Senior Litigation Counsel, New Civil Liberties Alliance
Peggy Little, Senior Counsel at New Civil Liberties Alliance, a new public interest law firm challenging the administrative state founded in 2017 by Professor Philip Hamburger, has over three decades of experience as a trial and appellate litigator in complex, high-stakes regulatory, mass-tort, class-action, products liability, securities, commercial and civil rights litigation representing individuals and high-profile litigants including Fortune 50 companies, financial institutions, public companies, and universities in state and federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court.
Peggy is a graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School, where she was awarded the Potter Stewart Prize. She was a law clerk to the Hon. Ralph K. Winter on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Prior to starting her own trial and appellate law firm in 1997, where she was appellate consulting counsel to the New Haven firefighters in Ricci v.DeStefano, a landmark 2009 United States Supreme Court decision, Peggy was a partner at Tyler, Cooper & Alcorn in New Haven, Connecticut. From 2004 to early 2018, Peggy directed, part-time, the Federalist Society Pro Bono Center.
Peggy has participated in many national conferences and symposia addressing issues of current importance in constitutional law – specifically state and federal constitutional questions regarding the separation of powers and the first amendment – and regularly speaks, blogs and publishes on the topic of the unconstitutional exercise of governmental power. In May of 2017, she presented her paper, Pirates at the Parchment Gates, to a conference of state and federal judges at the Law and Economics Center at the Antonin Scalia Law School. Her work has been published by law reviews, legal publications, the Federalist Society, the Wall Street Journal, Law and Liberty and the Manhattan Institute.
Recent publications include: How the SEC silences its critics, The SEC should listen to Sen. Cotton, Lucia v. SEC, Opening Salvos in the Opioid Litigation Wars, Straight Dope on the Opioid Crisis
Of Counsel, Erickson & Sederstrom
Professional Positions
Former Member of National Association of Attorneys General Executive Committee (2002)
Member, Society of Attorneys General Emeritus (SAGE)
Washington Legal Foundation, Policy Advisory Board
Federalist Society, Member of the Federalism Subcommittee for Federalism and Separation of Powers
Former Member, TRANSLink Transmission Co., Board of Directors
Former Member, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Federalism Working Group
Former Chair, Nebraska Crime Commission
Honors and Accomplishments
Argued cases in the United States Supreme Court
Phi Beta Kappa
Republican Nominee for U.S. Senate in Nebraska (2000)
Founding Member of the Republican Attorneys General Association
Nebraska Fertilizer and Ag Chemical Institute's Government Official of the Year (2000)
Nebraska Coalition for Victims of Crime's Public Policy Award (1999)
Lincoln Independent Business Association's Business Champion Award (1997)
Lincoln Jaycees Outstanding Young Individual Award (1981)
Prior to Becoming of Counsel to Erickson & Sederstrom, P.C.
Attorney General of Nebraska (1991-2003)
Legal Counsel to the Governor of Nebraska (1979-1983)
University of Nebraska, Lincoln, B.A. (1970)
Harvard Business School, M.B.A. (1974)
Harvard Law School, J.D. (cum laude) (1974)
Attorney General, State of Colorado
John W. Suthers is a lifetime resident of Colorado. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in Government in 1974 and from the University of Colorado Law School in 1977. From 1977 to 1981, he served as a deputy and chief deputy district attorney in Colorado Springs. From September of 1979 to January of 1981, he headed the Economic Crime Division of the District Attorney’s Office and co-authored a nationally published book on consumer fraud and white-collar crime.
In January of 1981, Mr. Suthers entered private practice and became a litigation partner in the Colorado Springs firm of Sparks Dix, P.C. He remained with the firm until November of 1988, when he defeated an incumbent to be elected District Attorney of the Fourth Judicial District. He was elected to a second term as District Attorney in November of 1992. At the conclusion of that second term in January of 1997, he returned to Sparks Dix, P.C. as Senior Counsel in charge of the firm’s litigation section.
On January 12, 1999, Gov. Bill Owens appointed Mr. Suthers as the executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections. As head of the Colorado correctional system, he was in charge of an organization with nearly 6,000 employees and an annual operational budget of approximately $500 million.
On July 30, 2001, Mr. Suthers was nominated by President George W. Bush to be the United States Attorney for the District of Colorado. He was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. As U.S. Attorney, Mr. Suthers represented the United States in all criminal and civil matters within the District of Colorado.
