Ed Artau

Topics:	Criminal Law & Procedure • Federal Courts • Federalist Society • First Amendment • Founding Era & History • Jurisprudence • Litigation • Second Amendment • State Courts • Supreme Court • Federalism & Separation of Powers • Free Speech & Election Law • Environmental Law & Property Rights • Religious Liberties • Originally Speaking • School Choice

District Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida

Biography

Judge Ed Artau is a United States District Judge for the Southern District of
Florida. He was nominated by President Donald Trump for appointment to
the United States District Court in May of 2025, and confirmed by the United
States Senate in September of 2025. Prior to his confirmation, Judge Artau
was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis to the Fourth District Court of
Appeal of Florida, where he served as an appellate judge from 2020 until
2025. Prior to being an appellate judge, Judge Artau was appointed by
Governor Rick Scott to the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County,
Florida, where he served as a trial judge from 2014 until 2020.

Judge Artau is also an Adjunct Professor at St. Thomas University College of
Law and has served as the Dean of the Advanced Judicial Studies College
and on the faculty of both the Florida Judicial College and the Advanced
Judicial Studies College.

Judge Artau has previously served as the Chair of the Fifteenth Circuit
Judicial Nominating Commission, Vice Chair of the Fourth District Court of
Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission, Parliamentarian of the Appellate
Court Rules Committee, Vice Chair of the Judicial Nominating Procedures
Committee, and as a representative on the Florida Court Education Council.

Before his appointment to the bench, Judge Artau served as General Counsel
to the South Florida Water Management District, where he commenced his
public service as a senior litigation attorney. Prior to this role, Judge Artau
managed his own law firm after having served in the litigation departments of
the law firms of Proskauer Rose, L.L.P. and Hodgson Russ, L.L.P.

Judge Artau is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center where he
served as a law review editor and Vice-President of the Georgetown Student
Chapter of the Federalist Society. Judge Artau completed his undergraduate
studies at Nova Southeastern University, where he graduated cum laude and
was later awarded a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, for his commitment to
public service, academia, and the law.

Judge Artau is a founder of the first Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist
Society in Florida and is the 2025 recipient of the Good Shepherd Award,
presented by the Florida Chapters of the Federalist Society in recognition of his “Commitment to the Rule of Law and the Ideals of the Federalist Society.”

Gabriel Groisman

Founder, Groisman LLC

Biography

Gabriel Groisman is a nationally recognized attorney, policy strategist, public speaker, and advocate for the Jewish community. He is the Founder of Groisman, LLC, a boutique government affairs and consulting firm with offices in Miami and Washington, D.C., where he provides strategic advisory services, public affairs, and advocacy for select clients. He is also a practicing attorney and the principal of Groisman Law, where he handles select litigation and legal matters.

Gabe is a weekly columnist for JNS.org, where he writes on issues relating to antisemitism, U.S. and Israeli politics, and the future of the Jewish people. He is also the host of the political podcast Standpoint with Gabe Groisman, featuring high-level interviews with U.S. Senators, members of Congress, governors, mayors, and thought leaders from across the conservative and pro-Israel landscape.

Groisman is an internationally sought-after speaker and legal scholar on antisemitism and the BDS movement. He has addressed audiences at the United Nations, the Italian Parliament, and the Israeli Knesset, as well as conferences and institutions around the globe. He serves as a Senior Advisor to the Combat Antisemitism Movement and is a member of the Jewish National Fund’s Speakers Bureau.

Previously, Gabe served as Mayor of Bal Harbour, Florida, from 2016 to 2022, after first being elected to the Village Council. During his tenure, he authored and passed the nation’s first municipal ordinance banning BDS (December 2015) and became the first elected official in the U.S. to codify the IHRA definition of antisemitism (December 2017).

He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of the Children’s Tumor Foundation, and is a national board member of the Republican Jewish Coalition.

In recognition of his work, Gabe received the Pursuit of Justice Award from the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists in 2018 and the Voices of Iron Award from the Israeli Knesset in 2025 for his unwavering defense of Israel and the Jewish people.

Gabe earned his B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and his J.D. from American University’s Washington College of Law. He lives in Bal Harbour with his wife Lisa and their five daughters.

Ed Artau

District Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida

Biography

Judge Ed Artau is a United States District Judge for the Southern District of
Florida. He was nominated by President Donald Trump for appointment to
the United States District Court in May of 2025, and confirmed by the United
States Senate in September of 2025. Prior to his confirmation, Judge Artau
was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis to the Fourth District Court of
Appeal of Florida, where he served as an appellate judge from 2020 until
2025. Prior to being an appellate judge, Judge Artau was appointed by
Governor Rick Scott to the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County,
Florida, where he served as a trial judge from 2014 until 2020.

