A.B., cum laude, Princeton; J.D., magna cum laude, Harvard. Alisa Klein is a career appellate attorney in the Civil Division of the Department of Justice in Washington D.C. Following graduation from law school, Professor Klein clerked first for Judge Louis H. Pollak (Eastern District of Pennsylvania) and then for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Since joining the Department of Justice, Professor Klein has argued more than 100 cases in the federal courts of appeals, appearing in every circuit. She has been closely involved in appellate and Supreme Court litigation defining the scope of federal and state powers, and has defended an array of statutes against federalism-based challenges, including the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Violence Against Women Act, the Controlled Substances Act, the No Child Left Behind Act, and the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act. She has also litigated many cases presenting challenges to state statutes that regulate in areas of concern to the national government.
Professor Klein and her DOJ colleague Mark Stern have been co-teaching this seminar regularly for twenty years. They have also published articles addressing the constitutional rationale for invalidating local sanctions against foreign trade; and the relationship between the Department of Justice and its clients.
