Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP
Svetlana S. Gans is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP where she helps clients navigate complex consumer protection, privacy, and competition related regulatory proceedings before the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), , U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, State Attorneys General and other enforcement bodies. Ms. Gans also assists on litigation matters and provides strategic counseling and advice related to public policy issues.
Before joining Gibson Dunn, she served as the Vice President & Associate General Counsel at NCTA, the Internet & Television Association, where she helped lead the association’s consumer protection and competition policy work. Prior to joining NCTA, Ms. Gans served with distinction as Chief of Staff to Acting Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen at the FTC. As the agency chief of staff, Ms. Gans managed and oversaw agency operations, including bureau and office heads reporting to the Chairman, a seven-member office staff, and an agency budget of over $300 million. She also served as the Acting Chairman’s key advisor on consumer protection and competition investigations and litigation, working with a diverse team of attorneys and economists to preserve competition and protect U.S. consumers. She created, executed, and oversaw several strategic initiatives for the agency, including the agency process reform, regulatory reform, and data security transparency initiatives. Previously, Ms. Gans had the unique experience of serving in both litigating bureaus of the FTC: the Bureau of Competition and the Bureau of Consumer Protection.
Prior to her time in government, Ms. Gans worked as an antitrust associate at major law firms. Her practice focused on defending consumer product, financial services, and trade association clients in regulatory and private investigations alleging conspiracy and violations of antitrust and consumer protection laws.
Ms. Gans has been an active leader in the ABA Antitrust Law Section (“Section”) for two decades, and currently serves as the Section’s Marketing Officer. Ms. Gans helped create the Section’s Young Lawyer Representative Program, now in its 10th year, and the Section’s Law Ambassador Program, each aimed at developing and promoting the next generation of consumer protection and competition attorneys. Ms. Gans is also active in the Federal Communications Bar Association, currently serving as Co-Chair of the Diversity Pipeline Initiative and the Women’s Leadership Committee.
Ms. Gans received her law degree with high honors from the University of Denver College of Law. During law school, Ms. Gans served as a Judicial Intern to the Honorable John L. Kane, Jr. and as an Honors Program Paralegal for the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Merger Taskforce. Ms. Gans earned her undergraduate degree cum laude from Boston University.
Senior Advisor, Freshfields
Christine is a senior advisor in our antitrust, competition and trade practice with more than 25 years of public and private sector experience at the intersection of law, policy and politics. Based in Washington, DC, she counsels senior executives and boards of directors on how to navigate complex and evolving legal and regulatory regimes to achieve their desired business goals.
Most recently, Christine served as a Commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) where she helped shape policies and enforcement actions in the fields of antitrust, consumer privacy and data security and consumer protection. During her tenure, she also testified before the US Congress on several occasions and represented the FTC in bilateral and multilateral discussions abroad.
Before joining the FTC, Christine was a Senior Vice President at Delta Air Lines where she oversaw the carrier’s regulatory and international legal matters. Prior to moving in-house, she was a partner at two international law firms where she worked with clients to achieve regulatory clearance for multi-jurisdictional mergers and to defend businesses in high-stakes investigations.
Her broad sector experience ranges from aircraft and automobiles to veterinary services, video games and virtual reality. She has worked extensively in the highly regulated fields of airlines, healthcare and pharmaceuticals.
After leaving the FTC last year, Christine founded an organization to provide safe housing and comprehensive support services to survivors of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Freshfields provided pro bono services to the organization including corporate formation. She will continue supporting this organization alongside client practice.
John S. Battle Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law
Julia D. Mahoney teaches courses in property, government finance, constitutional law and nonprofit organizations. A graduate of Yale Law School, she joined the University of Virginia faculty as an associate professor in 1999 and is now John S. Battle Professor of Law. She has also taught at the University of Southern California Law School and the University of Chicago Law School, and before entering the legal academy, practiced law at the New York firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Her scholarly articles include works on land preservation, eminent domain, health care reform and property rights in human biological materials.
Associate Professor of Law, University of Georgia School of Law
Nathan Chapman joined the School of Law faculty in 2013 and was promoted to associate professor in 2018. Additionally, the law school student body awarded Chapman the C. Ronald Ellington Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2018.
