Former Lieutenant Governor, Louisiana
Paul Jude Hardy (born October 18, 1942) is a Baton Rouge attorney who was the first Republican to have been elected lieutenant governor of Louisiana since Reconstruction. He served in the second-ranking post from 1988-1992.
Hardy's parents were Florent Hardy, Sr., (1913-2003) and the former Agnes Angelle. He graduated from Cecilia High School in St. Martin Parish in 1960 and from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (then the University of Southwestern Louisiana), in 1965. While Hardy was on the USL track team, he won the Gulf States Conference high jump competition two years in a row.
In 1966, Hardy received his law degree from Loyola University in New Orleans, and at the age of 23 he began practicing law in St. Martinville with the firm Willis and Hardy.
In 1972 he was elected in an upset as a Democratic state senator for Iberia and St. Martin parishes. The defunct Baton Rouge State Times named him the “Outstanding Newcomer” of the year after his first legislative session.
In 1975, he was elected, again as a Democrat, as secretary of state in another upset. An opening appeared when Secretary of State Wade O. Martin, Jr., who was then a Democrat but later switched to the Republican Party, stepped down to launch an unsuccessful gubernatorial attempt. Hardy came from behind to beat his fellow Democratic opponent, State Representative P.J. Mills of Shreveport. In the primary, Mills had led with 49 percent of the vote. Hardy prevailed in the runoff -- officially the general election in Louisiana. He polled 388,780 votes (51.5 percent) to Mills' 366,510 (48.5 percent).
Because he is fluent in French, Hardy was invited to represent the United States in an international government seminar in Quebec, Canada, in 1976.
Partner, Montgomery Barnett
Harvey Charles Koch, Jr, a native of Hammond La. and a resident of New Orleans for 80 years, was born on August 15, 1934, and died peacefully on July 13, 2020, from cancer at age 85.
Mr. Koch's practice included complex commercial litigation, litigation management, insurance coverage and extra-contractual defense litigation, the construction process, construction litigation and arbitration, contract interpretation, sports and entertainment law, fidelity, surety and financial institution bonds, lawyer's malpractice, errors and omissions, life and long term care and fine arts coverages.
Mr. Koch participated in negotiations in Egypt after the Yom Kippur War leading to removal of ships sunk in the Suez Canal; represented a consortium of companies involved in reconstructing Kuwait and its oil fields after Operation Desert Storm; represented a major international insurance company in developing indemnity agreements, construction bonds, and guarantees for use with contractors in twelve foreign countries; represented the lead insurer in the adjustment of the business interruption claims of the Titan IV rockets manufacturer when the solid rocket fuel manufacturing plant supplying that missile program was destroyed in an explosion. And Mr. Koch has defended parties in complex litigation involving nuclear power and fossil fuel plants; the shipping industry; the former Louisiana Sunday Closing laws; and the resurfacing of both runways of the New Orleans International Airport (MSY) in the 1980's. Mr. Koch currently represents the international construction management firm managing all construction at the New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport (MSY).
As an appellate practitioner, Mr. Koch briefed the United States Supreme Court on the Insurance Industry's position on coverage issues regarding the Security Dealer's Blanket Bond, and the New Zealand Supreme Court on the interpretation by United States Courts on coverage issues related to the Financial Institution Bond.
Mr. Koch was listed in Best Lawyers in America (Construction), was a Fellow of the American College of Construction Lawyers (Founder and Former Chair of its Insurance Industry Committee and a former member of its Board of Governors), and was a consultative member of the American Law Institute. Mr. Koch chaired the American Bar Association's Fidelity and Surety Law Committee, Co-Chaired the ABA's first three National Institutes of the Forum on the Construction Industry, chaired six ABA National Law Institutes, founded and served as first Chair of the Louisiana Bar Association's Section on Construction, Fidelity and Surety Law, served as a Vice Chair of the Fidelity and Surety Law Committee of the International Association of Defense Counsel, served on both the Surety Claims Institute Board of Governors and the Advisory Council of the Chief Judge of the Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C., was a Trustee of the Federalist Society, was a member of the National Bond Claims Association, was one of the four Advisors Emeritus of the Fidelity Law Association and was a Life Fellow of both the American and Louisiana Bar Foundations.
David McIntosh is a leader for the principles of limited constitutional government and individual freedom. He is president of the Club for Growth, the leading advocate for economic liberty.
Former Congressman David McIntosh represented Indiana's 2nd Congressional District in the United States Congress from 1995-2001. As a Freshman, David chaired the Subcommittee on Regulatory Relief. He passed the Congressional Review Act and held extensive oversight and field hearings to build a record of public support for regulatory relief initiatives in energy, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, healthcare, transportation and technology sectors. Another issue that he championed was the elimination of the marriage penalty in the Federal Tax Code.
David served during the Reagan administration as special assistant to Attorney General Edwin Meese III, and as special assistant to President Reagan for Domestic Affairs. During the first Bush administration, he served as executive director of the President's Council on Competitiveness and assistant to the Vice President. The Competitiveness Council coordinated the cost/benefit review of major regulations and promoted legal reform measures.
David is a co-founder of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy and serves on the Board of Directors. He remains active with several free market and conservative think tanks and grassroots organizations. David has also had stints at the Hudson Institute and as a Professor of Economics at Ball State School of Business.
Prior to the Club for Growth, David was a partner at Mayer Brown, LLP in Washington, DC.
David graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 1983, and Yale University, BA, cum laude, in 1980. He and his wife, Ruthie, are the proud parents of Ellie age 17 and Davey age 13.
Former United States Attorney General
Richard Lewis Thornburgh was born on July 16, 1932 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Yale University in 1954 and earned his LL.B degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1957. Mr. Thornburgh also holds honorary degrees from 31 colleges and universities.
Following law school, Mr. Thornburgh worked in private industry until 1959 when he joined the Pittsburgh law firm then known as Kirkpatrick & Lockhart. In 1967, he was elected as a delegate to the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention. From 1969 to 1975, Mr. Thornburgh was the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania and was appointed Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division in 1975, serving two years in Washington, D.C. in that role before returning to private practice as a partner at Kirkpatrick & Lockhart. Pennsylvania elected Mr. Thornburgh governor in 1979 and he served two terms. Mr. Thornburgh also taught courses at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government and directed that school’s Institute of Politics from 1987 to 1988.
Appointed by President Reagan, Richard Thornburgh was sworn in as Attorney General on August 12, 1988. President George H.W. Bush reinstated him as Attorney General in 1989 and he served until 1991. In 1992, the American Legion honored Mr. Thornburgh with its highest award, the “Distinguished Services Medal.” He published his autobiography in 2003 entitled, Where the Evidence Leads: The Autobiography of Dick Thornburgh.
