Through his work in the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, at the Becket Fund, and in private practice, Eric has worked with a wide range of religious institutions in over thirty states—including denominations, national conferences, colleges, K-12 schools, social service organizations, and businesses—to help them better understand their rights and developing strategies to protect their religious mission. Eric describes his work in this area in Protecting Your Right to Serve: How Religious Ministries Can Meet New Challenges without Changing Their Witness, published by The Heritage Foundation.

Eric is also an accomplished litigator. With the Department of Justice, he enforced federal civil rights laws and helped obtain a record settlement in a housing discrimination case against Donald Sterling, resulting in a record settlement. While at The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, Eric contributed to landmark religious liberty victories at every level of federal court, establishing the ministerial exception (Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC), protecting released-time religious instruction (FFRF v. Spartanburg), and defending a pharmacy’s conscience-based refusal to provide emergency contraceptives (Stormans v. Selecky). In private practice, Eric has secured permanent injunctive relief for hundreds of religious employers from federal contraceptive and transgender mandates.

Through his work on behalf of religious institutions, Eric has substantial experience with the Administrative Procedure Act, ERISA, constitutional law, RFRA, non-profit formation and governance, nonprofit tax law, and labor and employment law. He has lobbied state legislatures and has represented the USCCB, the Knights of Columbus, and the Assemblies of God, among others, in amicus briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court. His work helping religious organizations understand, maximize, and defend their religious liberties has made him a nationally recognized expert in the field.

Alongside his legal practice, Eric is also a scholar at the Ethics & Public Policy Center, where he works on a range of initiatives to protect and strengthen religious liberty as part of EPPC’s HHS Accountability Project.

Kniffin is a sought-after commentator on religious liberty issues and has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, National Review, Huffington Post, National Catholic Register, Inside Higher Ed, and Washington Times, and has spoken regularly for The Federalist Society and The Heritage Foundation.

Kniffin holds a B.A. in philosophy from Wheaton College and received a M.A. in theology from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary before earning his J.D. at Notre Dame Law School. He lives in Colorado Springs with his wife, Bonnie, and their seven children.

Education
· Notre Dame Law School (J.D.)
· Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary (M.A.)
· Wheaton College (B.A.)
 
Clerkship
· Northern District of Indiana, Judge Thresa L. Springmann
 
Admissions
· Colorado
· Illinois
· District of Columbia
· U.S. Supreme Court
· U.S. Ct. of Appeals for Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits
· U.S. District Courts in D.C., Colorado, and elsewhere