Loren AliKhan was 25 when she argued — and won — her first appellate case, a criminal matter before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Now the deputy solicitor general for the District of Columbia, AliKhan oversees all civil and administrative appeals for the city. That includes everything from residential zoning disputes to constitutional challenges to the city’s gun laws. “Every day there’s something new and different,” she said.