Former Archivist of the United States
Allen Weinstein (September 1, 1937 – June 18, 2015) was an American historian, educator, and federal official who served in several different offices. He was, under the Reagan administration, cofounder of the National Endowment for Democracy in 1983. He served as the Archivist of the United States from February 16, 2005, until his resignation on December 19, 2008. After his resignation, he returned to the International Foundation for Electoral Systems as a senior strategist and was a visiting faculty member at the University of Maryland.
Co-Owner, Salon Benders
Jessie has been working in the beauty and wellness industry since 2003 as a teacher and stylist alongside some of the industry's finest (Paul Mitchell, "THE SCHOOL," and The Aveda Institute, Los Angeles). She established a strong foundation and practice, specializing in curly hair, color, and natural hair textures. She is an excellent craftswoman who also loves shags, razor cuts, and “lived-in” easy to style hair. Some call her a “hair healer” for her intuitive ability to know exactly what your hair needs to be in optimal shape. Jessie also studied special effects makeup in 2008. That experience opened her eyes to the infinite possibilities of human presentation. She can tell you exactly what color palette will be flattering on you. Whether its clothes, makeup, or hair, she’s got your back. In 2018, Jessie opened Salon Benders allowing her to incorporate her knowledge of hair, makeup, abstract painting, reiki, and LGBTQ/POC matters to create a one of a kind salon experience.
Owner/Organizer, Salon Benders
Cal uses his background in education, innovation, and community building to influence and disrupt.
He thrives in collaborative environments that value equity, efficiency, and strong communication. With a knack for problem solving and project management, Cal brings a growth-oriented mindset and enjoy working toward goals. His background is in education and leading teams of educators, and he has developed and implemented training on operations, inclusivity, and more–building and guiding teams that are healthy and effective.
U.S. Representative, Wyoming
Congresswoman Harriet Hageman represents the state of Wyoming in the U.S. House of Representatives. She grew up on a ranch, attended Casper College on a livestock judging scholarship and earned both her bachelor's degree and law degree from the University of Wyoming. A litigator for 34 years, Harriet is nationally known for challenging federal overreach, for protecting water and property rights, for exposing federal land and wildlife mismanagement, and for fighting back against the unconstitutional and unlawful acts of unelected bureaucrats. Harriet has extensive experience engaging in complex trials against federal agencies and has been admitted to practice in several states as well as the United States Supreme Court.
In her freshman term in the 118th Congress, Harriet has been selected to serve on the House Natural Resources committee where she is Chair of the Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs, and also serves on the Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries. Representative Hageman also serves on the Judiciary Committee and Subcommittees on the Constitution and Limited Government; the Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust; and the Select Committee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. She has shown her support for American energy independence by serving as Co-Chair of the Congressional Coal Caucus.
Legislation sponsored by Representative Hageman has been focused on reining in the regulatory state, ending the weaponization of our federal government and its proxies against American citizens, and ending the de facto moratorium on American energy production.
Director, Capital Center for Law & Policy Justice and Anthony M. Kennedy Professor of Law, University of the Pacific
Professor Jacobs has been a Professor at McGeorge since 1993. During this time, she has authored a substantial and important body of scholarship on constitutional doctrine, governance and national security, and particularly on government speech. Professor Jacobs' articles have appeared in law journals at Yale, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio State, UC Davis, Rutgers, Tulane, Florida and Indiana. Her separate pieces of scholarship on bioterrorism and national security have appeared as invited submissions to Homeland Security: Law and Policy (William Nicholson, ed. 2005), Encyclopedia of Bioterrorism Defense (J. Wiley, 2005), the Journal of National Security Law & Policy, and the interdisciplinary journal, Biosecurity & Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Practice & Science. Professor Jacobs is co-author of law review pieces addressing law reform in Indonesia and two volumes in the McGeorge Global Issues series designed to bring international and comparative law into core law school classes, Global Issues in Constitutional Law and Global Issues in Freedom of Speech and Religion.
Currently, Professor Jacobs serves as Director of the McGeorge Capital Center for Law & Policy, dedicated to studying issues of federalism and government structure and aiding government policymakers who must navigate their complexities. Before this appointment, Professor Jacobs served as Director of McGeorge's Institute for Development of Legal Infrastructure. Located within the McGeorge Center for Global Business and Development, the Institute generates scholarship on development issues and provides service to developing nations seeking to strengthen their legal systems. In February 2008, Professor Jacobs taught a course at Zhejiang Gongshang University in Hangzhou, China, as part of a USAID legal education grant administered by the Institute. Professor Jacobs has also led the McGeorge Bioterrorism and Public Health Initiative, which focused on introducing issues related to those topics into the law school curriculum. Professor Jacobs received her BA from Wesleyan University, graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School, and served as a law clerk to United States Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr.
Assistant Unit Head, Defensive Litigation Unit, Delaware Department of Justice
Senior Fellow, Cato Institute
Walter Olson is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies and is known for his writing on the American legal system. His books include The Rule of Lawyers, on mass litigation, The Excuse Factory, on lawsuits in the workplace, and most recently Schools for Misrule, on the state of the law schools. His first book, The Litigation Explosion, was one of the most widely discussed general-audience books on law of its time. It led the Washington Post to dub him “intellectual guru of tort reform.” Active on social media, he is known as the founder and principal writer of what is generally considered the oldest blog on law as well as one of the most popular, Overlawyered.com. He has advised many public officials from the White House to town councils and in 2015 was named by Gov. Larry Hogan to be co-chair of the Maryland Redistricting Reform Commission, which issued its report recommendations later that year to acclaim across the state.
Before joining Cato, Olson was a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and an editor at the magazine Regulation, then edited by future Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Olson’s more than 400 broadcast appearances include all the major networks, NPR, the BBC, The Diane Rehm Show, and Oprah.
George Mason University Foundation Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
TODD J. ZYWICKI is George Mason University Foundation Professor of Law at Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University and Research Fellow of the George Mason Law and Economics Center. During the Fall 2023 semester he served as the Visiting Scholar in Conservative Thought and Policy for the Bruce Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization at the University of Colorado-Boulder. From 2020-2021 he was Chair of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Taskforce on Federal Consumer Financial Law. In 2021 he was inducted to the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers. He is also a Senior Fellow of the F.A. Hayek Program for the Advanced Study of Politics, Philosophy, and Economics at George Mason University and a former Senior Fellow of the Cato Institute. From 2015-2017 he was Executive Director of the George Mason Law and Economics Center. He served as Co-Editor of the Supreme Court Economic Review from 2006-2017. From 2003-2004, Professor Zywicki served as the Director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission. He has also taught at Vanderbilt University Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, Boston College Law School, Mississippi College School of Law, and China University of Political Science and Law.
Professor Zywicki clerked for Judge Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and worked as an associate at Alston & Bird in Atlanta, Georgia, where he practiced bankruptcy and commercial law. He received his J.D. from the University of Virginia, where he was executive editor of the Virginia Tax Review and John M. Olin Scholar in Law and Economics. Professor Zywicki also received an M.A. in Economics from Clemson University and an A.B. cum Laude with high honors in his major from Dartmouth College.
