Before joining Mayer Brown, Leif served on the Appellate Staff of the Civil Division of the DOJ, where he represented the United States and numerous government agencies in dozens of cases involving challenges to significant government policies and programs and other civil litigation issues. He also worked extensively with the Office of the Solicitor General in drafting briefs and other materials in the Supreme Court and with DOJ’s trial court branches to address appellate issues in district court litigation involving administration priorities. His cases encompassed a wide variety of areas of law, including novel and significant issues of administrative law, First Amendment and other constitutional law, federal statutory interpretation, preemption, and national security. Earlier in his DOJ career, he also spent several years as an attorney-adviser in DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel, providing advice to the White House, the Attorney General, and Executive Branch agencies.
Prior to his government service, Leif practiced at a leading appellate boutique firm in Washington, DC. He clerked for Judge Patricia A. Millett on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit and for Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston on the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. At Harvard Law School, Leif served as Articles Editor for the Harvard Law Review.
