Richard “Dick” Komer serves as a senior litigation attorney at the Institute for Justice.  He litigates school choice cases in both federal and state courts.  Several of his current cases involve the constitutionality of allowing school choice programs to include religious schools among the private schools that can participate. He is IJ’s resident expert on state Blaine Amendments.

Prior to his work at the Institute, Dick worked as a career civil rights lawyer for the federal government, working at the Departments of Education and Justice, as well as at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, first as a special assistant to the Chairman, Clarence Thomas, and then as Director of the Office of Legal Counsel.  He ended his government employment as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the Department of Education.

Dick has worked at IJ since 1993, although most of that time he worked part-time, spending the rest of his time taking care of his two children, Bob and Anne, until they graduated from high school.

He received his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1978 and his B.A. from Harvard College in 1974.