Bagenstos earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina in 1990 and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1993, graduating magna cum laude.

Bagenstos clerked for Judge Stephen Reinhardt on the Ninth Circuit for one year, and then joined the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

[2] In United States v. Georgia, 546 U.S. 151 (2006), the Court upheld the constitutionality of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as applied in the case of a prisoner who used a wheelchair.

[3] And in Chevron v. Echazabal, 536 U.S. 73 (2002), the Court rejected the plaintiff's argument that he should be the one to decide if chemicals in the workplace posed too much risk to his health, given that he had hepatitis.

[6][7] Bagenstos has signed briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the anti-discrimination case brought by transgender student Gavin Grimm,[8] and opposing a constitutional right to discriminate against same-sex couples by businesses.

[9] He testified before Congress[10] in favor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would protect workers against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.