Jeffrey Gutman, Board Member

Prior to joining the faculty of the George Washington University Law School in  1994, Jeffrey S. Gutman served as a trial attorney in the Federal Programs Branch, Civil Division, Department of Justice (DOJ). His work at the DOJ principally involved representing the federal government in constitutional and administrative challenges to federal statutes and regulations in federal courts throughout the country. Among the cases he litigated were challenges to the military base closing statute, firearms control legislation and regulations, legislation governing the receipt of honoraria by federal employees, the savings and loan reform statutes, and private meetings of government advisers. 

At the law school, Professor Gutman has taught Civil Procedure and has directed the Public Justice Advocacy Clinic.  Over the years, Professor Gutman and his students have litigated class action cases, civil rights cases, federal and District of Columbia FOIA cases and have represented individual clients in wage and hour, unemployment compensation, employment, disability, name change, housing, and guardianship and conservatorship cases. 

Professor Gutman represented four men exonerated of crimes by DNA evidence who spent decades in jail on civil claims against the District of Columbia government.  As a result of his research following those cases, Professor Gutman was named a Special Contributor to the National Registry of Exonerations and a Contributing Partner to the Innocence Project.  His scholarly work focuses on compensation for the wrongly convicted and is frequently featured in press reporting on the subject.  He also served as the editor in chief of the Federal Practice Manual for Legal Aid Attorneys, served on the Board of Governors of the District of Columbia Bar from 2011 to 2014, and mediates civil cases in the D.C. Court of Appeals and the D.C. Superior Court Multi-Door Dispute Resolution program.

Jeffrey serves on the Litigation Committee of the Board.