On January 4, 2005, Mr. Suthers was appointed Attorney General of Colorado. After serving as Attorney General for nearly two years, in November 2006, the voters of Colorado elected Mr. Suthers by a large margin to serve a four-year term. Mr. Suthers was again re-elected in 2010 by the biggest margin or any statewide race that year. As Attorney General, he represents and defends the interests of the people of the state of Colorado and is chief legal counsel and adviser to state government and its many state agencies, boards and commissions.
Mr. Suthers has served on the board of numerous civic organizations. He has served as President of the El Paso County Bar Association in 1990-91 and as Senior Vice President of the Colorado Bar Association in 1996-97. He served as President of the Colorado District Attorney’s Council in 1994-95. In 1992, he was appointed by the Colorado legislature to serve as a Colorado delegate to the National Conference on Uniform State Laws and served until January of 1997. In the Summer of 2000, Mr. Suthers received a Gates Foundation Fellowship to attend the Government Executives Program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
John and his wife Janet have two adult daughters. Alison is a Deputy District Attorney in Denver. Kate is a procurement analyst for the Defense Department in Pearl Harbor and a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserves.
Suthers has authored five books, including his most recent, No Higher Calling, No Greater Responsibility: A Prosecutor Makes His Case (Fulcrum Publishing, 2008).
In his tenure as Attorney General, Mr. Suthers has initiated successful programs to protect children from Internet predators and to reduce mortgage and foreclosure fraud. He has served as Chairman of the Conference of Western Attorneys General, a member of the NAAG Executive Committee, Co-Chair of the NAAG Criminal Law Committee and as a member of the U.S. Attorney General’s Executive Working Group.
Wisconsin Attorney General
John Byron ("J.B.") Van Hollen, Wisconsin's 43rd Attorney General, was elected on November 7, 2006, and assuming office on January 1, 2007.
During his campaign for Attorney General, Van Hollen identified the backlog of forensic DNA evidence in the State Crime Lab as the single most important public safety issue facing the Department of Justice and Wisconsin's justice system. Within weeks of becoming Attorney General, General Van Hollen worked with members of both parties in the Legislature and Governor Jim Doyle to secure an unprecedented 31 positions to address the Wisconsin Crime Lab backlog. With efficiencies and the cooperation of partner agencies, the State Crime Lab is on track to eliminate the backlog by 2010.
As Wisconsin's "Top Cop," General Van Hollen identified Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) as another priority vital to protecting Wisconsin's children from on-line predators. By raising awareness and partnering with the Legislature and the Governor, General Van Hollen secured additional resources to educate parents and children, identify, stop, and prosecute these predators. Working in partnership with local law enforcement authorities, the Department offers education, resources, and its expertise in this fight for the safety of some of our most vulnerable victims: children.
General Van Hollen has also restored an emphasis on the rule of law to the Department of Justice. Professionally-reasoned legal advice and client representation is now a hallmark of the Department's work.
General Van Hollen has been clear that restoring integrity and fighting crime would define his work as Attorney General. A philosophy of first principles, limited government, and the Department's role as an "exist to assist" state agency has guided his tenure as Attorney General.
Van Hollen graduated from St. Olaf College in 1988 with an undergraduate degree in Political Science and Economics. He earned his law degree two years later from the University of Wisconsin Law School.
Van Hollen began his public service career as an Assistant State Public Defender in Spooner, Wisconsin. In 1991, he became a federal prosecutor, serving as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin. Governor Tommy Thompson appointed Van Hollen as District Attorney in Ashland County, where he served for six years. He was subsequently appointed by Governor Thompson to serve as Bayfield County District Attorney. Van Hollen was later elected to the position, enjoying bi-partisan support as Bayfield County's only elected Republican.
Prior to becoming Attorney General, J.B. was appointed United States Attorney for Wisconsin's Western District in 2002 and served there until 2005.
Special Counsel, Hunton & Williams
Mr. Meisburg is a former National Labor Relations Board Member and General Counsel.
Prior to joining Hunton & Williams LLP, Ronald co-chaired the labor-management relations practice at an international law firm. Over the course of his 40-year career, which began with the Office of the Solicitor of the US Department of Labor, Mr. Meisburg has handled matters arising under federal labor and employment law in complex business transactions before federal agencies and courts.
