Education

Law School/Year: J.D., University of Chicago, cum laude, 1981

College/Year: B.A., Political Science, Northwestern University, with highest distinction, 1978

Bar Admissions

Illinois, District of Columbia, U.S. Supreme Court

Practice Areas

Appellate, Civil Litigation, Discrimination & Civil Rights, Product Liability

Major Cases

Gail Heriot participated in the litigation over California’s Proposition 209 and in Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306 (2003), which concerned affirmative action policies at the University of Michigan Law School.

Professional Background

Heriot clerked for Justice Seymour Simon of the Illinois Supreme Court, and then practiced at Mayer, Brown & Platt in Chicago and Hogan & Hartson in Washington. In 1989, she joined the USD faculty. She was civil rights counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary in 1998.

Heriot has authored many law review articles. She is also a frequent media commentator, whose appearances include the Wall Street Journal, San Diego Union-Tribune, National Review, “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” and the “Roger Hedgecock Show.”

In 2007, she was appointed to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Professional Affiliations

In addition to her appointment to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, she is a member of the board of directors of both the National Association of Scholars and the California Association of Scholars. She is chair of the executive board of the Civil Rights Practice Group of the Federalist Society and an adviser to the American Civil Rights Institute. She is a former chair of the remedies section of the Association of American Law Schools.

Personal Background

Heriot likes to grow cacti and other prickly things at her home in Kensington.