Meet the Lawyers Behind the Harvard v. Trump Lawsuit

A roster of lawyers on both sides

 

Harvard and the federal government are slated to square off in court on July 21, with more than $2.2 billion in federal funding and grants at stake. Here’s what each side has to say.

The government’s argument:

The federal government—primarily through the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services—revoked Harvard’s funding by citing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which compels schools receiving federal assistance to protect students from discrimination regardless of their race, color, or national origin. The government argues that Harvard failed to shield its Jewish students during the wave of pro-Palestine protests that followed the October 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza.

Harvard’s argument:

Harvard filed suit in April to stop the funding freeze. In its briefs, the University acknowledges the importance of some federal demands—notably, promoting viewpoint diversity and combating antisemitism—but argues that institutions of higher education, not the government, should carry out those reforms. Harvard also points to updates to its rules and disciplinary policies “aimed at ensuring campus is safe, fair, and welcoming to Jewish and Israeli students.”

Harvard leans on the Administrative Procedure Act, described by The New York Times as a “wonky workhorse of American law,” to argue that the government did not go through the proper channels to revoke funding. Harvard’s lawyers also note that Title VI includes a “detailed and mandatory statutory framework” that the government must follow before freezing any university’s funding for civil rights violations—and that framework was not followed. Harvard further lays out several claims on First Amendment grounds, including that academic freedom should be protected and that the government demands would “chill Harvard’s exercise of its First Amendment rights,” in areas ranging from faculty hiring to academics to admissions.


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ROBERT HUR  ROLE: LAWYER REPRESENTING HARVARD BACKGROUND:  * Alumnus of Harvard ('95) and Stanford (law) * Clerked for Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist * Assistant U.S attorney in Maryland for six years, prosecuting gang violence * Top aide to the deputy attorney general in the first Trump administration * U.S. attorney for Maryland  (2018-2021) * As special counsel to the U.S. Department of Justice, investigated President Joe Biden for mishandling classified documents  In his classified documents and political corruption report, Hur wrote that a  jury would see Biden as "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."

 

LEO TERRELL ROLE: LAWYER SUING HARVARD (HEAD OF THE FEDERAL TASK FORCE TO COMBAT ANTI-SEMITISM)  BACKGROUND * Alumnus of California State University, Dominquez Hills (college) and University of California, Los Angeles (law) * Did pro bono work for the NAACP in the 1990s and early 2000s * For nearly three decades, was a liberal voice on conservative media programs * Switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican in 2020  On Fox News, he said, "We're going to bankrupt these universities. We're going to take away every single federal dollar"

 

WILLIAM BURCK ROLE: LAWYER REPRESENTING HARVARD  * Yale alumnus (college and law), started a Harvard Ph.D. (political science and government) * Clerked for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy * Special counsel to President George W. Bush * Assistant U.S. attorney, Southern District of New York (prosecuted Martha Stewart for insider trading) * Advised the Trump Organization in January 2025  On Truth Social, Trump said Burck is "not that good, anyway, and I hope that my very big and beautiful company, now run by my sons, gets rid of him ASAP!"
Illustration based on photograph by Lannis Waters/Palm Beach Post via the associated Press
SEAN KEVENEY  ROLE: LAWYER SUING HARVARD (MEMBER OF THE FEDERAL TASK FORCE TO COMBAT ANTI-SEMITISM) BACKGROUND  * Alumnus of the University of Tulsa (college) and the University of Texas (law) * Department of Justice trial attorney (13 years * Acting senior counsel to the assistant attorney general during the first Trump administration * Deputy general counsel for the Department of Health and Human Services during the Biden administration (now acting general counsel)  An April 11 letter signed by Keveney, outlining demands Harvard considered onerous, escalated this legal confrontation. The New York Times reported that this letter was sent to Harvard by mistake.
Allison D. Burroughs Role: FEDERAL JUDGE, DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS  BACKGROUND * Alumna of Middlebury College and the University of Pennsylvania (law) * Assistant U.S. attorney in Pennsylvania (Six years) and Massachusetts (10 years) * Paused President Trump's 2017 travel ban * Ruled for Harvard in a federal lawsuit opposing affirmative action in college admissions (overturned in 2023 by the Supreme Court) In late May, she temporarily paused Trump's ban on Harvard enrolling international students, saying her order "gives some protection to international students who might be anxious" about "coming here."
Illustration based on photograph by Bruce Rogovin

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