St. Robert Bellarmine Professor of Law, The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law; Nonresident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute, The Catholic University of America
José Joel Alicea is the inaugural St. Robert Bellarmine Professor of Law, Associate Dean for Faculty Research, and Director of the Law School’s Center for the Constitution and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. He has also served as a Visiting Professor at Duke Law School and Notre Dame Law School. Prior to joining the Catholic Law faculty, Professor Alicea practiced law for several years at the law firm of Cooper & Kirk, PLLC, where he specialized in constitutional litigation. He previously served as a law clerk for Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., on the United States Supreme Court and for Judge Diarmuid F. O'Scannlain on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Professor Alicea’s scholarship has focused on constitutional theory. His scholarship has appeared, or is forthcoming, in the Yale Law Journal, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, the Virginia Law Review, and the Notre Dame Law Review, among other publications. He has also been active in public debates about constitutional law, testifying before Congress and publishing essays in places like The New York Times, City Journal, and National Affairs.
Professor Alicea is a Fellow at the Columbus School of Law's Center for Religious Liberty and a Nonresident Fellow at The American Enterprise Institute. He is the recipient of several research and teaching awards, including the student-selected Professor of the Year teaching award.
Senior Counsel, Litigation, Defense of Freedom Institute
Don Daugherty is Senior Counsel, Litigation, at the Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies. He previously served as a Senior Counsel at the Institute for Free Speech and the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty. Before that, he was a partner at three of Wisconsin’s largest firms, with nearly 30 years of trial and appellate litigation experience. He has been consistently recognized as among the “Best Lawyers in America,” as well as Wisconsin’s “Super Lawyers.” He received his B.A. from the University of Virginia and his J.D. from Northwestern University Law School. After law school, he served as a clerk to the Honorable Roger J. Miner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Don is on the Board of Advisors for the Milwaukee Lawyers’ Chapter of the Federalist Society, and on the Executive Committee of the Federalist Society’s Litigation Practice Group.
Shareholder & Co-Chair of the Workplace Policy Institute, Littler Mendelson P.C.
Alexander T. MacDonald advises employers on all aspects of the employment and labor landscape, focusing on emerging legislation and regulation. He has extensive experience advising businesses on worker classification, arbitration, the administrative and regulatory process, and the future of work. He frequently writes, publishes, and speaks on these subjects. His work has been cited by scholars and appellate courts. He is a recognized voice for the management perspective.
Alexander is a co-chair of the Workplace Policy Institute (WPI) team. With WPI, he advises employers on legislative, administrative, and regulatory developments at the state and federal level. He advocates for employers in the regulatory and administrative process. He also helps employers protect their businesses by understanding and anticipating cutting-edge legal developments.
Alexander also has extensive experience in traditional labor law. He represents management in all aspects of labor-management relations, including unfair labor practice charges, grievance arbitrations, representation elections, contract negotiations, and related litigation, including litigation in the U.S. courts of appeals.
Before joining Littler, Alexander served as the director, future of work, for a major technology company. He also worked in a national labor and employment law firm and a major public-sector general counsel’s office. He was a law clerk to the senior judges in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.
He is also a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. He served in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. In law school, he graduated first in his class
Fellow, Manhattan Institute
Tim Rosenberger serves as Senior Counsel at the United States Department of Education. He was previously a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and Stanford University’s Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. He was also the founding COO of Verbum Labs and serves as a Chaplain with the Cleveland Division of Police. Before matriculating to law school, he was a legal policy fellow at the Cicero Institute, a parish pastor, and a management consultant with McKinsey & Company.
Tim has contributed to a variety of academic, popular, and professional publications, including the Wall Street Journal, The Hill, The New York Post, and City Journal. He also regularly provides commentary for various media outlets, testifies before state legislatures, and files dozens of amicus curiae “friend of the court” briefs in the Supreme Court and various circuit courts.
He holds an AB from Georgetown University, a M.Div. from United Lutheran Seminary, a D.Min from the Rawlings School of Divinity, an LL.M. from Universität Wien, and a JD/MBA from Stanford University, where he was Federalist Society Chapter President and served on Law Review. Tim’s research interests lie at the intersection of law, faith, education and entrepreneurship—with a particular focus on leveraging policy to help America’s overlooked populations build lives of dignity.
Assistant Solicitor General, Kansas Attorney General
Adam Steinhilber is an assistant solicitor general for the State of Kansas. He was previously a litigation associate in the Kansas City office of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP. Before entering private practice, Adam clerked for Chief Judge Timothy M. Tymkovich of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and Justice Mark S. Massa of the Indiana Supreme Court.
Adam earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif. He earned his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Kansas, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Adam has held several leadership positions within the Federalist Society, and he currently serves on the Board of the Kansas City Lawyers Chapter.
President, Harvard Student Chapter
Benjamin Pontz served as President of the Harvard Federalist Society.
Associate, Lehotsky Keller Cohn LLP
Prof. J. Joel Alicea's Remarks Upon Receiving Joseph Story Award
J. Joel Alicea
2026 National Student Symposium
Thank you to Sheldon Gilbert, Lee Otis, and the award committee for this tremendous honor....
Structure Over Spectacle: The Supreme Court's 2024 Term
Donald A. Daugherty, David C. Tryon
Federalist Society Review, Volume 26
After several years of headline-grabbing decisions that reshaped national political debate—from abortion and affirmative action...
Non Potest Delegari: How the Common-Law Principle of Agency Recasts the Nondelegation Doctrine
Caleb Kreft
Federalist Society Review, Volume 26
The nondelegation doctrine forbids Congress from delegating lawmaking authority to other government institutions. The Supreme...
Transporting Abortifacients Across State Lines: Prospects for Indictment and Extradition
Paul Linton
Federalist Society Review, Volume 26
On January 31, 2025, a Louisiana grand jury indicted a New York physician—Dr. Margaret Carpenter—for...
From Ratio to Auctoritas: The Decline of Reason and the Rise of Authority in American and Roman Law
Alexander T. MacDonald
Federalist Society Review, Volume 26
Are we Rome? In the United States, the question is usually directed at our politics...
Georgia Supreme Court Tightens Limits on Organizational Standing
A unanimous Georgia Supreme Court recently weighed in on the ongoing battle over new...
Georgia Supreme Court Upholds Age-Based Restriction on Public Handgun Carry
Tim Rosenberger, Vilda Westh Blanc
On May 28, 2025, the Supreme Court of Georgia decided Stephens v. State of Georgia[1], affirming...
Texas Supreme Court Analyzes State Constitution’s Religious Services Protection
Adam Steinhilber
In 2021, Texas added a new protection to its state constitution that protects religious services...
In Memoriam: Richard H. Fallon, Jr.
Benjamin Pontz, Jacob B. Richards
Professor Richard Fallon began every session of his Federal Courts class by writing "Jurisdiction |...
Forgotten Founders — Rediscovering the Patriots Who Shaped America
The American History and Tradition Project
Every American knows the names Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin. But what about the other patriots...