Milton R. Underwood Chair in Free Enterprise, Vanderbilt University Law School
Brian Fitzpatrick is the Milton R. Underwood Chair in Free Enterprise and Professor of Law at Vanderbilt Law School, where his research focuses on class action litigation, federal courts, judicial selection, and constitutional law. He is best known for his empirical studies of class action settlements as well as his book The Conservative Case for Class Actions (University of Chicago Press, 2019). Professor Fitzpatrick joined Vanderbilt's law faculty in 2007 after serving as the John M. Olin Fellow at New York University School of Law. He graduated first in his class from Harvard Law School and went on to clerk for Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Justice Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court. After his clerkships, Professor Fitzpatrick practiced commercial and appellate litigation for several years at Sidley Austin in Washington, D.C., and served as Special Counsel for Supreme Court Nominations to U.S. Senator John Cornyn. Before earning his law degree, Fitzpatrick graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's of science in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame. He has received the Hall-Hartman Outstanding Professor Award, which recognizes excellence in classroom teaching, for his Civil Procedure and Federal Courts courses.
Executive Director, Ohio Dental Association
David J. Owsiany is the executive director of the Ohio Dental Association and a past president of the Columbus Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society.
He has served as CEO of a statewide health care association, president of the Buckeye Institute, chief of policy for the Ohio Department of Insurance, judicial law clerk for the Illinois Appellate Court, and staffer on the United State Senate Judiciary Committee.
Mr. Owsiany has written dozens of articles on legal and public policy issues for various publications, including the University of Toledo Law Review, the Federalist Society's State Court Docket Watch, Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Crain’s Cleveland Business, and Akron Beacon Journal.
Owsiany received his J.D. from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis and B.A. from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Professor of Law, University of San Diego School of Law (Retired)
Gail Heriot is a recently retired law professor from the University of San Diego. She also served as a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights from 2007 to 2025. She is also the chairman of the board of the American Civil Rights Project and the chair emerita of the Civil Rights practice group at the Federalist Society for Law & Public Policy.
Professor Heriot is a prolific writer in the area of civil rights. She is the author of many law review articles. She is also the editor (along with Maimon Schwarzschild) of the 2021 anthology, A Dubious Expediency: How Race Preferences Damage Higher Education. Her upcoming book is entitled, Why We Walk on Eggshell: How Our Civil Rights Laws Helped Bring About the Woke Era—And the Trump Era, Too.
Her writings for a general audience have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the National Review and many other newspapers and magazines.
In 1996, she co-chaired the successful “Yes on Proposition 209” campaign, which amended the California Constitution to prohibit state-sponsored discrimination or preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin. In 2020, she co-chaired the “No on Proposition 16” campaign, which successfully prevented Proposition 209’s repeal.
A Report on the Political Balance of the Tennessee Plan
Brian T. Fitzpatrick
There is an ongoing debate about the method by which Tennessee selects its appellate judges. Professors...
The Rise and Fall of Lead Paint Litigation in Ohio
David J. Owsiany
Over the last four years, Ohio has experienced a significant amount of activity related to...
Rhode Island Supreme Court Overturns Lead Paint Judgment
David Strachman
In July 2008, the Rhode Island Supreme Court overturned a jury verdict imposing liability against...
California Supreme Court to (Re)Consider the Permissibility of Contingency Fee Agreements Between Governments and Private Counsel in Public Nuisance Actions
Brian Anderson, Christopher Catalano
In July 2008, the California Supreme Court agreed to review a Court of Appeal case...
Barwatch Bulletin -- February 13, 2009
February 13, 2009
Merit Selection Defense CampaignFriday morning's featured a panel sponsored by the ABA's Coalition for Justice...
Barwatch Bulletin -- February 14, 2009
February 14, 2009
Bioethics and the LawSaturday morning featured a roundtable discussion entitled "Hot Topics in Bioethics and...
Barwatch Bulletin -- February 16, 2009
February 16, 2009
House of Delegates Considers RecommendationsThe ABA's House of Delegates met today to vote on recommendations...
The Employee Free Choice Act and the South
The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)1 is among the top items on President Obama’s legislative...
Engage Volume 10, Issue 1, February 2009
*Online-Only Issue* CIVIL RIGHTS Lights, Camera, Legislation: Congress Set to Adopt Hate Crimes Bill that...
Lights, Camera, Legislation: Congress Set to Adopt Hate Crimes Bill that May Put Double Jeopardy Protections in Jeopardy
Gail L. Heriot
Americans were horrified by the brutal murders of James Byrd in Jasper, Texas and Matthew...