Professor Zywicki is also a Lone Mountain Fellow of the Property and Environment Research Center, a Fellow of the International Centre for Economic Research in Turin, Italy, and a former Senior Fellow of the Goldwater Institute. During the Fall 2008 Semester Professor Zywicki was the Searle Fellow of the George Mason University School of Law and was a 2008-09 W. Glenn Campbell and Rita Ricardo-Campbell National Fellow and the Arch W. Shaw National Fellow at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace. He has lectured and consulted with government officials around the world, including Iceland, Italy, Japan, and Guatemala. In 2006 Professor Zywicki served as a Member of the United States Department of Justice Study Group on “Identifying Fraud, Abuse and Errors in the United States Bankruptcy System.”
Professor Zywicki is the author of more than 130 articles in leading law reviews and peer-reviewed economics journals. He is one of the Top 10 most-cited law professors in the field of Commercial Law and one of the Top 25 law professors on Twitter as measured by engagement levels. He is one of the Top 50 Most Downloaded Law Authors at the Social Science Research Network. He has testified multiple times before Congress on issues of consumer bankruptcy law and consumer credit and is a frequent commentator on legal issues in the print and broadcast media, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, Nightline, The Newshour with Jim Lehrer, Neil Cavuto Show, Fox & Friends, Smerconish, Fox News @ Night with Shannon Bream, Fox Business, CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg News, BBC, The Diane Rehm Show, Lou Dobbs Show, Jerry Doyle Show, and The Laura Ingraham Show.
Professor Zywicki is former Chairman and a current member of the Board of Directors of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Humane Studies, Bill of Rights Institute, the Executive Committee for the Federalist Society's Financial Institutions and E-Commerce Practice Group, the Board of Trustees of the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment. He formerly served on the Governing Board and the Advisory Council for the Financial Services Research Program at George Washington University School of Business. He is currently the Chair of the Academic Advisory Council for the following organizations: The Bill of Rights Institute, the film “We the People in IMAX,” and the McCormick-Tribune Foundation “Freedom Museum” in Chicago, Illinois. He is a member of the Board of Visitors of Ralston College and was a member of the Board of Trustees of Yorktown University. From 2005-2009 he served as an elected Alumni Trustee of the Dartmouth College Board of Trustees.
President, TechFreedom
Berin Szoka serves as President of TechFreedom. Previously, he was a Senior Fellow and the Director of the Center for Internet Freedom at The Progress & Freedom Foundation. Before joining PFF, he was an Associate in the Communications Practice Group at Latham & Watkins LLP, where he advised clients on regulations affecting the Internet and telecommunications industries. Before joining Latham's Communications Practice Group, Szoka practiced at Lawler Metzger Milkman & Keeney, LLC, a boutique telecommunications law firm in Washington, and clerked for the Hon. H. Dale Cook, Senior U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Oklahoma. Szoka received his Bachelor's degree in economics from Duke University and his juris doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served as Submissions Editor of the Virginia Journal of Law and Technology. He is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia and California (inactive).
Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow, The Hoover Institution, Stanford University; Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus, UCLA School of Law
Eugene Volokh is the Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution (Stanford), as well as the Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus and Distinguished Research Professor at UCLA School of Law. He recently retired from teaching at UCLA, after 30 years there, and is now focusing on research.
Volokh is the author of the textbooks The First Amendment and Related Statutes (8th ed. 2023), and Academic Legal Writing (5th ed. 2016), as well as over 100 academic law journal articles, mostly on First Amendment law. He is a member of The American Law Institute; the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Free Speech Law; and the creator and coauthor of The Volokh Conspiracy, a leading legal blog founded in 2002 (hosted at the Washington Post from 2014 to 2017 and now at Reason Magazine).
Shareholder, Boyle, Leonard & Anderson, PA
Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
Professor Alan M. Dershowitz is Brooklyn native who has been called “the nation’s most peripatetic civil liberties lawyer” and one of its “most distinguished defenders of individual rights,” “the best-known criminal lawyer in the world,” “the top lawyer of last resort,” “America’s most public Jewish defender” and “Israel’s single most visible defender – the Jewish state’s lead attorney in the court of public opinion.” He is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. Dershowitz, a graduate of Brooklyn College and Yale Law School, joined the Harvard Law School faculty at age 25 after clerking for Judge David Bazelon and Justice Arthur Goldberg.
He has also published more than 1000 articles in magazines, newspapers, journals and blogs such as The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Harvard Law Review, the Yale Law Journal, Huffington Post, Newsmax, Jerusalem Post and Ha’aretz. Professor Dershowitz is the author of 30 fiction and non-fiction works with a worldwide audience, including The New York Times #1 bestseller Chutzpah and five other national bestsellers. His autobiography, Taking the Stand: My Life in the Law, was published in October 2013 by Crown, a division of Random House. Earlier titles include “an exceptional, action packed book,” The Trials of Zion, a novel which has been called “a thought-provoking page turner;” Rights From Wrong; The Case For Israel; The Case For Peace; Blasphemy; Preemption; Finding Jefferson; and Shouting Fire.
In addition to his numerous law review articles and books about criminal and constitutional law, he has written, taught and lectured about history, philosophy, psychology, literature, mathematics, theology, music, sports – and even delicatessens.
His writing has been praised by Truman Capote, Saul Bellow, William Styron, David Mamet, Aharon Appelfeld, A.B. Yehoshua, Elie Wiesel, Richard North Patterson, and Henry Louis Gate, Jr. More than a million of his books—translated in many languages—have been sold worldwide.
In 1983, the Anti-Defamation League of the B'nai B'rith presented him with the William O. Douglas First Amendment Award for his "compassionate eloquent leadership and persistent advocacy in the struggle for civil and human rights." In presenting the award, Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel said: "If there had been a few people like Alan Dershowitz during the 1930s and 1940s, the history of European Jewry might have been different." Professor Dershowitz has been awarded the honorary doctor of laws degree by Yeshiva University, Brooklyn College, Syracuse University, Tel Aviv University, New York City College, Haifa University and several other institutions of learning. He has also been the recipient of numerous academic awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship for his work on human rights, a fellowship at The Center for The Advanced Study of Behavioral Sciences and several Dean’s Awards for his books.
He has been the subject of two New Yorker cartoons, a New York Times crossword puzzle, and a Trivial Pursuit question. A sandwich at Fenway Park has been named after him—pastrami, of course. He is married to Carolyn Cohen, a PhD psychologist. He has three children, one a film producer, one a lawyer for the Women’s National Basketball Association and one a professional actor. He also has two grandchildren, one a college junior and the other a college freshman.
