Executive Director, Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society, The Ohio State University
Professor Lee J. Strang serves as the inaugural executive director of the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society at The Ohio State University.
Initiated in 2023 by the state of Ohio, the Chase Center will be an academic home at Ohio State for teaching, research, and programing on the foundations of the American constitutional order and its impact on society. As executive director, Professor Strang is responsible for organizing the center, overseeing the hiring and appointment of the center’s faculty, developing curriculum, and delivering student and academic programming. He also holds a faculty appointment in the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State.
Professor Strang is a nationally recognized legal scholar who has published dozens of articles in leading journals in the fields of constitutional law and interpretation, property law, and religion and the First Amendment. He co-edits the textbook Federal Constitutional Law, and his most recent book, Originalism’s Promise: A Natural Law Account of the American Constitution is the first book-length, natural law justification for originalism. He currently is writing on civic thought and leadership, and he is finalizing a book on the history of American Catholic legal education (with John M. Breen).
Before joining Ohio State, Professor Strang served as the inaugural director of the University of Toledo’s Institute of American Constitutional Thought & Leadership. He joined the Toledo College of Law faculty in 2008, was granted tenure in 2010, and was named John W. Stoepler Professor of Law & Values in 2015. The University of Toledo awarded Professor Strang its Outstanding Faculty Research and Scholarship Award in 2017. Before that, he was a visiting professor at Michigan State University College of Law. A graduate of the University of Iowa, where he was articles editor of the Iowa Law Review and Order of the Coif, Professor Strang holds an LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School.
Professor Strang has been a visiting scholar at the Georgetown Center for the Constitution and a visiting fellow at the James Madison Program at Princeton University. In 2016, he was appointed to the Ohio Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and reappointed as chair in 2023.
Prior to teaching, Professor Strang served as a judicial clerk for Judge Alice M. Batchelder of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He was also an associate for Jenner & Block LLP in Chicago, where he practiced in general and appellate litigation.
Professor Strang is a frequent presenter at scholarly conferences. He is the president of the Board of Trustees of Northwest Ohio Classical Academy, Ohio’s first classical charter school. He is also a regular participant in debates at law schools across the country, a contributor to the media, and a speaker to political, civic, and religious groups.
General Counsel, Competitive Enterprise Institute
Daniel Greenberg is the General Counsel at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. His research focuses on civil asset forfeiture and regulatory reform. He served as senior policy advisor at the U.S. Department of Labor from 2017-2021. From 2011-2017, he was president of the Advance Arkansas Institute, a nonprofit research and educational organization.
He has been an adjunct professor of law and political science at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock as well as senior counsel for the Center for Class Action Fairness. He served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 2007-2011, and on the Pulaski County Quorum Court for four years prior to that. As a state legislator, he received National Review’s “2010 Challenge / Best Conservative Idea” award for his work on federalism issues as well as the Arkansas Press Association’s Freedom of Information Award for his work on First Amendment issues.
During the 1990s, he served as a congressional staffer for Congressman Jay Dickey and Tim Hutchinson before moving to the Heritage Foundation and then to the Cato Institute. He has published extensively on government and public policy in newspapers, magazines and academic journals, including the New York Times, National Review, the Monist, the John Marshall Law Review, and the Ohio State Law Journal. He holds degrees from Brown University, Bowling Green State University, and UALR’s Bowen School of Law.
Managing Partner, Radix Law
Andy joined Radix following a decorated legal career in the public and private sectors. He began his career practicing complex business litigation for nearly a decade at a large law firm in Phoenix, then became a prosecutor at the Arizona Attorney General’s Office where he focused on high profile racketeering, securities fraud, and public corruption matters. Andy was then appointed Chief Counsel and Legal Division Director of the Arizona Corporation Commission, where he advised five elected commissioners on statewide public utility matters and led some of the most influential policies and judicial outcomes in the history of the Commission.