Chapman's scholarship is in two areas: the history of due process and law and religion. He has pioneered a new view of the original understanding of due process as a provision that reinforced the rule of law against every branch of the federal government, with respect to any deprivation of rights, anywhere in the world. The foundational papers are "Due Process as Separation of Powers," 121 Yale L.J. 167 (2012) (with M. McConnell); "Due Process Abroad," 112 Nw. U. L. Rev. 377 (2017); and "Due Process of War," 94 Notre Dame L. Rev. ___ (forthcoming 2018).
His scholarship on law and religion focuses on the history and doctrine of religious liberty and, separately, Christianity and the law. The Law and Religion Section of the Association of American Law Schools awarded him the first annual Harold Berman Award for Scholarly Excellence for "The Establishment Clause, State Action, and Town of Greece," 24 Wm. & Mary Bill Rts. J. 405 (2015). He is also the author of "Disentangling Conscience and Religion," 2013 U. Ill. L. Rev. 1457, and "Adjudicating Religious Sincerity," 92 Wash. L. Rev. 1185 (2017). He has also written several book chapters for edited volumes that are forthcoming in a series for Cambridge University Press.
Chapman holds degrees in law and theology from Duke University. He litigated in the D.C. office of WilmerHale and clerked for the Honorable Gerald Bard Tjoflat of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He teaches classes in constitutional law, procedure and ethics.
Senior Director, Global Investigations, Cognizant
Brian Lichter directs and oversees sensitive internal investigations related corruption, bribery, fraud, and other serious misconduct; manages outside counsel where appropriate; and responds to government requests and inquiries. He serves as Cognizant's primary cybersecurity attorney, including managing incident response to cyber incidents and providing legal advice regarding cybersecurity issues and crisis management.
Partner, King & Spalding LLP
Rod J. Rosenstein is a partner in King & Spalding’s Special Matters & Government Investigations practice. Drawing upon three decades of experience as a federal prosecutor and a senior government official, Rod helps clients resolve complex regulatory and litigation challenges, including government investigations, crisis management, internal investigations, national security, compliance and monitoring.
Rod served in senior leadership positions at the U.S. Department of Justice during the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, including as Deputy Attorney General (2017 to 2019) and United States Attorney for Maryland (2005 to 2017).
As the second-highest ranking official at the Department of Justice, Rod was responsible for overseeing 115,000 employees in the Department’s litigating divisions, law enforcement agencies and United States Attorney’s Offices, and for formulating and implementing federal enforcement policies. He led the revision of policies concerning corporate criminal prosecutions and parallel domestic and foreign investigations, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act matters, and health care fraud cases. He also reviewed significant proposed criminal and civil enforcement actions, proposed False Claims Act settlements and related matters, and proposals to appoint corporate monitors. Rod also acted on national security matters subject to review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Additionally, Rod led the interagency Task Force on Market Integrity and Consumer Fraud and developed a strategy to combat cybercrime as head of the Department’s Cyber-Digital Task Force.
Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP
Jonathan Su, Deputy Office Managing Partner of the Washington, D.C. office and a former Special Counsel to the President, advises clients on government, Congressional, and internal investigations as well as related litigation.
Mr. Su advises corporations, boards of directors, and individuals on investigations conducted by the Department of Justice (DOJ), US Congress, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and other federal agencies. Mr. Su also conducts internal investigations regarding a wide range of alleged misconduct, including corruption, financial irregularities, and sexual misconduct.
As part of his work, Mr. Su helps navigate often intense government and media scrutiny so that clients can maintain their business operations. In so doing, he draws on significant experience both in private practice representing leading corporations and individuals, as well as his prior work at the highest levels of the Executive Branch and as a federal white collar crime prosecutor.
In his prior role as Special Counsel to President Barack Obama, Mr. Su advised the President and senior White House and Executive Branch officials on a wide range of matters, including Congressional investigations, risk management, nominations and personnel issues, litigation matters involving the White House, and matters relating to the DOJ. He also advised the President on executive clemency matters. Mr. Su’s responsibilities at the White House Counsel’s Office included engaging with senior officials of several cabinet agencies, including the Departments of Justice, the Treasury, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs, and several offices within the Executive Office of the President.
