Anjali Motgi is a seasoned litigator and government advisor, leveraging her extensive experience at the Department of Justice (DOJ) to guide clients through complex regulatory challenges and administrative law matters, as well as high-stakes civil litigation more broadly.
At the DOJ, Anjali served as Chief of Staff for the Civil Division, where she helped supervise the Division’s six branches and over 1,000 lawyers handling the government’s most significant civil matters. In this role, she oversaw litigation strategy for high-profile cases, including challenges to Department of Education initiatives such as student loan programs, Title IX rules, and litigation and policy related to diversity and equity issues, and the implementation of the Camp Lejeune Justice Act.
Prior to her role as Civil Division Chief of Staff, Anjali was an attorney-adviser in the Office of Legal Counsel, providing counseling on the legality of executive actions and orders contemplated by the White House, White House Counsel's Office, and virtually every federal agency. She was previously a trial attorney in the Federal Programs Branch, where she was lead counsel in numerous cases, including Administrative Procedure Act (APA) challenges to agencies’ regulations and guidance, national security matters, First Amendment challenges to federal statutes such as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and constitutional challenges to Administrative Law Judges.
Before joining the DOJ, Anjali clerked for the Honorable James Boasberg on the US District Court for the District of Columbia and the Honorable Diana Motz on the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. She received her JD from Yale Law School, where she was an editor of the Yale Law Journal and a member of the Supreme Court Advocacy Clinic. She earned her AB, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Harvard University.
Representative Matters
Helped to oversee litigation teams for Biden Administration priority matters, including:
- Challenges to newly enacted regulations, including those governing equal access to healthcare and education, eligibility for overtime pay, processes for seeking asylum, and permissibility of non-compete requirements.*
- Challenges to newly enacted statutes, such as the Medicare drug pricing provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act.*
- Affirmative enforcement cases involving federal preemption, government ethics, consumer protection, and civil fraud.*
Additional experience includes:
- Helped to oversee priority litigation handled by the Civil Division, including defense of significant regulations issued by Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Department of Labor, the Federal Trade Commission, and many other agencies.*
- Helped to establish multi-agency federal task force to coordinate enforcement actions against manufacturers, distributors, and sellers of unauthorized e-cigarettes.*
- Helped to direct the Civil Division’s response to the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, under which more than 1,000 lawsuits and over 500,000 administrative claims were filed in two years.*
- Helped to direct representation of Civil Division litigation in outreach to or responses to inquiries from Congress and the press, including, for example, related to proposals to reauthorize major federal statutes, and about cases related to border security, and mass torts.*
- Helped to develop litigation strategies in response to major administrative law developments in last two Supreme Court terms, and counseled agencies on West Virginia v. EPA and Loper Bright and their impact on pending and past rulemakings and ongoing and potential litigation.*
- Counseled DOJ and other agencies on the effect of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision and helped to oversee litigation challenging reproductive rights after Dobbs.*
- Advised DOJ and government leadership on a variety of immigration and international law matters related to the evacuation of Afghanistan in 2021.*
- Advised DOJ and federal agency leadership on a wide array of constitutional, statutory interpretation, and government ethics questions while at the Office of Legal Counsel.*
*Matter handled prior to joining Jenner & Block LLP
Credentials
Service / Recognition
Overview
Anjali Motgi is a seasoned litigator and government advisor, leveraging her extensive experience at the Department of Justice (DOJ) to guide clients through complex regulatory challenges and administrative law matters, as well as high-stakes civil litigation more broadly.
At the DOJ, Anjali served as Chief of Staff for the Civil Division, where she helped supervise the Division’s six branches and over 1,000 lawyers handling the government’s most significant civil matters. In this role, she oversaw litigation strategy for high-profile cases, including challenges to Department of Education initiatives such as student loan programs, Title IX rules, and litigation and policy related to diversity and equity issues, and the implementation of the Camp Lejeune Justice Act.
Prior to her role as Civil Division Chief of Staff, Anjali was an attorney-adviser in the Office of Legal Counsel, providing counseling on the legality of executive actions and orders contemplated by the White House, White House Counsel's Office, and virtually every federal agency. She was previously a trial attorney in the Federal Programs Branch, where she was lead counsel in numerous cases, including Administrative Procedure Act (APA) challenges to agencies’ regulations and guidance, national security matters, First Amendment challenges to federal statutes such as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and constitutional challenges to Administrative Law Judges.
Before joining the DOJ, Anjali clerked for the Honorable James Boasberg on the US District Court for the District of Columbia and the Honorable Diana Motz on the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. She received her JD from Yale Law School, where she was an editor of the Yale Law Journal and a member of the Supreme Court Advocacy Clinic. She earned her AB, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Harvard University.
Areas of Focus
Representative Matters
Helped to oversee litigation teams for Biden Administration priority matters, including:
- Challenges to newly enacted regulations, including those governing equal access to healthcare and education, eligibility for overtime pay, processes for seeking asylum, and permissibility of non-compete requirements.*
- Challenges to newly enacted statutes, such as the Medicare drug pricing provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act.*
- Affirmative enforcement cases involving federal preemption, government ethics, consumer protection, and civil fraud.*
Additional experience includes:
- Helped to oversee priority litigation handled by the Civil Division, including defense of significant regulations issued by Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Department of Labor, the Federal Trade Commission, and many other agencies.*
- Helped to establish multi-agency federal task force to coordinate enforcement actions against manufacturers, distributors, and sellers of unauthorized e-cigarettes.*
- Helped to direct the Civil Division’s response to the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, under which more than 1,000 lawsuits and over 500,000 administrative claims were filed in two years.*
- Helped to direct representation of Civil Division litigation in outreach to or responses to inquiries from Congress and the press, including, for example, related to proposals to reauthorize major federal statutes, and about cases related to border security, and mass torts.*
- Helped to develop litigation strategies in response to major administrative law developments in last two Supreme Court terms, and counseled agencies on West Virginia v. EPA and Loper Bright and their impact on pending and past rulemakings and ongoing and potential litigation.*
- Counseled DOJ and other agencies on the effect of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision and helped to oversee litigation challenging reproductive rights after Dobbs.*
- Advised DOJ and government leadership on a variety of immigration and international law matters related to the evacuation of Afghanistan in 2021.*
- Advised DOJ and federal agency leadership on a wide array of constitutional, statutory interpretation, and government ethics questions while at the Office of Legal Counsel.*
*Matter handled prior to joining Jenner & Block LLP
Credentials
Admissions
- District of Columbia, 2025
- Texas, 2014
Education
- Yale Law School, JD
- Harvard University, AB, magna cum laude
Clerkships
- Hon. James E. Boasberg, US District Court, District of Columbia
- Hon. Diana Gribbon Motz, US Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
Service / Recognition
Awards
- Capitol Pro Bono Honor Roll, 2025