Senior Legal Fellow, the Meese Institute for the Rule of Law, Advancing American Freedom
Paul J. Larkin is a Senior Legal Fellow in the Meese Institute for the Rule of Law at Advancing American Freedom. Paul has held various positions in the federal and state governments throughout his career, such as being an attorney in the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, an Assistant to the Solicitor General in the Office of the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice, Special Agent-in-Charge and Acting Director of the Criminal Investigation Division at the Environmental Protection Agency, and a member of the Parole Abolition and Sentencing Reform Commission and of the Juvenile Justice Reform Commission in the Office of Virginia Governor George Allen.
He has also worked at Verizon Communications and two law firms in Washington, D.C. His current research is principally in the fields of drug policy, criminal justice policy, and administrative law and policy. He has published numerous articles in law and public policy journals, both in print and online.
Vice President, Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law, Advancing American Freedom
John G. Malcolm oversees Advancing American Freedom’s work to increase understanding of the Constitution and the rule of law as Vice President of the organization’s Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law. Malcolm brings to the challenge a wealth of legal expertise and experience in both the public and private sectors.
Prior to joining Advancing American Freedom in 2025, Malcolm was the Vice President of the Institute for Constitutional Government and the Director of the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation. Prior to joining Heritage in 2012, Malcolm was general counsel at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, as well as a distinguished practitioner in residence at Pepperdine Law School. From 2004 to 2009, Malcolm was executive vice president and director of worldwide anti-piracy operations for the Motion Picture Association.
Malcolm served as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division from 2001 to 2004, where he oversaw sections on computer crime and intellectual property, domestic security, child exploitation and obscenity, and special investigations. Immediately prior to that, he was a founding partner in the Atlanta law firm of Malcolm & Schroeder, LLP.
From 1990 to 1997, Malcolm was an assistant U.S. attorney in Atlanta, assigned to the fraud and public corruption section, and also an associate independent counsel, investigating fraud and abuse in the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He was honored with the Director’s Award for Superior Performance for his work in connection with the successful prosecution of Walter Leroy Moody Jr., who assassinated an 11th Circuit judge and the head of the Savannah chapter of the NAACP.
A graduate of Harvard Law School and Columbia College, Malcolm began his career as a law clerk to a federal district court judge and a federal appellate court judge, and as an associate at the Atlanta-based law firm of Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan (new Eversheds Sutherland).
Malcolm, who resides in Washington, D.C., serves on the Board of Trustees of the Washington National Opera and is a Senate-confirmed member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation, the largest funder of civil legal aid in the United States.
Director, Center for Legal Policy, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research
James R. Copland is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and director of Legal Policy. In those roles, he develops and communicates novel, sound ideas on how to improve America’s civil- and criminal-justice systems. His forthcoming book, The Unelected: How an Unaccountable Elite is Governing America (Encounter Books) will be released on September 8, 2020. He has testified before Congress as well as state and municipal legislatures; and has authored many policy briefs, book chapters, articles and opinion pieces in a variety of publications, including the Harvard Business Law Review and Yale Journal on Regulation, the Wall Street Journal, National Law Journal, and USA Today. Copland speaks regularly on civil- and criminal-justice issues; has made hundreds of media appearances in such outlets as PBS, Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC, Fox Business, Bloomberg, C-Span, and NPR; and is frequently cited in news articles in the New York Times, Washington Post, The Economist, and Forbes. In 2011 and 2012, he was named to the National Association of Corporate Directors “Directorship 100” list, which designates the individuals most influential over U.S. corporate governance.
Prior to joining MI, Copland was a management consultant with McKinsey and Company in New York. Earlier, he was a law clerk for Ralph K. Winter on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Copland has been a director of two privately held manufacturing companies since 1997 and has served on many public and nonprofit boards. He holds a J.D. and an M.B.A. from Yale, where he was an Olin Fellow in Law and Economics; an M.Sc. in the politics of the world economy from the London School of Economics; and a B.A. in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead Scholar.
