Elizabeth Hecker
Areas of Focus
Overview
Elizabeth Hecker offers clients more than two decades of experience leading litigation in federal courts, with a focus on cases involving education, civil rights, and constitutional law. She has filed more than 50 briefs in federal and state courts of appeals, presented oral arguments in over a dozen appellate matters, and worked closely with the U.S. Office of the Solicitor General in litigation in the U.S. Supreme Court. Elizabeth’s fourteen-year tenure in the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division renders her well-positioned to advise on the requirements of federal civil rights laws. She has extensive experience challenging grant terminations based on the grants’ purported connection with DEI or “gender ideology.” She has advised universities on Title IX compliance, including navigating conflicting federal mandates and state law on the participation of transgender athletes in intercollegiate athletics consistent with their gender identity. And she has presented extensively on how to craft admissions policies to comply with the Supreme Court’s decision in SFFA v. President and Fellows of Harvard College.
Career & Education
- Department of Justice: Civil Rights Division
Appellate Section
Acting Deputy Chief, February 2025–April 2025
Special Litigation Counsel, June 2021–February 2025
Senior Attorney, January 2016–June 2021
Housing and Civil Enforcement Section
Trial Attorney, June 2008 – March 2013 - Department of Justice: Office of Legal Policy
Senior Counsel, August 2014–January 2016
- Department of Justice: Civil Rights Division
Adjunct Professor, George Washington University Law School, 2018–Present
- Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., cum laude, 2004
Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law and Policy: senior editor - Emory University, B.A., summa cum laude, political science, 2001
- Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., cum laude, 2004
- Supreme Court of the United States
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
- New York
- District of Columbia
- Law Clerk, Honorable Marjorie O. Rendell, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, August 2013–August 2014
Elizabeth's Insights
Client Alert | 5 min read | 08.26.25
On August 21, the Supreme Court, in National Institutes of Health v. American Public Health Association, granted the government’s application for a stay of the district court’s order vacating NIH’s termination of various research grants. The Court denied the government’s application with respect to the district court’s vacatur of related internal guidance documents. The Court’s order impacts federal government grantees who wish to challenge grant terminations in federal court.
Webinar | 08.20.25
Challenging Grant Terminations: What Universities Need to Know
Speaking Engagement | 08.20.25
"Challenging Grant Terminations: What Universities Need to Know," Crowell & Moring Webinar.
Client Alert | 4 min read | 08.05.25
Insights
Batting Zero: A Closer Look At The 4th Circuit’s 100% Reversal Rate This Supreme Court Term
|08.01.25
National Law Journal
Industries
Elizabeth's Insights
Client Alert | 5 min read | 08.26.25
On August 21, the Supreme Court, in National Institutes of Health v. American Public Health Association, granted the government’s application for a stay of the district court’s order vacating NIH’s termination of various research grants. The Court denied the government’s application with respect to the district court’s vacatur of related internal guidance documents. The Court’s order impacts federal government grantees who wish to challenge grant terminations in federal court.
Webinar | 08.20.25
Challenging Grant Terminations: What Universities Need to Know
Speaking Engagement | 08.20.25
"Challenging Grant Terminations: What Universities Need to Know," Crowell & Moring Webinar.
Client Alert | 4 min read | 08.05.25
