreme Court to take up the case.

The ruling assumes significance since one of the lead lawyers in the case was India-origin Neal Katyal, who had challenged the President's authority to impose the tariffs in the court.

As per the Milbank website, Katyal is a partner in the Washington, DC office of Milbank LLP and a member of the firm’s Litigation & Arbitration Group.

Born in Chicago to a physician mother and an engineer father from India, Katyal, the former Acting Solicitor General of the United States, focuses on appellate and complex litigation. He has argued 52 cases before the Supreme Court of the United States.

He has extensive experience in matters of antitrust, corporate, constitutional, securities, technology, criminal, patent, copyright, trademark, ERISA, products liability, labour, employment, and tribal law.

As per the Milbank website, in the 2022–23 Supreme Court term, he argued five separate cases (nearly 10% of the docket), including winning the landmark voting case Moore v. Harper, which Judge Michael Luttig described as “the most important case for American democracy in the almost two and a half centuries since America’s founding.”

From 2010 to 2011, Katyal served as Acting Solicitor General of the United States.