Partner, Steptoe & Johnson LLP
Stewart Baker is a partner in the law firm of Steptoe & Johnson in Washington, D.C. From 2005 to 2009, he was the first Assistant Secretary for Policy at the Department of Homeland Security. His law practice covers cybersecurity, data protection, homeland security, and travel and foreign investment regulation; he has been awarded one patent.
Mr. Baker has been General Counsel of the National Security Agency and General Counsel of the commission that investigated WMD intelligence failures prior to the Iraq war. He is the author of Skating on Stilts, a book on terrorism, cybersecurity, and other technology issues; he also hosts the weekly Cyberlaw Podcast.
Senior Policy Counsel and Deputy Director, Project on Freedom, S, the Center for Democracy and Technology
Harley Geiger is Senior Counsel and Deputy Director of the Freedom, Security and Surveillance Project at the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT). Mr. Geiger works on issues related to civil liberties and government surveillance, computer crime, and cybersecurity.
From 2012-2014, Mr. Geiger served as Senior Legislative Counsel for U.S. Representative Zoe Lofgren of California. There he was the lead staffer for technology and Internet issues, and was instrumental in helping develop Rep. Lofgren’s Internet freedom agenda, including legislation to reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, ECPA, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and copyright laws.
From 2008-2012, Mr. Geiger worked at CDT as Staff Attorney and Senior Policy Counsel, focusing on surveillance, consumer privacy, health information technology, and data security. Prior to working at CDT, Mr. Geiger clerked with the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission, where he worked on information security public awareness campaigns. In 2007, Mr. Geiger clerked with the Electronic Privacy Information Center, where he worked on health privacy, telephone network security, employee verification, and human rights issues. In 2006, he clerked with the Minority Leader of the Missouri House of Representatives, where he testified before a Missouri Senate Committee on technology policy.
Mr. Geiger earned a BA in Journalism, MA in Journalism, and JD from the University of Missouri – Columbia. He is CIPP/US certified and Politico named him one of the Emerging Tech Leaders of 2013.
Founder, Latitude, LLC
Brian Hook is the founder of Latitude, LLC, an international strategic consulting firm based in Washington, DC.
Mr. Hook worked on the Romney campaign as senior advisor on foreign policy. He chaired the foreign policy and national security task forces of the Romney Readiness Project. From 2010-2011, he was the foreign policy director of Governor Tim Pawlenty’s presidential campaign.
Mr. Hook served in a number of positions during the Bush Administration, including Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations; Senior Advisor to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; Special Assistant to the President for Policy, Office of the Chief of Staff; and Counsel, Office of Legal Policy, at the Justice Department.
From 1999-2003, he practiced corporate law at Hogan & Hartson in Washington, D.C.
Before practicing law, he served as a policy advisor to Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and to U.S. Congressman James Leach.
Senior Fellow in National Security, Human Rights First
Heather Hurlburt is a Senior Fellow in National Security at Human RIghts First. Previously, she served as the Executive Director of the National Security Network, an organization whose priorities include working with political leaders, experts, and advocates to create a safer, saner foreign policy. The 2008 presidential election cycle provided the impetus for NSN's progressive national security rapid response structure to augment efforts of candidates and campaigns.
Ms. Hurlburt brings nearly two decades of experience developing, shaping and communicating U.S. foreign policy. For five years she ran her own communications and strategy practice, with a broad client list including individual political, entertainment, and educational leaders, as well as groups such as DATA (Debt AIDS Trade Africa), the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Stanley Foundation, and many others. She is a Senior Adviser to the U.S. in the World Project of the New America Foundation.
Ms. Hurlburt served in the Clinton Administration, both in the State Department and as a Special Assistant and Speechwriter to President Clinton. She was the Washington Deputy Director of the International Crisis Group (ICG) and served as a Program Director at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She spent four years as a member of the U.S. delegation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Ms. Hurlburt is co-author of US in the World: Talking Global Issues with Americans, published by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Aspen Institute in 2004 to help foreign policy experts and advocates communicate effectively with American citizens. She has published opinion pieces widely in print and online, comments frequently on presidential speech-making and other topics, and blogs regularly at www.democracyarsenal.org.
