Brett joined the Institute for Free Speech in January 2023.
Before joining IFS, Brett served as the Principal Deputy Solicitor General of Kentucky, where he represented the Commonwealth in a wide variety of high-stakes litigation at every level of state and federal court. In that role, Brett led a successful challenge against the Department of Treasury over the constitutionality of a federal law limiting the ability of states to modify their tax codes, and he helped secure a U.S. Supreme Court victory that upheld a state’s constitutional right to defend its interests in federal court.
Prior to that, Brett served as the Deputy General Counsel to the former Governor of Kentucky, where he advised the governor and other executive branch officials on legal and policy issues and represented them in litigation. Brett clerked for Judge John Nalbandian of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and Judge Karen K. Caldwell of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Between clerkships, he worked in private practice.
Brett attended the University of Chicago Law School, where he served as an editor of The University of Chicago Law Review and graduated with High Honors, Order of the Coif. Brett is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Kentucky. He is also admitted to the federal court bars of the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First, Sixth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and D.C. Circuits, as well as several district courts.
