Leah Litman joins Michigan Law as assistant professor

By Lori Atherton
U-M Law

Leah Litman, a 2010 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, has joined Michigan Law as an assistant professor of law. She previously taught at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, where she was named the 2019 Professor of the Year. Litman teaches and writes on constitutional law, federal post-conviction review, and federal sentencing. Her current research focuses on structural arguments in constitutional law and federal post-conviction review.

"Leah has quickly established herself as a leading scholar, an outstanding teacher, and an especially influential contributor to the public discourse relating to the U.S. Supreme Court, sex equality, and a host of other legal issues," said Professor Gil Seinfeld, associate dean for academic programming. "To those of us who taught Leah when she was a student here at Michigan Law, none of this is surprising. We are just thrilled that Leah is coming home to join our faculty."

Litman's recent work has appeared or will appear in the California Law Review, Michigan Law Review, Virginia Law Review, Duke Law Journal, and Northwestern Law Review, among other journals. Her writing for popular audiences has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Slate; she also is a regular contributor to the Take Care blog, and is one of the co-hosts and creators of Strict Scrutiny, a podcast about the Supreme Court.

"I am so thrilled to be returning to Michigan Law—the place that made me want to be a part of law school forever," said Litman, who will teach Constitutional Law and Federal Courts. "I hope I can offer students the same support and encouragement that I received from so many of the Michigan faculty, and I am excited to be a part of this amazing school and wonderful community. Go Blue!"

Litman graduated summa cum laude from Michigan Law, where she was editor-in-chief of the Michigan Law Review and the winner of the Henry M. Bates Memorial Scholarship Award. After law school, she clerked for The Hon. Jeffrey S. Sutton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy of the U.S. Supreme Court. Following her clerkships, she worked at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, where she specialized in appellate litigation. Litman then joined Harvard Law School as a Climenko Fellow and Lecturer on Law, where she received one of the school's inaugural Student Government Teaching and Advising Awards. While at the University of California, Irvine, Litman also was a visiting assistant professor in the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic at Stanford Law School.

In addition to teaching, Litman maintains an active pro bono practice. She is part of the litigation team in Garcia v. United States, one of the challenges to the rescission of the DACA program, for which the team was recognized as California Lawyers of the Year. In the Supreme Court, she currently is on the merits briefs in Hernandez v. Mesa. Before that, she was on the merits briefs in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt.