Litigation
Orthodox Church in America v. Ferguson · E.D. Wash., 2025 · Lead counsel (admitted pro hac vice), with Alliance Defending Freedom
Motion for preliminary injunction challenging a 2025 amendment that made clergy mandatory reporters of child abuse while stripping clergy, and only clergy, of the privilege exemption every other reporter keeps. The motion argued that the provision singled out clergy on its face, left comparable secular privileges in place, and was enacted after the legislature rejected four amendments preserving the clergy-penitent privilege. The State later stipulated to an injunction, and the case concluded with a permanent judgment. [Read the brief]
Zion HealthShare v. Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner · Wash. Ct. App., 2026 · Special counsel on religious-liberty issues
Supplemental brief arguing that Washington’s pre-2000 cutoff for health-care sharing ministries favors established religious organizations over newer ones, the same preference Larson v. Valente struck down and Catholic Charities Bureau reaffirmed. [Read the brief]
Amicus Briefs
Fulton v. City of Philadelphia · U.S. Supreme Court, 2020 · Counsel of record for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference (at Lewis Roca)
Amicus brief rebutting the claim that foster care became a secular “public service” once the City regulated it. The brief draws on the Catholic Church’s history of caring for orphaned children and on the Court’s rejection of a similar argument in Hosanna-Tabor. The Court ruled unanimously for Catholic Social Services in 2021. [Read the brief]
Perez v. City of San Antonio · U.S. Supreme Court (cert. stage), 2026 · Counsel of record for the Ethics and Public Policy Center
Amicus brief arguing that the substantial-burden test already contains five limiting principles, and that government control of a sacred site, or of a regulated field like foster care, does not excuse the government from strict scrutiny. [Read the brief]
Pennsylvania v. President of the United States · 3d Cir., 2025 · Counsel of record for the Ethics and Public Policy Center
Amicus brief supporting the Little Sisters of the Poor, arguing that the Third Circuit’s Geneva College decision accepted the agencies’ account of the contraception mandate’s “accommodation” without testing it against ERISA. Under ERISA, only the employer can designate its third-party administrator as plan administrator, so the accommodation works only by using the religious employer’s own plan and requiring the employer to trigger coverage. [Read the brief]
Writing
“Attacks on the Seal of the Confessional” · First Things · March 30, 2023
Argues that 2023 bills in Washington, Vermont, and Delaware requiring priests to report abuse disclosed in confession would not work, would not make children safer, and would single out religion by leaving the attorney-client privilege untouched. [Read]
“Leaving Abortion to the States Requires Federal Action” · with Rachel N. Morrison · Wall Street Journal · April 2024
Argues that honoring states’ authority over abortion after Dobbs requires rolling back federal agency actions on EMTALA, pharmacy guidance, VA abortion services, and health-privacy rules that override state law. [Read]
“Protecting Your Right to Serve: How Religious Ministries Can Meet New Challenges Without Changing Their Witness” · The Heritage Foundation, Special Report No. 177 · November 2015
Written in 2015, months after Obergefell, this guide introduced the “mission audit” that remains the core of the firm’s advisory practice: review whether an organization’s documents and operations reflect its mission, identify the legal pressures it faces, and make strategic decisions to protect it. Though this legal survey reflects 2015 law, Eric’s framework has not changed. [Read]
Media
“U.S. States Take Aim at the Seal of Confession” · Crown and Crozier podcast · July 2023
Interview on state legislative proposals that would require priests to report abuse disclosed in confession. [Listen]
Eric’s work at EPPC is separate from Kniffin Law PLLC. Entries marked “EPPC” appear here as part of his published work, not as matters handled by the firm.
Matters before 2023 were handled while Eric was with Lewis Roca, the Becket Fund, or the U.S. Department of Justice. Articles and reports reflect the law when they were written and are not legal advice. Results described on this page depend on the facts and law of each matter and do not guarantee a similar outcome in any other matter.
