Renée D. Flaherty is a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice. She joined IJ in September 2013 and litigates cases to protect economic liberty, property rights and educational choice.
Renée’s most recent economic liberty work challenges unnecessary educational requirements for ordinary occupations. In 2023, she secured a unanimous victory in the Supreme Court of Georgia in a case against Georgia’s first-of-its-kind licensing law that required college courses for lactation consultants. Renée also represented day-care providers in a challenge to Washington, D.C.’s regulations requiring a college degree to care for infants and toddlers.
Renée has successfully represented families in defense of North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarship Program, which was upheld by the Supreme Court of North Carolina in July 2015. Her work has also resulted in a federal court of appeals victory for ridesharing drivers in Chicago, the return of thousands of dollars to victims of civil forfeiture, and changes to laws that allowed eyebrow threaders in Louisiana and casket sellers in Alabama to pursue their callings.
Renée’s views and opinions have been published in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, National Review, and other venues.
In 2019, Harvard Law School selected Renée as a Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow to teach students about careers in public interest litigation.
Before joining IJ in 2013, Renée was an attorney at the Washington, D.C., office of Bingham McCutchen, LLP, where she focused on tax controversy matters. She received her law degree from Harvard Law School in 2011. Renée also graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and a Bachelor of Business Administration in 2007.
Renée's Cases
Private Property | Zoning Justice Project
South Fulton Protectionist Zoning
In America, the government doesn’t get to pick winners and losers in the marketplace. Businesses compete, and the consumer ultimately decides which services or products they want. The idea that anyone can open a storefront…
Massachusetts School Choice
Massachusetts law makes a guarantee to students with special needs: No matter who you are, or where you go to school, you are entitled to special education and related services. It is part of the…
Economic Liberty | Private Property | Small and Home-Based Business | Zoning Justice Project
Michigan Green Cemetery
Americans want more choice for one of the last and most important decisions they will ever make: where to be buried. Peter and Annica Quakenbush want to provide fellow Michiganders with more choice by opening…
Eminent Domain | Private Property
Sparta, GA Eminent Domain
A group of property owners in Sparta, Georgia has teamed up to fight back against a private railroad's attempt to take their land.
Private Property | Private Solutions to Public Problems | Zoning Justice Project
North Carolina Animal Sanctuary
Kimberly Dunckel and her family founded Fairytale Farm Animal Sanctuary to give neglected and special-needs farm animals a “happily ever after.” Their 3.3-acre property provides a place where the public could learn from and…
Cosmetology | Economic Liberty
Oklahoma Eyelashes
Brandy Davis is a licensed eyelash extension specialist who is being blocked from doing her job by the Oklahoma Board of Cosmetology and Licensing. She's suing in state court to challenge the board's licensing requirements.
North Carolina CON II
The government should never prevent doctors from safely providing affordable health care services their patients need. But that’s exactly what North Carolina, along with 34 other states, do every day. Dr. Jay Singleton is working…
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,…
North Carolina CON
In Spring 2020, Dr. Gajendra Singh had to close his imaging center, in part because of the enormous costs imposed by the CON law. As a result, Dr. Singh’s lawsuit could not continue, but shortly…
Economic Liberty | Health | Occupational Licensing
Georgia Lactation Consultants
For decades, Mary Jackson has worked as a lactation consultant, helping new moms and babies during a critical time in their lives. Then one day, Georgia passed the nation’s most restrictive licensing regime for lactation…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Washington, D.C. Day Care Education
D.C. recently decided to require day care workers to have a college degree. This is an unreasonable regulation drives up child care costs and deprives day care workers of their ability to earn an honest…
Cosmetology | Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Louisiana Threading
Lata Jagtiani, Ushaben Chudasama and Panna Shah have partnered with the Institute for Justice to fight for her right to earn an honest living threading eyebrows in Louisiana.
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Kentucky Forfeiture
Charles Clarke is one of thousands of Americans whose cash has been seized at an airport through civil forfeiture, which allows law enforcement to seize cash and property without ever charging anyone with any crime.
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing | Transportation
Chicago Ridesharing
Armed with little more than their smartphones and cars, a small group of entrepreneurs are driving innovation in an industry that has been dominated by a cartel of cab owners and a regulatory framework originally…
Educational Choice | Publicly Funded Scholarships
North Carolina School Choice
Through the Opportunity Scholarship Program, North Carolina is giving low-income families the same educational choices that wealthier families already enjoy.
Renée's Amicus Briefs
The Gym 24/7 Fitness, LLC v. State of Michigan
Michigan Supreme Court