Mr. Meisburg joined the NLRB in 2004, following a recess appointment by President George W. Bush. Two years later, President Bush appointed him to a four-year term as NLRB General Counsel, a position independent from the Board. Serving under the Bush and Obama Administrations as the chief prosecutor under the National Labor Relations Act and chief administrator of the agency’s 32 regional offices, he oversaw a $280 million budget and 1,200 staff.
Ronald has been quoted as a labor law authority by numerous national publications and news organizations, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, SHRM Online, Associated Press, Corporate Counsel Magazine, Bloomberg, Reuters, Employment Law 360 and BNA. He is a frequent speaker at national conferences sponsored by trade associations, professional groups and educational institutions, including the US Chamber of Commerce, numerous elite law schools and universities around the world, the Council on Labor Law Equality, Committee for a Democratic Workplace, Labor and Employment Research Association, Equal Employment Advisory Council, Human Resources Policy Association, Labor Relations Advisory Committee, National Retail Federation, Retail Leaders Industry Association, Energy and Mineral Law Foundation, American Arbitration Association and numerous bar associations. Mr. Meisburg has also been recognized by Legal500 USA.
Mr. Meisburg is admitted to practice in the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth and District of Columbia Circuits, and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and Former United States Secretary of Labor
Eugene Scalia is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, co-chair of the firm’s Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Group, and a senior member of the firm’s Labor and Employment Practice Group and Financial Institutions Practice Group. He returned to the firm after serving as U.S. Secretary of Labor from September 2019 to January 2021.
Mr. Scalia has a nationally-prominent practice in two areas: Labor and employment law, and advice and litigation regarding the regulatory obligations of federal administrative agencies. He also has extensive appellate experience. Federal regulatory actions he has challenged include the SEC’s “proxy access” rule; the CFTC’s “position limits’” rule; MetLife’s designation as “too big to fail” by the Financial Services Oversight Council; the Labor Department’s “fiduciary” rule; and OSHA’s “cooperative compliance program.”
As Labor Secretary, Mr. Scalia engaged at the highest level with national employment policy and matters affecting the financial services industry and international trade, overseeing the enforcement and administration of more than 180 federal employment laws covering more than 150 million workers and 10 million workplaces. He also served as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and as a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. He was closely involved in the drafting and implementation of the CARES Act and other coronavirus-related legislation. Laws administered by the Labor Department also include the workplace safety requirements of OSHA and the Mine Safety and Health Administration, federal minimum wage and overtime protections, the anti-discrimination requirements applicable to federal contractors, and ERISA’s protection of the more than $11 trillion held in employee retirement plans and health plans.
Mr. Scalia served from 2002 to 2003 as Solicitor of the U.S. Department of Labor, with responsibility for all Labor Department litigation and legal advice on rulemakings and administrative law. He is the only person to have served as both Solicitor and Secretary of Labor.
He also served at the U.S. Department of Justice as a Special Assistant to the Attorney General, receiving the Department’s Edmund J. Randolph Award in 1993.
In private practice, Mr. Scalia has represented employers in high-profile matters under the National Labor Relations Act and in class actions and collective actions under Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, ERISA, and federal and state wage hour laws. He has extensive experience in federal district court, the courts of appeals, and in the arbitration of employment disputes. He has been a leading authority on “whistleblower” investigations and litigation since the 2002 enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Mr. Scalia also counsels employers on reductions-in-force and the proper conduct of harassment and discrimination investigations. He has provided pro bono representation to workers in discrimination matters, wrongful separation disputes, and other matters.
Mr. Scalia is a Senior Fellow of the Administrative Conference of the United States, a federal agency that makes recommendations to Congress and the Executive Branch on ways to improve the administrative process. He is the author of more than 30 articles and papers on labor and employment law, administrative law, and other subjects. Among other accolades, he has been named an “Employment MVP,” a “Securities MVP,” and an “Appellate MVP” by Law360. The National Law Journal recognized Mr. Scalia as a “Visionary” for his litigation against financial regulatory agencies, and the Nation magazine has called him a “fearsome litigator.” He has been a Lecturer in labor and employment law at the University of Chicago Law School.
Mr. Scalia graduated cum laude from the University of Chicago Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Law Review. He graduated With Distinction from the University of Virginia in 1985 and was a speechwriter for Education Secretary William J. Bennett before attending law school. Mr. Scalia and his wife Trish have seven children.