She is a graduate of Brown University and the George Washington University and lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and son.
Research Professor, Regulatory Studies Center, The George Washington University
Brian Mannix is a Research Professor at George Washington University’s Regulatory Studies Center. From 2005 – 2009 he was the EPA’s Associate Administrator for Policy, Economics, and Innovation. Earlier he served as the Deputy Secretary of Natural Resources for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Brian was an economist at OIRA from 1981 – 1987, and then served as managing editor of Regulation magazine at the American Enterprise Institute.
Former Managing Director, BlackRock Inc.
Joanne Medero was until July 2020 a Managing Director at BlackRock where she was member of their Global Public Policy Group and a Senior Advisor to the Vice Chairman on the intersection of public policy and corporate governance. In June 2021, Ms. Medero was appointed a director/trustee of the Nuveen Funds.
Ms. Medero's service with BlackRock dates back to 1996, including her years with Barclays Global Investors (BGI), which merged with BlackRock in 2009. She joined BGI as its Global General Counsel in 1996 and after more than ten years in that role, became the global head of Government Relations and Public Policy for Barclays’ investment banking and investment management businesses. Prior to joining BGI, Ms. Medero was a partner with Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe specializing in derivatives and market regulation issues. Ms. Medero also served as general counsel of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (1989-1993) and as an associate director for legal and financial affairs at the Office of Presidential Personnel, The White House (1986-1989).
Ms. Medero is a graduate of St. Lawrence University and received her JD from George Washington University.
Professor of Law and Associate Dean, Boston College Law School; Nonresident Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute, Boston College Law School
Professor Lyons is a Professor and Associate Dean at Boston College Law School. He specializes in telecommunications and tech policy, energy, and administrative law. Before joining the faculty, he practiced at the firm of Munger, Tolles and Olson in Los Angeles. He also clerked for the Judge Cynthia Holcomb Hall of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Professor Lyons is also a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he has written over 250 blog posts on tech policy issues, including net neutrality, telecommunications regulation, First Amendment issues with tech regulation, and generative AI.
Vice President, Public Knowledge
Michael Weinberg is a Vice President at Public Knowledge. He oversees PK Thinks, Public Knowledge's place to explore long term trends and anticipate policy challenges. He also focuses on the policy implications of emerging technologies such as 3D printing and open source hardware.
Mr. Weinberg is the author of a number of whitepapers including “It Will Be Awesome if They Don't Screw it Up: 3D Printing, Intellectual Property, and the Fight Over the Next Great Disruptive Technology” and “What's the Deal with Copyright and 3D Printing?” He regularly discusses the policy implications of emerging technologies in the press and at speaking events.
Mr. Weinberg received his J.D. from The George Washington University Law School and his B.A. from Claremont McKenna College. Mr. Weinberg was born and raised in and around Washington, D.C. and looks forward to having his heart broken by the Washington football team both on and off the field every fall.
Partner, Antitrust and Competition, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Maureen Ohlhausen is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where she advises industry-leading clients on complex antitrust and litigation matters, with a focus on high-profile cases. Sought after for her depth of experience on antitrust and Federal Trade Commission (FTC)-related issues, Maureen is known for her relationships with officials in the U.S. and abroad.
After finishing law school and clerking at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Maureen joined the FTC in 1997. She held a series of roles at the agency over the next 12 years, rising to the position of Director of the FTC Office of Policy Planning, where she led the agency’s work on e-commerce and headed the FTC’s Internet Access Task Force, which produced an influential report analyzing competition and consumer protection legal issues in the broadband and internet sectors. She then went into private practice at a leading telecommunications law firm, where she headed the FTC practice group.
In 2012, Maureen was confirmed by the Senate as a Commissioner of the FTC and was appointed Acting Chairman in January 2017, a role she held until May 2018. As Acting Chairman, Maureen directed all aspects of the agency’s antitrust work, including merger review, conduct enforcement, and all consumer protection enforcement, with an emphasis on privacy and technology issues. Under her leadership, the FTC won several influential merger challenges in court and reached a number of key digital privacy settlements.
