Rob Cowburn serves as Senior Counsel for Educational Freedom at the Liberty Justice Center, where he develops and litigates cases to advance school choice and parental rights nationwide. Rob’s commitment to educational freedom is both professional and deeply personal — forged when his own family confronted government overreach in education and strengthened through nearly a decade defending individual liberty against arbitrary state power.

Rob’s dedication to this work intensified in 2022, when his oldest daughter was about to enter kindergarten. He discovered that a teacher at her assigned Pennsylvania public school was promoting controversial political ideologies to first grade students, not only without parental consent or notice, but with deliberate instructions to keep these topics a secret from their parents. When the school district defended the teacher even as federal litigation commenced, Rob and his wife made the difficult decision to seek alternative education for their daughters. This experience cemented Rob’s belief that education should empower families, not indoctrinate children, and drives his work to ensure every parent has the freedom to direct their children’s education.

Prior to joining the Liberty Justice Center, Rob served as lead counsel in matters of complex civil rights protection, successfully defending individual’s rights under the First Amendment, Equal Protection, and Article I before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Rob has been a contributing author of amicus briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court resulting in favorable outcomes.

As President and Chair of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania, Rob led a volunteer workforce of over 800 members and spearheaded a statewide coalitions, including the Defend the Guard initiative — a statutory reform effort to block deployment of Pennsylvania’s National Guard into unconstitutional wars without a congressional declaration of war. Under his leadership, more Libertarian candidates were elected to public office in Pennsylvania than in all other 49 states combined.

Prior to his litigation practice, Rob worked in criminal prosecution at the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, where he was embedded in a multi-state drug interdiction task force. He advised federal and state agents on constitutional boundaries during active operations, reviewing search warrants, surveillance protocols, and enforcement procedures in real time for Fourth Amendment compliance.

Rob earned his J.D., cum laude, from Suffolk University Law School, where he was a Dean’s List honoree and member of Phi Delta Phi Legal Honors Fraternity. He is admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar and the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Western, and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania. Rob received his B.S. in Sports, Arts and Entertainment Management, cum laude, from Point Park University. Rob participated in a research fellowship in Austrian Economics at the Mises Institute, where he studied the relationship between individual liberty, limited government, and free markets.

Rob lives in Pittsburgh with his wife and daughters. When he’s not in court, he’s coaching his daughters’ sports teams or spending time with family — a reminder that his fight for educational freedom isn’t just professional, it’s personal.