Texas Office

IJ’s Texas office focuses on ending widespread abuses of government power and securing the constitutional rights that allow all Americans to pursue their dreams. Since opening its doors in 2008 the Texas office advances IJ’s mission by litigating constitutional cases under the Texas Constitution and U.S. Constitution. IJ’s Texas-based attorneys and staff litigate cases in state and federal courts around the country and across Texas. But success in court is not enough―IJ’s work in Texas also includes legislative advocacy at the Texas Legislature and city halls, grassroots activism, original research, and award-winning communications.

Texas is an important battleground in IJ’s fight to secure justice and protect individual rights. In the Texas Supreme court, IJ secured a landmark victory in Patel v. Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation―persuading the Court to reject the federal test in economic liberty cases and establish a stronger, independent test under the Texas Constitution (Article I, Section 19). In Patel, a group of eyebrow threaders and business owners fought back after they were put out of work when the state began enforcing a cosmetology statute against them that neither taught nor tested threading.

In the United States Supreme Court, two of IJ’s Texas cases hit the docket during the 2023–24 term. In DeVillier v. Texas, IJ argues that the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause is self-executing and requires just compensation when the government takes property. In Gonzalez v. Trevino, IJ argues that government officials engaging in First Amendment retaliation cannot escape accountability using qualified immunity.

At the heart of IJ’s cases are clients. Texans team up with IJ to vindicate their rights in a way that ensures justice for all. IJ has represented a hair braider trying to teach her craft in Brantley v. Kuntz, an author facing censorship of her book on eminent domain abuse in Texas, food truck entrepreneurs restricted from selling food for a living in El Paso, San Antonio, and South Padre Island, Texas doctors trying to help patients, a veterinarian using the internet to give advice to pet owners, civil forfeiture victims that lost their life savings despite not being arrested, a citizen journalist arrested for filming a police encounter, a mechanic prohibited from opening a mechanic’s shop, a truck owner fighting against stop-first, justify-later policing during traffic stops, craft brewers trying to grow their business, computer repair technicians, and many more.     

Finally, IJ takes pride in training future attorneys and advocates. To see if there are any IJ events near you or if you would to invite an IJ attorney to speak at your event, please visit our Events page. If you are a law student, judicial clerk, or lawyer interested in IJ, please see our student programs, attorney pathways, and IJ’s job postings.

Texas Team

Arif Panju
Managing Attorney of the Texas Office

Bert Gall
Managing Vice President and Senior Attorney

Anya Bidwell
Senior Attorney

Christie Hebert
Attorney

Samuel Hooper
Legislative Counsel

Adam Gray
Motion Graphics Designer

Kendall Morton
Assistant Director of Special Litigation Projects and Paralegal

Elina Pavlukhina
Paralegal

Directions to IJ-Texas Office

The Institute for Justice Texas office is located on the 9th Floor of the 816 Congress building at the corner of 9th Street and Congress Avenue in downtown Austin. Please park in the 816 Congress parking garage (the entrance to the garage is on 9th street).

816 Congress Ave, Suite 970
Austin, TX 78701

Phone: (512) 480-5936
Fax: (512) 480-5937

Law Student Clerkships

To apply for semester clerkships in our Texas office, please submit a cover letter, resume and writing sample via email to [email protected] . If you are interested in applying for a summer clerkship please visit our Students page.

Guest Speaker & event Information

If you would like to invite an Institute for Justice attorney to a debate or to speak to your group. please email [email protected]. To see if there are any IJ events near you or if you would like to invite an IJ attorney to speak at your event, please visit our Speakers & Events page.