Judge Artau is also an Adjunct Professor at St. Thomas University College of
Law and has served as the Dean of the Advanced Judicial Studies College
and on the faculty of both the Florida Judicial College and the Advanced
Judicial Studies College.

Judge Artau has previously served as the Chair of the Fifteenth Circuit
Judicial Nominating Commission, Vice Chair of the Fourth District Court of
Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission, Parliamentarian of the Appellate
Court Rules Committee, Vice Chair of the Judicial Nominating Procedures
Committee, and as a representative on the Florida Court Education Council.

Before his appointment to the bench, Judge Artau served as General Counsel
to the South Florida Water Management District, where he commenced his
public service as a senior litigation attorney. Prior to this role, Judge Artau
managed his own law firm after having served in the litigation departments of
the law firms of Proskauer Rose, L.L.P. and Hodgson Russ, L.L.P.

Judge Artau is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center where he
served as a law review editor and Vice-President of the Georgetown Student
Chapter of the Federalist Society. Judge Artau completed his undergraduate
studies at Nova Southeastern University, where he graduated cum laude and
was later awarded a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, for his commitment to
public service, academia, and the law.

Judge Artau is a founder of the first Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist
Society in Florida and is the 2025 recipient of the Good Shepherd Award,
presented by the Florida Chapters of the Federalist Society in recognition of his “Commitment to the Rule of Law and the Ideals of the Federalist Society.”

James S. Burling

Senior Legal Counsel, Pacific Legal Foundation

Biography

Before becoming an attorney, James had been a productive member of society working as an exploration geologist in the late 1970s throughout the southwestern United States. However, after several years of dealing with irrational government bureaucrats and environmental policies untethered from reality, James decided that what the world needs is more lawyers — if they are willing to fight for rationality in regulatory regimes, property rights, and liberty.

James attended the University of Arizona College of Law in Tucson, where he served as an editor for the Law Review and received a J.D. degree in 1983. He had previously received a Masters degree in geological sciences from Brown University and an undergraduate degree from Hamilton College in New York. James received the Professional Achievement Award from the University of Arizona Alumni Association in 2018.

James has worked with Pacific Legal Foundation since 1983, litigating cases from Alaska to Florida. He is a member of the Federalist Society’s Environmental Law and Property Rights Practice Group’s Executive Committee, a member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers, and an honorary member of Owners Counsel of America, an organization comprised of eminent domain attorneys who represent property owners. The Owners Counsel awarded James its Crystal Eagle award in 2013. In 2022, James was awarded the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize at the William & Mary College of Law. The prize is awarded annually to an individual whose work has advanced the cause of property rights and has contributed to the overall awareness of the important role property rights occupy in the broader scheme of individual liberty.

In 2001, James successfully argued a major property rights case, Palazzolo v. Rhode Island, before the United States Supreme Court, a case which affirmed that rights in regulated property do not disappear when land is bought and sold. He has written extensively on all aspects of property rights and environmental law and frequently speaks on these subjects throughout the nation.

When James is not suing the government he enjoys skiing faster than he should, bicycling, hiking, swimming, and spending quality time with his wife, family, and grandchild.

Mr. Burling’s book Nowhere to Live: The Hidden Story of America’s Housing Crisis is available now on Amazon.

James is a member of the bar only in the states of Alaska and California.

Ilya Somin

Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University

Biography

ILYA SOMIN is Professor of Law at George Mason University and the B. Kenneth Simon Chair in Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute. His research focuses on constitutional law, property law, democratic theory, federalism, and migration rights. He is the author of Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom (Oxford University Press, revised and expanded edition, 2022), Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter (Stanford University Press, revised and expanded second edition, 2016), and The Grasping Hand: Kelo v. City of New London and the Limits of Eminent Domain (University of Chicago Press, 2015, rev. paperback ed., 2016), coauthor of A Conspiracy Against Obamacare: The Volokh Conspiracy and the Health Care Case (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), and co-editor of Eminent Domain: A Comparative Perspective (Cambridge University Press, 2017). Democracy and Political Ignorance has been translated into Italian and Japanese.

