Arif Panju serves as a managing attorney with the Institute for Justice. He leads IJ’s Texas office while also litigating cutting-edge constitutional cases protecting property rights, economic liberty, free speech, and educational choice.
Arif’s work has resulted in court victories nationwide for tour guides challenging restrictions on their speech, hair braiders fighting for economic liberty, food truck entrepreneurs facing anticompetitive restrictions, parents relying on choice programs to direct their child’s education, and many others. In the U.S. Supreme Court, Arif second-chaired Carson v. Makin in which the Court held that states violate the Free Exercise Clause of the U.S. Constitution when they exclude religious educational options from school choice programs. In the Texas Supreme Court, Arif helped secure a landmark victory in Patel v. Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which held that the Texas Constitution requires meaningful judicial scrutiny of economic restrictions on liberty and property. His current cases focus on vindicating property rights against civil forfeiture and zoning abuses, protecting economic liberty, and defending educational choice.
Arif’s work at IJ has been featured by dozens of outlets including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Houston Chronicle, and Texas Monthly. His views on legal issues have been published in outlets ranging from USA Today to the Dallas Morning News.
Arif graduated law school with honors from Southern Methodist University. He lives in Austin with his family.
Arif's Cases
Economic Liberty | Fresh Start
Texas Fresh Start Social Worker
Texas—and the country—face a two-fold problem: an exploding mental health and substance abuse crisis and a dire shortage of professional social workers to address those issues. Yet rather than make it easier for qualified applicants…
Educational Choice | Publicly Funded Scholarships
Utah Educational Savings Account Program
People have long come to expect a choice when it comes to their shopping. After all, not everyone has the same needs or wants. It’s an uncontroversial idea in nearly every facet of life. But…
Economic Liberty | Private Property | Small and Home-Based Business | Zoning Justice Project
Texas Mechanic
Azael Sepulveda recently purchased a new mechanic shop, but the city of Pasadena will not let him open until he provides 28 parking spaces, which he does not need. Azael has partnered with IJ to…
4th Amendment Project | Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Texas Forfeiture II
Harris County, Texas, has an unconstitutional financial incentive for law enforcement to seize property and cash excessively without probable cause, often sweeping up innocent people in the process. Ameal Woods and Jordan Davis are two…
Economic Liberty | Eminent Domain | Private Property
Brinkmann, et al. v. Town of Southold, New York
The Brinkmann family owns hardware stores in Long Island and purchased property with the hope of opening a new store. The town now wants to take the land through eminent domain, simply because they don’t…
Educational Choice | Publicly Funded Scholarships
Tennessee School Choice
In 2019, Tennessee enacted an Education Savings Account that helped thousands of low-and-middle-income students receive a quality education. A year later, the mayor of Nashville announced a lawsuit attacking the program. A group of Tennessee…
South Padre Island Food Trucks
South Padre Island caps the number of food trucks in town at 12 and requires that all food trucks have a restaurant owner’s sign off on their permit applications. The Texas Constitution prevents the government…
Educational Choice | Publicly Funded Scholarships
Carson v. Makin
Video Interview with Attorney and Parent Supreme Court Decision School Choice Myths & Realities…
Louisville Vending
City Council members in Louisville worked closely with established brick-and-mortar restaurants to keep out food truck competition. IJ secured a federal court order barring the city from discriminating against food trucks and then successfully worked…
Economic Liberty | Food Freedom | Private Property
Texas Craft Beer
A Texas law is forcing craft brewers to give up millions of dollars of valuable property to politically connected beer distributors.
Educational Choice | Tax Credit Scholarships
Alabama School Choice
Alabama has created a unique, refundable tax credit program that offers a lifeline to families to help them escape failing public schools if they lack the financial resources to do so.
Economic Liberty | Hair Braiding | Occupational Licensing
Texas Hair Braiding Instruction
Texas tried to force natural hair braiding schools to convert into fully-equipped barber colleges—solely to teach hair braiding—even though braiders aren’t barbers.
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing | Teeth Whitening
Alabama Teeth Whitening
Alabama’s prohibition on non-dentist teeth whitening has nothing to do with protecting consumers and everything to do with protecting monopoly profits for dentists.
Cosmetology | Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Texas Eyebrow Threading
Eyebrow threading is a booming industry in Texas. But state bureaucrats are making it difficult for individuals to continue practicing this ancient art.
Arif's Amicus Briefs
Marfil v. City of New Braunfels, Texas
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
Texas Department of Insurance and Cassie Brown v. Stonewater Roofing, Ltd. Co.
Supreme Court of Texas
Villarreal v. Laredo
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Violet Dock Port v. Heaphy
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
Morello v. Seaway Crude Pipeline
Supreme Court of Texas
KMS Retail v. Rowlett
Texas Supreme Court
Arif's News, Articles & Publications
Arif's Podcasts
November 07, 2025
Short Circuit 401 | Government Fails Rational Basis Test for Once
The balance between free speech, campus order, and fighting antisemitism has been a major flashpoint the last couple of years and it just hit the […]
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