Attorney
Andy focuses on US Supreme Court and federal and state appellate practice. He is especially known for his imaginative and successful punitive damages defense efforts. In the US Supreme Court alone, he has been responsible for hundreds of briefs on the merits, a similar number of certiorari petitions, and several thousand briefs in opposition to certiorari petitions. He has argued 66 cases in the US Supreme Court, and has also argued numerous cases in the federal courts of appeals and in the supreme courts of 12 states. In 2006, Andy was included on the National Law Journal’s list of “Top 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America.” Prior to joining Mayer Brown in 1986, Andy served as a Deputy Solicitor General of the United States (1973–1986) and as Assistant to the Solicitor General (1972–1973). He retired from Mayer Brown in December 2020.
Founder and Co-President Emerita, National Women's Law Center
Described as "guiding the battles of the women's rights movement" by the New York Times, Marcia Greenberger is the founder and Co-President of the National Women's Law Center. The creation of the Center forty years ago established her as the first full-time women's rights legal advocate in Washington, D.C.
A recognized expert on women and the law, particularly in the areas of education and employment, health and reproductive rights, and family economic security, Ms. Greenberger has been a leader in securing the passage of major legislation, counsel in landmark litigation establishing new legal protections for women, and the author of numerous published articles. Examples include the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1991 providing critical protections against sexual harassment on the job, and Supreme Court victories strengthening protections for students and teachers against sex discrimination in schools.
Her leadership and contributions are reflected in the professional honors she has received and the numerous boards on which she has served. She has been given the James Wilson Award and the Alumni Award of Merit from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the Trustees’ Council of Penn Women "Beacon" Leadership Award, the American Bar Association Margaret Brent Award for 2012, the National Association of Women Lawyers' Arabella Babb Mansfield Award, and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Lafayette College as well as the Woman Lawyer of the Year Award by the D.C. Women's Bar Association and the William J. Brennan, Jr. Award by the District of Columbia Bar. Additionally, she has been recognized by Working Woman Magazine as one of the 25 heroines whose activities over 25 years have helped women in the workplace, by Washingtonian Magazine as one of Washington, D.C.'s most powerful women, by Legal Times as a "Top Lawyer" and one of its "30 Champions", and by Legal Times and The National Law Journal as one of "Washington's Most Influential Women Lawyers." She has received the Dr. Jane Evans Pursuit of Justice Award from Women of Reform Judaism, A Woman of Genius Award from Trinity College, the "21 Leaders of the 21st Century" Award from Womens eNews, and the Woman of Distinction Award from Soroptimist International of the Americas. She was elected to the Court of Honor of the Philadelphia High School for Girls, received the Hope Award from Calvary Women's Shelter and awards from the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association and the Center for Law and Social Policy. She received a Presidential appointment to the National Skill Standards Board, and currently serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.
Ms. Greenberger received her B.A. with honors and J.D. cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania. She practiced law with the Washington, D.C., firm of Caplin and Drysdale before she started and became Director of the Women's Rights Project of the Center for Law and Social Policy, which became the National Women's Law Center in 1981.
Journalist
Morton Kondracke has been a journalist for more than 40 years, 35 of which he spent in Washington. He has covered nearly every phase of American politics and foreign policy in that time in nearly every news media there is: through newspapers, magazines, television and radio. Using humor, insight and his own personal experiences, Kondracke addresses current politics, Washington controversies, upcoming elections and the Congressional agenda.
He is a regular commentator on the Fox News Channel, seen nightly as a panelist on Special Report with Brit Hume and weekly as co-host of The Beltway Boys. He is a former panelist on The McLaughlin Group, as an “original” and 16-year regular of the NBC/PBS public affairs show, airing on 350 stations nationwide. He has been an occasional panelist for This Week with David Brinkley, NBC’s Meet the Press, CBS′ Face the Nation, CNN′s Crossfire, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer and Voice of America. He was a commentator for All Things Considered and Communique, as well as a talk-show host for WRC-AM.
Richard and Frances Mallery Professor of Law and Faculty Director, Constitutional Law Center, Stanford Law School
Michael W. McConnell is the Richard and Frances Mallery Professor and Faculty Director of the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School, and a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. From 2002 to 2009, he served as a Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He was nominated by President George W. Bush, a Republican, and confirmed by a Democratic Senate by unanimous consent. McConnell has previously held chaired professorships at the University of Chicago and the University of Utah, and visiting professorships at Harvard and NYU. He teaches courses on constitutional law, constitutional history, First Amendment, and interpretive theory. He has published widely in the fields of constitutional law and theory, especially church and state, equal protection, and separation of powers. His book, “The President Who Would Not Be King: Executive Power Under the Constitution,” was published by Princeton University Press in 2020, based on the Tanner Lectures in Human Values, which he delivered at Princeton in 2019. His latest book, co-authored with Nathan Chapman, “Agreeing to Disagree: How the Establishment Clause Protects Religious Diversity and Freedom of Conscience,” was published by Oxford University Press in mid-2023. McConnell has argued sixteen cases in the United States Supreme Court, most recently Carney v. Adams (2020). defending a provision of the Delaware Constitution requiring political balance on that state’s courts. More recently, he was co-counsel in Gonzalez v. Google. He earned his B.A. from Michigan State University and his J.D. from the University of Chicago, and has received honorary degrees from Notre Dame University and Michigan State. He served as law clerk to Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. and D.C. Circuit Chief Judge J. Skelly Wright. He has been Assistant General Counsel of the Office of Management & Budget, Assistant to the Solicitor General of the Department of Justice, and a member of the President’s Intelligence Oversight Board. He is Senior of Counsel to the law firm Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, and is co-chair of Meta’s Oversight Review Board.
Adjunct Professor, George Washington University Law School
Rose and Milton Friedman Senior Fellow on Public Policy, Hoover Institution
Thomas Sowell is the Rose and Milton Friedman Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution.
He writes on economics, history, social policy, ethnicity, and the history of ideas. His most recent book, Discrimination and Disparities (2018), gathers a wide array of empirical evidence to challenge the idea that different economic outcomes can be explained by any one factor, be it discrimination, exploitation or genetics. His books on economics include Housing Boom and Bust (2009), Intellectuals and Society (2009), Applied Economics (2009), Economic Facts and Fallacies (2008), Basic Economics (2007), and Affirmative Action Around the World (2004). Other books on economics he has written include Classical Economics Reconsidered (1974), Say’s Law (1972), and Economics: Analysis and Issues (1971). On social policy, he has written Knowledge and Decisions (1980), Preferential Policies (1989), Inside American Education (1993), The Vision of the Anointed (1995), Barbarians Inside the Gates (1999), and The Quest for Cosmic Justice (1999). On the history of ideas he has written Marxism (1985) and Conflict of Vision (1987). Sowell also wrote Late-Talking Children (1997). He has also written a monograph on law titled Judicial Activism Reconsidered, published by the Hoover Institution Press in 1989. His writings have also appeared in scholarly journals in economics, law, and other fields.
