Lauren J.Hartz

Chambers USA 2026 has recognized Jenner & Block’s Washington, DC office as a hub of legal excellence, with 29 individual lawyers ranked across 16 key practice areas.

Partner Lauren Hartz has been recognized as a recipient of Corporate Counsel's 2026 Women, Influence & Power in Law Award (WIPL) in the Next Generation of Leaders category. The award recognizes women lawyers under age 40 who have made meaningful contributions to the profession, their clients, and community around them.

In the waning hours of 2025, news broke that the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) had sent Civil Investigative Demands (“CIDs”) to investigate and potentially bring actions against federal contractors, grant recipients, and other entities receiving federal funds for maintaining so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) programs. Reporting notes that DOJ issued CIDs pursuant to its False Claims Act (“FCA”) authority (31 U.S.C. § 3729-3733) to companies across a variety of sectors of the US

After a year of significant upheaval for higher education institutions, additional changes are on the horizon in 2026. The most recent Unified Agenda, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and other developments mean additional changes for—as outlined below—civil rights enforcement, admissions, foreign gift reporting, accreditation, visa requirements and eligibility, grant funding, student loans, patent revenue, and student privacy. Understanding and anticipating these developments will help position

On December 9, 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) published a final rule rejecting the use of disparate-impact liability, i.e., holding entities liable for discrimination due to a policy’s disproportionate effect on a certain group, even without evidence of intentional discrimination. The rule removes such liability from its regulations implementing Title VI,1the statute that prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in programs that receive federal financial assistanc

Jenner & Block was named Law Firm of the Year and honored in several different categories by The American Lawyer at the 2025 Industry Awards. These awards recognize “the legal industry's most impactful and important work of the past year.” 

Jenner & Block achieved a comprehensive summary judgment victory for the Association of American Universities and leading research institutions when the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts struck down the Department of Defense's controversial "Rate Cap Policy" that threatened approximately $9 billion in annual federal research funding to universities nationwide.

The Administration’s dramatic cutbacks to federal funding have changed the landscape and presented new and unprecedented challenges for funding recipients across a range of industries.

Partner Lauren Hartz has been recognized as a recipient of the The National Law Journal’s 2025 DC Rising Stars award. The honor recognizes the most promising lawyers age 40 and under in Washington DC.

The National Law Journal has recognized Jenner & Block as a finalist in three categories in their 2025 awards. These awards celebrate excellence and impact across the legal profession in Washington, DC.

Partner Lauren Hartz has been named a finalist for The American Lawyer’s 2025 Industry Awards in the category of Young Lawyer of the Year, Litigation. The honor recognizes lawyers under 40 who have shown exceptional work in any litigation practice in the last two years.

The American Lawyer has listed Jenner & Block as a finalist in six categories in the 2025 Industry Awards. These awards recognize “the legal industry's most impactful and important work of the past year.”

For the second consecutive year, Jenner & Block’s Education Practice has achieved a Nationwide Band 1 ranking in the 2025 edition of Chambers USA. This is the second year that Chambers has included a Nationwide Higher Education category among its rankings.

In major back-to-back victories for research in quantum computing, AI, cybersecurity, semiconductors, and other technologies vital to national security and competitiveness, Jenner & Block secured critical court orders halting federal funding cuts at US universities. 

Chambers USA 2025 has recognized Jenner & Block’s Washington, DC office as a hub of legal excellence, with 27 individual lawyers ranked across 16 key practice areas. 

Both Congress and the White House have sought to introduce new financial restrictions for institutions of higher education, building on efforts made during President Trump’s first term. These proposed restrictions include limits on foreign donations to institutions, changes to the reporting process for such donations, and increases to the endowment tax. Since President Trump’s inauguration, congressional Republicans have advanced several legislative proposals, varying in scope and structure. In

On Monday, March 3, Linda McMahon was confirmed by the Senate to serve as President Trump’s Secretary of the Department of Education by a vote of 51 to 45. Since President Trump’s inauguration, even without a confirmed Secretary of Education, the administration has taken a number of significant steps to implement its policy priorities for higher education. These have included executive orders targeting DEI programs and gender-inclusive policies,[1]a Dear Colleague Letter interpreting the Supreme

Recent executive orders, federal guidance, and enforcement activity have made clear that the Trump Administration plans to interpret and apply Title IX in new and different ways. This includes an understanding of sex as an “immutable biological classification as either male or female,” defined at conception, and a targeted approach toward addressing “gender ideology.” In this client alert, part of Jenner & Block’s “First 100 Days” Series, we unpack these developments at the federal level and sug

On February 14, 2025, the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Dear Colleague Letter about legal obligations for educational institutions under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution, which prohibit race-based discrimination.1 The Letter interprets the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (SFFA) as applying broadly to a wide range of campus programs beyond admissions, rever

With a promise to deliver the “largest deportation” in the history of the United States, President Trump’s 2024 campaign foreshadowed a new era of immigration policy and enforcement. The first two weeks of the second Trump Administration have already confirmed that major changes are underway, affecting immigration enforcement, visas, border security, and pathways to citizenship. In this installment of our “First 100 Days” series, we cover what universities, and those who study or work on their c