Following public service, Andy became General Counsel for a private family office, managing all national legal affairs for a portfolio of companies in the financial services, private equity, professional sports, and fintech space. He has tried cases in both civil and criminal courts, represented government agencies and private clients across the State of Arizona, and argued matters before the Arizona Court of Appeals and the Arizona Supreme Court. Andy is also one of the nation’s leading advisors on Arizona Alternative Business Structures and has successfully counseled many clients through the ABS formation and approval process.
Andy’s clients include high net worth individuals, established businesses, hyper-growth companies, and state agencies who rely on Andy as their outside general counsel. His combination of experience in litigation, criminal matters, appeals, government & regulatory affairs, crisis management, and private business provides one of a kind value, helping his clients achieve their goals while protecting against threats to their success.
In 2018, he was awarded Counsel of the Year by the Association of Corporate Counsel and is a Flinn-Brown Fellow through the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership.
Andy currently serves on the Arizona Supreme Court’s Committee on Alternative Business Structures and the Attorney Regulation Advisory Committee.
Senior Attorney, Institute for Justice
Paul Sherman is a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice.
Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation
Caleb Trotter is an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, where he litigates on behalf of individuals and small businesses fighting for their constitutional rights to free speech, economic liberty, and equal protection under the law.
Caleb’s practice at PLF is primarily focused on free speech rights that allow people to pursue the profession of their choice in the manner they see fit. He successfully represented Peggy Fontenot in a challenge to an Oklahoma law that prevented her from truthfully marketing her art as American Indian-made.
Caleb also has taken the lead in fighting for students to participate in school athletics free from oppressive sex-based quotas. He has successfully represented Dmitri Moua, Zachary Greenwald, and Freddie Linden in challenging rules in Minnesota and South Dakota that prohibited them from participating on high school competitive dance teams.
Prior to PLF, Caleb clerked for the Institute for Justice and externed for the public defender’s office in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Before starting his legal career, he worked in real estate, banking, and investments.
Upon witnessing government screw-ups at every level following Hurricane Katrina, and due to absorbing the laissez-faire culture of New Orleans over many years, Caleb came to see the importance of individualism to human flourishing. He was inspired to dedicate his career to advancing liberty through the law after reading story after story in Reason magazine of organizations like PLF fighting to protect individual rights.
Caleb attended law school at Loyola University New Orleans, where he graduated cum laude and served as a member of the Loyola Law Review and moot court program. He also earned a BSM in finance and legal studies in business at Tulane University. He lives in Sacramento with his wife, Ashlee, and cat, Frank. Caleb loves traveling—he’s been to all 50 states—following his beloved Texas Rangers, photography, and Mardi Gras. If you’re ever in PLF’s Sacramento office, be sure to check out his bobblehead collection.
Senior Vice President for Legal Studies, Cato Institute
Clark Neily is senior vice president for legal studies at the Cato Institute. His areas of interest include constitutional law, overcriminalization, civil forfeiture, police accountability, and gun rights. Neily is the author of Terms of Engagement: How Our Courts Should Enforce the Constitution’s Promise of Limited Government. His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and National Review Online, as well as various law reviews, including the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, George Mason Law Review, Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy, NYU Journal of Law and Liberty, and Texas Review of Law and Politics. Neily is a frequent guest speaker and lecturer for the Federalist Society, Institute for Humane Studies, and American Constitution Society.
Before joining Cato in 2017, Neily was a senior attorney and constitutional litigator at the Institute for Justice and director of the Institute’s Center for Judicial Engagement. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Texas School of Law, where he teaches constitutional litigation and public-interest law.
Neily served as co-counsel in District of Columbia v. Heller, the historic case in which the Supreme Court held for the first time that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to own a gun for self-defense.
Neily began his legal career as a law clerk to Judge Royce Lamberth on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. After that he spent four years in the trial department of the Dallas-based firm Thompson & Knight. Neily received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Texas, where he was Chief Articles Editor of the Texas Law Review.
Vice President of Litigation, Southeastern Legal Foundation
Braden H. Boucek serves as Director of Litigation at the Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF). His cases at SLF focus on restoring constitutional balance, equal protection, the First Amendment, and property rights. He is an avid defender of America's Founding and a constitutional law professor. He has also actively litigated school choice cases.