Vice President, Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law, Advancing American Freedom
John G. Malcolm oversees Advancing American Freedom’s work to increase understanding of the Constitution and the rule of law as Vice President of the organization’s Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law. Malcolm brings to the challenge a wealth of legal expertise and experience in both the public and private sectors.
Prior to joining Advancing American Freedom in 2025, Malcolm was the Vice President of the Institute for Constitutional Government and the Director of the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation. Prior to joining Heritage in 2012, Malcolm was general counsel at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, as well as a distinguished practitioner in residence at Pepperdine Law School. From 2004 to 2009, Malcolm was executive vice president and director of worldwide anti-piracy operations for the Motion Picture Association.
Malcolm served as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division from 2001 to 2004, where he oversaw sections on computer crime and intellectual property, domestic security, child exploitation and obscenity, and special investigations. Immediately prior to that, he was a founding partner in the Atlanta law firm of Malcolm & Schroeder, LLP.
From 1990 to 1997, Malcolm was an assistant U.S. attorney in Atlanta, assigned to the fraud and public corruption section, and also an associate independent counsel, investigating fraud and abuse in the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He was honored with the Director’s Award for Superior Performance for his work in connection with the successful prosecution of Walter Leroy Moody Jr., who assassinated an 11th Circuit judge and the head of the Savannah chapter of the NAACP.
A graduate of Harvard Law School and Columbia College, Malcolm began his career as a law clerk to a federal district court judge and a federal appellate court judge, and as an associate at the Atlanta-based law firm of Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan (new Eversheds Sutherland).
Malcolm, who resides in Washington, D.C., serves on the Board of Trustees of the Washington National Opera and is a Senate-confirmed member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation, the largest funder of civil legal aid in the United States.
Senior Fellow, Administrative Conference of the United States
Paul D. Kamenar is a Washington, D.C. public policy and appellate attorney who counsels clients on legal, regulatory, and public policy matters. He is also a Senior Fellow of the Administrative Conference of the United States and guest lectures at the U.S. Naval Academy on National Security Law. He has been a speaker at several conferences across the country on overcriminalization and regulatory enforcement, including those sponsored by the American Bar Association, George Mason University Law School, S.J. Quinney College of Law-University of Utah, American University Washington College of Law, Northwestern University School of Law, and the Cleveland Chapter of the Federalist Society. He also has briefed Members of Congress and their staff on overcriminalization issues along with representatives from the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Heritage Foundation. He and his clients have also testified before congressional committees on these issues. He was Senior Executive Counsel of the Washington Legal Foundation, Clinical Professor of Law at George Mason University Law School from 1999-2005, and adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center teaching a separation of powers/appellate advocacy seminar. He is a graduate of Georgetown Law and received his undergraduate degree from Rutgers College.
Principal, Lauro & Singer
John F. Lauro is an accomplished trial lawyer with over thirty years of experience specializing in complex criminal and commercial litigation. Throughout his career he has concluded several high-profile matters that have generated considerable public attention and successful results for his clients. Mr. Lauro has recently tried two of the most significant white collar cases in the past decade involving complex accounting and medical economics issues. During his career, Mr. Lauro has obtained a Rule 29 acquittal in a high profile federal criminal case on behalf of the former president of a national healthcare company, who had been accused of violating the federal securities and conspiracy laws. Mr. Lauro has successfully represented an individual charged in the first “dot-com securities fraud” case brought in federal court in Manhattan, which resulted in a jury acquittal on all counts. Additionally, he has represented a well-known sports figure, who had been charged with violating the federal wire fraud statute in connection with gambling activities. Mr. Lauro has also obtained a dismissal of all civil claims against a Middle Eastern banking institution in connection with the 9/11 litigation pending in New York. The case went to the Supreme Court, which denied review. Finally, Mr. Lauro obtained a multi-million dollar judgment against a New York investment advisor for defrauding an international jewelry manufacturer in connection with an investment account.
Mr. Lauro grew up in New York and later graduated from Georgetown University in 1979, magna cum laude. While a college student, Mr. Lauro was elected to a position as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in the District of Columbia. As an elected official, he focused most of his attention on the development of the Georgetown waterfront and other constituent issues. He then attended Georgetown University Law Center and graduated in 1982, magna cum laude. While a law student, Mr. Lauro was an editor of the Georgetown Law Journal.