Somin’s work has appeared in numerous scholarly journals, including the Yale Law Journal, Stanford Law Review, Northwestern University Law Review, Georgetown Law Journal, Critical Review, and others. Somin has also published articles in a variety of popular press outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, CNN, NBC, The Atlantic, USA Today, Boston Globe, US News and World Report, South China Morning Post, National Law Journal and Reason. He has been quoted or interviewed by the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Time, Newsweek, The Economist, the Christian Science Monitor, the Financial Times, The Guardian, the Associated Press, CBS, MSNBC, NPR, BBC, Reuters, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Al Jazeera, and the Voice of America, among other media.

Somin’s writings have been cited in decisions by the United States Supreme Court, multiple state supreme courts and lower federal courts, and the Supreme Court of Israel. He is co-counsel for the plaintiffs in VOS Selections, Inc. v. Trump, a case challenging the constitutionality of President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs. Somin has testified on the use of drones for targeted killing in the War on Terror before the US Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights. In 2009, he testified on property rights issues at the United States Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Somin writes regularly for the popular Volokh Conspiracy law and politics blog, now affiliated with Reason magazine (previously affiliated with the Washington Post from 2014 to 2017). From 2006 to 2013, he served as Co-Editor of the Supreme Court Economic Review, one of the country’s top-rated law and economics journals.

Somin has served as a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He has also been a visiting professor or scholar at the Georgetown University Law Center, the University of Hamburg, Germany, the University of Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Uriel Reichman University in Israel, and Zhengzhou University in China. He is a University Affiliate of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, and an affiliated faculty member of the George Mason University Institute for Immigration Research. Before joining the faculty at George Mason, Somin was the John M. Olin Fellow in Law at Northwestern University Law School in 2002-2003. In 2001-2002, he clerked for the Hon. Judge Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Professor Somin earned his B.A., Summa Cum Laude, at Amherst College, M.A. in Political Science from Harvard University, and J.D. from Yale Law School.

Ed Artau

District Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida

Biography

Judge Ed Artau is a United States District Judge for the Southern District of
Florida. He was nominated by President Donald Trump for appointment to
the United States District Court in May of 2025, and confirmed by the United
States Senate in September of 2025. Prior to his confirmation, Judge Artau
was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis to the Fourth District Court of
Appeal of Florida, where he served as an appellate judge from 2020 until
2025. Prior to being an appellate judge, Judge Artau was appointed by
Governor Rick Scott to the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County,
Florida, where he served as a trial judge from 2014 until 2020.

Judge Artau is also an Adjunct Professor at St. Thomas University College of
Law and has served as the Dean of the Advanced Judicial Studies College
and on the faculty of both the Florida Judicial College and the Advanced
Judicial Studies College.

Judge Artau has previously served as the Chair of the Fifteenth Circuit
Judicial Nominating Commission, Vice Chair of the Fourth District Court of
Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission, Parliamentarian of the Appellate
Court Rules Committee, Vice Chair of the Judicial Nominating Procedures
Committee, and as a representative on the Florida Court Education Council.

Before his appointment to the bench, Judge Artau served as General Counsel
to the South Florida Water Management District, where he commenced his
public service as a senior litigation attorney. Prior to this role, Judge Artau
managed his own law firm after having served in the litigation departments of
the law firms of Proskauer Rose, L.L.P. and Hodgson Russ, L.L.P.

Judge Artau is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center where he
served as a law review editor and Vice-President of the Georgetown Student
Chapter of the Federalist Society. Judge Artau completed his undergraduate
studies at Nova Southeastern University, where he graduated cum laude and
was later awarded a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, for his commitment to
public service, academia, and the law.

Judge Artau is a founder of the first Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist
Society in Florida and is the 2025 recipient of the Good Shepherd Award,
presented by the Florida Chapters of the Federalist Society in recognition of his “Commitment to the Rule of Law and the Ideals of the Federalist Society.”

Ed Artau

District Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida

Biography

Judge Ed Artau is a United States District Judge for the Southern District of
Florida. He was nominated by President Donald Trump for appointment to
the United States District Court in May of 2025, and confirmed by the United
States Senate in September of 2025. Prior to his confirmation, Judge Artau
was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis to the Fourth District Court of
Appeal of Florida, where he served as an appellate judge from 2020 until
2025. Prior to being an appellate judge, Judge Artau was appointed by
Governor Rick Scott to the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County,
Florida, where he served as a trial judge from 2014 until 2020.

Judge Artau is also an Adjunct Professor at St. Thomas University College of
Law and has served as the Dean of the Advanced Judicial Studies College
and on the faculty of both the Florida Judicial College and the Advanced
Judicial Studies College.