Sowell’s current research focuses on cultural history in a world perspective, a subject on which he began to write a trilogy in 1982. The trilogy includes Race and Culture (1994), Migrations and Cultures (1996), and Conquests and Cultures (1998).
Sowell's journalistic writings include a nationally syndicated column that appears in more than 150 newspapers from Boston to Honolulu. Some of these essays have been collected in book form, most recently in Ever Wonder Why? and Other Controversial Essays published by the Hoover Institution Press in 2006.
Over the past three decades, Sowell has taught economics at various colleges and universities, including Cornell, Amherst, and the University of California at Los Angeles, as well as the history of ideas at Brandeis University. He has also been associated with three other research centers, in addition to the Hoover Institution. He was project director at the Urban Institute, 1972-1974, a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, 1976–77, and was an adjunct scholar of the American Enterprise Institute, 1975-76.
Sowell was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2002. In 2003, Sowell received the Bradley Prize for intellectual achievement. Sowell received his bachelor’s degree in economics (magna cum laude) from Harvard in 1958, his master’s degree in economics from Columbia University in 1959, and his PhD in economics from the University of Chicago in 1968.
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.
Co-Founder, Trustee, and Legal Advisor, Reason Foundation and Ge, Individual Rights Foundation
Manuel "Manny" Klausner was one of the founding partners in Reason Enterprises, which began publishing Reason magazine in 1971, three years after the publication's creation. He became editor in the summer of 1972 and a senior editor in June 1978. In 1978 he co-founded the Reason Foundation with Tibor Machan and Bob Poole. He remains on the board of the Reason Foundation today, is a stalwart supporter of the Federalist Society, and a libertarian lawyer extraordinaire.
Executive Director, Society for the Rule of Law
Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP
Samuel Romero Ramer, who has served at the highest levels of the Executive and Legislative Branches of the United States Government and held many positions relevant to federal investigations of businesses, is a partner in Norton Rose Fulbright's regulations, investigations, securities, compliance and white collar crime teams in Washington, DC. Mr. Ramer guides clients through all aspects of criminal and civil investigations and congressional inquiries. He also represents individuals facing criminal investigation.
Mr. Ramer's government experience includes, most recently, serving as Senior Associate Counsel to the President of the United States. In that capacity, he provided advice to senior White House policymakers on the most important issues facing the Nation and guided them through congressional and other inquiries. He also led one of the Department of Justice's 12 major divisions as Acting Assistant Attorney General. Among his responsibilities was serving as the Department's principal liaison with Congress, guiding the most senior officials in the Department through the Senate confirmation process, and consulting with the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General on the Department's policy positions and enforcement priorities.
From 2011 to 2014, Mr. Ramer served as Senior Majority Counsel to the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives. In that position, he was responsible for oversight of all matters regarding the Department of Justice and led several of the Committee's most important legal reform initiatives. Previously, he served as counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he also played a key role in oversight of the Department of Justice.
Prior to his time serving in the Legislative Branch, Mr. Ramer was an accomplished prosecutor. As an assistant United States attorney in Washington, DC and an assistant district attorney in the Bronx and Manhattan, he tried dozens of cases to jury verdict, and conducted a large number of complex investigations.
Mr. Ramer's in-house industry experience includes being the General Counsel and VP of Government Relations at Symplicity, a cutting-edge software company. During his tenure, he successfully guided the company through debarment proceedings, multiple investigations, and a government monitor program. As part of the management team, he directed the development of a best-in-class compliance program, culminating in the successful sale of the company to a large private investment fund.
Ramer is an active member of the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia, and a member of the prestigious Edward Bennett Williams American Inn of Court. He is licensed in New York and the District of Columbia.
Partner, Horvitz & Levy LLP
Jeremy Rosen is nationally renowned for his proficiency in numerous issues arising under the First Amendment and California’s anti-SLAPP law. Using that knowledge, Jeremy has helped a wide variety of clients – including churches, private businesses, and individuals – defeat lawsuits that seek to impose liability on clients for exercising their rights of petition, free speech, and free exercise of religion. He has also handled hundreds of appeals in numerous appellate courts, including the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the California Supreme Court, and California’s intermediate appellate courts. In addition to First Amendment and anti-SLAPP cases, his cases have involved numerous important issues regarding anti-trust, class actions, wage and hour law, employment law, breach of contract, California’s Unfair Competition Law, CEQA, the enforceability of arbitration clauses, hospital peer review, the scope of public employee whistleblower protection, and the application of the primary assumption of risk doctrine.
Jeremy is a partner at the firm, which he joined in 2001. He is a California State Bar Certified Appellate Specialist and a member of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers.
Jeremy directed the Pepperdine University School of Law Ninth Circuit Appellate Advocacy Clinic for 6 years. The Clinic represents individuals in the Ninth Circuit who are identified by the court as needing pro bono counsel. Jeremy also previously served a three-year term where he was appointed by the Ninth Circuit to serve as one of 18 appellate lawyer representatives to the court.
Jeremy is a member of the National Chamber Litigation Center’s California Litigation Advisory Committee. Before joining the firm, Jeremy was a Litigation Associate with Munger, Tolles & Olson.
Professor Emeritus, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Louisiana State University
In memoriam
Dr. John Baker is Professor Emeritus of Law, and previously the Dale E. Bennett Professor of Law, at Louisiana State University Law School. He is currently Visiting Professor at Peking University School of Transnational Law (via Zoom) and has been Visiting Professor at The Center for the Constitution, Georgetown Law School (2013-2020). He has also been a Visiting Fellow at Oriel College, the University of Oxford (2012-2014) and taught at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford in 2014. Dr. Baker has also been an adjunct Fellow at the Heritage Foundation (Spring, 2008) and a Distinguished Scholar at the Catholic University of America Law School (2011-12). He has taught at Tulane Law School, George Mason Law School, Pepperdine Law School, New York Law School, Hong Kong University, and the University of Dallas, School of Management and also taught and/or lectured in 17 foreign countries. Notable among his foreign visits are the
following: Visiting Professor at the University of Lyon III (France) (1999-2011); Visiting Professor at the Universidad de los Andes, Chile (2012), as a Fulbright Specialist (2006); and a Fulbright Scholar at various universities in the Philippines. Dr. Baker received his J.D., with honors, from the University of Michigan Law School and his B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Dallas. He also earned a Ph.D. in Political Thought from the University of London. Baker has taught over a dozen different subjects, mostly courses in public law. His main areas of interest are Constitutional Law (particularly federalism and separation of powers), Criminal Law, Anti-Terrorism Law, International Law, Health Care Law, Mediation, and Comparative Law.