Following graduation from law school, Mr. Lauro returned to New York and began practicing with the international law firm of Morgan, Lewis, and Bockius. He later joined the criminal division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. After government service, Mr. Lauro established a practice in Florida, and became a partner with a national law firm. In 1994, he founded Lauro Law Firm, which now has offices in New York and Florida.
Vice President, Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law, Advancing American Freedom
John G. Malcolm oversees Advancing American Freedom’s work to increase understanding of the Constitution and the rule of law as Vice President of the organization’s Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law. Malcolm brings to the challenge a wealth of legal expertise and experience in both the public and private sectors.
Prior to joining Advancing American Freedom in 2025, Malcolm was the Vice President of the Institute for Constitutional Government and the Director of the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation. Prior to joining Heritage in 2012, Malcolm was general counsel at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, as well as a distinguished practitioner in residence at Pepperdine Law School. From 2004 to 2009, Malcolm was executive vice president and director of worldwide anti-piracy operations for the Motion Picture Association.
Malcolm served as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division from 2001 to 2004, where he oversaw sections on computer crime and intellectual property, domestic security, child exploitation and obscenity, and special investigations. Immediately prior to that, he was a founding partner in the Atlanta law firm of Malcolm & Schroeder, LLP.
From 1990 to 1997, Malcolm was an assistant U.S. attorney in Atlanta, assigned to the fraud and public corruption section, and also an associate independent counsel, investigating fraud and abuse in the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He was honored with the Director’s Award for Superior Performance for his work in connection with the successful prosecution of Walter Leroy Moody Jr., who assassinated an 11th Circuit judge and the head of the Savannah chapter of the NAACP.
A graduate of Harvard Law School and Columbia College, Malcolm began his career as a law clerk to a federal district court judge and a federal appellate court judge, and as an associate at the Atlanta-based law firm of Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan (new Eversheds Sutherland).
Malcolm, who resides in Washington, D.C., serves on the Board of Trustees of the Washington National Opera and is a Senate-confirmed member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation, the largest funder of civil legal aid in the United States.
Assistant Attorney General & Senior Trial Counsel to the Criminal Bureau, Massachusetts Attorney General
Vice President, Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law, Advancing American Freedom
John G. Malcolm oversees Advancing American Freedom’s work to increase understanding of the Constitution and the rule of law as Vice President of the organization’s Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law. Malcolm brings to the challenge a wealth of legal expertise and experience in both the public and private sectors.
Prior to joining Advancing American Freedom in 2025, Malcolm was the Vice President of the Institute for Constitutional Government and the Director of the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation. Prior to joining Heritage in 2012, Malcolm was general counsel at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, as well as a distinguished practitioner in residence at Pepperdine Law School. From 2004 to 2009, Malcolm was executive vice president and director of worldwide anti-piracy operations for the Motion Picture Association.
Malcolm served as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division from 2001 to 2004, where he oversaw sections on computer crime and intellectual property, domestic security, child exploitation and obscenity, and special investigations. Immediately prior to that, he was a founding partner in the Atlanta law firm of Malcolm & Schroeder, LLP.
From 1990 to 1997, Malcolm was an assistant U.S. attorney in Atlanta, assigned to the fraud and public corruption section, and also an associate independent counsel, investigating fraud and abuse in the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He was honored with the Director’s Award for Superior Performance for his work in connection with the successful prosecution of Walter Leroy Moody Jr., who assassinated an 11th Circuit judge and the head of the Savannah chapter of the NAACP.
A graduate of Harvard Law School and Columbia College, Malcolm began his career as a law clerk to a federal district court judge and a federal appellate court judge, and as an associate at the Atlanta-based law firm of Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan (new Eversheds Sutherland).
Malcolm, who resides in Washington, D.C., serves on the Board of Trustees of the Washington National Opera and is a Senate-confirmed member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation, the largest funder of civil legal aid in the United States.