Prior to joining SLF, he served as Vice President of Legal Affairs at the Beacon Center of Tennessee, where he worked on economic liberty, dedicated himself to Tennessee's unique constitutional rights, and protecting the free speech rights of professionals.
Braden has been a litigator since 2001. Previously, Braden was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in both Nashville and Memphis for over nine years. During that time, he handled hundreds of cases ranging from Organized Crime, Drug Trafficking, Fraud, Counterfeiting, Terrorism and Immigration offenses. Braden has been recognized by his office for performance, winning both the Special Achievement award and Distinguished Service award. Two of his investigations were recognized as the district’s “Case of the Year” by the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force. For nearly five years before joining the Department of Justice, Braden served as a prosecutor for the State of Tennessee, first as an Assistant Attorney General and later as an Assistant District Attorney. He has been lead counsel in many jury trials at both the state and federal level. He has also argued dozens of cases before state and federal appellate courts, including the Tennessee Supreme Court and Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Braden also served as an extern for the Florida Supreme Court. He obtained his J.D. at Florida State University College of Law, and his B.A. at the University of Richmond.
Partner, Adams and Reese LLP
Lucian Pera’s practice focuses on legal ethics work, media law, and commercial litigation.
Lucian is one of the nation’s leading legal ethics practitioners. For more than 30 years, Lucian has represented lawyers, law firms, clients, and those who do business with lawyers and law firms, on the widest possible array of issues relating to legal ethics and the regulation of lawyers. His practice is national in scope.
The ABA Center for Professional Responsibility recently bestowed on him the prestigious Michael Franck Award, their highest award for work in the field of ethics and professional responsibility over his career. For twenty years, in addition to his work as a practicing ethics lawyer, he has been a leader at the highest levels of the ABA on revisions to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and other important lawyer conduct issues.
Vice President for Litigation & General Counsel, Goldwater Institute
Jon Riches is the Vice President for Litigation for the Goldwater Institute’s Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation and General Counsel for the Institute. He litigates in federal and state trial and appellate courts in the areas of economic liberty, regulatory reform, free speech, taxpayer protections, public labor issues, government transparency, and school choice, among others.
Jon has developed and authored several pieces of legislation, including the landmark Right to Earn a Living Act, which provides some of the greatest protections in the country to job-seekers and entrepreneurs facing arbitrary licensing regulations. He also developed legislation eliminating deference to administrative agencies in Arizona—a first-of-its-kind regulatory reform that can serve as a model for the rest of the country.
His work at the Institute has been covered by national media, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, CBS This Morning, Bloomberg News, and Politico. Jon is also a member of the Federalist Society’s Regulatory Transparency Project: State and Local Working Group.
Prior to joining the Goldwater Institute, Jon served on active duty in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps. While on active duty, Jon represented hundreds of clients, litigated dozens of court-martial cases, and advised commanders on a vast array of legal issues.
He previously clerked for Sen. Jon Kyl on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, worked for the Rules Committee in the Arizona State Senate, and clerked in the Office of Counsel to the President at the White House. Jon received his B.A. from Boston College, where he graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He earned his J.D. from the University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law.
Jon served as a presidentially appointed Panel Member on the Federal Service Impasses Panel. He is an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve and an Adjunct Professor at Arizona State University School of Law. Jon is a native of Phoenix.
Senior Counsel, Nixon Peabody
Stephen P. Younger, past president of the New York State Bar Association, is a seasoned litigator and trial lawyer in the firm’s Complex Disputes practice. He focuses his practice on commercial, securities, and real estate disputes.
Executive Director, Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society, The Ohio State University
Professor Lee J. Strang serves as the inaugural executive director of the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society at The Ohio State University.
Initiated in 2023 by the state of Ohio, the Chase Center will be an academic home at Ohio State for teaching, research, and programing on the foundations of the American constitutional order and its impact on society. As executive director, Professor Strang is responsible for organizing the center, overseeing the hiring and appointment of the center’s faculty, developing curriculum, and delivering student and academic programming. He also holds a faculty appointment in the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State.
