Partner, Baker & Hostetler LLP
Prior to joining BakerHostetler, Allen spent 15 years at the center of the national debate over political regulation. At the FEC, he worked across party lines to restore a key regulatory player to functioning order after years of neglect and partisan gridlock. Those efforts led to the first adoption of a new regulation in over a decade, reform of the commission’s investigations and interagency practices, and more than 150 Statements of Reasons interpreting the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). Substantively, Allen prioritized developments at the edges of the FEC’s jurisdiction, particularly those cases where federal election rules conflict with broader principles of corporate, administrative, and constitutional law.
Previously, Allen spent nearly a decade representing organizations across the political spectrum in First Amendment challenges to state and federal laws governing civil society. His practice emphasized motions and appeals, including a dozen arguments before federal appellate and state supreme courts, and appearances before regulatory agencies. In addition to purely campaign finance matters, Allen's cases included the first federal lawsuit in decades addressing the constitutional scope of lobbying laws, litigation establishing the standard for constitutional challenges to FECA under that statute’s specialized review procedures and the successful defense of a state attorney general leading to the invalidation of an FEC regulation.
Partner, Graves Garrett Greim LLC
Edward “Eddie” Greim focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation, free speech and election law, and internal investigations and whistleblower claims. He has been recognized for his successful representation of businesses and individuals in commercial litigation while also being named a “go-to” lawyer on policy and constitutional issues.
Eddie was named a Constitutional and Election Law Trailblazer by the National Law Journal in 2020. His free speech and election law practice has included numerous constitutional challenges to election and campaign finance laws; representation of clients in state and federal ethics and campaign finance enforcement actions and investigations; initiative petition drafting and litigation; litigation and advice regarding First Amendment protections for petition circulation; representation of not-for-profit clients before state regulators; litigation of state and federal redistricting issues; and advice on campaign and election law compliance.
Eddie complements his trial work in complex, high-profile commercial and constitutional cases with oral advocacy and briefing in important appeals. Recognized as a Missouri Lawyers Media POWER 30 Appellate Attorney in 2021, he has argued before the Missouri and Kansas supreme courts multiple times, other state appellate courts across the country, and before the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Tenth U.S. Courts of Appeals.
Eddie’s notable work for clients includes:
Recovering substantial compensation and injunctive relief for plaintiffs, in complex multiyear litigation, as lead counsel in the first and only nationwide class action certified against the Internal Revenue Service for violating taxpayer protection statutes when it targeted hundreds of groups based on their political viewpoints.
Successful First Amendment challenge to Missouri’s 2016 campaign finance restrictions.
Successful challenge to a vast, multiyear, secret criminal investigation into Wisconsin political groups and nonprofits, and follow-up challenge to expose role of state ethics board which secretly aided the investigation and was later dissolved by the legislature.
U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief for the National Republican Redistricting Trust in the 2019 Rucho litigation, and federal and state redistricting litigation and advice since 2011.
Challenges under the First Amendment in federal court, and in briefing to the Michigan Supreme Court on state constitutional grounds, to unprecedented emergency powers claimed by Michigan Governor in 2020.
Representation of numerous public officials and private citizens who are subject to “lawfare” attacks based on their political viewpoints or policy objectives.
Oversight of multiple internal investigations.
Eddie received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 2002, where he taught on the Board of Student Advisers, received the Dean’s Award for Leadership, and served as President of the Harvard Catholic Law Students Association. He received two bachelor’s degrees, summa cum laude, in economics and political science from the University of Missouri.
A native of Excelsior Springs, Missouri, Eddie lives in Kansas City with his family. He enjoys Missouri and military history. On many weekends, he can be found with his wife and daughters exploring sites of local interest. He enjoys reading and debating and has given presentations or organized discussions at numerous gatherings, formal and informal, of professional and personal interest.
Deputy Executive Director, Campaign Legal Center
Tara Malloy joined the Campaign Legal Center in November 2006. She litigates a wide range of campaign finance and election law cases in state and federal court, and has expertise in campaign finance, lobbying, and congressional ethics issues.
Ms. Malloy has spoken at conferences and events nationwide on election law and has appeared as a legal expert on various news programs, including on MSNBC, PBS and NPR. She has written articles on campaign finance and ethics issues for various publications, including Politico and the Legal Times, and is frequently quoted in national news publications, including The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Time, and Roll Call.
