Arnold Brecht (26 January 1884 – 11 September 1977) was a German jurist and one of the leading government officials in the Weimar Republic.

An alumnus of the University of Göttingen, Brecht served as a government official from 1918 to 1933.

He was dismissed from his post shortly after the Nazi seizure of power, and emigrated to the United States.

He became a lecturer at The New School, and also a foreign policy adviser to the United States government.

Brecht's law is the academic basis for one of the components of the equalization payments between the states of Germany.