Judge Artau has previously served as the Chair of the Fifteenth Circuit
Judicial Nominating Commission, Vice Chair of the Fourth District Court of
Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission, Parliamentarian of the Appellate
Court Rules Committee, Vice Chair of the Judicial Nominating Procedures
Committee, and as a representative on the Florida Court Education Council.

Before his appointment to the bench, Judge Artau served as General Counsel
to the South Florida Water Management District, where he commenced his
public service as a senior litigation attorney. Prior to this role, Judge Artau
managed his own law firm after having served in the litigation departments of
the law firms of Proskauer Rose, L.L.P. and Hodgson Russ, L.L.P.

Judge Artau is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center where he
served as a law review editor and Vice-President of the Georgetown Student
Chapter of the Federalist Society. Judge Artau completed his undergraduate
studies at Nova Southeastern University, where he graduated cum laude and
was later awarded a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, for his commitment to
public service, academia, and the law.

Judge Artau is a founder of the first Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist
Society in Florida and is the 2025 recipient of the Good Shepherd Award,
presented by the Florida Chapters of the Federalist Society in recognition of his “Commitment to the Rule of Law and the Ideals of the Federalist Society.”

Manuel Farach

Shareholder, Mrachek, Fitzgerald, Konopka, Thomas & Weiss, P.A.

Biography

Manuel Farach is a shareholder of Mrachek, Fitzgerald, Konopka, Thomas & Weiss, P.A. where he practices real estate, business, appellate law, and alternative dispute resolution. Manny is triple board-certified by The Florida Bar in Real Estate Law, Business Litigation and Appellate Law. Manny has served as HUD Foreclosure Commissioner, and as Chair of both the Fourth District and Nineteenth Judicial Circuit Judicial Nominating Commissions. He has served as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association since 1990 and as a Florida Supreme Court Circuit Civil mediator since 1991. He presently serves as President of the Society’s Palm Beach Chapter.

Among his areas of expertise, Manny has represented clients in sophisticated business entity matters, Debtor/Creditor law (including bankruptcy and complex mortgage foreclosure litigation), real estate and construction litigation, Landlord-Tenant law, has been court appointed as a receiver (including special mater and special magistrates for partition actions), Alternative Dispute Resolution (including mediation and arbitration as an A.A.A. and FINRA arbitrator), title insurance litigation, U.C.C. Articles II, III, IV and IX (transactional and litigation for all areas); Internet and Computer law, and as an expert witness and consultant in these areas.

Manny is a past Chair of the Real Property Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association and an elected Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Attorneys, where he serves on its Board of Governors and as Chair of its Bankruptcy and Litigation Committee. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute, and past Chair of the Florida Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions for Contract Cases and the ABA’s Real Property Litigation Group. He sits on the Executive Councils of the Business Law, Real Property, and Alternative Dispute Resolution Sections of the Florida Bar.

Manny has been honored as “Board Certified Lawyer of the Year” by The Florida Bar and serves as Chair of the Real Property Certification Review Seminar Committee, a member of the Appellate Certification Examination Committee, and an exam tester for the Business Litigation Certification Exam Committee. Manny serves on the Executive Councils of the Real Property and Trust Law, Business Law, and ADR Sections of the Florida Bar, including chairing or serving on many of its committees.

He is the author of Florida Real Estate Law, the real estate treatise in West’s Florida Practice Series, publishes the Case Law Update, a weekly compilation of Florida real estate and business cases. He is listed in Chambers and Partners, Best Lawyers in America, U.S. News Best Lawyers, Florida Trend “Legal Elite” (including its “Hall of Fame), Martindale-Hubbell’s "Judicial Edition AV-Preeminent Rated,” and “Florida Super Lawyer,” including selection as one of Florida’s “Top 100 Lawyers.” Manny teaches as an Adjunct Professor of Real Estate Law at the Florida State University College of Law and previously taught as an Adjunct Professor of Business Law at the Rinker School of Business at Palm Beach Atlantic University.

Among other honors and awards, Manny is a graduate of Leadership Florida’s Executive Class 11 and was awarded both the Sidney Stubbs Professionalism Award and the Judge Edward Rodgers Diversity Award by the Palm Beach County Bar Association. He is a recipient of the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach Pro Bono Award, the Florida Bar Board Certified Lawyer of the Year Award, and the Hispanic Bar Association Chief Justice Leadership Award. He was also awarded the Florida Bar Business Law Section “Member of the Year” Award, the Florida State University College of Law “Distinguished Alumnus” Award, and listed as one of the Florida State Hispanic Chamber’s Florida's 50 Most Influential Hispanic Business Leaders.

