On March 20, 2018, Judge Elizabeth L. Branch (Lisa) was sworn in as a United States Circuit Judge for the Eleventh Circuit.
Judge Branch attended and graduated from Davidson College in North Carolina (B.A., cum laude, 1990), and Emory University School of Law (J.D., with distinction, 1994).
After graduating from law school, Judge Branch served as a federal law clerk to The Honorable J. Owen Forrester of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia from 1994 to 1996. Following her clerkship, Judge Branch joined the litigation department of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP in Atlanta as an associate and then a partner.
From 2004 to 2008, Judge Branch was a senior official in the Administration of President George W. Bush in Washington, D.C. She served first as the Associate General Counsel for Rules and Legislation at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and then as the Counselor to the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the U. S. Office of Management and Budget.
She returned to Smith Gambrell in 2008 as a litigation partner. Judge Branch then was appointed to the Court of Appeals of Georgia by Governor Nathan Deal, taking office on September 4, 2012, where she served until March 19, 2018.
Judge Branch is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Atlanta Lawyers Chapter for the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies.
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2026 Annual Shooting Range Day and Lunch Event
Atlanta Young Lawyer Chapter
Governors Gun Club1005 Cobb Place Blvd NW
Kennesaw, GA 30144
Hon. Robert H. Bork Memorial Roundtable: "A Person Without Prejudice Against Any Group"— The American Tradition of Religious Respect
2025 National Lawyers Convention
Washington, DCBenchmarking Liberty: America 250
The National Archives701 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20408
Annual Judges Panel
Georgia Student Chapter
University of Georgia School of Law225 Herty Drive
Athens, GA 30602
Hon. Robert H. Bork Memorial Roundtable: "A Person Without Prejudice Against Any Group"— The American Tradition of Religious Respect
2025 National Lawyers Convention
CLE credit for this event is available at On-Demand CLE. In 1987, Howard G. Crane —...
Campus Free Speech After October 7
Hon. Judge Lisa Branch (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit) and Hon. Judge...
Benchmarking Liberty: America 250
Featuring: Hon. Lisa Branch, United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit Hon. Patrick J. Bumatay, United States...
DC-Wide FedSoc Rupe Debate: Are Independent Agencies Constitutional?
Registration is now closed. Join The Federalist Society’s local DC Young Lawyers Chapter and the Georgetown...
Showcase Panel IV: Race in the Law After SFFA
2024 National Lawyers Convention
Students for Fair Admission v. Harvard was the most important decision on affirmative action in...