Gillian E. Metzger

Gillian E. Metzger (born October 2, 1965) is an American legal scholar and a professor of law at Columbia Law School who served in the U.S. Office of Legal Counsel until 2024.

Early life and education The daughter of Columbia University history professor Walter P. Metzger, Gillian grew up on campus in faculty housing. She earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Yale University in 1987, and then worked as a legislative aide for District Council 37, a local union in New York City.

Professional career After law school, Metzger first clerked with U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit judge Patricia Wald and then clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Metzger joined Columbia Law's faculty in 2001. Her areas of expertise are constitutional law, administrative law, federalism, and institutional reform. She has argued for an expanded reading of Article Four of the United States Constitution.

In 2023 Metzger joined the U.S. Office of Legal Counsel as a deputy assistant attorney general. She served as the Acting Assistant Attorney General before the confirmation of Christopher Fonzone. She is currently on the board of directors of the Columbia Law Review.

Personal Metzger and her husband, New York City Department of Finance Director of Tax Policy Research Michael Hyman, live on Manhattan's Upper West Side. They have two sons, Oliver and Nathaniel Hyman-Metzger.