Patrick Jaicomo

Patrick Jaicomo is an attorney with the Institute for Justice. He litigates constitutional cases protecting free speech, property rights, economic liberty, and other individual rights in both federal and state courts. Most recently, Patrick’s work has focused on IJ’s Project on Immunity and Accountability, which seeks to address qualified immunity and other judge-made rules that erode constitutional rights.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently granted certiorari to hear one of the Project’s first cases—Brownback v. King—a police brutality case Patrick filed in 2016. Patrick will argue the case next term, urging the Court to reject the government’s request for another special protection that would shield federal officers from accountability for constitutional violations. Patrick has also authored a pair of amicus briefs submitted to the Court in other cases relevant to the Project.

Before joining IJ, Patrick spent six years in private practice, where he developed an expertise in civil rights and constitutional litigation, successfully litigating claims against municipal, state, and federal governments. Notably, Patrick and co-counsel succeeded in overturning Michigan’s prohibition on ballot photography, forcing the state to repeal rules that infringed on free speech.

Patrick’s work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and many other print, radio, and television outlets. He has also appeared on a number of radio programs and podcasts.

Patrick is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Chicago Law School and spent two terms clerking for Justice Stephen J. Markman on the Michigan Supreme Court. He and his wife grew up in Steuben County, Indiana, and currently live in Arlington, Virginia.

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