Professor Strang is a nationally recognized legal scholar who has published dozens of articles in leading journals in the fields of constitutional law and interpretation, property law, and religion and the First Amendment. He co-edits the textbook Federal Constitutional Law, and his most recent book, Originalism’s Promise: A Natural Law Account of the American Constitution is the first book-length, natural law justification for originalism. He currently is writing on civic thought and leadership, and he is finalizing a book on the history of American Catholic legal education (with John M. Breen).
Before joining Ohio State, Professor Strang served as the inaugural director of the University of Toledo’s Institute of American Constitutional Thought & Leadership. He joined the Toledo College of Law faculty in 2008, was granted tenure in 2010, and was named John W. Stoepler Professor of Law & Values in 2015. The University of Toledo awarded Professor Strang its Outstanding Faculty Research and Scholarship Award in 2017. Before that, he was a visiting professor at Michigan State University College of Law. A graduate of the University of Iowa, where he was articles editor of the Iowa Law Review and Order of the Coif, Professor Strang holds an LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School.
Professor Strang has been a visiting scholar at the Georgetown Center for the Constitution and a visiting fellow at the James Madison Program at Princeton University. In 2016, he was appointed to the Ohio Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and reappointed as chair in 2023.
Prior to teaching, Professor Strang served as a judicial clerk for Judge Alice M. Batchelder of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He was also an associate for Jenner & Block LLP in Chicago, where he practiced in general and appellate litigation.
Professor Strang is a frequent presenter at scholarly conferences. He is the president of the Board of Trustees of Northwest Ohio Classical Academy, Ohio’s first classical charter school. He is also a regular participant in debates at law schools across the country, a contributor to the media, and a speaker to political, civic, and religious groups.
Executive in Residence, Wake Forest University School of Business
John Allison is an Executive in Residence at the Wake Forest School of Business. He is a member of the Cato Institute’s Board of Directors and Chairman of the Executive Advisory Council of the Cato Institute’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives. Allison was president and CEO of the Cato Institute from October 2012 to April 2015. Prior to joining Cato, Allison was chairman and CEO of BB&T Corporation, the 10th-largest financial services holding company headquartered in the United States. During his tenure as CEO from 1989 to 2008, BB&T grew from $4.5 billion to $152 billion in assets. He was recognized by theHarvard Business Reviewas one of the top 100 most successful CEOs in the world over the last decade.
Allison has received the Corning Award for Distinguished Leadership, been inducted into the North Carolina Business Hall of Fame, and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from theAmerican Banker. He is the author of The Financial Crisis and the Free Market Cure: Why Pure Capitalism Is the World Economy’s Only Hope and The Leadership Crisis and the Free Market Cure: Why the Future of Business Depends on the Return to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. In addition, he is a former Distinguished Professor of Practice at Wake Forest University School of Business, and serves on the Board of Visitors at the business schools at Wake Forest, Duke, and the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill.
Allison is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill. He received his master’s degree in management from Duke University and is also a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking. Allison is the recipient of six honorary doctorate degrees.
