"It's a great firm and a great fit," said Lee, who finishes clerking for Alito today. Lee will work closely with the firm's appellate litigation division, based in Washington, D.C. He is expected to start in mid-August.

"Mike Lee is a rising star in the field of constitutional law," said Robert Ruyak, chairman and CEO of Howrey. "Mike is a prized addition to our Salt Lake office and our firm as a whole."

Lee graduated cum laude from Brigham Young University Law School in 1997 and clerked for Utah District Judge Dee Benson and then Alito when he was an appeals court judge in the Third Circuit. He was an associate for Sidley & Austin in Washington and an assistant U.S. attorney in Salt Lake City.

His father was Rex Lee, the solicitor general under President Reagan. - Robert Gehrke