Prior to joining the White House, Mr. Su served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Maryland where he conducted 12 jury trials to verdict. Among his most significant matters, Mr. Su led a team of FBI and IRS agents in securing convictions (through jury trials and guilty pleas) of the leaders of a US$78 million Ponzi scheme affecting more than 1,000 victims in the East Coast and California (United States v. Andrew Williams, et al). Mr. Su also led the Maryland component of a joint Maryland / District of Columbia federal prosecution of the largest embezzlement (US$49 million) in the history of the District of Columbia government (United States v. Harriette Walters, et al). In 2011, then-United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein awarded Mr. Su the US Attorney’s Award for Excellence in Prosecution of Fraud.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Su served as a law clerk to both Judge Julian Abele Cook, Jr. of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, and Judge Ronald M. Gould of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Mr. Su currently serves as Chair of Latham’s Global Pro Bono Committee, through which the firm has provided more than 3.5 million hours of free legal services valued at more than US$1.6 billion since 2000.
Securities Lawyer
He regularly represents clients before U.S. federal and state financial regulatory authorities, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. He also represents clients in filing comment letters and amicus briefs in connection with SEC rulemakings.
Partner,, Fenimore, Kay, Harrison & Ford, LLP
Jonathan Hightower focuses his practice in financial institutions law, including corporate, regulatory and securities work. He represents banks and trust companies throughout the country with a particular focus on the Southeast. Mr. Hightower also represents investment banking firms in connection with public and private capital raises, delivery of fairness opinions, and strategic transactions. Mr. Hightower has been a frequent speaker, writer and press commentator on various banking issues.
Shareholder, Maynard Nexsen
Jenny McCain is a Shareholder of Maynard Nexsen and Co-Chair of the firm’s Banking Practice. She also is President of Stonegate Real Estate Investments, LLC, a multi-state commercial real estate company. Ms. McCain is also the Founder, Director, and President (2013-2015) of Scholarships for Kids, Inc.
Ms. McCain provides specialized regulatory and general corporate advice to financial institutions of all sizes, including public and private banks, savings associations, credit unions, insurance companies, and other non-depository financial institutions. Ms. McCain’s clients include many of the nation’s largest banking corporations, insurance companies and credit unions based on asset size, as well as numerous community banks.
In 2010, Ms. McCain led the corporate reorganization/restructuring of a privately owned, $100 million commercial real estate company and has served for the past seven years as its President. Ms. McCain is active in both local and regional philanthropic initiatives. In 2013, Ms. McCain founded Scholarships for Kids, Inc. a nonprofit organization that provides scholarships to low income children throughout the state of Alabama. Ms. McCain actively ran the organization from 2013 until 2015, during which time Scholarships for Kids raised over $18 million, partnered with 36 schools throughout the state, and provided more than 3400 scholarships to kindergarten to 12th grade students in Alabama. A twenty-year veteran of the Federalist Society, Ms. McCain has served in leadership positions with the organization since the early 2000s.
Ms. McCain has earned numerous professional and personal accolades, including recognition by both Chambers USA and America’s Best Lawyers as a Leading Practitioner in the area of Banking and Finance. In 2015, Ms. McCain was selected as a member of the inaugural class of the Presidential Leadership Scholars, a national leadership program created by the George W. Bush, William J. Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Libraries.
Ms. McCain is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the University of Texas School of Law. She was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama.
Partner,, Shapiro Bieging Barber Otteson LLP
Christian Otteson is a partner with Shapiro Bieging Barber Otteson LLP, and is the director of the firm’s financial services practice. Mr. Otteson’s principal areas of practice include assisting corporations and financial institutions with mergers, acquisitions, public and private securities offerings and securities reporting, governance issues, general commercial agreements, technology-related issues and matters involving state and federal banking laws, regulations and supervisory agencies. He also assists financial institutions with the negotiation of regulatory agreements, business and capital plans, and with administrative proceedings related to cease and desist orders and other forms of regulatory enforcement action. Mr. Otteson serves as outside general counsel for many banks and bank holding companies, and in that capacity assists boards and management with strategic and risk management planning, and execution of resulting strategies.