Former CEO, Wells Fargo
Mr. Richard M. Kovacevich, also known as Dick, serves as Vice President at San Francisco Symphony. Mr. Kovacevich serves as the Chief Executive Officer at Hudson Executive Capital LP. He served as the Chief Executive Officer at Wells Fargo & Company from November 1998 to June 2007 and also served as its President from November 1998 to August 1, 2005. Mr. Kovacevich served as the Chief Executive Officer of Norwest Corp. from January 1993 to November 1998 and as its Chief Operating Officer since 1989. He joined Norwest in March 1986, as Vice Chairman, Chief Operating Officer and Head of Norwest Banking Group. Mr. Kovacevich served as the President of Norwest Corporation from January 1993 to January 1997. Prior to Norwest, he served as a Group Executive of the Policy Committee of CitiCorp. and Division General Manager at General Mills. Mr. Kovacevich served as the President of The Financial Services Roundtable and serves as its Co-Chairman of Commission to Enhance Competitiveness. He served as the Chairman of the Board at Wells Fargo Bank Minnesota, National Association. Mr. Kovacevich served as the Chairman of Wells Fargo Bank, National Association. He served as the Chairman of the Board of Wells Fargo & Company from August 2005 to December 30, 2009. Mr. Kovacevich served as the Chairman of Norwest Corp. from May 1995 to November 1998. He serves as Vice Chairman of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Mr. Kovacevich served as the Vice Chairman of the American Bankers Council. He has been a Director of Norwest Corporation since 1986. He has been Director of Theranos, Inc. since May 12, 2016 and previously served as Director of Theranos, Inc. since July 29, 2013. He serves as an Independent Director of Cargill, Incorporated. Mr. Kovacevich serves as a Director of The Clearing House LLC. He served as a Director at Cisco Systems, Inc. since January 19, 2005 until November 19, 2013. Mr. Kovacevich served as a Director of Wells Fargo & Company from 1986 to December 30, 2009. He served as an Independent Director of Target Corp. from 1996 to December 31, 2010. Mr. Kovacevich serves as a Member of The Federal Reserve's Federal Advisory Council, California Business Roundtable and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's California Commission for Jobs and Economic Growth. He graduated from Stanford University where he earned his MBA and his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Industrial Engineering.
Research Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School
Timothy Massad is currently a Research Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown Law School and a consultant on financial regulatory and fintech issues.
Mr. Massad served as Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission from 2014-2017. Under his leadership, the agency implemented the Dodd Frank reforms of the over-the-counter swaps market and harmonized many aspects of cross-border regulation, including reaching a landmark agreement with the European Union on clearinghouse oversight. The agency also declared virtual currencies to be commodities, introduced reforms to address automated trading and strengthened cybersecurity protections.
Previously, Mr. Massad served as the Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In that capacity, he oversaw the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the principal U.S. governmental response to the 2008 financial crisis. During his tenure, Treasury recovered more on all the crisis investments than was disbursed. Mr. Massad was with the Treasury from 2009 to 2014 and also served as a counselor to the Treasury Secretary.
Prior to his government service, Mr. Massad was a partner in the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, LLP. His practice included corporate finance, derivatives and advising boards of directors. He managed the firm’s Hong Kong office from 1998 to 2002 and represented governments and corporations on transactions throughout Asia. Mr. Massad was also one of a small group of lawyers who drafted the original ISDA standard agreements for swaps.
Of Counsel, Covington & Burling LLP
The Honorable Paul J. Ray is currently Of Counsel at Covington & Burling LLP where he advises clients on regulatory opportunities and challenges and helps them formulate and execute advocacy strategies for their regulatory policy priorities before the executive branch and Congress.
During the first Trump Administration, Paul held various senior positions at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, including as acting, and then Senate-confirmed, head of the office. As OIRA Administrator (the "regulations czar"), Paul supervised the review of hundreds of regulations from across the government, drafted numerous executive orders governing the regulatory process, and led the Administration’s regulatory reform effort. As a result of this experience, Paul is well-positioned to help clients understand and achieve regulatory policy priorities in the context of the government’s regulatory agenda and ongoing reform efforts.
Most recently, Paul was also the Director of the Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. In that role, he supervised the formulation of the Foundation’s economic and regulatory policy recommendations and provided technical assistance to congressional committees and staff regarding legislative changes to the regulatory process. In addition to his role at The Heritage Foundation, Paul also served as a Senior Advisor at a strategic advisory firm. Before his time in government, Paul practiced law at a law firm in Washington, specializing in administrative law matters.
Prior to his role at the White House, Paul was Counselor to the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Labor. There he led departmental efforts in high-profile rulemakings and helped formulate the Department’s legal positions and strategy.
Paul served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and as a law clerk to the Honorable Debra Livingston of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Paul is a thought leader in the conservative legal movement and is a frequent commentator and speaker on regulatory policy and reform matters, including at law schools, professional gatherings, and other venues. He is the Chairman of Innovations in Peacebuilding International and the Regulatory Process Working Group of the Federalist Society’s Regulatory Transparency Project and a public member of the Administrative Conference of the United States. Paul is also an adjunct lecturer at the Hillsdale College School of Government.