Ms. Malloy also has extensive experience in practical campaign finance enforcement, having served as an associate counsel at the New York City Campaign Finance Board prior to joining the Legal Center. There, she advised the Board regarding the administration of New York City’s public financing system, represented the Board counsel in state and federal courts on various campaign finance matters, and drafted legislation and implementing rules.
Previously, Tara Malloy worked in the litigation practice at the New York law firm Debevoise & Plimpton. A former Fulbright Scholar, Ms. Malloy is a graduate of Yale Law School and Emory University. Ms. Malloy is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia, the State of New York, the Supreme Court of the United States and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Partner, Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak PLLC
Jason Torchinsky is a partner at Holtzman Vogel Josefiak PLLC, specializing in campaign finance, election law, lobbying disclosure and issue advocacy groups. Politico recently named him one of the “50 Politicos to Watch,” and in 2007, Campaigns and Elections Magazine named him a “Rising Star of Politics.”
In addition to his practice counseling clients on compliance with campaign finance, ethics laws, lobbying disclosure and election laws, Mr. Torchinsky has served as lead counsel in a number of litigation matters. Representative matters in the redistricting area include Louisiana House of Representatives v. Holder (D.D.C.) (Section 5 pre-clearance action), City of Sandy Springs v. Holder (D.D.C.) (Section 5 bailout action), and Fletcher v. Lamone (D. Md.) (challenging Maryland’s Congressional Districting map). In the campaign finance context, he is currently representing clients in Alliance for America’s Future v. State (Nevada Supreme Court) and Van Hollen v. Federal Election Commission (D.D.C.) (Representing intervenor defendants). He has also represented Virginia candidates in recounts and voter registration challenges before various Virginia Circuit Courts.
Mr. Torchinsky frequently lectures on campaign finance redistricting and ethics related subjects and provides commentary to the media on election related matters.
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Torchinsky was Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the United States Department of Justice. During the 2004 election cycle, he served as Deputy General Counsel to Bush-Cheney ’04 and Deputy General Counsel to the 2005 Presidential Inaugural Committee.
He holds a B.A. in Government and Public Policy from the College of William and Mary and a J.D. from the College of William and Mary School of Law. He is a member of the Virginia Bar, the District of Columbia Bar, the Republican National Lawyers Association and the Federalist Society.
Partner (retd.), Foley & Lardner LLP
Cleta Mitchell was a partner and political law attorney in the Washington, D.C. office of Foley & Lardner LLP and a member of the firm’s Political Law Practice. With more than 40 years of experience in law, politics and public policy, Ms. Mitchell advised nonprofit and issue organizations, corporations, candidates, campaigns, and individuals on state and federal campaign finance law, election law, and compliance issues related to lobbying, ethics and financial disclosure. Ms. Mitchell practiced before the Federal Election Commission, the ethics committees of the US House and Senate and similar state and local enforcement bodies and agencies.
Ms. Mitchell has extensive experience on the federal lobbying and ethics law enacted by Congress in 2007, having taught dozens of seminars on the subject since its passage. In 2008, Ms. Mitchell authored The Lobbying Compliance Handbook, published by Columbia Books, Inc.
Ms. Mitchell represented numerous candidates, campaigns and members of Congress, as well as state and national political party committees. She has served as legal counsel to the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee. Ms. Mitchell served as co-counsel for the National Rifle Association in the Supreme Court case involving the 2002 federal campaign finance law.
Ms. Mitchell has testified before Congress on numerous occasions related to election law, campaign finance and lobbying and ethics laws, and is a frequent speaker and guest commentator on political law. In 1999, she authored "The Rise of America’s Two National Pastimes: Baseball and the Law," published by the University of Michigan Law Review, and in 2012, Ms. Mitchell authored “Donor Disclosure: Undermining The First Amendment,” published by the Minnesota Law Review. In 2013, she was interviewed by The Wall Street Journal, “How to Investigate the IRS.”
Ms. Mitchell served on the advisory council to the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Election Law and as an advisor on the American Law Institute's Election Law Project entitled, “Principles of Election Law: Dispute Resolution.” She serves on the board of directors of the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, is chairman of the American Conservative Union Foundation, and has served as the president of the Republican National Lawyers Association.
