Robert McNamara

Deputy Litigation Director

Memberships

The Virginia Bar

Robert McNamara serves as the Deputy Litigation Director with the Institute for Justice. He joined the Institute in August 2006 and litigates cutting-edge constitutional cases protecting free speech, property rights, economic liberty and other individual liberties in both federal and state courts.

Robert’s work has resulted in court victories for property owners fighting eminent domain abuse, tour guides fighting unconstitutional restrictions on their speech, taxi drivers seeking the right to own their own business, and many others.  Robert also litigates in defense of innovation and entrepreneurship in medical care and was co-counsel in Flynn v. Holder, IJ’s landmark challenge to the federal prohibition on compensating bone marrow donors.

Robert’s writing has been published by outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and dozens more nationwide.  His opinions and views on legal issues have been featured in radio and television programs ranging from National Public Radio’s All Things Considered to Fox News Channel’s Hannity & Colmes.

Robert is a graduate of Boston University and the New York University School of Law, where he was a founding member and eventual editor-in-chief of the NYU Journal of Law & Liberty. He currently lives in Virginia with his wife and children.

Robert's Cases

Private Property

Devillier Cert Petition

“If you break it, you buy it” is a simple rule that anyone who has shopped at a Pottery Barn probably already knows. It means that if you cause damage to someone else’s property, you…

Immunity and Accountability

Lech v. City of Greenwood Village

Police destroyed the home of Leo and Alfonsina Lech while pursuing a fugitive and refused to pay for the damage that was caused. While the Supreme Court declined to hear the Lechs’ case, IJ is…

Eminent Domain | Private Property

Pipelines & Eminent Domain: Take Now, Pay (Much) Later

A pipeline company abused eminent domain to take property from the Erbs without paying them for the taking. IJ petitioned the Supreme Court to take the Erbs’ case, but unfortunately the court declined to hear…

First Amendment

Government Gag Orders

Government officials cannot be allowed to use the threat of overwhelming penalties and costly litigation to coerce people into forfeiting their First Amendment rights to speak freely. That is why the Cato Institute has joined…

Commercial Speech | First Amendment | Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property

Outdated Federal Law Threatens Unique Richmond Publisher

Valancourt Books, in Richmond, Virginia, has partnered with IJ to challenge a federal law that requires book publishers to provide two free copies of every book it publishes or face fines that could total in…

Eminent Domain | Private Property

Jarreau v. South LaFourche Levee District

On behalf of a Louisiana dirt farmer, IJ filed a cert petition to the United States Supreme Court to determine if the government must pay you for losses incurred when it destroys your business through…

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Robert's Research & Reports

Expropriation in Puerto Rico

Eminent Domain | Private Property

Expropriation in Puerto Rico

In a new report (released August 6), the Institute for Justice (IJ) gives Puerto Rico’s eminent domain laws a grade of “F.” IJ is a nonprofit, civil liberties law firm dedicated to ending eminent domain…

No Brotherly Love for Entrepreneurs

Economic Liberty

No Brotherly Love for Entrepreneurs

At nearly every level, Philadelphia’s city government and related bureaucracies operate with a one-word vocabulary: Whatever the question is, the answer is “No.” From zoning to permitting to occupational licensing, would-be entrepreneurs hear that answer…

Other

Getting Beyond Guns

The Fourteenth Amendment represents a deliberate decision by the people of this nation to make the U.S. Constitution—not state constitutions and not state officials— the primary guardian of liberty in America. The purpose of the…

Building Empires, Destroying Homes

Eminent Domain | Private Property

Building Empires, Destroying Homes

New York is perhaps the worst state in the nation when it comes to eminent domain abuse. Government jurisdictions and agencies statewide have condemned or threatened to condemn homes and small businesses for the New…

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Robert's Amicus Briefs

Violet Dock Port v. Heaphy

Violet Dock Port v. Heaphy

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana

Welch v. Brown

Welch v. Brown

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California

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Robert's News, Articles & Publications

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