Assistant Deputy Chief, Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering, United States Department of Justice
John W. Vardaman, III has been the Assistant Deputy Chief of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section of the United States Department of Justice since January 2011. Prior to this, he served as Senior Counsel in the Office of Legal Policy at the Justice Department from 2006 to 2011.
Before joining the Justice Department, Mr. Vardaman was Special Assistant to the General Counsel at the U.S. Treasury Department from 2001 to 2005. While there, he served a stint as Associate General Counsel with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq from November 2003 to July 2004.
Before joining government, Mr. Vardaman was an associate at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP from 1997 to 2001.
Mr. Vardaman received his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, and subsequently clerked for Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle on the District of Columbia Superior Court.
Partner, Graves Garrett LLC
Todd Graves is a lawyer in private practice with the law firm of Graves Garrett. Todd represents individuals and businesses nationwide before federal and state courts and administrative agencies. His areas of expertise include white collar criminal defense, political speech and election law, internal investigations, regulatory compliance, and complex commercial litigation. Todd is admitted to the United States Supreme Court, the Missouri Bar, the Kansas Bar, the Texas Bar, the Iowa Bar, the Federal Courts of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, the Eighth Circuit and the Sixth Circuit, and the Federal District Courts for the Western District of Missouri, Eastern District of Missouri, the District of Kansas, and the Western District of Michigan.
Todd currently serves as Executive Vice-President of the Pony Express Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Royal Association and a founding board member of the Kansas City Missouri Police Foundation.
Before forming Graves Garrett, Todd served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri. As United States Attorney, Todd was responsible for prosecuting federal crimes including mail and wire fraud, money laundering, public corruption, health care fraud, child pornography, firearms violations, narcotics trafficking, pharmaceutical diversion, corporate fraud, and terrorism financing. During Graves’ tenure, felony filings doubled.
In addition, Todd was responsible for defending civil lawsuits brought against the United States, handling federal forfeiture actions, and collecting debts and restitution. Todd managed a staff of 120 with headquarters in Kansas City and two branch offices.
Todd also served as a member of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, advising the Attorney General on Department of Justice national priorities and policies. Todd participated in drafting Department of Justice policies in corporate investigations including charging, pre-trial diversion, and sentencing. Todd was also a member of the national Executive Working Group, which includes six Department of Justice officials, six state attorneys general, and six district attorneys.
Todd was appointed United States Attorney from his position as Platte County Prosecuting Attorney, an office to which he was elected in 1994 and 1998. At the time of his election in 1994, he was the youngest full-time prosecuting attorney in Missouri. In that position, he oversaw a yearly caseload of approximately 400 felonies, 2500 misdemeanors and 14,000 traffic offenses.
As Prosecuting Attorney and as United States Attorney, Todd actively managed cases and trials under his authority and personally tried numerous jury trials to verdict, including cases of child molestation, drug distribution, murder and capital murder.
Prior to his service as Platte County Prosecuting Attorney, Todd was in private practice with the Bryan Cave law firm. Before joining Bryan Cave, he was an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Missouri.
In 1991, Todd received his law degree and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Virginia. He received a bachelor’s degree, Summa Cum Laude, from the University of Missouri in 1988.
Raised on a family farm near Tarkio, Missouri, Todd has been married 24 years to his wife, Tracy. The couple has four children, and they reside on a 270 acre farm north of Kansas City that has been in the family since 1867.
Partner, Alston & Bird LLP
Edward (Ted) Kang’s practice focuses on white collar defense and compliance in the areas of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), False Claims Act (FCA), Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions, anti-money laundering, antitrust, and the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA).
Ted represents companies and individuals under investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and other federal and state enforcement agencies. He also counsels and conducts internal investigations for clients in a wide range of industries. Ted is an accomplished courtroom lawyer and has tried a dozen cases to verdict and argued nine cases on appeal to federal circuit courts.
Ted served for eight years as a federal prosecutor in the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division and at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, where he prosecuted some of the department’s most high-profile fraud and public corruption cases. He is a recipient of the 2012 Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service and was named a 2014 D.C. “Rising Star” by The National Law Journal.
Ted is frequently called upon to provide expert analysis on white collar matters. He has provided legal commentary for The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal and was a television analyst for WUSA9-DC.