Ms. Mitchell was a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1976-1984 where she chaired the House Appropriations and Budget Committee. She served on the executive committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Ms. Mitchell was in private law practice in Oklahoma City in litigation and administrative law until 1991 when she became director and general counsel of the Term Limits Legal Institute in Washington, D.C. She litigated cases in state and federal courts nationwide on congressional term limits and served as co-counsel with former U.S. Attorney General Griffin Bell in the Supreme Court of the United States case on term limits for members of Congress.
Ms. Mitchell earned both her B.A., magna cum laude, and J.D. from the University of Oklahoma.
Harmon, Curran, Spielberg + Eisenberg LLP
Prior to joining Harmon, Curran in 2004, Mr. Pomeranz was Nonprofit Advocacy Director at the Alliance for Justice, where he worked with nonprofits around the country to enhance their capacity to participate in the policy process.
John Pomeranz is a nationally recognized expert on the law governing lobbying and election-related activity by tax-exempt organizations. He has conducted hundreds of popular workshops on the subject and promoted policies to support nonprofit advocacy in Congress, the IRS, and the FEC.
Partner, Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak PLLC
Jason Torchinsky is a partner at Holtzman Vogel Josefiak PLLC, specializing in campaign finance, election law, lobbying disclosure and issue advocacy groups. Politico recently named him one of the “50 Politicos to Watch,” and in 2007, Campaigns and Elections Magazine named him a “Rising Star of Politics.”
In addition to his practice counseling clients on compliance with campaign finance, ethics laws, lobbying disclosure and election laws, Mr. Torchinsky has served as lead counsel in a number of litigation matters. Representative matters in the redistricting area include Louisiana House of Representatives v. Holder (D.D.C.) (Section 5 pre-clearance action), City of Sandy Springs v. Holder (D.D.C.) (Section 5 bailout action), and Fletcher v. Lamone (D. Md.) (challenging Maryland’s Congressional Districting map). In the campaign finance context, he is currently representing clients in Alliance for America’s Future v. State (Nevada Supreme Court) and Van Hollen v. Federal Election Commission (D.D.C.) (Representing intervenor defendants). He has also represented Virginia candidates in recounts and voter registration challenges before various Virginia Circuit Courts.
Mr. Torchinsky frequently lectures on campaign finance redistricting and ethics related subjects and provides commentary to the media on election related matters.
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Torchinsky was Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the United States Department of Justice. During the 2004 election cycle, he served as Deputy General Counsel to Bush-Cheney ’04 and Deputy General Counsel to the 2005 Presidential Inaugural Committee.
He holds a B.A. in Government and Public Policy from the College of William and Mary and a J.D. from the College of William and Mary School of Law. He is a member of the Virginia Bar, the District of Columbia Bar, the Republican National Lawyers Association and the Federalist Society.
Executive Vice President, The Federalist Society
Dean Reuter is Executive Vice President at the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies. He has served in two federal government agency Offices of the Inspector General, as Counsel to the Inspector General and Deputy Inspector General, responsible for policing the use of federal funds granted and contracted through those agencies. As such, he helped conduct and oversee criminal investigations across the country. He is the principal author of the non-fiction book, The Hidden Nazi: The Untold Story of America's Deal with the Devil, and editor of Liberty’s Nemesis: The Unchecked Expansion of the State and Confronting Terror: 9/11 and the Future of American National Security. He was appointed by the President and served as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service, and recently served as an appointee on the U.S. Commission on Presidential Scholars. He is a graduate of Hood College (BA with Honors) and the University of Maryland School of Law.
Assistant General Counsel, Government Affairs, Altria Client Services Inc.
Wesley Bizzell serves as Assistant General Counsel, Government Affairs for Altria Client Services Inc. (“ALCS”). Mr. Bizzell provides in-house legal counsel on matters relating to the political, legislative, and lobbying activities of Altria Group, Inc., its services companies, including ALCS, and its operating companies, including Philip Morris USA Inc., U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. LLC, John Middleton Co., and Ste. Michelle Wine Estates Ltd.
