Arif Panju serves as a managing attorney with the Institute for Justice. He leads IJ’s Texas office while also litigating cutting-edge constitutional cases protecting economic liberty, property rights, free speech, and educational choice.
Arif’s work has resulted in court victories nationwide in federal and state courts. He has represented tour guides challenging restrictions on their speech, hair braiders fighting for economic liberty, food truckers facing anticompetitive restrictions, parents relying on choice programs to direct their child’s education, victims of civil forfeiture abuse, property owners fighting eminent domain, and many others. In the U.S. Supreme Court, Arif was counsel in Carson v. Makin in which the Court held that states violate the Free Exercise Clause of the U.S. Constitution when they exclude religious educational options from school choice programs. In the Texas Supreme Court, Arif helped secure a landmark victory in Patel v. Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which held that the Texas Constitution requires meaningful judicial protection of economic liberty and property.
Arif’s work at IJ has been featured by dozens of outlets including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Houston Chronicle, Reason Magazine, and Texas Monthly. His views on legal issues have been published in outlets ranging from USA Today to the Dallas Morning News.
Arif graduated law school with honors from Southern Methodist University and clerked on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C. He lives in Austin with his family.
Arif’s work has resulted in court victories nationwide in federal and state courts. He has represented tour guides challenging restrictions on their speech, hair braiders fighting for economic liberty, food truckers facing anticompetitive restrictions, parents relying on choice programs to direct their child’s education, victims of civil forfeiture abuse, property owners fighting eminent domain, and many others. In the U.S. Supreme Court, Arif was counsel in Carson v. Makin in which the Court held that states violate the Free Exercise Clause of the U.S. Constitution when they exclude religious educational options from school choice programs. In the Texas Supreme Court, Arif helped secure a landmark victory in Patel v. Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which held that the Texas Constitution requires meaningful judicial protection of economic liberty and property.
Arif’s work at IJ has been featured by dozens of outlets including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Houston Chronicle, Reason Magazine, and Texas Monthly. His views on legal issues have been published in outlets ranging from USA Today to the Dallas Morning News.
Arif graduated law school with honors from Southern Methodist University and clerked on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C. He lives in Austin with his family.