Ram Balak Mahto was the longest serving advocate general of the state of Bihar.

He served both Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav led government, and was first appointed to the post in the year 1980.

Later, he also served under Indian National Congress rule with Bhagwat Jha Azad and Satyendra Narayan Sinha as chief ministers.

[4] Mahto served as legal advisor of Lalu Prasad Yadav and secured the candidacy of one of his sons, Virendra Kumar, for Teghra Vidhan Sabha constituency from Rashtriya Janata Dal.

[5] The interregnum in the career of Mahto came when Jitan Ram Manjhi replaced him with D.K Sinha as advocate general; however, Nitish reappointed him once again after taking charge as chief minister in 2017.