Jerad Wayne Najvar

Education

J.D., University of Houston Law Center, cum laude, 2008
Articles Editor, Houston Journal of Health Law & Policy, 2007-08
B.A., Political Science, Texas A&M University, magna cum laude, 2003

Bar Admissions

Texas

Court Admissions

U.S. District Court for the Southern, Northern, Western and Eastern Districts of Texas
U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fifth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and D.C. Circuits
Supreme Court of the United States

Memberships

Federalist Society
World Affairs Council of Greater Houston
Republican National Lawyers Association
Houston Bar Association

Principal Attorney

281.404.4696
jerad@najvarlaw.com
vCard / LinkedIn

Jerad Najvar (nay-var) is the founder and principal attorney at Najvar Law Firm, PLLC. With a passion for fundamental liberties and limited government, Jerad established the practice in 2010 in order to focus on the aggressive prosecution of cases challenging government overreach and defending constitutional rights. Najvar Law Firm has vindicated clients’ rights in a broad array of matters in state and federal courts, both trial and appellate. These cases have included hard-won judgments against the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Federal Election Commission, and Texas Ethics Commission, as well as against numerous local government entities in Texas, including two successful First Amendment lawsuits against the City of Houston.

Jerad has presented oral argument in four different federal circuit courts of appeals (including seven times in the Fifth Circuit), the Texas Supreme Court, and two Texas intermediate courts of appeal. He has also aggressively prosecuted election contests, employment retaliation cases, and other matters in state and federal courts.

Jerad’s practice combines an intense focus with creative legal reasoning, crisp writing, and strategic vision. Soon after establishing the firm, in the process of researching federal campaign finance law for clients, Jerad noted how recent case law had strengthened the argument that the federal aggregate limits on campaign contributions violated the First Amendment. After pitching the nucleus of this argument to two colleagues, the three of them spearheaded McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, and served as co-counsel to plaintiff Shaun McCutcheon before a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia through appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. In a complete victory for the Plaintiffs, in 2014, the Court struck down the federal aggregate limits on contributions to candidates and party committees as facially unconstitutional.

See Representative Matter below.

Jerad also regularly advises state and federal candidates and officeholders as to political law issues, including campaign finance and ethics requirements. These clients benefit from Jerad’s experience working in campaigns and on Capitol Hill. Before law school, Jerad worked as a legislative aide to former Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison with responsibility for defense and veterans affairs issues. He returned to Washington for a summer during law school, serving as a law clerk on the Senate Judiciary Committee for Senator John Cornyn.

Prior to forming NLF, Jerad practiced commercial litigation for a well-regarded firm in Houston.

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Education

J.D., University of Houston Law Center, cum laude, 2008
Articles Editor, Houston Journal of Health Law & Policy, 2007-08
B.A., Political Science, Texas A&M University, magna cum laude, 2003

Bar Admissions

Texas

Court Admissions

U.S. District Court for the Southern, Northern, Western and Eastern Districts of Texas
U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fifth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and D.C. Circuits
Supreme Court of the United States

Memberships

Federalist Society
World Affairs Council of Greater Houston
Republican National Lawyers Association
Houston Bar Association

Representative
Matters

Pool v. City of Houston, 978 F.3d 307 (5th Cir. 2020), in which the Fifth Circuit reinstated constitutional claims against a Houston charter provision over the City’s standing and mootness objections (reversing the trial court), later resulting in a declaratory judgment for NLF’s clients;
Bidi Vapor LLC v. FDA, 2022 WL 3594073 (11th Cir. 2022), in which the Eleventh Circuit held that FDA had arbitrarily denied applications for marketing authorization sought by four small vapor manufacturers for bottled e-liquids, in violation of the APA;
McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, 572 U.S. 185 (2014), in which the U.S. Supreme Court held the federal aggregate contribution limits facially unconstitutional;
Catholic Leadership Coal. of Tex. v. Reisman, 764 F.3d 409 (5th Cir. 2014), in which the Fifth Circuit held a Texas statute, requiring new political committees to wait 60 days and collect contributions from ten different persons before spending more than $500, to be facially unconstitutional under the First Amendment (reversing the trial court);
Davidson v. City of Stafford, Tex., 848 F.3d 384 (5th Cir. 2017), in which the Fifth Circuit held that two police officers were not entitled to qualified immunity for arresting Davidson, in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights, as he was protesting and praying outside an abortion clinic (reversing the trial court). The Circuit Court remanded for trial against the officers, and directed entry of a declaratory judgment against the City for chilling Davidson’s speech in violation of the First Amendment.
Villarreal v. Texas Southern Univ., 570 S.W.3d 916 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2018), reh’g denied (Apr. 25, 2019), pet. filed (Jul. 10, 2019), in which the court of appeals revived NLF’s client’s due process claim challenging dismissal from law school based on the administration’s alleged bad-faith cover up of a law school exam grading controversy (reversing the trial court).
Zimmerman v. City of Austin, Tex., 881 F.3d 378 (5th Cir. 2018), reh’g denied, 888 F.3d 163, cert. denied, 139 S. Ct. 639, in which the Fifth Circuit affirmed judgement against the City, after a two-day bench trial, striking down two provisions of the City campaign finance code which had restricted fundraising by city candidates to the last six months before election day and then required the disgorgement of campaign funds between elections;
Gordon v. City of Houston, Tex., 79 F. Supp. 3d 676 (S.D. Tex. 2015), in which the federal district court granted a preliminary and permanent injunction from enforcing a charter provision that limited city candidate fundraising to the last nine months before election day;
Pool, et al. v. City of Houston, Tex., 4:19-cv-02236 (S.D. Tex. 2019), in which the federal district court granted an emergency temporary restraining order, prohibiting the City from enforcing a charter provision requiring anyone circulating initiative petitions to be a registered voter of the City;
Rivera v. Lopez, 13-14-00581-CV (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi May 14, 2014), in which the Texas Thirteenth Court of Appeals affirmed a judgment for NLF’s client after a four-day trial in Hidalgo County, proving thirty illegal votes cast in a council race and ordering a new election.