Ed Artau

District Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida

Biography

Judge Ed Artau is a United States District Judge for the Southern District of
Florida. He was nominated by President Donald Trump for appointment to
the United States District Court in May of 2025, and confirmed by the United
States Senate in September of 2025. Prior to his confirmation, Judge Artau
was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis to the Fourth District Court of
Appeal of Florida, where he served as an appellate judge from 2020 until
2025. Prior to being an appellate judge, Judge Artau was appointed by
Governor Rick Scott to the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County,
Florida, where he served as a trial judge from 2014 until 2020.

Judge Artau is also an Adjunct Professor at St. Thomas University College of
Law and has served as the Dean of the Advanced Judicial Studies College
and on the faculty of both the Florida Judicial College and the Advanced
Judicial Studies College.

Judge Artau has previously served as the Chair of the Fifteenth Circuit
Judicial Nominating Commission, Vice Chair of the Fourth District Court of
Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission, Parliamentarian of the Appellate
Court Rules Committee, Vice Chair of the Judicial Nominating Procedures
Committee, and as a representative on the Florida Court Education Council.

Before his appointment to the bench, Judge Artau served as General Counsel
to the South Florida Water Management District, where he commenced his
public service as a senior litigation attorney. Prior to this role, Judge Artau
managed his own law firm after having served in the litigation departments of
the law firms of Proskauer Rose, L.L.P. and Hodgson Russ, L.L.P.

Judge Artau is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center where he
served as a law review editor and Vice-President of the Georgetown Student
Chapter of the Federalist Society. Judge Artau completed his undergraduate
studies at Nova Southeastern University, where he graduated cum laude and
was later awarded a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, for his commitment to
public service, academia, and the law.

Judge Artau is a founder of the first Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist
Society in Florida and is the 2025 recipient of the Good Shepherd Award,
presented by the Florida Chapters of the Federalist Society in recognition of his “Commitment to the Rule of Law and the Ideals of the Federalist Society.”

Erin Ryan

Professor, Florida State University College of Law

Biography

Professor Ryan teaches in the areas of environmental and natural resources law, property and land use, water law, negotiation, and federalism. She has presented widely in the United States, Europe, and Asia, including the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, the National Association of Attorneys General, the United States Forest Service, and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research. She has advised National Sea Grant multilevel governance studies involving Chesapeake Bay and consulted with multiple institutions on developing sustainability programs. She has been featured in the Chicago Tribune, the London Financial Times, the Associated Press, Thomson-Reuters Beijing, the Huffington Post, National Public Radio, and NBC and CBS Television News. She is the author of many scholarly works, including Federalism and the Tug of War Within (Oxford University Press 2012).

Prior to law school, Ryan served as a U.S. Forest Service ranger on the Mono Lake District of the Inyo National Forest, east of Yosemite National Park. While a law student, she was an editor of the Harvard Law Review and a Hewlett Fellow at the Harvard Negotiation Research Project. She clerked for Judge James R. Browning, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, before practicing environmental, land use, and local government law in San Francisco. She began her academic career at the College of William & Mary, and then joined the faculty at the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark College. Ryan served as a Fulbright Scholar in China, where she taught American law, studied Chinese governance, and lectured throughout the country. She has also lectured at universities in Japan, Vietnam and India. She joined the Florida State University College of Law faculty in 2015.

B.A. 1991 Harvard-Radcliffe College, cum laude
M.A. 1994 Wesleyan University
J.D. 2001 Harvard Law School, cum laude

Ed Artau

District Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida

Biography

Judge Ed Artau is a United States District Judge for the Southern District of
Florida. He was nominated by President Donald Trump for appointment to
the United States District Court in May of 2025, and confirmed by the United
States Senate in September of 2025. Prior to his confirmation, Judge Artau
was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis to the Fourth District Court of
Appeal of Florida, where he served as an appellate judge from 2020 until
2025. Prior to being an appellate judge, Judge Artau was appointed by
Governor Rick Scott to the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County,
Florida, where he served as a trial judge from 2014 until 2020.

Judge Artau is also an Adjunct Professor at St. Thomas University College of
Law and has served as the Dean of the Advanced Judicial Studies College
and on the faculty of both the Florida Judicial College and the Advanced
Judicial Studies College.

