Joshua Gardner

Joshua Gardner is a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School and a Special Counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Division, with over two decades of experience in constitutional and administrative law. He has led or participated in twenty jury and bench trials, including high-profile cases involving race-based admissions at military service academies, social media censorship by federal agencies, the 2020 census citizenship question, and military policies on LGBTQ+ service members. His work also includes defending the federal government in complex litigation such as Starr International v. United States, a $40 billion financial crisis-related case.

Education:

• J.D., The George Washington University Law School (2000)
• B.A., The University of Central Florida (1997)

Joshua’s research and teaching focus on Administrative and Regulatory Law, Civil Litigation, and Constitutional Law. His practical expertise spans legislative affairs, rulemaking (via his work with the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules since 2016), and government lawyering.

He previously clerked for Justice Barbara Pariente of the Florida Supreme Court and practiced commercial litigation at Shearman & Sterling before joining DOJ. In his role as Acting Chief of Staff for DOJ’s Office of Legislative Affairs, he managed responses to Congressional inquiries, including those from the January 6th Committee.