In addition to law review articles and book chapters, Dr. Baker’s academic publications include Hall's Criminal Law: Cases and Materials (with Benson, Force and George; 5th ed. Michie, 1993); An Introduction to the Law of the United States (ed. with Levasseur; University Press of America, 1992). He has also published on Forbes.com, FoxNews.com, in The Washington Times, and a number of times in The Wall Street Journal. He argues in federal court, including two oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court. For many years, he co-taught courses for the Federalist Society on separation of powers with the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. In September 2016, he co-taught a Supreme Court seminar in China with Justice Samuel Alito. Following law school, he served as a law clerk in federal district court and as an assistant district attorney in New Orleans before joining LSU in 1975. While a professor, he has been as a consultant to USAID, USIA (since rolled into the State Department), the Justice Department, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Separation of Powers, and the Office of Planning in the White House. He served on an ABA Task Force which issued the report, The Federalization of Crime (1998) and later as a consultant to the “Bi-Partisan Task Force on the Over- federalization of Crime” (2012-2014) created by the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime. Dr. Baker was a co-founder of the first iteration (1995) of Stratfor Inc., a global intelligence agency. He co-authored its first book: The Intelligence Edge (with Friedman, Friedman and Chapman; Crown Books/Random House 1997). In 2022, he began a short, weekly video podcast available on YouTube and Rumble, The Baker Brief.
Co-Chair, Republican National Lawyers Association
Jennifer Bukowsky is a syndicated talk radio host, Co-Chair of the Republican National Lawyers Association, and Vice-Chair of the Missouri Republican Party.
An accomplished criminal defense attorney, Jennifer has handled more than 1,400 cases ranging from trespass to first-degree murder. She clerked for Missouri Supreme Court Judge Mary R. Russell, served as an Assistant Public Defender, and later built her own firm before launching Show-Me Defenders in 2021.
Her contributions have been widely recognized with awards including the David J. Dixon Appellate Advocacy Award, the President’s Service Award from the Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, the Distinguished Recent Alumni Award from the University of Missouri School of Law, and “20 Under 40” honors from the Columbia Business Times. She has helped shape Missouri law as a member of committees that revised the Criminal Code and drafted the state’s expungement bill—both now enacted.
A leader in conservative legal circles, Jennifer serves on the Missouri Supreme Court’s Task Force on Criminal Justice and the Show-Me Institute Board, previously taught the Innocence Clinic at Mizzou, and has deployed multiple times as an election attorney for the Republican National Lawyers Association.
A University of Missouri School of Law graduate with highest honors and Order of the Coif membership, she also holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accountancy and is a licensed CPA. She lives in Columbia, Missouri, with her husband and two sons.
Prosecuting Attorney, Christian County, Missouri
On January 1, 2011, Amy Fite began her first term as the Prosecuting Attorney for Christian County. During her tenure the office has transitioned to a “fileless office”, a “no refusal” policy has been established to allow law enforcement to seek search warrants in cases involving impaired drivers, the office has been structured into teams for better efficiency and accountability. She has implemented a best practice of vertical prosecution – meaning the same prosecutor handles the case from case review through disposition.
After graduating cum laude from St. Louis University School of Law in 1997, Fite began as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in Christian County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. While there she served as the narcotics attorney. Upon leaving Christian County, Fite spent over eight years at the Circuit Attorney’s Office for the City of St. Louis. At the Circuit Attorney’s Office, Fite served in the Drug Court, Domestic Violence Unit, General Felony Trial Staff, Gang Unit, and the Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit. She spent more than two years as the Trial Trainer, where she trained incoming Assistant Circuit Attorneys how to prepare and try jury trials. While at the Circuit Attorney’s Office, Fite participated in well over 100 jury trials, including successfully convicting murderers, robbers, rapists and child sex offenders. In 2008, Fite joined in the Greene County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office serving as a 1st Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for the General Crimes Unit. January 1, 2011, she began her first term as Christian County Prosecuting Attorney.
Fite serves on the board of the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys (MAPA). In 2018, she concluded a two-year term as president for MAPA. She previously served as the president-elect and secretary of MAPA, and as the chair of the Victim Services Sub-committee of MAPA’s Best Practices Committee. She currently serves as a co-chair on the Missouri Supreme Court’s Task Force on Criminal Justice.
Fite was honored as the Prosecutor of the Year in 2018 by the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys. In 2015, the Missouri Victim Assistance Network honored her with the James P. Damos Award in recognition of her willingness to go above and beyond her designated duties in order to affect a positive change for victims. In 2014, she was honored as the Family and Sexual Violence Hero of the Year by MAPA. That same year, she was named, one of Springfield Business Journal’s Twenty Most Influential Women. In 2006, Fite was named by the Missouri Lawyers Weekly as one of Missouri’s “Up and Coming Lawyers”. Fite’s trial skills were recognized while at the Circuit Attorney’s Office by receiving the Trial Star Award three consecutive years and being a recipient of the Justice Award.
As the elected Prosecutor, Fite serves with 18 other members of the office whose mission is to seek and serve justice. She continues to carry a caseload that includes murders and sexually related crimes.
Fite has presented at national and statewide conferences. In 2016 she co-presented at the Gundersen VIP Summit/When Words Matter conference on the benefits of conducting forensic interviews of children beyond the age of the hearsay exception. She is a member of the “ChildFirst” faculty whose responsibility is training professionals from multiple disciplines who work with child victims or witnesses of child abuse, neglect or other violent crimes. She served several years training new prosecutor from across the state as part of the faculty for the Missouri Office of Prosecution Services Trial Advocacy School. She has also served as faculty on “How to Prosecute the Child Sex Offender”. She was also a member of the original faculty who created the curriculum. She has presented on various topics at the statewide Prosecutors’ Conference. She has regularly presented at various citizen academies hosted by local law enforcement agencies.
Partner, Wyrsch, Hobbs & Mirakian, PC
Mr. Hobbs has extensive experience in both civil and criminal cases with particular emphasis in white collar criminal defense work. He has tried cases in areas such as criminal enforcement of environmental laws, defense of health care prosecutions, representation of individuals and corporations charged with business crimes, and defense of political corruption prosecutions. Mr. Hobbs has also represented individuals charged with violent offenses and sexual assault cases. His practice also involves grand jury representation and pretrial representation of individuals and corporations under investigation for criminal conduct. Mr. Hobbs is the recipient of numerous awards, and he has served on many boards of organizations advocating for criminal defendants.
Partner, Ellinger and Associates, LLC
Marc Ellinger is a founding partner of Ellinger and Associates, LLC, and represents businesses, individuals, organizations and committees in disputes. Marc focuses his practice in election law, legislative and rulemaking practice, municipal finance and structuring, issues of state and federal constitutional law, gaming law, and appellate practice and has achieved a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating.