Judge Artau has previously served as the Chair of the Fifteenth Circuit
Judicial Nominating Commission, Vice Chair of the Fourth District Court of
Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission, Parliamentarian of the Appellate
Court Rules Committee, Vice Chair of the Judicial Nominating Procedures
Committee, and as a representative on the Florida Court Education Council.

Before his appointment to the bench, Judge Artau served as General Counsel
to the South Florida Water Management District, where he commenced his
public service as a senior litigation attorney. Prior to this role, Judge Artau
managed his own law firm after having served in the litigation departments of
the law firms of Proskauer Rose, L.L.P. and Hodgson Russ, L.L.P.

Judge Artau is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center where he
served as a law review editor and Vice-President of the Georgetown Student
Chapter of the Federalist Society. Judge Artau completed his undergraduate
studies at Nova Southeastern University, where he graduated cum laude and
was later awarded a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, for his commitment to
public service, academia, and the law.

Judge Artau is a founder of the first Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist
Society in Florida and is the 2025 recipient of the Good Shepherd Award,
presented by the Florida Chapters of the Federalist Society in recognition of his “Commitment to the Rule of Law and the Ideals of the Federalist Society.”

James S. Burling

Senior Legal Counsel, Pacific Legal Foundation

Biography

Before becoming an attorney, James had been a productive member of society working as an exploration geologist in the late 1970s throughout the southwestern United States. However, after several years of dealing with irrational government bureaucrats and environmental policies untethered from reality, James decided that what the world needs is more lawyers — if they are willing to fight for rationality in regulatory regimes, property rights, and liberty.

James attended the University of Arizona College of Law in Tucson, where he served as an editor for the Law Review and received a J.D. degree in 1983. He had previously received a Masters degree in geological sciences from Brown University and an undergraduate degree from Hamilton College in New York. James received the Professional Achievement Award from the University of Arizona Alumni Association in 2018.

James has worked with Pacific Legal Foundation since 1983, litigating cases from Alaska to Florida. He is a member of the Federalist Society’s Environmental Law and Property Rights Practice Group’s Executive Committee, a member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers, and an honorary member of Owners Counsel of America, an organization comprised of eminent domain attorneys who represent property owners. The Owners Counsel awarded James its Crystal Eagle award in 2013. In 2022, James was awarded the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize at the William & Mary College of Law. The prize is awarded annually to an individual whose work has advanced the cause of property rights and has contributed to the overall awareness of the important role property rights occupy in the broader scheme of individual liberty.

In 2001, James successfully argued a major property rights case, Palazzolo v. Rhode Island, before the United States Supreme Court, a case which affirmed that rights in regulated property do not disappear when land is bought and sold. He has written extensively on all aspects of property rights and environmental law and frequently speaks on these subjects throughout the nation.

When James is not suing the government he enjoys skiing faster than he should, bicycling, hiking, swimming, and spending quality time with his wife, family, and grandchild.

Mr. Burling’s book Nowhere to Live: The Hidden Story of America’s Housing Crisis is available now on Amazon.

James is a member of the bar only in the states of Alaska and California.

Ilya Somin

Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University

Biography

ILYA SOMIN is Professor of Law at George Mason University and the B. Kenneth Simon Chair in Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute. His research focuses on constitutional law, property law, democratic theory, federalism, and migration rights. He is the author of Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom (Oxford University Press, revised and expanded edition, 2022), Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter (Stanford University Press, revised and expanded second edition, 2016), and The Grasping Hand: Kelo v. City of New London and the Limits of Eminent Domain (University of Chicago Press, 2015, rev. paperback ed., 2016), coauthor of A Conspiracy Against Obamacare: The Volokh Conspiracy and the Health Care Case (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), and co-editor of Eminent Domain: A Comparative Perspective (Cambridge University Press, 2017). Democracy and Political Ignorance has been translated into Italian and Japanese.

Somin’s work has appeared in numerous scholarly journals, including the Yale Law Journal, Stanford Law Review, Northwestern University Law Review, Georgetown Law Journal, Critical Review, and others. Somin has also published articles in a variety of popular press outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, CNN, NBC, The Atlantic, USA Today, Boston Globe, US News and World Report, South China Morning Post, National Law Journal and Reason. He has been quoted or interviewed by the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Time, Newsweek, The Economist, the Christian Science Monitor, the Financial Times, The Guardian, the Associated Press, CBS, MSNBC, NPR, BBC, Reuters, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Al Jazeera, and the Voice of America, among other media.

