Leah Litman (born December 13, 1984) is a professor of law at the

University of Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School (branded as Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparati ...

. Litman is a co-host of ''

Strict Scrutiny In U.S. constitutional law, when a law infringes upon a fundamental constitutional right, the court may apply the strict scrutiny standard. Strict scrutiny holds the challenged law as presumptively invalid unless the government can demonstrat ...

'', a podcast about the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

, alongside Melissa Murray and Kate A. Shaw.

Education

Litman received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree with a major in

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

and

chemical biology Chemical biology is a scientific discipline between the fields of chemistry and biology. The discipline involves the application of chemical techniques, analysis, and often small molecules produced through synthetic chemistry, to the study and m ...

from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

in 2006 and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree ( ''summa cum laude'') from the

in 2010. While in law school, she was editor-in-chief of the ''

Michigan Law Review The ''Michigan Law Review'' is an American law review and the flagship law journal of the University of Michigan Law School. History The ''Michigan Law Review'' was established in 1902, after Gustavus Ohlinger, a student in the Law Department ...

'' journal and won the Henry M. Bates Memorial Scholarship Award.

Career

Litman became a Research Associate at Bancroft Associates PLLC in 2006. She was a law clerk to Judge

Jeffrey Sutton Jeffrey Stuart Sutton (born October 31, 1960) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Sutton was appointed to the Sixth Circuit in 2003 by President George W. Bush ...

on the

Sixth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (in case citations, 6th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * Eastern District of Kentucky * Western District of K ...

from 2010 to 2011 and then for Justice

Anthony Kennedy Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) is an American attorney and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1988 until his retirement in 2018. He was nominated to the court in 1987 by Pres ...

on the

from 2011 to 2012. Litman became an Associate at

WilmerHale Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, also known as WilmerHale, is an American multinational law firm with offices in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Co-headquartered in Washington, D.C., and Boston, it was formed in 2004 through the m ...

in 2012. She then became a Climenko Fellow at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

in 2014. She became an assistant professor of law at

University of California, Irvine School of Law The University of California, Irvine School of Law (known as UC Irvine Law) is the law school at the University of California, Irvine, a public research university in Irvine, California. Founded in 2007, it is the fifth and newest law school in ...

in 2016, teaching constitutional law, post-conviction review/habeas corpus, and federal courts. In 2019, Litman joined the University of Michigan Law School first as an assistant professor of law and then as a professor of law in 2022. In 2021, Litman was awarded the L. Hart Wright Teaching Award from Michigan Law students. Litman also was a visiting assistant professor in the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic at

Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (SLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, Stanford Law had an acceptance rate of 6.28% i ...

. In 2023, Litman received the

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; Bader; March 15, 1933 – September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until Death and state funeral of Ruth Bader ...

Scholar Award from the

American Constitution Society American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

Commentary

Litman has co-hosted the podcast ''

'', along with fellow legal academics Kate A. Shaw and Melissa Murray, since 2019. The podcast analyzes and critiques recent Supreme Court cases, providing historical context and political commentary on the likely impacts of the Court's decisions. In 2025, NetGalley published an

advance reader copy An advance copy—also known as an ARC (advance reading copy or advance review copy), ARE (advance reader's edition), reader's edition, or galley—is a free copy of a new book given out by a publisher before the book is widely available. ARCs a ...

of ''Lawless: How the Supreme Court Came to Run on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and... Bad Vibes'' and a

TIME Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

magazine article critical of the

Roberts Court The Roberts Court is the time since 2005 during which the Supreme Court of the United States has been led by John Roberts as Chief Justice. Roberts succeeded William Rehnquist as Chief Justice after Rehnquist's death. It has been considered ...

which enabled the Trump administration's

retrenchment Retrenchment (, an old form of ''retranchement'', from ''retrancher'', to cut down, cut short) is an act of cutting down or reduction, particularly of public expenditure. Political usage The word is familiar in its most general sense from the mot ...

efforts in the

Department of Government Efficiency The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is an initiative by the second Trump administration within the federal government of the United States. Its stated objective is to modernize information technology, maximize productivity, and cut ...

. Litman has authored law examination study essays, state law essays, international relations articles, and constitutional law articles. Professor Litman writes on constitutional law, federal post-conviction review, and federal sentencing. She frequently writes for the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' on legal matters.

Notable cases

In 2016, Litman was part of the litigation team in '' Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt''. The case was decided in the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

in a 5–3 ruling. The opinion stated

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

cannot place restrictions on the delivery of

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

services that create an undue burden for women seeking an abortion. In 2019, Litman was part of the litigation team in '' Hernandez v. Mesa''. The case centered on the 2010 shooting of Sergio Hernández Guereca, an unarmed Mexican national boy on the Mexican side of the

Mexico–United States border The international border separating Mexico and the United States extends from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from urban areas to deserts. It is the List of ...

. He was shot and killed by

United States Border Patrol The United States Border Patrol (USBP) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and is responsible for secu ...

Agent Jesus Mesa, who was patrolling the border by bicycle. The Supreme Court ruled against Hernández's family 5-4. In 2022, Litman was part of the litigation team in ''Garcia v. United States''. The lawsuit successfully challenged the rescission of the

DACA Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a United States immigration policy that allows some individuals who, on June 15, 2012, were physically present in the United States with no lawful immigration status after having entered the cou ...

program.

References

External links