Special Counsel, Hunton & Williams
Mr. Meisburg is a former National Labor Relations Board Member and General Counsel.
Prior to joining Hunton & Williams LLP, Ronald co-chaired the labor-management relations practice at an international law firm. Over the course of his 40-year career, which began with the Office of the Solicitor of the US Department of Labor, Mr. Meisburg has handled matters arising under federal labor and employment law in complex business transactions before federal agencies and courts.
Mr. Meisburg joined the NLRB in 2004, following a recess appointment by President George W. Bush. Two years later, President Bush appointed him to a four-year term as NLRB General Counsel, a position independent from the Board. Serving under the Bush and Obama Administrations as the chief prosecutor under the National Labor Relations Act and chief administrator of the agency’s 32 regional offices, he oversaw a $280 million budget and 1,200 staff.
Ronald has been quoted as a labor law authority by numerous national publications and news organizations, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, SHRM Online, Associated Press, Corporate Counsel Magazine, Bloomberg, Reuters, Employment Law 360 and BNA. He is a frequent speaker at national conferences sponsored by trade associations, professional groups and educational institutions, including the US Chamber of Commerce, numerous elite law schools and universities around the world, the Council on Labor Law Equality, Committee for a Democratic Workplace, Labor and Employment Research Association, Equal Employment Advisory Council, Human Resources Policy Association, Labor Relations Advisory Committee, National Retail Federation, Retail Leaders Industry Association, Energy and Mineral Law Foundation, American Arbitration Association and numerous bar associations. Mr. Meisburg has also been recognized by Legal500 USA.
Mr. Meisburg is admitted to practice in the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth and District of Columbia Circuits, and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and Former United States Secretary of Labor
Eugene Scalia is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, co-chair of the firm’s Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Group, and a senior member of the firm’s Labor and Employment Practice Group and Financial Institutions Practice Group. He returned to the firm after serving as U.S. Secretary of Labor from September 2019 to January 2021.
Mr. Scalia has a nationally-prominent practice in two areas: Labor and employment law, and advice and litigation regarding the regulatory obligations of federal administrative agencies. He also has extensive appellate experience. Federal regulatory actions he has challenged include the SEC’s “proxy access” rule; the CFTC’s “position limits’” rule; MetLife’s designation as “too big to fail” by the Financial Services Oversight Council; the Labor Department’s “fiduciary” rule; and OSHA’s “cooperative compliance program.”
As Labor Secretary, Mr. Scalia engaged at the highest level with national employment policy and matters affecting the financial services industry and international trade, overseeing the enforcement and administration of more than 180 federal employment laws covering more than 150 million workers and 10 million workplaces. He also served as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and as a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. He was closely involved in the drafting and implementation of the CARES Act and other coronavirus-related legislation. Laws administered by the Labor Department also include the workplace safety requirements of OSHA and the Mine Safety and Health Administration, federal minimum wage and overtime protections, the anti-discrimination requirements applicable to federal contractors, and ERISA’s protection of the more than $11 trillion held in employee retirement plans and health plans.
Mr. Scalia served from 2002 to 2003 as Solicitor of the U.S. Department of Labor, with responsibility for all Labor Department litigation and legal advice on rulemakings and administrative law. He is the only person to have served as both Solicitor and Secretary of Labor.
He also served at the U.S. Department of Justice as a Special Assistant to the Attorney General, receiving the Department’s Edmund J. Randolph Award in 1993.
In private practice, Mr. Scalia has represented employers in high-profile matters under the National Labor Relations Act and in class actions and collective actions under Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, ERISA, and federal and state wage hour laws. He has extensive experience in federal district court, the courts of appeals, and in the arbitration of employment disputes. He has been a leading authority on “whistleblower” investigations and litigation since the 2002 enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Mr. Scalia also counsels employers on reductions-in-force and the proper conduct of harassment and discrimination investigations. He has provided pro bono representation to workers in discrimination matters, wrongful separation disputes, and other matters.
Mr. Scalia is a Senior Fellow of the Administrative Conference of the United States, a federal agency that makes recommendations to Congress and the Executive Branch on ways to improve the administrative process. He is the author of more than 30 articles and papers on labor and employment law, administrative law, and other subjects. Among other accolades, he has been named an “Employment MVP,” a “Securities MVP,” and an “Appellate MVP” by Law360. The National Law Journal recognized Mr. Scalia as a “Visionary” for his litigation against financial regulatory agencies, and the Nation magazine has called him a “fearsome litigator.” He has been a Lecturer in labor and employment law at the University of Chicago Law School.