Somin’s writings have been cited in decisions by the United States Supreme Court, multiple state supreme courts and lower federal courts, and the Supreme Court of Israel. He is co-counsel for the plaintiffs in VOS Selections, Inc. v. Trump, a case challenging the constitutionality of President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs. Somin has testified on the use of drones for targeted killing in the War on Terror before the US Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights. In 2009, he testified on property rights issues at the United States Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Somin writes regularly for the popular Volokh Conspiracy law and politics blog, now affiliated with Reason magazine (previously affiliated with the Washington Post from 2014 to 2017). From 2006 to 2013, he served as Co-Editor of the Supreme Court Economic Review, one of the country’s top-rated law and economics journals.

Somin has served as a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He has also been a visiting professor or scholar at the Georgetown University Law Center, the University of Hamburg, Germany, the University of Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Uriel Reichman University in Israel, and Zhengzhou University in China. He is a University Affiliate of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, and an affiliated faculty member of the George Mason University Institute for Immigration Research. Before joining the faculty at George Mason, Somin was the John M. Olin Fellow in Law at Northwestern University Law School in 2002-2003. In 2001-2002, he clerked for the Hon. Judge Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Professor Somin earned his B.A., Summa Cum Laude, at Amherst College, M.A. in Political Science from Harvard University, and J.D. from Yale Law School.

Ed Artau

District Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida

Biography

Judge Ed Artau is a United States District Judge for the Southern District of
Florida. He was nominated by President Donald Trump for appointment to
the United States District Court in May of 2025, and confirmed by the United
States Senate in September of 2025. Prior to his confirmation, Judge Artau
was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis to the Fourth District Court of
Appeal of Florida, where he served as an appellate judge from 2020 until
2025. Prior to being an appellate judge, Judge Artau was appointed by
Governor Rick Scott to the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County,
Florida, where he served as a trial judge from 2014 until 2020.

Judge Artau is also an Adjunct Professor at St. Thomas University College of
Law and has served as the Dean of the Advanced Judicial Studies College
and on the faculty of both the Florida Judicial College and the Advanced
Judicial Studies College.

Judge Artau has previously served as the Chair of the Fifteenth Circuit
Judicial Nominating Commission, Vice Chair of the Fourth District Court of
Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission, Parliamentarian of the Appellate
Court Rules Committee, Vice Chair of the Judicial Nominating Procedures
Committee, and as a representative on the Florida Court Education Council.

Before his appointment to the bench, Judge Artau served as General Counsel
to the South Florida Water Management District, where he commenced his
public service as a senior litigation attorney. Prior to this role, Judge Artau
managed his own law firm after having served in the litigation departments of
the law firms of Proskauer Rose, L.L.P. and Hodgson Russ, L.L.P.

Judge Artau is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center where he
served as a law review editor and Vice-President of the Georgetown Student
Chapter of the Federalist Society. Judge Artau completed his undergraduate
studies at Nova Southeastern University, where he graduated cum laude and
was later awarded a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, for his commitment to
public service, academia, and the law.

Judge Artau is a founder of the first Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist
Society in Florida and is the 2025 recipient of the Good Shepherd Award,
presented by the Florida Chapters of the Federalist Society in recognition of his “Commitment to the Rule of Law and the Ideals of the Federalist Society.”

Erin Ryan

Professor, Florida State University College of Law

Biography

Professor Ryan teaches in the areas of environmental and natural resources law, property and land use, water law, negotiation, and federalism. She has presented widely in the United States, Europe, and Asia, including the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, the National Association of Attorneys General, the United States Forest Service, and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research. She has advised National Sea Grant multilevel governance studies involving Chesapeake Bay and consulted with multiple institutions on developing sustainability programs. She has been featured in the Chicago Tribune, the London Financial Times, the Associated Press, Thomson-Reuters Beijing, the Huffington Post, National Public Radio, and NBC and CBS Television News. She is the author of many scholarly works, including Federalism and the Tug of War Within (Oxford University Press 2012).

Prior to law school, Ryan served as a U.S. Forest Service ranger on the Mono Lake District of the Inyo National Forest, east of Yosemite National Park. While a law student, she was an editor of the Harvard Law Review and a Hewlett Fellow at the Harvard Negotiation Research Project. She clerked for Judge James R. Browning, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, before practicing environmental, land use, and local government law in San Francisco. She began her academic career at the College of William & Mary, and then joined the faculty at the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark College. Ryan served as a Fulbright Scholar in China, where she taught American law, studied Chinese governance, and lectured throughout the country. She has also lectured at universities in Japan, Vietnam and India. She joined the Florida State University College of Law faculty in 2015.