To date, Maureen is the only FTC Commissioner to have received the Robert Pitofsky Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her contributions to the FTC.
Following the end of her term at the FTC, and immediately prior to joining Wilson Sonsini, Maureen was chair of the global antitrust and competition practice at Baker Botts, based in that firm’s Washington, D.C., office.
A recognized thought leader, Maureen is a frequent author and speaker, and is often quoted by leading print and broadcast media on antitrust, FTC, and privacy and data security matters. She has published dozens of articles on antitrust, privacy, intellectual property, regulation, FTC litigation, telecommunications, and international law issues in prestigious publications. During her tenure at the FTC and in private practice, she testified more than two dozen times before Congress, including before the Senate Commerce Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Antitrust Sub-Committee. She also testified before the Antitrust Modernization Commission.
President, The Free State Foundation
Randolph J. May is Founder and President of The Free State Foundation. The Free State Foundation is an independent, non-profit free market-oriented think tank founded in 2006.
From October 1999-May 2006, May was a Senior Fellow and Director of Communications Policy Studies at The Progress & Freedom Foundation, a Washington, DC-based think tank. Prior to joining PFF, he practiced communications, administrative, and regulatory law as a partner at major national law firms. From 1978 to 1981, May served as Assistant General Counsel and Associate General Counsel at the Federal Communication Commission.
May has held numerous leadership positions in bar associations. He is a past Chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. Mr. May also has served as a Public Member of the Administrative Conference of the United States and currently is a Senior Fellow at ACUS.
Mr. May has published more than two hundred articles and essays on communications, administrative and constitutional law topics. He is author of A Call for a Radical New Communications Policy: Proposals for Free Market Reform, and co-author of #CommActUpdate: A Communications Law Fit for the Digital Age and The Constitutional Foundations of Intellectual Property. Mr. May is editor of two books, Communications Law and Policy in the Digital Age: The Next Five Years and New Directions in Communications Policy. In addition, he is the co-editor of two other books, Net Neutrality or Net Neutering: Should Broadband Internet Services Be Regulated? and Communications Deregulation and FCC Reform. In the past, Mr. May has written regular columns on legal and regulatory affairs for Legal Times and the National Law Journal, leading national legal periodicals.
He received his A.B. from Duke University and his J.D. from Duke Law School, where he serves as a member of the Board of Visitors.
Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
Professor of Law Michael S. Greve joined the faculty of the Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University in fall 2012 after having served as John G. Searle Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he specialized in constitutional law, courts, and business regulation and served as chairman of the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Prior to joining AEI, Greve was founder and co-director of the Center for Individual Rights, a public interest law firm specializing in constitutional litigation.
Greve has served previously as an adjunct professor at a number of universities, including Cornell and Johns Hopkins Universities, and has been a visiting professor at Boston College since 2004. He was awarded a PhD and an MA in government by Cornell University. Greve also earned a Diploma from the University of Hamburg in Germany.
A prolific writer, Greve is the author of nine books and a multitude of articles appearing in scholarly publications, as well as numerous editorials, short articles, and book reviews. He is a frequent speaker for professional and scholarly organizations and has made many appearances on radio and television.
In addition Greve has provided congressional and state legislative testimony, has lobbied and consulted in federal agency proceedings, and has provided litigation services and management in over 30 cases, including matters before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Senior Fellow for Law, Economics, and Technology, The Heritage Foundation; Professor, Florida International University
Mario Loyola is a Senior Fellow for Law, Economics, and Technology at The Heritage Foundation.
Loyola served in the Trump Administration as Associate Director for Regulatory Reform at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. In that role, he was one of the principal drafters of the One Federal Decision policy, which helped to streamline the permitting and environmental review of large infrastructure projects. While at CEQ, he was a member of the U.S. delegation to the USMCA free trade negotiations with Mexico and Canada, as well as the United Nations conference on biodiversity on the high seas. Loyola initially joined the White House in February 2017 as a Presidential Speechwriter, employing his expertise in many areas of foreign and domestic policy.