Mr. Scalia graduated cum laude from the University of Chicago Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Law Review. He graduated With Distinction from the University of Virginia in 1985 and was a speechwriter for Education Secretary William J. Bennett before attending law school. Mr. Scalia and his wife Trish have seven children.
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, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Theodore B. Olson is a Partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Washington, D.C. office; a founder of the Firm’s Crisis Management, Sports Law, and Appellate and Constitutional Law Practice Groups.
Mr. Olson was Solicitor General of the United States during the period 2001-2004. From 1981-1984, he was Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice. Except for those two intervals, he has been a lawyer with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. since 1965.
Selected by Time magazine in 2010 as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, Mr. Olson is one of the nation’s premier appellate and United States Supreme Court advocates. He has argued 65 cases in the Supreme Court and has prevailed in over 75% of those cases. These include the two Bush v Gore cases arising out of the 2000 presidential election; Citizens United v Federal Election Commission; Hollingsworth v Perry, the case affirming the overturning of California’s Proposition 8, banning same-sex marriages; Murphy v NCAA, overturning a federal law prohibiting states from authorizing sports betting; and U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security v Regents of the Univ. of Calif., challenging the Trump Administration’s rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”). Mr. Olson’s practice is concentrated on appellate and constitutional law, federal legislation, media and commercial disputes, and assisting clients with strategies for the containment, management and resolution of major legal crises. He has handled cases at all levels of state and federal court systems throughout the United States. Mr. Olson co-authored “Redeeming the Dream, the Case for Marriage Equality” with David Boies. Both were featured in HBO’s award-winning documentary, “The Case Against 8.”
Mr. Olson's Supreme Court arguments have included cases involving separation of powers; federalism; voting rights; the Tenth Amendment; the First Amendment; the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses; jury trial rights; punitive damages; takings of property; the Commerce Clause; administrative law; taxation; criminal law; sports wagering; copyright, patent and antitrust; securities; campaign finance; foreign sovereign immunities; telecommunications; the environment; the internet; the Supremacy Clause; and other federal constitutional and statutory questions. As Solicitor General, during the presidency of George W. Bush, Mr. Olson was the Government's principal advocate in the United States Supreme Court, responsible for supervising and coordinating all appellate litigation of the United States, and a legal adviser to the President and the Attorney General. As Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel during the Reagan Administration, Mr. Olson was the Executive Branch's principal legal adviser, rendering legal guidance to the President and to the heads of the Executive Branch departments on a wide range of constitutional and federal statutory questions, and assisting in formulating and articulating the Executive Branch's position on constitutional issues.
Mr. Olson has served as private counsel to two Presidents, Ronald W. Reagan and George W. Bush, in addition to serving those two Presidents in high-level positions in the Department of Justice. He has twice been awarded the United States Department of Justice's Edmund J. Randolph Award, its highest award for public service and leadership, and also received the Department of Defense's Distinguished Public Service Award, its highest civilian award, for his advocacy in the courts of the United States, including the Supreme Court. He also received the American Bar Association Medal, its highest award for “exceptionally distinguished service by a lawyer or lawyers to the cause of American jurisprudence.” Mr. Olson is to receive the 2021 Jack Valenti Friend of the White House Fellows Award in the Fall of 2021 to be presented by the White House Fellows Foundation and Association.
Mr. Olson is a member of the Commission on White House Fellowships; a member of the Board of Trustees of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation; a member of the Board of Visitors of the Federalist Society; the Board of Directors of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University; and the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Foundation. He was a visiting scholar at the National Constitution Center in 2007. He served on the President's Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board from 2006 to 2008; and of the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States from 2010 to 2020. He was Co-Chair of the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy from 2008-2009, and served two terms on the Board of Directors of the National Center for State Courts.
Mr. Olson is a Fellow of both the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. He has been repeatedly listed in legal publications as one of the nation’s leading appellate lawyers. The late New York Times columnist William Safire described Mr. Olson as his generation's "most persuasive advocate" before the Supreme Court and "the most effective Solicitor General in decades.”
