Jaimie N. Cavanaugh

Jaimie Cavanaugh is senior state policy counsel at Pacific Legal Foundation, where she works with legislators around the country to end burdensome laws and create opportunities for individuals to thrive.

Jaimie’s prior work as a litigator led to the recognition of the right to economic liberty by the Georgia Supreme Court and ended New Jersey’s ban on selling cottage food. In Minnesota, she secured a victory for vintners who wanted to make wine with ingredients from other states and eased needlessly restrictive continuing legal education requirements for attorneys.

But there are many ways to advance liberty, and Jaimie has also spent several years assisting legislators in reforming or repealing certificate of need laws, which make it difficult or impossible to open healthcare facilities. She has published reports on certificate of need laws and written extensively about their harms. Her experience has established her as a national policy expert.

Growing up outside of Detroit, Jaimie learned that people, not government, know what’s best for themselves and their families. That’s why her work also promotes protections for private property, equality, and economic opportunity.

Jaimie studied linguistics and German at the University of Michigan before earning her J.D. from the University of Colorado. After law school, she completed a judicial fellowship with Justice Monica Márquez before spending five years as an attorney with Mountain States Legal Foundation and five years as an attorney with Institute for Justice.