After beginning his career in M&A and corporate finance law, Loyola served in the Bush 43 Administration as a special assistant to the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy. He left that position to start writing on national defense issues in magazines such as National Review and The Weekly Standard, reporting from the front lines of the war on terrorism in Lebanon, Israel, and Iraq. He finished the Bush Administration as Foreign and Defense Counsel to the U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee, then under the chairmanship of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas. He subsequently moved to Texas and joined the Texas Public Policy Foundation, where he specialized in energy, environment, and federalism.
Loyola is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal, National Review, and The Atlantic, among others. He teaches environmental and administrative law at Florida International University, where he is Founding Director of the Environmental Finance and Risk Management program in FIU’s prestigious Institute of Environment. He received a bachelor’s degree in European history from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a J.D. from Washington University School of Law.
Chairman, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
Dr. Bryan W. Shaw is Chairman of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the second largest environmental regulatory agency in the world. He is an associate professor in the Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department of Texas A&M University (TAMU). Dr. Shaw was formerly associate director of the Center for Agricultural Air Quality Engineering and Science, and served as Acting Lead Scientist for Air Quality and Special Assistant to the Chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service. Dr. Shaw also served as a member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory Board (SAB) Committee on Integrated Nitrogen, the EPA SAB Environmental Engineering Committee, and the Ad Hoc Panel for review of EPA's Risk and Technology Review Assessment Plan. Additionally, he is a member of the U.S. Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Air Quality Task Force. Since his appointment to the TCEQ, Dr. Shaw has served on the Texas Environmental Flows Advisory Group and as chair of the Texas Advisory Panel on Federal Environmental Regulations. Shaw also is a member of the Environmental Council of the States, serving on the Executive Committee as the Region 6 representative.
Partner, WilmerHale
Tom Saunders' practice focuses on appellate and government and public policy litigation with a particular emphasis on intellectual property. He has extensive experience representing clients in patent and copyright cases and has built a reputation as a leading advocate in high-stakes litigation before the Federal Circuit and Supreme Court. He returned to the firm in 2008 after completing a clerkship for the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the United States Supreme Court.
Mr. Saunders also has significant experience in civil litigation involving the government and quasi-governmental entities. He regularly advises clients on constitutional matters, questions of public policy and strategy, and administrative law.
Partner, Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel, P.L.L.C.
Aaron M. Panner specializes in antitrust law, Supreme Court and appellate litigation, and telecommunications regulation. His clients include many of the nation’s leading communications and information services companies, which he has represented at all levels of the federal courts and before the Federal Communications Commission. He has also represented leading companies and individuals in high-stakes litigation at the trial and appellate levels. He has successfully briefed multiple motions to dismiss antitrust claims on the pleadings; he has also successfully represented plaintiffs in defeating motions to dismiss. Since 2010, he has served as amicus counsel for the American Psychiatric Association, participating in a range of Supreme Court and appellate cases involving matters of concern to the psychiatric profession.
Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
Adam Mossoff is Professor of Law at Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University. He has published extensively on why patents, copyrights, and other intellectual property rights have been—and should be—legally secured to innovators and creators as property rights. His scholarship has been relied on by the United States Supreme Court, by lower federal courts, and by U.S. federal agencies. He has been invited to testify numerous times before the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives on intellectual property legislation. His writings on intellectual property policy have also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Forbes, Investors Business Daily, and in other media outlets. His journal articles can be downloaded here.
Professor Mossoff is a longstanding member of the Executive Committee of the Intellectual Property Practice Group of the Federalist Society, on which he served as Chairperson from 2016-2018, and he is Chair of the Intellectual Property Working Group of the Regulatory Transparency Project of the Federalist Society. He is a Senior Fellow and Chair of the Forum for Intellectual Property at the Hudson Institute, a Visiting Intellectual Property Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Center for Intellectual Property Understanding. He is a member of the Intellectual Property Rights Policy Committee of ANSI and he has served as Chair and Vice-Chair of the Intellectual Property Committee of the IEEE-USA, on which he remains a member in good standing.
Professor of Law, Southern Illinois University School of Law
Professor Mark F. Schultz joined the faculty in 2003. He teaches and writes primarily in the area of intellectual property.