Mr. Olson received his law degree in 1965 from the University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall) where he was a member of the California Law Review and Order of the Coif. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of the Pacific, where he was recognized as the outstanding graduating student in both forensics and journalism. He has written and lectured extensively on appellate advocacy, oral communication in the courtroom, civil justice reform, and constitutional and administrative law.
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, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Theodore B. Olson is a Partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Washington, D.C. office; a founder of the Firm’s Crisis Management, Sports Law, and Appellate and Constitutional Law Practice Groups.
Mr. Olson was Solicitor General of the United States during the period 2001-2004. From 1981-1984, he was Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice. Except for those two intervals, he has been a lawyer with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. since 1965.
Selected by Time magazine in 2010 as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, Mr. Olson is one of the nation’s premier appellate and United States Supreme Court advocates. He has argued 65 cases in the Supreme Court and has prevailed in over 75% of those cases. These include the two Bush v Gore cases arising out of the 2000 presidential election; Citizens United v Federal Election Commission; Hollingsworth v Perry, the case affirming the overturning of California’s Proposition 8, banning same-sex marriages; Murphy v NCAA, overturning a federal law prohibiting states from authorizing sports betting; and U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security v Regents of the Univ. of Calif., challenging the Trump Administration’s rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”). Mr. Olson’s practice is concentrated on appellate and constitutional law, federal legislation, media and commercial disputes, and assisting clients with strategies for the containment, management and resolution of major legal crises. He has handled cases at all levels of state and federal court systems throughout the United States. Mr. Olson co-authored “Redeeming the Dream, the Case for Marriage Equality” with David Boies. Both were featured in HBO’s award-winning documentary, “The Case Against 8.”
Mr. Olson's Supreme Court arguments have included cases involving separation of powers; federalism; voting rights; the Tenth Amendment; the First Amendment; the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses; jury trial rights; punitive damages; takings of property; the Commerce Clause; administrative law; taxation; criminal law; sports wagering; copyright, patent and antitrust; securities; campaign finance; foreign sovereign immunities; telecommunications; the environment; the internet; the Supremacy Clause; and other federal constitutional and statutory questions. As Solicitor General, during the presidency of George W. Bush, Mr. Olson was the Government's principal advocate in the United States Supreme Court, responsible for supervising and coordinating all appellate litigation of the United States, and a legal adviser to the President and the Attorney General. As Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel during the Reagan Administration, Mr. Olson was the Executive Branch's principal legal adviser, rendering legal guidance to the President and to the heads of the Executive Branch departments on a wide range of constitutional and federal statutory questions, and assisting in formulating and articulating the Executive Branch's position on constitutional issues.
Mr. Olson has served as private counsel to two Presidents, Ronald W. Reagan and George W. Bush, in addition to serving those two Presidents in high-level positions in the Department of Justice. He has twice been awarded the United States Department of Justice's Edmund J. Randolph Award, its highest award for public service and leadership, and also received the Department of Defense's Distinguished Public Service Award, its highest civilian award, for his advocacy in the courts of the United States, including the Supreme Court. He also received the American Bar Association Medal, its highest award for “exceptionally distinguished service by a lawyer or lawyers to the cause of American jurisprudence.” Mr. Olson is to receive the 2021 Jack Valenti Friend of the White House Fellows Award in the Fall of 2021 to be presented by the White House Fellows Foundation and Association.
Mr. Olson is a member of the Commission on White House Fellowships; a member of the Board of Trustees of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation; a member of the Board of Visitors of the Federalist Society; the Board of Directors of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University; and the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Foundation. He was a visiting scholar at the National Constitution Center in 2007. He served on the President's Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board from 2006 to 2008; and of the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States from 2010 to 2020. He was Co-Chair of the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy from 2008-2009, and served two terms on the Board of Directors of the National Center for State Courts.
Mr. Olson is a Fellow of both the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. He has been repeatedly listed in legal publications as one of the nation’s leading appellate lawyers. The late New York Times columnist William Safire described Mr. Olson as his generation's "most persuasive advocate" before the Supreme Court and "the most effective Solicitor General in decades.”
Mr. Olson received his law degree in 1965 from the University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall) where he was a member of the California Law Review and Order of the Coif. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of the Pacific, where he was recognized as the outstanding graduating student in both forensics and journalism. He has written and lectured extensively on appellate advocacy, oral communication in the courtroom, civil justice reform, and constitutional and administrative law.