B.A. 1991 Harvard-Radcliffe College, cum laude
M.A. 1994 Wesleyan University
J.D. 2001 Harvard Law School, cum laude

Ed Artau

District Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida

Biography

Judge Ed Artau is a United States District Judge for the Southern District of
Florida. He was nominated by President Donald Trump for appointment to
the United States District Court in May of 2025, and confirmed by the United
States Senate in September of 2025. Prior to his confirmation, Judge Artau
was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis to the Fourth District Court of
Appeal of Florida, where he served as an appellate judge from 2020 until
2025. Prior to being an appellate judge, Judge Artau was appointed by
Governor Rick Scott to the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County,
Florida, where he served as a trial judge from 2014 until 2020.

Judge Artau is also an Adjunct Professor at St. Thomas University College of
Law and has served as the Dean of the Advanced Judicial Studies College
and on the faculty of both the Florida Judicial College and the Advanced
Judicial Studies College.

Judge Artau has previously served as the Chair of the Fifteenth Circuit
Judicial Nominating Commission, Vice Chair of the Fourth District Court of
Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission, Parliamentarian of the Appellate
Court Rules Committee, Vice Chair of the Judicial Nominating Procedures
Committee, and as a representative on the Florida Court Education Council.

Before his appointment to the bench, Judge Artau served as General Counsel
to the South Florida Water Management District, where he commenced his
public service as a senior litigation attorney. Prior to this role, Judge Artau
managed his own law firm after having served in the litigation departments of
the law firms of Proskauer Rose, L.L.P. and Hodgson Russ, L.L.P.

Judge Artau is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center where he
served as a law review editor and Vice-President of the Georgetown Student
Chapter of the Federalist Society. Judge Artau completed his undergraduate
studies at Nova Southeastern University, where he graduated cum laude and
was later awarded a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, for his commitment to
public service, academia, and the law.

Judge Artau is a founder of the first Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist
Society in Florida and is the 2025 recipient of the Good Shepherd Award,
presented by the Florida Chapters of the Federalist Society in recognition of his “Commitment to the Rule of Law and the Ideals of the Federalist Society.”

Erin Ryan

Professor, Florida State University College of Law

Biography

Professor Ryan teaches in the areas of environmental and natural resources law, property and land use, water law, negotiation, and federalism. She has presented widely in the United States, Europe, and Asia, including the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, the National Association of Attorneys General, the United States Forest Service, and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research. She has advised National Sea Grant multilevel governance studies involving Chesapeake Bay and consulted with multiple institutions on developing sustainability programs. She has been featured in the Chicago Tribune, the London Financial Times, the Associated Press, Thomson-Reuters Beijing, the Huffington Post, National Public Radio, and NBC and CBS Television News. She is the author of many scholarly works, including Federalism and the Tug of War Within (Oxford University Press 2012).

Prior to law school, Ryan served as a U.S. Forest Service ranger on the Mono Lake District of the Inyo National Forest, east of Yosemite National Park. While a law student, she was an editor of the Harvard Law Review and a Hewlett Fellow at the Harvard Negotiation Research Project. She clerked for Judge James R. Browning, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, before practicing environmental, land use, and local government law in San Francisco. She began her academic career at the College of William & Mary, and then joined the faculty at the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark College. Ryan served as a Fulbright Scholar in China, where she taught American law, studied Chinese governance, and lectured throughout the country. She has also lectured at universities in Japan, Vietnam and India. She joined the Florida State University College of Law faculty in 2015.

B.A. 1991 Harvard-Radcliffe College, cum laude
M.A. 1994 Wesleyan University
J.D. 2001 Harvard Law School, cum laude

Hon. Ed Artau

District Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida

America's 250th Anniversary: What Does It Mean to Be an American?

Miami Lawyer Chapter

Socialism or Sensible Protections? Zoning, Rent Control, and the Roots of the Housing Crisis

Property Rights Practice Group

Clerking 101

Nova Southeastern Student Chapter

Florida Supreme Court Roundup - A Virtual Lunch Event

Broward County Lawyers Chapter - Online Event

Federalism and Environmental Law

2016 Annual Florida Chapters Conference

Socialism or Sensible Protections? Zoning, Rent Control, and the Roots of the Housing Crisis

Federalism and Environmental Law

Federalism and Environmental Law

Optional Login

Have an account?

Sign in

Proceed as Guest

Miami Lawyer Chapter

Property Rights Practice Group

Nova Southeastern Student Chapter

Broward County Lawyers Chapter - Online Event

2016 Annual Florida Chapters Conference