In this role, Mr. Bizzell is responsible for ensuring that Altria and its companies comply with all laws and regulations regarding federal, state, local, and Canadian campaign finance, government ethics, gifts to government officials, lobbying disclosure and reporting, and charitable giving. Overseeing a comprehensive compliance system covering the regulation of government affairs, Mr. Bizzell provides advice and guidance on political law compliance for more than 65 jurisdictions. Mr. Bizzell also supports Altria’s lobbying efforts by providing services related to legislative and regulatory drafting and interpretation. Mr. Bizzell is a member of Altria’s Compliance Leadership Team.
Previously, Mr. Bizzell was an attorney in Winston & Strawn LLP’s Federal Government Relations and Regulatory Affairs Practice Group. His career also includes more than six years on Capitol Hill, where he served as an aide to Arkansas Senators David Pryor and Dale Bumpers and handled matters involving the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Social Security Administration, Department of Education, and Department of Labor. Additionally, he has served in the Office of General Counsel and the Privatization and Special Projects Branch of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Department of Justice, where he focused on a myriad of issues involving privatization and government procurement.
While at Winston & Strawn, Mr. Bizzell provided significant representation on political compliance, government affairs, legislative, and regulatory matters to Fortune 500 companies in the corrections, automotive, banking, pharmaceutical, agricultural, and technology-oriented industries, as well as trade associations, nonprofit organizations, and local and territorial governments. He has served as outside ethics counsel to the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, provided legal counsel to the election campaigns of gubernatorial and congressional candidates, represented a corporate client in an enforcement action before the Federal Election Commission, and conducted internal investigations related to corporate political activities.
Mr. Bizzell graduated with a B.A. in justice, magna cum laude, from the American University in Washington, D.C. and received a Master of Social Work with a focus in public policy from the Catholic University of America. He received his J.D., magna cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and served as an editor for the Georgetown Law Journal.
Mr. Bizzell is a frequent author and speaker on political compliance law. He serves on the Publications Committee for the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (“COGEL”), a professional organization of government officials with responsibilities or interests in governmental ethics, elections, campaign finance, and lobby laws, and served on the advisory board for the Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s 2011 CLE Expo. Mr. Bizzell also lectures on political compliance law issues at many venues, including the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics’ Corporate Compliance Institute, the COGEL Annual Conference, the American Conference Institute’s National Forum on Corporate Lobbying and Political Activities, and the Practicing Law Institute’s annual Corporate Political Activities conference. Mr. Bizzell’s articles on the topics of political compliance law and lobbying have appeared in Corporate Counsel, Corrections Today, American Jails, the COGEL Guardian, Corrections.Com, and Metropolitan Corporate Counsel. He is a member of the Maryland and District of Columbia bars.
Partner, Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak PLLC
Jason Torchinsky is a partner at Holtzman Vogel Josefiak PLLC, specializing in campaign finance, election law, lobbying disclosure and issue advocacy groups. Politico recently named him one of the “50 Politicos to Watch,” and in 2007, Campaigns and Elections Magazine named him a “Rising Star of Politics.”
In addition to his practice counseling clients on compliance with campaign finance, ethics laws, lobbying disclosure and election laws, Mr. Torchinsky has served as lead counsel in a number of litigation matters. Representative matters in the redistricting area include Louisiana House of Representatives v. Holder (D.D.C.) (Section 5 pre-clearance action), City of Sandy Springs v. Holder (D.D.C.) (Section 5 bailout action), and Fletcher v. Lamone (D. Md.) (challenging Maryland’s Congressional Districting map). In the campaign finance context, he is currently representing clients in Alliance for America’s Future v. State (Nevada Supreme Court) and Van Hollen v. Federal Election Commission (D.D.C.) (Representing intervenor defendants). He has also represented Virginia candidates in recounts and voter registration challenges before various Virginia Circuit Courts.
Mr. Torchinsky frequently lectures on campaign finance redistricting and ethics related subjects and provides commentary to the media on election related matters.
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Torchinsky was Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the United States Department of Justice. During the 2004 election cycle, he served as Deputy General Counsel to Bush-Cheney ’04 and Deputy General Counsel to the 2005 Presidential Inaugural Committee.
He holds a B.A. in Government and Public Policy from the College of William and Mary and a J.D. from the College of William and Mary School of Law. He is a member of the Virginia Bar, the District of Columbia Bar, the Republican National Lawyers Association and the Federalist Society.