Professor Schultz is a frequent author and speaker known for his work on the law and economics of the global intellectual property system. In one of his most influential projects, he worked with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to construct a groundbreaking global trade secret protection index (the TSPI). The TSPI is influencing policy discussions on this cutting-edge topic in capitals around the world. Other recent projects have included an empirical study that quantified for the first time the backlogs in patent offices worldwide, a report on how patented innovation is meeting global health challenges, and the construction of a new global index of copyright strength.
Professor Schultz is an influential voice in public policy debates regarding intellectual property. He has testified before the U.S. Congress on copyright law at the invitation of the House Judiciary Committee and has briefed the staff of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on trade secret legislation. He speaks frequently around the world about the connection between secure and effective intellectual property rights and flourishing national economies and individual lives, with invitations from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the U.S. Trade Representative, and the U.S. Copyright Office, as well as numerous academic institutions, think tanks, and industry groups. He served as an NGO delegate to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for several years during the WIPO Development Agenda talks. He is also one of the organizers of an ongoing multilateral diplomatic dialogue on best practices in national trade secret laws, and is co-founder of the Center for Protection of Intellectual Property (CPIP) at George Mason University in Washington, D.C.
Among the awards and recognition he has received for his scholarship was the School of Law's Outstanding Scholar of the Year award in 2008. He has been a distinguished visiting scholar at the University of Botswana and a visiting professor at DePaul University College of Law.
Professor Schultz graduated with honors from the George Washington University School of Law. Following law school, he was a judicial clerk for the Hon. Daniel M. Friedman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., and the Hon. Eric G. Bruggink of the United States Court of Federal Claims. Prior to joining academia, he practiced law for a decade, serving as outside general counsel to several tech startups and helping technology companies to expand their businesses and commercialize their intellectual property in dozens of countries. He holds a B.A. in International Economics from George Washington University and has done PhD level coursework in development economics at Southern Illinois University.
He is active in leadership roles in local and national organizations. He has served as chair of the Federalist Society's Intellectual Property Practice Group and the AALS Section on Internet and Computer Law. He is an officer of the American Bar Association's International IP Committee of the International Law Section and the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s Trade Secret Law Committee. He currently is chair of the Academic Advisory Board of the Copyright Alliance.
Professor Schultz teaches Copyright Law, Trade Secret Law, Trademark Law, and a senior seminar on Intellectual Property and Global Development. He established and directs both the Specialization in Intellectual Property Law and the IP Semester in Practice Externship Program. He also co-founded a Legal Globalization Class, offered every other year, that takes students to South Africa and Botswana after spending a semester learning about the legal system, culture, history, and politics of southern Africa. The popular course is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that introduces students to leading lawyers, judges, government officials, and human rights advocates, taking them from Cape Town to Johannesburg to Gaborone as well as many popular destinations including game reserves, national parks, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Cradle of Humankind.
Partner, BakerHostetler, Adjunct Fellow, The Manhattan Institute
Andrew Grossman leads BakerHostetler’s Appellate and Major Motion team. He has appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court, nearly all the federal courts of appeals, as well as some state appellate courts, litigating high-profile and complex commercial, administrative and constitutional issues.
Andrew works with practice groups across BakerHostetler to identify and tackle complex issues, advise on administrative law and strategy, tee up issues for appeal and tackle appeals. He has developed and implemented litigation and administrative strategies for clients in several fields and industries.
In addition to his practice, Andrew advises members of Congress on matters of constitutional and administrative law, having testified more than a dozen times before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. He has been a frequent legal commentator on radio and television, having appeared on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, NPR and its affiliates, CBN and elsewhere. His legal commentary has also appeared in dozens of magazines and newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Washington Times and many others.
Andrew is a Senior Legal Fellow at the Buckeye Institute, an Adjunct Fellow the Manhattan Institute and a member of the leadership of the Federalist Society. He previously served as an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies and a legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. He clerked for Judge Edith H. Jones on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Partner, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
Douglas R. Cox is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Vice-Chair of the firm's Crisis Management Practice Group. He practices in the areas of constitutional and general commercial litigation, appellate law, and governmental matters.