Vice President, Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law, Advancing American Freedom
John G. Malcolm oversees Advancing American Freedom’s work to increase understanding of the Constitution and the rule of law as Vice President of the organization’s Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law. Malcolm brings to the challenge a wealth of legal expertise and experience in both the public and private sectors.
Prior to joining Advancing American Freedom in 2025, Malcolm was the Vice President of the Institute for Constitutional Government and the Director of the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation. Prior to joining Heritage in 2012, Malcolm was general counsel at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, as well as a distinguished practitioner in residence at Pepperdine Law School. From 2004 to 2009, Malcolm was executive vice president and director of worldwide anti-piracy operations for the Motion Picture Association.
Malcolm served as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division from 2001 to 2004, where he oversaw sections on computer crime and intellectual property, domestic security, child exploitation and obscenity, and special investigations. Immediately prior to that, he was a founding partner in the Atlanta law firm of Malcolm & Schroeder, LLP.
From 1990 to 1997, Malcolm was an assistant U.S. attorney in Atlanta, assigned to the fraud and public corruption section, and also an associate independent counsel, investigating fraud and abuse in the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He was honored with the Director’s Award for Superior Performance for his work in connection with the successful prosecution of Walter Leroy Moody Jr., who assassinated an 11th Circuit judge and the head of the Savannah chapter of the NAACP.
A graduate of Harvard Law School and Columbia College, Malcolm began his career as a law clerk to a federal district court judge and a federal appellate court judge, and as an associate at the Atlanta-based law firm of Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan (new Eversheds Sutherland).
Malcolm, who resides in Washington, D.C., serves on the Board of Trustees of the Washington National Opera and is a Senate-confirmed member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation, the largest funder of civil legal aid in the United States.
Partner, King & Spalding
John Richter is a trial and investigations partner in the Special Matters and Investigations Practice Group, and represents and defends companies, Boards of Directors, Board committees, and individuals facing a variety of white-collar criminal and regulatory enforcement matters, parallel civil litigation, and internal corporate investigations. John previously served as the Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice and as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, having been nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by unanimous consent of the U.S. Senate.
Topics
Point/Counterpoint: Criminal Justice Reform and Mens Rea
My good friend Bill Otis has posted his opening statement from a Federalist Society event...
NLC: Mens Rea Reform & White House Counsel
I was both surprised and pleased to see White House Counsel W. Neil Eggleston appear...
Topics
Criminal Justice Reform Moves to the House
The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015 (a summary of which can be found here)—the...
Guilty as Charged: The Yates Memo - Podcast
Paul James Larkin, John G. Malcolm, James R. Copland
Criminal Law & Procedure Practice Group Podcast
On September 15, 2015, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates issued a much-talked about memo, directing...
Countdown to the National Lawyers Convention: Prosecutors Run Amok?
The Countdown to the Convention series previews some of the outstanding panels and events at...
Topics
A Response to Bill Otis's "Baker's Dozen"
My longtime good friend Bill Otis has written a very clever “quick-hitter” baker’s dozen reasons...
Criminalizing Reasonable Interpretations of Regulatory Schemes: Clay [Todd Farha] v. United States - Podcast
John G. Malcolm, Paul D. Kamenar, John F. Lauro
Criminal Law & Procedure Practice Group Podcast
Is Clay v. United States, currently pending in the 11th Circuit, a case study of...
Supreme Court Criminal Law Round Up - October Term 2014 - Podcast
John G. Malcolm, Dean A. Mazzone
Criminal Law & Procedure Practice Group Podcast
The Supreme Court issued a number of notable opinions in the area of criminal law...
Civil Asset Forfeiture - Podcast
John G. Malcolm, John W. Vardaman
Criminal Law & Procedure and Litigation Practice Groups Podcast
Since the 1980s, the Department of Justice has utilized civil asset forfeiture as an effective...
The Criminalization of Politics
Todd P. Graves, Edward T. Kang, John G. Malcolm, John C. Richter
Criminal Law & Procedure Practice Group
What actions are political and what actions are criminal? Where should prosecutors and courts draw...