Paul Sherman is a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice. He joined the Institute in July 2007 and litigates cutting-edge constitutional cases protecting the First Amendment, economic liberty, property rights and other individual liberties in both federal and state courts.
Paul has extensive experience litigating First Amendment cases and has helped to develop IJ’s occupational-speech practice, which seeks to create greater constitutional protection against occupational-licensing laws that burden speech. Paul previously represented syndicated newspaper columnist John Rosemond in a successful First Amendment challenge to occupational licensing laws that threaten to silence ordinary parenting advice. Paul also represented blogger Steve Cooksey in a First Amendment challenge to North Carolina’s dietetics law, which resulted in the North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition producing new guidelines that provide broad protection for the right to give dietary advice.
In addition to his work on occupational speech, Paul has litigated numerous campaign finance cases. He served as co-counsel in SpeechNow.org v. FEC, which led to the creation of so-called “super PACs,” and which the Congressional Research Service described as representing one of “the most fundamental changes to campaign finance law in decades.” Paul has also served as lead or co-counsel in lawsuits challenging state campaign-finance or lobbying laws in Alabama, Colorado, and Florida, and has filed numerous amicus briefs on campaign finance issues before the U.S. Supreme Court.
In the area of economic liberty, Paul has challenged government overreach by dental and veterinary licensing boards in Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, and Maryland as part of IJ’s mission to protect the right to earn an honest living free from unreasonable government regulation.
Paul is a prolific media writer and his views on the First Amendment and constitutional law have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, National Law Journal, and other media outlets.
Paul received his law degree from the George Washington University Law School in 2006. While at GW, he served on the board of the Public Contract Law Journal. He earned a master’s degree in political campaigning from the University of Florida in 2003, and bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Florida in 2001. Before coming to the Institute, Paul worked as the associate director of the Center for Competitive Politics.
Paul's Cases
Economic Liberty | Food Freedom
Texas Cultivated Meat
Wildtype and UPSIDE Foods challenge Texas's ban on cultivated meat. Texas’ ban is about one thing: protecting in-state agricultural interest from innovative, out-of-state competition.
4th Amendment Project | Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
Mendenhall v. Denver
The Fourth Amendment requires that warrants be supported by "oath or affirmation" but that requirement means almost nothing today because of a decades old Supreme Court decision. Michael Mendenhall's case could revive the original meaning…
Economic Liberty | Food Freedom
Florida Cultivated Meat Ban
Americans love meat. According to the USDA, between beef, pork, chicken, and turkey, the average American eats nearly 225 pounds of meat per year.
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Speech
North Carolina Legal Advice
The First Amendment’s protection for free speech isn’t limited to political advocacy or expressions of personal opinion—it extends to speech on all topics. That includes expert advice that people earn a living providing, an area…
Commercial Speech | First Amendment | Food Freedom
Federal Labeling Censorship
The First Amendment does not allow the government to decide which facts consumers are allowed to know. Yet the federal government is preventing tens of millions of Americans with sensitive stomachs from receiving the information…
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
Gray v. Maine Dept. of Public Safety
Joshua Gray, a private investigator, wanted to expand his business into his home state of Maine. In violation of his First Amendment rights, the state denied his request for a license, because he has criticized…
Charlottesville Writer Tax
The city of Charlottesville and Albemarle County have decided to require a license for freelance writers and have made writers pay thousands in back taxes. This irrational law favors some speakers, like the traditional press,…
Commercial Speech | First Amendment | Sign Codes
Mandan, ND Mural
In 2019, the city of Mandan told Augie and Brian they’d have to remove their mural because it promoted a business. Augie and Brian successfully teamed up with IJ to stop the town’s law which…
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Speech
Virginia Teaching
Jon and Tracy McGlothian wanted to teach job skills to adults in Virginia, but the state told them they could not do so without a license. With IJ’s help, Jon and Tracy were able to…
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
Florida Diet Coaching
Florida requires a license in order to provide dietary advice to a customer. Diet advice is simply a type of speech that should be protected by the First Amendment, and that’s why Heather Kokesch Del…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Pennsylvania Property Management
Sally helps people list their homes for short-term vacation rentals, but one day she received a call from the Pennsylvania Department of State arguing she was engaging in unlicensed real estate. She was told she…
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.
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing | Teeth Whitening
Georgia Teeth Whitening
In Georgia, entrepreneurs who offer teeth-whitening services can be charged with a felony, imprisoned for up to five years and fined thousands of dollars. Their crime? Selling the exact same teeth-whitening product sold in stores.
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
Kentucky Psychology Speech
John Rosemond’s lawsuit defends freedom of speech and freedom of the press from government officials who believe that it can be a crime in America to express an opinion in a newspaper.
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.
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
North Carolina Free Speech
This caveman blogger fought for free speech and Internet freedom.