Marc served as legal counsel for the Missouri State Auditor in 1993. In that role advised the State Auditor constitutional and tax law matters, as well as matters related to municipal and state debt financing and regularly appeared before the state appellate courts and the Missouri Supreme Court on the Auditor’s behalf. Marc transitioned to private practice in 1999. Prior to founding Ellinger and Associates, LLC, Marc was a member of Blitz, Bardgett & Deutsch, LC.
Marc has more than twenty years of experience in election law and campaign finance compliance, including the representation of candidates, as well as ballot measure campaigns and Political Action Committees across the State of Missouri. Marc has drafted initiative petitions covering a broad range of subjects and has been involved in the coordination of campaigns and litigation on ballot measures, on behalf of both proponents and opponents.
Marc is also actively involved in representing businesses and individuals in gaming law, particularly with respect to the Missouri Gaming Commission license and compliance matters. He represents casino operators, gaming equipment suppliers, game developers and key persons throughout the gaming industry on a broad range of gaming and licensing matters. He is one of only two Missouri attorneys recognized as a General Member of the International Masters of Gaming Law and is recognized as a Super Lawyer in the Gaming Law area.
Marc’s background as a CPA allows him to view tax matters through multiple lenses. Marc has represented numerous clients in administrative and civil cases involving sales, use and property tax law. He also regularly advises clients regarding transaction structuring.
Marc has significant appellate experience in Missouri. He has argued more than twenty cases in the Missouri Supreme Court and dozens more in the Eastern and Western Districts of the Missouri Court of Appeals. From local government issues of first impression, to tax matters, to numerous election law cases, Marc has protected the interests of businesses, individuals and local governments across Missouri.
Partner, Graves Garrett Greim LLC
Edward “Eddie” Greim focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation, free speech and election law, and internal investigations and whistleblower claims. He has been recognized for his successful representation of businesses and individuals in commercial litigation while also being named a “go-to” lawyer on policy and constitutional issues.
Eddie was named a Constitutional and Election Law Trailblazer by the National Law Journal in 2020. His free speech and election law practice has included numerous constitutional challenges to election and campaign finance laws; representation of clients in state and federal ethics and campaign finance enforcement actions and investigations; initiative petition drafting and litigation; litigation and advice regarding First Amendment protections for petition circulation; representation of not-for-profit clients before state regulators; litigation of state and federal redistricting issues; and advice on campaign and election law compliance.
Eddie complements his trial work in complex, high-profile commercial and constitutional cases with oral advocacy and briefing in important appeals. Recognized as a Missouri Lawyers Media POWER 30 Appellate Attorney in 2021, he has argued before the Missouri and Kansas supreme courts multiple times, other state appellate courts across the country, and before the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Tenth U.S. Courts of Appeals.
Eddie’s notable work for clients includes:
Recovering substantial compensation and injunctive relief for plaintiffs, in complex multiyear litigation, as lead counsel in the first and only nationwide class action certified against the Internal Revenue Service for violating taxpayer protection statutes when it targeted hundreds of groups based on their political viewpoints.
Successful First Amendment challenge to Missouri’s 2016 campaign finance restrictions.
Successful challenge to a vast, multiyear, secret criminal investigation into Wisconsin political groups and nonprofits, and follow-up challenge to expose role of state ethics board which secretly aided the investigation and was later dissolved by the legislature.
U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief for the National Republican Redistricting Trust in the 2019 Rucho litigation, and federal and state redistricting litigation and advice since 2011.
Challenges under the First Amendment in federal court, and in briefing to the Michigan Supreme Court on state constitutional grounds, to unprecedented emergency powers claimed by Michigan Governor in 2020.
Representation of numerous public officials and private citizens who are subject to “lawfare” attacks based on their political viewpoints or policy objectives.
Oversight of multiple internal investigations.
Eddie received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 2002, where he taught on the Board of Student Advisers, received the Dean’s Award for Leadership, and served as President of the Harvard Catholic Law Students Association. He received two bachelor’s degrees, summa cum laude, in economics and political science from the University of Missouri.
A native of Excelsior Springs, Missouri, Eddie lives in Kansas City with his family. He enjoys Missouri and military history. On many weekends, he can be found with his wife and daughters exploring sites of local interest. He enjoys reading and debating and has given presentations or organized discussions at numerous gatherings, formal and informal, of professional and personal interest.
Partner, Stinson LLP
Chuck draws on 25 years’ experience litigating and negotiating very high profile cases, primarily involving some sort of government action, to help offer clients a broad and insightful perspective on Missouri's government and judiciary.
In its annual 100+ List, The Missouri Times newspaper said: Chuck Hatfield's "time at the highest levels of state government have made him very sought after as an attorney in private practice. There is probably no attorney who knows more members of the judiciary and the executive branch in the state. He is also known for his quick wit on social media and willingness to take on tough cases." He has personally handled more than a dozen major cases before the Missouri Supreme Court. Chuck regularly appears before administrative agencies as well as trial and appellate courts at both the state and federal levels.
In his regulatory practice, Chuck has handled matters involving every department of Missouri government. As an outgrowth of his regulatory- based litigation, Chuck is a highly rated commercial litigator. He defends complex high-stakes litigation including class actions involving regulated industries such as securities, insurance and merchandising practices. He chairs the firm’s Financial Services and Class Action Litigation division and its Government Solutions group.
Chuck understands the importance of providing great legal service and value to his clients. As an attorney certified in Legal Project Management (LPM), he has been trained in matter budgeting and management in order to provide transparency and efficiency to his clients.
State Senator, Missouri State Senate (MO-18)
Senator Cindy O’Laughlin was sworn into office on Jan. 9, 2019, to serve the residents of Northeast Missouri’s 18th Senatorial District.
In addition to her public service, Sen. O’Laughlin has served as vice president of Leo O’Laughlin, Inc. for the past 26 years. The senator and her husband own and operate a trucking company and ready mix concrete business with locations in Shelbina, Macon, Marceline and LaBelle.
Prior to being elected to the Missouri Senate, Sen. O’Laughlin served as a school bus driver, an administrator at a local Christian school and as a member of her local school board. Now, Sen. O’Laughlin serves as the chair of the Senate Education Committee and works to improve education outcomes for all of Missouri’s children, regardless of where they live.
Senator O’Laughlin has been a member of various civic organizations such as the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Shelby County Economic Development Board. She has also served on numerous statewide boards such as the Associated Builders and Contractors and the Missouri Club for Growth. Senator O’Laughlin is currently a member of the National Rifle Association, Missouri Cattlemen, the Missouri Farm Bureau and Macon First Baptist Church.
O’Laughlin grew up on a farm and spent much of her childhood around horses, livestock auctions and corn fields. Today, she’s the proud owner of several dogs including Basset Hounds, as well as several rescues dogs.
A current resident of Shelbina, Sen. O’Laughlin has four sons, a foster daughter and six grandchildren. She is a 1978 graduate of the University of Missouri.
