Ari Bargil

Senior Attorney

Memberships

The Florida Bar

Ari Bargil is a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice. He joined IJ’s Miami Office in September of 2012, and litigates constitutional cases protecting economic liberty, property rights, school choice, and free speech in both federal and state courts.

In 2019, Ari successfully defended two of Florida’s most popular school choice programs, the McKay Program for Students with Disabilities and the Florida Tax Credit Program, before the Florida Supreme Court. As a direct result of the victory, over 120,000 students in Florida have access to scholarships that empower them to attend the schools of their choice.

Ari also regularly defends property owners battling aggressive zoning regulations and excessive fines in state and federal court nationwide and litigates on behalf of entrepreneurs in cutting-edge First Amendment cases. He was co-counsel in a federal appellate court victory vindicating the right of a Florida dairy creamery to tell the truth on its labels, and he is currently litigating in federal appellate court to secure a holistic health coach’s right to share advice about nutrition with her clients. In 2017, Ari was honored by the Daily Business Review as one of South Florida’s “Most Effective Lawyers.”

In addition to litigation, Ari regularly testifies before state and local legislative bodies and committees on issues ranging from occupational licensing to property rights regulation. Ari has also spearheaded several successful legislative campaigns in Florida, including the effort to legalize the sale of 64-ounce “growlers” by craft breweries and the Florida Legislature’s passage of the Right to Garden Act—a reform which made it unlawful for local governments to ban residential vegetable gardens throughout the state.

Ari’s work has been featured by USA Today, NPR, Fox News, Washington Post, Miami Herald, Dallas Morning News and other national and local publications.

A native Floridian, Ari attended The Florida State University College of Law, where he was a member of the law school’s Business Review and worked as a Research Assistant with The James Madison Institute, Florida’s premier free market think tank. Ari received his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida in 2006.

Ari's Cases

Economic Liberty | Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property

North Carolina Amortization

Dennis and Peg Schroeder have invested substantial money in their home and chose to rent it out as part of their retirement plan. The city of Wilmington is trying to deprive them of their right…

Code Enforcement | Fines and Fees | Private Property

Florida Man Could Lose His Home For Having Long Grass

Nobody should lose their home because their grass is too long, but that’s exactly what the city of Dunedin is trying to do to Jim Ficken. Jim and IJ are fighting back against these excessive…

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Ari's Research & Reports

Florida’s Dirty Dozen

Economic Liberty

Florida’s Dirty Dozen

Florida legislators can make Florida more business friendly by repealing 12 anticompetitive, senseless and arbitrary laws that hold back entrepreneurs.

Ari's News, Articles & Publications

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