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing | Teeth Whitening
Connecticut Teeth Whitening
Connecticut’s prohibition on non-dentist teeth whitening was never about protecting consumers; it was about protecting dentists from honest competition.
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech | Tour Guides
D.C. Tour Guides
The First Amendment protects everyone who talks for a living, whether they’re journalists, professors or tour guides.
First Amendment | Political Speech
Arizona Campaign Finance (Second Challenge)
U.S. Supreme Court Opinion U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down Arizona’s “Clean Elections” IJ’s Political Speech Cases…
Paul's Research & Reports
Economic Liberty
Open for Business
Throughout the nation, cities and counties are looking for ways to promote economic liberty and improve the well-being of their residents But all too often this desire to improve economic conditions manifests itself in expensive…
First Amendment | Occupational Speech | Tour Guides
Occupational Speech and the First Amendment
In May 2013, newspaper columnist John Rosemond received a cease-and-desist letter from the Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychology informing him that his syndicated column — in which he answers readers’ questions about parenting —…
Economic Liberty
Miami’s Vice
Many Miami entrepreneurs are subject to occupation- or industry-specific regulations, which can take years of arbitrary education and cost thousands of dollars. Small business owners also must comply with paperwork and red tape that is…
First Amendment
SpeechNow.org and the Paradox of Buckley v. Valeo
The right to free speech, including the right to speak out about who should be elected to public office, is a fundamental American right, essential to democratic debate. So, too, is the right of individuals…
Paul's Amicus Briefs
No on E v. Chiu
U.S. Supreme Court
Jackson v. United States
7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Sosa v. Martin County
United States Supreme Court
Adams v. McMaster
Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants
Cigar Association of America v. FDA
CTIA v. Berkeley, Cal.
United States Supreme Court
NIFLA v. Becerra
U.S. Supreme Court
Independence Institute v. FEC
Supreme Court of the United States
Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman
Supreme Court of the United States
Wollschlaeger v. Governor of Florida
U.S. Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit
Center for Competitive Politics v. Harris
Supreme Court of the United States
Rowell v. Pettijohn
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Serafine v. Branaman
US Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit
North Carolina Teeth Whitening
U.S. Supreme Court
Wollschlaeger v. Governor of Florida
US Court of Appeals 11th Circuit
Minority Television Project, Inc. v. FCC
US Supreme Court
Iowa Right to Life Committee v. Megan Tooker
Supreme Court of the United States
Welch v. Brown
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
Susan B. Anthony List v. Driehaus
US Supreme Court
Susan B. Anthony List v. Driehaus 2
US Supreme Court
McCutcheon v. FEC
Supreme Court
United States v. Windsor
US Supreme Court
Armour v. City of Indianapolis
Bluman v. FEC
US Supreme Court
White Smile USA v. Board of Dental Examiners of Alabama
Supreme Court of Alabama
Paul's News, Articles & Publications
Paul's Podcasts
December 18, 2025
Recent VICTORIES Against Civil Forfeiture
Brian Moore and Cristal Starling both lost their money to civil forfeiture, despite neither being charged with a crime. Both of them challenged those forfeitures […]
Listen NowSeptember 19, 2025
Short Circuit 394 | Speech Over Licensing
It’s a free speech episode with two rulings for the First Amendment. Paul Sherman of IJ details a victory that the Institute for Justice litigated […]
Listen NowFebruary 24, 2021
Uses (and Misuses) of Amicus Briefs | (A Deep Dive Best Of)
The Whys, Whens, and Hows of Being a Friend of the Court
IJ Senior Attorneys Robert McNamara and Paul Sherman discuss amicus briefs: what they are, where they came from, and how IJ—and others—use them for maximum […]
Listen NowFebruary 08, 2021
Censorship, Dangerous Speech, and Monopolies
Why a modern day Fairness Doctrine isn’t the solution, what Section 230 really does, and what the current debate has to do with free speech, property rights, and even shopping malls in the 1980s
Big technology companies like Google, Twitter, and Facebook have come under scrutiny for the ways they are—and are not—controlling speech on their platforms. In today’s […]
Listen NowNovember 13, 2020
Can the Government Require Warning Labels for Veggie Burgers?
Why the First Amendment should protect the way companies talk about their products
In 2020, debates about veggie burgers and almond milk may sound like small potatoes. But controversies about how the government can regulate the way that […]
Listen NowOctober 16, 2020
Law for Non-Lawyers: Precedent
Most people think they know what “precedent” means in the law, but the concept is actually more complicated than most realize! Precedent is ancient, but […]
Listen NowAugust 27, 2019
Uses (and Misuses) of Amicus Briefs
The Whys, Whens, and Hows of Being a Friend of the Court
IJ Senior Attorneys Robert McNamara and Paul Sherman discuss amicus briefs: what they are, where they came from, and how IJ—and others—use them for maximum impact.
Listen Now