Mr. Cox has represented numerous clients in litigation before federal and state trial and appellate courts. He played a principal role in the firm's successful representation of the prevailing candidate before the Supreme Court of the United States in Bush v. Palm Beach County Canvassing Board and Bush v. Gore, stemming from the 2000 presidential election, and in other cases before the Supreme Court involving equal protection, voting rights and election law, the scope of the jury trial right under the Seventh Amendment, and other constitutional and statutory issues.
Mr. Cox successfully represented the National Association of Securities Dealers ("NASD") in a series of trial and appellate matters, including DL Capital Group, LLC v. Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc., 409 F.3d 93 (2d Cir. 2005) and Sparta Surgical Corp. v. NASD, 159 F.3d 1209 (9th Cir. 1998).
Mr. Cox frequently represents accounting firms in a variety of matters, including matters involving the SEC and PCAOB. He also has substantial experience representing clients before congressional investigating committees.
Mr. Cox previously served for five years during the Reagan and Bush Administrations in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, becoming Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General during the Bush Administration. In that Office, he provided legal advice to Executive Branch departments; resolved legal disputes on behalf of the Attorney General between Executive Branch departments; prepared formal opinions of the Attorney General; drafted and issued opinions on legal issues of importance to the Executive Branch; and advised Congress as to the constitutionality of pending legislation.
From 1981 through 1987, Mr. Cox practiced in New York City with a national firm, representing major corporations in state and federal courts. His practice focused on intellectual property, securities, and international tax litigation.
Mr. Cox received his law degree, cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1980, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy from 1979-1980. He received his undergraduate degree in history, magna cum laude, from Princeton University in 1977. He attended Oxford University on a Knox Scholarship in 1980-1981.
In 2005, Chief Justice Rehnquist appointed Mr. Cox to serve as a member of the Judicial Conference Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure. In 2008 he was reappointed by Chief Justice Roberts.
Partner-in-Charge Washington, Jones Day
Noel Francisco served as the 47th Solicitor General of the United States in the Trump Administration, from 2017 to 2020. He has argued some of the most important cases the Supreme Court has heard in recent years on a wide array of issues.
For example, as Solicitor General, he argued Trump v. Hawaii, where he successfully defended the president's orders restricting travel from countries deemed to present security risks; Janus v. AFSCME, which upheld the First Amendment rights of public employees who decline to join labor unions; Kisor v. Wilkie, which adopted his argument that the "Auer deference doctrine" should be significantly curtailed but retained in its core applications; Apple Inc. v. Pepper, which addressed whether Apple's App Store customers had standing to sue the company for antitrust violations; Knick v. Township of Scott, which held that property owners could sue state and local governments in federal court to vindicate Fifth Amendment takings claims; and Seila Law LLC v. CFPB, which invalidated restrictions on the president's authority to remove the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
He also spearheaded the government's general strategy to seek emergency relief in the appellate courts and the Supreme Court when lower courts issued nationwide injunctions against important government programs.
Noel's service as Solicitor General built on his previous tenure at Jones Day, during which he argued McDonnell v. United States, which reversed the federal bribery conviction of the governor of Virginia; NLRB v. Noel Canning, which limited the president's constitutional recess appointments power; and Zubik v. Burwell, which challenged federal insurance coverage regulations that violated Catholic organizations' religious beliefs.
Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Thomas G. Hungar is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Gibson Dunn. His practice focuses on appellate litigation, and he assists clients with congressional investigations and complex trial court litigation matters as well. He has presented oral argument before the Supreme Court of the United States in 28 cases, including some of the Court’s most important patent, antitrust, securities, and environmental law decisions, and he has also appeared before numerous lower federal and state courts.