Managing Member, Political Law Group
Doug Chalmers practices in the area of federal and state political law and litigation. Before establishing the Political Law Group, he was a partner in the political law and litigation practice groups at McKenna, Long & Aldridge LLP. Doug has twice been recognized in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business as one of the leading political law attorneys in the nation. Politics magazine has also identified him as one of the most influential Republicans in Georgia.
Doug advises businesses, nonprofit organizations, chambers of commerce, trade associations, political action committees, elected officials, candidates, political parties, lobbyists and government agencies on the federal and state laws that govern involvement in political activities. This includes election law, campaign finance, lobbying, Federal Communications Commission regulations, government contracts, pay-to-play rules and government ethics. He advises on compliance and handles litigation and administrative law proceedings involving these issues. He also has experience in civil litigation involving libel and defamation, wrongful death, insurance coverage, contract disputes, class action consumer fraud, and other matters.
As part of his practice, Doug has successfully defended clients in numerous high-profile cases. His clients have included a former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; Georgia's former Governor; a Senate President Pro Tempore and two Speakers of the Georgia House of Representatives; the Senate and House Majority Leaders; Justices of the Georgia Supreme Court; Judges on the Georgia Court of Appeals; the Georgia Republican Party, and the Georgia House Republican Caucus. He was the chief lawyer in Georgia for the 2008 McCain presidential campaign, served as Chairman of Lawyers for Rudy Giuliani in the southeastern United States, and was a Co-Chair of Georgia Lawyers for Romney-Ryan. He is also the Chairman of the Political Activities Subcommittee of the Nonprofit Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia.
Doug is also a frequent speaker in the area of political law, and he has addressed CLE seminars around the country. He has testified before legislative committees concerning government ethics and ethics reform, and is regularly contacted by the media on these issues. Law & Politics and Atlanta Magazine have recognized Doug as a Georgia Super Lawyer Rising Star.
Doug is also active in the community and in civic affairs. He was appointed by Governor Sonny Perdue to the Board of Directors of the Georgia Department of Driver Services, and he served as Vice-Chair of the Board. He is on the Board of Governors of the Republican National Lawyers Association, and is the immediate past chairman of the RNLA's Georgia chapter. He is active in the Federalist Society, serving on the Executive Committees of the Atlanta Lawyers Chapter and the Free Speech and Election Law Practice Group. He is an Assistant Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 27 in Johns Creek.
Doug received his undergraduate and law degrees from Duke University. He was an editor of the Duke Law Journal and a member of the Moot Court Board, and he received the James S. Bidlake Award for Superior Achievement in Legal Research and Writing. He clerked for Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Doug is admitted in Georgia and the District of Columbia.
Executive Vice President, The Federalist Society
Dean Reuter is Executive Vice President at the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies. He has served in two federal government agency Offices of the Inspector General, as Counsel to the Inspector General and Deputy Inspector General, responsible for policing the use of federal funds granted and contracted through those agencies. As such, he helped conduct and oversee criminal investigations across the country. He is the principal author of the non-fiction book, The Hidden Nazi: The Untold Story of America's Deal with the Devil, and editor of Liberty’s Nemesis: The Unchecked Expansion of the State and Confronting Terror: 9/11 and the Future of American National Security. He was appointed by the President and served as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service, and recently served as an appointee on the U.S. Commission on Presidential Scholars. He is a graduate of Hood College (BA with Honors) and the University of Maryland School of Law.
Crime and Politics: Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules in "John Doe" Investigation - Podcast
Allen J. Dickerson, Edward D. Greim, Tara Malloy, Jason Torchinsky
Criminal Law & Procedure Practice Group Podcast
On Thursday July 16, 2015, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued an opinion and order ending...
The Limits of Political Activity - Podcast
Cleta Mitchell, John Pomeranz, Jason Torchinsky, Dean Reuter
Free Speech & Election Law Practice Group Podcast
Recently, the IRS proposed new regulations governing 501(c)(4) social welfare groups. Proponents argue that the...
Corporate Disclosure After Citizens United: Legislation, Regulation, and Shareholder Resolutions - Podcast
Wesley Bizzell, Jason Torchinsky, Douglas Chalmers, Dean Reuter
Free Speech & Election Law Practice Group Podcast
In the wake of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, there has been a concerted...