Professor of Law, Stanford Law School
Orin S. Kerr is a Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, where he teaches and writes in the areas of criminal procedure and computer crime law. Kerr earned mechanical engineering degrees from Princeton University and Stanford University before graduating with a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a former law clerk to Justice Anthony M. Kennedy at the United States Supreme Court and Judge Leonard I. Garth of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Vice President for Legal Affairs, Goldwater Institute
Levin, Mabie & Levin Professor of Law, University of Florida Levin College of Law
Professor Gary Lawson joined the University of Florida Levin College of Law faculty on July 1, 2024, after twenty-four years at Boston University School of Law and eleven years at Northwestern University School of Law. While at Boston University, he was named a William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor in 2022 – the highest faculty honor within the university. He has authored or co-authored nine editions of a textbook on administrative law, a textbook on constitutional law, five university press books, one popular press book, and more than one hundred scholarly articles on topics ranging from aspects of constitutional theory and history to the proof of legal propositions. His works have been cited in more than twenty opinions of United States Supreme Court justices. He is a founding member, and serves on the Board of Directors, of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies and is on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Heritage Guide to the Constitution.
Dr. John Eastman is the former Henry Salvatori Professor of Law & Community Service and former Dean at Chapman University's Dale E. Fowler School of Law, where he had been a member of the faculty since 1999, specializing in Constitutional Law, Legal History, and Property. He is a founding director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a public interest law firm affiliated with the Claremont Institute that he founded in 1999. He has a Ph.D. in Government from the Claremont Graduate School and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, and a B.A. in Politics and Economics from the University of Dallas. He serves as the Chairman of the Board of the National Organization for Marriage.
Prior to joining the Chapman law faculty, Dr. Eastman served as a law clerk to the Honorable Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States, and to the Honorable J. Michael Luttig, Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and practiced law with the national law firm of Kirkland & Ellis. Dr. Eastman has also represented numerous clients in important constitutional law matters and has argued before the Supreme Court. On behalf of the Claremont Institute Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, he has participated as amicus curiae before the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Courts of Appeals, and State Supreme Courts in more than one hundred cases of constitutional significance, including Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (the school vouchers case), Kelo v. New London, Ct. (eminent domain), and Van Orden v. Perry (the 10 Commandments case). He has also appeared as an expert legal commentator on numerous television and radio programs, including C-SPAN, Fox News, PBS, NewsHour, and The O'Reilly Factor.
Reaching Too Far? The Role of State Attorneys General
Margaret A. Little, Robert F. McDonnell, Donald B. Stenberg, John W. Suthers, J.B Van Hollen
State Attorney General Project
Recently there has been growing discussion concerning the appropriate role of state Attorneys General. Some...
Labor and Employment Law Briefing
Ronald S. Cooper, Ronald E. Meisburg, Eugene Scalia, Jonathan L. Snare
Labor and Employment Practice Group
In 2002, the Federalist Society presented a unique panel discussing the significant labor and employment...
Labor and Employment Law Briefing
Ronald S. Cooper, Ronald E. Meisburg, Eugene Scalia, Jonathan L. Snare
Labor and Employment Practice Group
In 2002, the Federalist Society presented a unique panel discussing the significant labor and employment...
2007 Annual Supreme Court Round Up
Douglas R. Cox, Theodore B. Olson
On July 13, 2007, former United States Solicitor General Theodore B. Olson delivered the Annual...
2007 Annual Supreme Court Round Up
Douglas R. Cox, Theodore B. Olson
On July 13, 2007, former United States Solicitor General Theodore B. Olson delivered the Annual...
SCOTUScast 7-12-07 featuring Orin Kerr
Orin S. Kerr
Brendlin v. California
On June 18, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the case of Brendlin v. California....
SCOTUScast 7-2-07 featuring Timothy Sandefur
Timothy Sandefur
Wilkie v. Robbins
On June 25, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered its decision on the Wilkie v....
SCOTUScast 7-2-07 featuring Gary Lawson
Gary Lawson
Wilkie v. Robbins
On June 25, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered its decision on the Wilkie v....
SCOTUScast 6-30-07 featuring Donald J. Simon
Donald J. Simon
Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc.
On June 25, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered its decision on the Federal Election...
SCOTUScast 6-30-07 featuring John Eastman
John C. Eastman
Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation
On June 25, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered its decision on the Hein v....