Answer: The Justice Department was not prepared to deal with the New Deal legislation not only because of the sheer amount of it but also because of intensified demands that the Great Depression produced for its employees (e.g., higher crime rates). Additionally, many Justice Department lawyers failed to influence either the drafting or review of much of the White House’s New Deal legislation and had doubts about quickly and poorly drafted New Deal proposals. Roosevelt’s solicitor general, James Crawford Biggs, proved to be an ineffective advocate for the legislative initiatives of the New Deal. Biggs resigned in early 1935 and while his successor Stanley Forman Reed initially faced serious challenges, by 1937, his repeated legal victories earned him the reputation of one of the most effective solicitors general.