Partner, Ellinger and Associates, LLC
Stephanie Bell is a partner at Ellinger and Associates, LLC. Her practice focuses on election, regulatory, utility, gaming, tax and other governmental disputes. She represents individuals, businesses, associations, committees, and political subdivisions in a wide array of state and local government matters and has achieved a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating.
Stephanie previously worked at Blitz, Bardgett, & Deutsch, LC, for almost a decade. Stephanie’s litigation practice includes representing clients before government agencies, the Administrative Hearing Commission, the Public Service Commission, circuit courts, and Missouri Appellate courts. She has litigated cases concerning constitutional and statutory amendments being proposed by initiative petition, challenges to agency rules, the Missouri Sunshine Law, professional licensing, and general business disputes.
Stephanie also regularly advises candidates, committees, political subdivisions, and other entities regarding campaign finance compliance. Stephanie has served as treasurer of multi-million dollar political action committees. She has successfully defended clients against Missouri Ethics Commission complaints.
Stephanie regularly advises clients in relation to highly regulated industries. She has represented political subdivisions and state agencies before the Missouri Public Service Commission in both water and electric rate cases, as well as certificate of convenience and necessity (CCN) cases. She also advises clients in relation to Missouri Gaming Commission matters.
Stephanie has also advised numerous entities during Missouri Department of Revenue audits. With respect to sales and use tax in refund cases and appeals from notices of assessments, Stephanie has represented clients from small businesses to nationwide corporations . She has also represented recipients of tax credits who have received penalty notices.
While in law school, Stephanie served as Symposium Editor of the Missouri Law Review and was a member of the Board of Advocates. She is the recipient of Academic Excellence Awards in Legislation, State Constitutional Law, Trial Practice and Advocacy & Government Agencies. She received the Fred L. Howard Prize for Excellence in the Advancement of Advocacy and was inducted into the Order of the Barristers. She also received the Stanley B. Botner Award for achievements in earning her Master of Public Administration in Public Policy at the Harry S. Truman School of Public Affairs.
Partner, Shands, Elbert, Gianoulakis & Giljum, LLP
Mark Bremer has more than forty years civil litigation experience in federal and state trial and appellate courts, with an emphasis on business litigation, involving general commercial, antitrust, securities, bankruptcy, employment, education, civil rights and class action law and procedure. By way of illustration, Mr. Bremer served in a lead counsel capacity on behalf of two dozen suburban school districts in trying and ultimately settling the St. Louis School Desegregation Case, the longest-standing and most complex case in the St. Louis federal court. Mr. Bremer provides litigation representation and consultation to Fortune 500 businesses, educational institutions, employers of all types and other entities in a variety of specialized areas of law and practice.
Judge, United States District Court, Eastern District of Missouri
Stephen R. Clark the chief United States district judge for the Eastern District of Missouri. He was appointed to the bench by President Trump in 2018 and became the chief judge in 2022. Prior to serving on the court, Judge Clark was the founder and managing partner of the Runnymede Law Group in St. Louis, Missouri, from 2008 to 2019. He also served as the president of the Federalist Society’s St. Louis Lawyers Chapter.
Of Counsel, Tueth Keeney Cooper Mohan Jackstadt PC
Jim Layton joined the firm in 2017 after serving more than 22 years in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office—nearly all of those as the State’s principal civil appellate lawyer, Solicitor General.
Jim practices in both appellate and trial courts, particularly in matters involving complex legal questions, including those arising under the U.S. and Missouri constitutions, Missouri school funding and other education statutes, discrimination laws, and Missouri tax laws. He represents both private and public entities.
In addition to handling cases at Tueth Keeney, Jim assists clients, in-house counsel, and counsel at other firms with appellate strategy, motions, briefing, and argument. In doing so, he relies on many years of intense appellate experience: Jim has argued more than 90 times before the Missouri Supreme Court, four times before the U.S. Supreme Court, and more than 100 times in other state and federal appellate courts. Since joining Tueth Keeney, Jim has been retained repeatedly to assist with applications to transfer appeals to the Missouri Supreme Court.
Jim’s experience in working with high-level government officials and state boards and commissions gives him special insight into government and regulatory decision-making. He has been consulted on a wide range of issues relating to Missouri laws regulating public and private entities.
An adjunct professor of law at the University of Missouri for 20 years, Jim is a frequent speaker on appellate practice, legal writing, constitutional law, and issues arising from new appellate decisions.
A long-time leader in the appellate bar, Jim serves as Co-Chair of the Appellate Practice Committee of The Missouri Bar. He was previously Chair of the American bar Association’s Council of appellate Lawyers, President of the Bar Association of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, and President of the Elwood Thomas American Inn of Court. He serves on task forces for both the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and the Missouri courts dealing with remote court proceedings and electronic filing.
Office Managing Partner, Husch Blackwell LLP
Lowell has more than 30 years of experience navigating the intersection of business and government at both the state and federal levels.
A wide range of clients – including regulated businesses in manufacturing, aviation and healthcare; individual political candidates and political action committees (PACs); and political subdivisions – rely on Lowell’s extensive experience in administrative law; election law and political campaign finance law; as well as government contract and procurement matters. A trusted litigator, he has handled numerous cases in the federal and state courts challenging government action, and has made multiple appearances before the Missouri Supreme Court in employment and constitutional cases.
Clients appreciate Lowell’s deep background within and innate understanding of public policy. Lowell worked in Washington, DC, as a policy advisor to the Judicial Conference of the United States and as counsel to Bob Dole’s 1988 presidential election campaign. He also served as both Missouri’s Deputy Director of Revenue and general counsel to Missouri Governor Matt Blunt. Lowell has been a regular speaker on administrative law, tax and election law issues to groups such as the Associated Industries of Missouri (AIM), the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of Missouri. His proven collaborative and relationship-building skills move client goals forward.
Speaker Pro Tempore, Missouri House of Representatives (MO-103)
Representative John Wiemann, a Republican, represents part of St. Charles County (District 103) in the Missouri House of Representatives. He was elected to his first two-year term in November 2014 and was re-elected in 2016, 2018, and 2020.
Born in St. Louis and raised in St. James, Missouri, Wiemann is a graduate of University of Missouri – Columbia, with a bachelor’s in business administration and a master’s in health administration.
He resides in O’Fallon with his wife, Yvette and two sons, Blake & Clayton. He is President and CEO of Midwest Physician Insurance Advisors and is a licensed insurance broker.
Wiemann is a member of O’Fallon and Cottleville Weldon Spring Chambers of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) St. Charles County Lions Club, Assumption Catholic Church, Knights of Columbus, NRA, and Lewis & Clark Pachyderm club. Wiemann serves on the board of directors for the Junior GAC Youth Football league, State Legislative Leaders Foundation and the board of Trustees for Missouri State Employees’ Retirement System.
Wiemann was elected to serve as Speaker Pro Tem for the 100th and 101st General Assembly.
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