Thomas served as General Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives from July 2016 until January 2019. As General Counsel, he provided legal advice and litigation representation on a non-partisan basis to the House and its leadership, members, officers, and staff, and he worked closely with numerous House committees in connection with their oversight and investigative activities. Previously, he served as a Deputy Solicitor General of the United States. In that position, he supervised business-related appellate litigation for the federal government, with particular emphasis on patent, antitrust, securities, and environmental appellate cases, and he also oversaw appellate litigation in banking, bankruptcy, tax, government contracts, communications, copyright, labor, trademark, and international trade matters. In private practice, Thomas’s appellate experience has encompassed those areas as well as class actions, constitutional law, employment law, product liability, administrative procedure, insurance coverage and bad faith, and general commercial litigation. He has handled scores of business-related appeals in the Supreme Court and lower appellate courts, and has briefed and argued many high-profile matters.
Thomas is a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and is a frequent lecturer in his areas of expertise. While at the Department of Justice, he served as Appellate Counsel to the Intellectual Property Task Force Executive Staff, and he was awarded the John Marshall Award for Outstanding Legal Achievement, the Department’s highest award presented to attorneys for contributions and excellence in legal performance, in recognition of his handling of patent-law matters before the Supreme Court.
Most recently, Thomas has garnered national recognition for his Appellate Practice in The Legal 500 – United States, Best Lawyers in America, and in Chambers USA, which has repeatedly highlighted Thomas for his “expertise in appellate litigation” and experience with employment and antitrust disputes, as well as Congressional Investigations. Thomas was also recently named a “Litigation Star” by Benchmark Litigation.
Thomas served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States from 1992-1994. He also served as a law clerk to Justice Anthony M. Kennedy of the Supreme Court and to Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He received his law degree from Yale Law School in 1987, where he was a Senior Editor of the Yale Law & Policy Review. He received his Bachelor of Science degree magna cum laude in mathematics/computer science and economics from Willamette University in 1984.
Thomas is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.
Privacy and National Security: The Merits of the Leahy FISA Reform Bill - Podcast
Stewart A. Baker, Harley Geiger
International & National Security Law Practice Group Podcast
Following the Snowden leaks, the country is once again re-examining the proper balance between national...
Dealing with Putin’s Russia: What is the Best Approach? - Podcast
Brian H. Hook, Heather Hurlburt
International & National Security Law Practice Group Podcast
From the time he entered office after being tapped by Boris Yeltsin to succeed him,...
The Highs–and Lows–of High-Frequency Trading - Podcast
Brian F. Mannix, Joanne Medero
Corporations, Securities & Antitrust Practice Group Podcast
While other fields of law are trying to anticipate the future ramifications of the widespread...
Net Neutrality: The Power to Act - Podcast
Daniel Lyons, Michael Weinberg, Maureen K. Ohlhausen, Randolph May
Telecommunications & Electronic Media Practice Group Podcast
After suffering two judicial setbacks already, most recently in the D.C. Circuit’s Verizon v. FCC...
Cooperation or Coercion on Climate: Is the EPA Trying to Deputize the States? - Podcast
Michael S. Greve, Mario Loyola, Bryan W. Shaw
Federalism & Separation of Powers Practice Group Podcast
It has been argued that EPA's recently announced carbon emissions rule is just the latest...
Limelight v. Akamai Technologies and Nautilus v. Biosig Instruments - Post-Decision SCOTUScast
Thomas G. Saunders, Aaron M. Panner
SCOTUScast 8-4-14 featuring Aaron Panner and Thomas Saunders
On June 2, 2014, the Supreme Court issued opinions in two property rights cases, Limelight...
Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International - Post-Decision SCOTUScast
Adam Mossoff
SCOTUScast 7-30-14 featuring Adam Mossoff
On June 19, 2014, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. v....
American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. v. Aereo, Inc. - Post-Decision SCOTUScast
Mark F. Schultz
SCOTUScast 7-29-14 featuring Mark Schultz
On June 25, 2014, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in American Broadcasting Companies, Inc....
Harris v. Quinn - Post-Decision SCOTUScast
Andrew Grossman
SCOTUScast 7-28-14 featuring Andrew Grossman
On June 30, 2014, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Harris v. Quinn. The...
2014 Annual Supreme Court Round Up
Douglas R. Cox, Noel J. Francisco, Thomas G. Hungar
Washington, DC Lawyers Chapter
On July 18, 2014, Thomas Hungar of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Noel Francisco of Jones Day delivered the...