Litigation Fellow, Pacific Legal Foundation
Nick Clifford is a litigation fellow at Pacific Legal Foundation. He is a graduate of Indiana University Maurer School of Law.
Legal Counsel, Alliance Defending Freedom
Allison Pope serves as legal counsel for the Center for Life at Alliance Defending Freedom, where she defends pro-life laws and organizations.
Before joining ADF, Pope was an associate at a large law firm in Kansas City, Missouri. In that role, she represented major pharmaceutical and automotive companies in class actions and other complex litigation. Pope also has experience in the clinical research industry.
Pope served as a law clerk for Judge Eric E. Murphy on the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She graduated magna cum laude from Notre Dame Law School and earned her undergraduate degree in biology and French with highest distinction from the University of Kansas. Pope is admitted to practice law in Missouri.
Partner, Holtzman Vogel
Joe Burns is a partner with Holtzman Vogel and focuses his practice on representing candidates and party committees in election cases throughout New York State.
Prior to joining the firm, Joe served as Deputy Director of Election Operations at the New York State Board of Elections. In this role, he worked with county Boards of Elections, candidates, and party committees, and was involved in New York State's transition from lever to optical scan voting. He also conducted hearings for the NYSBOE and represented it in court proceedings.
Additionally, Joe has served as an attorney for the Erie County and New York State Republican Committees, and has also represented candidates for a variety of public offices throughout New York State, including candidates for U.S. Congress and New York State Supreme Court.
From 2018 to 2024, Joe was the Deputy Administrative Director for the Erie County Water Authority; and from 2015 to 2018, he was the Secretary to the Erie County Water Authority.
A life-long resident of Upstate New York and active member of the Western New York community, Joe served as vice chair of the Erie County Charter Revision Commission in 2016 and was a member of the Erie County Advisory Commission on Reapportionment in 2021. City and State named Joe to its Upstate Power 100 list in 2024, and in 2025, Joe was named as one of New York State’s Law Power 100 by City and State.
Joe is a frequent commentator and author on New York State and national politics, and election law.
Law Clerk, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Tom Fogarty is currently a law clerk in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Tom received his J.D. from Duke University School of Law, where he was the VP of Internal Affairs of the Duke Law Federalist Society, the President of the Mock Trial Board, a member of the Moot Court Board, and an Online Editor of the Duke Law Journal. He also received his B.A. in History from the Ohio State University.
Litigation Fellow, Institute for Justice
Matt Liles is a Litigation Fellow at the Institute for Justice. He returns to IJ after having worked as both a law clerk and intern in IJ’s Arlington, Virginia office. In his role as a Litigation Fellow, Matt litigates cutting-edge constitutional cases protecting Americans' property rights and economic liberty.
Matt received his J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law, where he served on the executive board of the Texas Federalist Society and as Submissions Editor for the Texas Review of Law & Politics. He also received his B.A. in Government from the University of Texas. As an undergraduate, Matt was a plaintiff in a successful First Amendment lawsuit on behalf of campus free speech.
After completing the Fellowship, Matt will serve as a law clerk in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. He is a member of the District of Columbia bar.
Law Clerk, United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
Deputy Solicitor General, Office of the Attorney General of Iowa
Patrick C. Valencia serves as Iowa’s Deputy Solicitor General in the Iowa Attorney General’s Office. In this role, he helps marshal Iowa’s appellate docket, and briefs and argues cases, before state and federal appellate courts, including the Iowa and U.S. Supreme Courts.
Before moving to Iowa, Patrick worked on appeals across all levels of state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, as a senior associate in the Supreme Court and Appellate practice group at Hogan Lovells in Washington, D.C. Patrick has worked on cases involving a wide range of issues, including constitutional law, civil procedure, civil rights, employment law, and complex commercial litigation, across a variety of industries, including the automotive, energy, health care, and technology industries. Patrick has also served as appellate counsel in federal district courts, including on several antitrust cases.
Before Hogan Lovells, Patrick clerked for the Honorables Roger W. Titus and Paul W. Grimm of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, and then for the Honorable Steven M. Colloton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Patrick graduated Order of the Coif with high honors from the George Washington University Law School. Patrick completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Notre Dame, where he studied political science and Irish history.
Attorney and Legal Commentator
John Shu is an attorney and legal commentator. His focus areas include constitutional law, securities & corporate law, antitrust law, administrative law, politics, and international affairs. Mr. Shu has lectured and published on a wide variety of issues.
