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.