Jonathan Berry provides strategic counsel and litigates on issues at the intersection of law, politics, and public policy. He helps his clients navigate the emerging field of bureaucratic overlap in government, corporate America, and capital markets, especially in matters relating to environmental, social, and governance factors. Mr. Berry also litigates complex constitutional and administrative law issues and appeals, particularly in labor, employment, and benefits policy. His commentary has been published by the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and First Things.
In government, Mr. Berry headed the regulatory office at the U.S. Department of Labor, where he oversaw the development process of dozens of proposed and final rules. As the Regulatory Policy Officer, he regularly represented the Department to the Executive Office of the President and the Office of Management and Budget. During Mr. Berry’s tenure, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs credited the Department of Labor with over ten billion dollars in deregulatory cost savings for the American public.
Mr. Berry previously served at the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy, where he assisted with the confirmations of Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch and dozens of other federal judges, and also with the development of the Sessions and Brand memos on proper use of subregulatory guidance documents. He also served as Chief Counsel to the President-Elect Trump Transition, advising on ethics and legal policy.
Before his executive branch service, Mr. Berry worked at the international law firms of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP and Jones Day, where he focused on regulatory and appellate litigation. He served on teams that brought the King v. Burwell Affordable Care Act challenge to the Supreme Court; defended Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell against a corruption prosecution that was ultimately vacated by the Court; and protected the Bladensburg WWI Veterans Memorial in Establishment Clause litigation that led to a landmark victory in the Court.
Mr. Berry graduated with Distinction in the Major from Yale College, where he was a National Merit Scholar and served as Speaker of the Yale Political Union. He later graduated from Columbia University School of Law, where he received the E.B. Convers Prize for best original legal writing, served as Executive Editor of the Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems, and won National Chapter of the Year from the Federalist Society.
Mr. Berry previously served as a law clerk to Judge Jerry E. Smith of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and to Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Education
J.D., Columbia University, 2011
B.A., Yale University, 2005
Bar Admissions
District of Columbia
Virginia (inactive)
U.S. Courts of Appeals for the
D.C. Circuit and Fourth Circuit
Memberships
Blackstone Legal Fellowship
(Winner, William Pew Religious Freedom Scholarship Competition;
E. Brandt Gustavson award for leadership)
Federalist Society
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Corporations Unbound: The Growing Threat to American Liberty
Tampa Bay Lawyers Chapter
University Club of Tampa201 N Franklin St, Suite 3800
Tampa, FL 33602
Which Leviathan? The Growing Threat of Unaccountable Corporate Bureaucracies to American Liberty
Florida State Student Chapter
Florida State College of Law- Roberts Hall, 210425 W Jefferson St.
Tallahassee, FL 32306
Beyond DEI: Rescuing the Human Person from Inhuman Law feat. Jonathan Berry
Memphis Lawyers Chapter
Owen Brennan's - Royal Canal Room6150 Poplar Ave. #150
Memphis, TN 38119
Beyond DEI: Rescuing the Human Person from Inhuman Law
Columbia Student Chapter
Columbia Law School435 W 116th St
New York, NY 10027
Litigation Update: Alliance for Fair Board Recruitment v. SEC
On December 11, 2024, in Alliance for Fair Board Recruitment v. SEC, the Fifth Circuit...
Showcase Panel I: The Age of Group Identity: What is it? How Did We Get Here? How Do We Move Beyond It?
2024 National Lawyers Convention
The generation of political leaders that produced the landmark legislation of the Civil Rights Era...
Showcase Panel I: The Age of Group Identity: What is it? How Did We Get Here? How Do We Move Beyond It?
2024 National Lawyers Convention
The generation of political leaders that produced the landmark legislation of the Civil Rights Era...
Conservative Populism and the Future of the Right’s Relationship with Organized Labor
On July 15th, Teamster’s president Sean O’Brien surprised the country by becoming the first head...
Conservative Populism and the Future of the Right’s Relationship with Organized Labor
On July 15th, Teamster’s president Sean O’Brien surprised the country by becoming the first head...