Prior to joining Shapiro Bieging Barber Otteson LLP, Mr. Otteson practiced for many years in the Corporate and Securities Section of an international law firm, working specifically in the Financial Services Group. Mr. Otteson also worked in various positions as corporate counsel for a public regional bank, including as General Counsel and Secretary, where he represented the bank and its holding company on matters involving mergers and acquisitions, capital raising and securities reporting, governance, compensation matters, as well as its outsourcing activities, regulatory compliance and general commercial agreements.
Mr. Otteson has lectured extensively on a variety of banking law topics, including bank mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, strategic planning and regulatory compliance. From 2005 to 2008 Mr. Otteson served on the National Arbitration Board of the National Automated Clearing House Association. He is a Texas Business Hall of Fame Scholar.
Mr. Otteson was named Barrister’s Best “People’s Choice” in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 by Law Week Colorado. In this statewide annual survey, the staff and readers of Colorado’s top legal publication choose winners in over 100 different categories celebrating the best of the legal world in Colorado. Mr. Otteson was voted “Best Banking Lawyer.”
Denver’s top lifestyle publication, 5280 magazine, named Mr. Otteson to its list of Top Lawyers in the “Banking” category in 2018, 2019 and 2020. The rankings are based on ballots cast by thousands of lawyers in the seven-county Denver metro area, as well as the magazine’s extensive research.
General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Citigroup
Brent McIntosh joined Citi as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary in October 2021. Brent leads Citi's global legal team, including Citi security and investigative services, and oversees Citi’s independent compliance risk management function.
Brent served as Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs from 2019 to 2021. He led the Treasury Department’s engagement in the G7 and G20, represented the United States on the Financial Stability Board, and managed U.S. participation at the IMF and World Bank. He oversaw Treasury’s international economic and financial policy work, including significant engagements on investment security and regulation of digital currencies. During 2020, he coordinated initiatives to alleviate the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic consequences.
From 2017 to 2019, Brent served as Treasury’s General Counsel, leading the department’s approximately 2,000 lawyers and spearheading its regulatory reform efforts. Prior to that, he was a partner in the law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, where his practice focused on complex disputes involving financial institutions and multinational corporations.
Brent served in the White House from 2006 until 2009, first as Associate Counsel to the President and then as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Staff Secretary. Before that, he was a Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Justice Department, where his work focused on national security matters.
A Michigan native, Brent holds an A.B. in economics and political science from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from Yale Law School. Following law school, he was a law clerk to two federal appellate judges, Dennis Jacobs of the Second Circuit and Laurence H. Silberman of the D.C. Circuit. Brent serves on the Board of Directors of the Alexander Hamilton Society, the Board of Advisors for the National Security Institute at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, and the Advisory Council of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, where he previously served as an Adjunct Senior Fellow for International Economics and Finance, as well as the Bretton Woods Committee and the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Professor of Law, Notre Dame University
Roger P. Alford joined the Notre Dame Law faculty in January 2012. Alford teaches and writes in a wide range of subject-matter areas, including international trade, international arbitration, international antitrust, and comparative law.
Alford earned his B.A. with Honors from Baylor in 1985, his J.D. with Honors from New York University, and his LL.M. from Edinburgh University. Before entering the legal academy, he served as a law clerk to Judge James Buckley of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and Judge Richard Allison of the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands. He practiced law with Hogan & Hartson (now Hogan Lovells) in Washington, D.C., and was also a senior legal advisor to the Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Activities in Zurich, Switzerland.
In addition to publishing widely in leading law reviews and journals, Alford is the general editor of Kluwer Arbitration Blog and on the Executive Committee of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration.
He is Concurrent Professor at the Keough School of Global Affairs, a Faculty Fellow at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, and a Faculty Fellow at the Nanovic Institute for European Studies. He was the Academic Director of the London Global Gateway from 2016-2017 and Associate Dean for Graduate and International Programs from 2013-2017.
He served as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for International Affairs with the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice from 2017-2019.