Mr. Shu served President George H.W. Bush and President George W. Bush. He also served Judge Stanley Sporkin, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, who was Director of Enforcement at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission and General Counsel at the Central Intelligence Agency, and Judge Paul Roney, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, who was Presiding Judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review.
Mr. Shu is a member of the National Committee on U.S. - China Relations, the Pacific Council on International Policy, and the Foreign Policy Association.
Attorney, Institute for Justice
John Wrench is a Constitutional Law Fellow at the Institute for Justice.
John grew up outside of Ithaca, New York, and received his law degree from the Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 2019. During law school, he served as editor in chief of the Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law and was a member of the Federalist Society. John interned in his law school’s First Amendment Litigation Clinic and was a judicial extern to the Honorable Paul E. Davison in the Southern District of New York. John graduated from Pace University in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Religious Studies.
Senior Associate Legal Fellow, The Buckeye Institute
Alex M. Certo is a Senior Associate Legal Fellow at The Buckeye Institute. In this role, Certo advances Buckeye’s public policy efforts by litigating cases that protect individuals’ rights and by contributing to more than 75 amicus briefs filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as dozens of amicus briefs in state and lower federal courts. Additionally, Certo supports Buckeye’s policy work by analyzing the legal implications of proposed and pending legislation and by testifying before Ohio legislative committees.
Certo has been a member of the Federalist Society since 2019 and currently serves on the board of the Columbus Lawyers chapter, where he is vice president.
Certo’s legal experience includes working as a judicial extern for the Supreme Court of Ohio and as a summer extern in the Investigations Division of the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office. Certo also worked as a law clerk for Agee, Clymer, Mitchell & Portman in Columbus, Ohio, focusing on workers’ compensation litigation.
Certo received his bachelor’s degree from Slippery Rock University and his Juris Doctor (magna cum laude) from Capital University Law School. In law school, Certo served on the associate board of the Capital University Law Review and competed on the Child Welfare and Adoption Law Moot Court team. Certo was the president of Capital’s Federalist Society chapter and vice president of the Labor and Employment Law Association. Certo also served as a teaching assistant for Capital’s Second Amendment course and a research assistant for a pair of faculty-written articles on public safety. Certo was awarded the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in Patent Law and the Ronald I. Friedman Memorial Service Award, and he was inducted into The Order of Barristers.
Before law school, Certo worked as a staff accountant. His work focused on preparing individual and small business tax filings and assisting small business owners with daily accounting needs.
Illinois Supreme Court Addresses Expectations of Privacy in Hospital Trauma Rooms
Nick Clifford
In People v. Turner, the Supreme Court of Illinois addressed the issue of whether an...
Nebraska Supreme Court Rejects Single-Subject Challenge to Law Limiting “Gender Altering” Procedures and Abortions
Allison Pope
Does a bill that limits gender-altering procedures and abortions “contain more than one subject”?...
Challenge to New York Ballot Canvassing Law Thrown Out by State High Court
Joseph Thomas Burns
On October 31, 2024, in Amedure v. State, the New York State Court of Appeals...
Pandemic Orders and the Right to Earn a Living in North Carolina
Tom M. Fogarty
In March of 2020—during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic—North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper...
Unrecorded Deeds and Adverse Possession at the Tennessee Supreme Court
Matt Liles
You may remember the typical requirements for making an adverse possession claim from law...
South Carolina Supreme Court Holds Unconstitutional Law Providing State Funds to Students for Private School Expenses
Jared C. Huber
The South Carolina Legislature passed the Education Scholarship Trust Fund Act (ESTF) to “provide scholarships...
Iowa’s Constitution Provides a Legislative Privilege Despite Lacking a Speech or Debate Clause
Patrick C. Valencia
A civil rights organization, the League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa (LULAC),...
Arbitration Unconscionability and Severability In California
John Shu
On July 15, 2024, the California Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Ramirez v....
Iowa Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to K-9’s Brief Contact With Car During Sniff
John Wrench
In State v. Bauler, the Iowa Supreme Court considered whether the U.S. or Iowa...
Ohio Supreme Court Rules a Bone in “Boneless” Wing Doesn’t Make a Food Supplier Negligent
Alex Certo
In Berkheimer v. REKM, L.L.C.,[1] the Ohio Supreme Court determined that the presence of a...