Managing Partner, Cooper & Kirk PLLC
David Thompson is the Managing Partner of Cooper & Kirk and joined the firm at its founding. Mr. Thompson has extensive trial and appellate experience in a wide range of matters and has secured victories worth billions of dollars. He has successfully challenged numerous laws on Second Amendment grounds. He has also litigated cases in over 30 federal district courts, argued in each of the 13 federal circuit courts of appeal, and argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as many state courts. Mr. Thompson was awarded an A.B. degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard University in 1991, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. In 1994, Mr. Thompson received a J.D. degree, cum laude, from Harvard Law School.
Partner, Barr & Klein PLLC
Steve Klein, a partner at Barr & Klein PLLC, is an experienced free speech attorney who has successfully fought for the First Amendment rights of his clients against local, state and federal regulators. As a lobbyist, Steve’s advocacy has led to the successful amendment of state laws to respect political engagement and prevented the enactment of laws that burden it. Steve has published articles in several legal journals, and his commentary has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, The Detroit News, and other outlets. Steve earned a bachelors degree in politics at Hillsdale College and a law degree from Ave Maria School of Law, where he served as Managing Editor of the Ave Maria Law Review. He is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia, Illinois and Michigan.
James Madison Distinguished Professor of Law and Class of 1941 Research Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law
Professor John C. Harrison is the James Madison Distinguished Professor of Law and Class of 1941 Research Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law. He joined the faculty at University of Virginia in 1993 as an associate professor of law after a distinguished career with the U.S. Department of Justice. His teaching subjects include constitutional history, federal courts, remedies, corporations, civil procedure, legislation and property. In 2008 he was on leave from the Law School to serve as counselor on international law in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State.
A 1977 graduate of the University of Virginia, Harrison earned his law degree in 1980 at Yale, where he served as editor of the Yale Law Journal and editor and articles editor of the Yale Studies in World Public Order. He was an associate at Patton Boggs & Blow in Washington, D.C., and clerked for Judge Robert Bork on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He worked with the Department of Justice from 1983-93, serving in numerous capacities, including deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel (1990-93).
FTC Hot Topics with Commissioner Christine Wilson: Regulatory Reform, Privacy, Antitrust, & Beyond
Svetlana Gans, Christine S. Wilson
A Virtual Fireside Chat by the Regulatory Transparency Project
Please join us at noon on May 18 for a fireside chat discussion on the Federal...
Maine Community Health Options v. United States - Post-Decision SCOTUScast
Julia D. Mahoney
featuring Julia Mahoney
On April 27, 2020, the Supreme Court held by a vote of 8-1, in the...
Our Lady Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru - Post-Argument SCOTUScast
Nathan Chapman
featuring Nathan Chapman
On May 11, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court heard argument in the consolidated cases Our...
FCPA Enforcement In the Trump Administration and Beyond
Brian Lichter, Rod J. Rosenstein, Jonathan Su
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) governs conduct of U.S. businesses and individuals conducting business...
View from the Ground Level - Practical Issues re: PPP Implementation: A Conversation with Banking Attorneys Around the Country
C. Wallace DeWitt, Jonathan Hightower, Jennifer R. McCain, Christian Otteson
Financial Services & E-Commerce Teleforum
This teleforum will be a collaborative discussion for attorneys who represent financial institutions, in particular...
Capital Conversations: Brent J. McIntosh, Under Secretary, International Affairs, U.S. Department of the Treasury
Brent J. McIntosh
Join us as Brent J. McIntosh, Under Secretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Department...
Opati v. Republic of Sudan - Post-Argument SCOTUScast
Roger P. Alford
featuring Roger Alford
On Feb. 24, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court heard argument in Opati v. Republic of...
NY State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. City of New York Post-Decision SCOTUScast
David H. Thompson
featuring David Thompson and Amy Swearer
On April 27, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court released its opinion in New York State...
Kelly v. United States Post-Decision SCOTUScast
Stephen R. Klein
featuring Stephen R. Klein
Bridget Anne Kelly and William Baroni were convicted of wire fraud, federal program fraud and...
COVID-19, State Power, and Civil Liberties: An Historical Perspective
John C. Harrison
In 1787, there existed a well-developed body of law on the subject of infectious diseases. Over the...