Senior Fellow, Stand Together Trust
Vikrant Reddy is a senior fellow at Stand Together Trust, specializing in the area of criminal justice reform. Reddy previously served as a senior policy analyst at the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), where he managed the launch of TPPF’s national Right on Crime initiative in 2010. He has worked as a research assistant at the Cato Institute, as a judicial clerk to the Hon. Gina M. Benavides in Texas, and as an attorney in private practice. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas, and he serves on the Executive Committee of the Criminal Law Practice Group of the Federalist Society. He is also an appointee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Texas State Advisory Committee.
Reddy’s research and scholarly opinions have appeared in a range of national media outlets, including USA Today, National Review, The Federalist, and others.
Reddy earned his law degree from the Southern Methodist University School of Law. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
John Paul Stevens Professor of Law, Northwestern University School of Law
Andrew Koppelman is John Paul Stevens Professor of Law, Professor (by courtesy) of Political Science, and Philosophy Department Affiliated Faculty at Northwestern University. He received the Walder Award for Research Excellence from Northwestern, the Hart-Dworkin award in legal philosophy from the Association of American Law Schools, and the Edward S. Corwin Prize from the American Political Science Association. His scholarship focuses on issues at the intersection of law and political philosophy. He has written more than 100 scholarly articles and eight books, most recently Burning Down the House: How Libertarian Philosophy Was Corrupted by Delusion and Greed, (St. Martin’s Press). His column appears regularly at The Hill. You can find his recent work at andrewkoppelman.com.
Robert E. Scott Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus, University of Virginia School of Law; Alice McKean Young Regents Chair in Law Emeritus, University of Texas
Douglas Laycock is perhaps the nation’s leading authority on the law of religious liberty and also on the law of remedies. He has taught and written about these topics for more than four decades at the University of Chicago, the University of Texas, the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia. He retired from teaching at UVA Law School in May 2023.
Laycock has testified frequently before Congress and has argued many cases in the courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, where he has served as lead counsel in six cases and has also filed influential amicus briefs. He is the author (co-author in the most recent edition) of the leading casebook Modern American Remedies, the award-winning monograph The Death of the Irreparable Injury Rule and many articles in leading law reviews. He co-edited a collection of essays, Same-Sex Marriage and Religious Liberty.
His many writings on religious liberty have been republished in a five-volume collection:
Laycock resigned from the council and as first vice president of the American Law Institute to become co-reporter for the Restatement (Third) of Torts: Remedies. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He earned his B.A. from Michigan State University and his J.D. from the University of Chicago.
Senior Counsel, Vice President of Litigation Strategy, Alliance Defending Freedom
Jonathan Scruggs serves as senior counsel and vice president of litigation strategy with Alliance Defending Freedom. In this role, he identifies new litigation opportunities, develops new legal strategies, and improves processes across multiple litigation teams in collaboration with the chief legal counsel.
Since joining ADF in 2006, Scruggs has worked on and prevailed in a variety of cases related to Title IX, gender ideology, and people’s right to freely express their faith, including Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, 303 Creative v. Elenis, and Brush & Nib Studio v. Phoenix, which Scruggs argued at the Arizona Supreme Court. Scruggs has argued before numerous federal appellate courts and trial courts across the country and has extensive experience litigating free-speech, religious-liberty, establishment, Title IX, and equal-protection issues on behalf of students, female athletes, businesses, professionals, and non-profit entities.
Scruggs earned his B.A., summa cum laude, from Vanderbilt University in 2003 and his J.D. at Harvard Law School in 2006. He is also a 2004 Blackstone Fellow.
A member of the bars of Arizona and Tennessee, Scruggs is admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court and multiple federal district and appellate courts.
Chief Civil Counsel, Senate Judiciary Committee
Austin Rogers serves as Chief Counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee, covering the civil portfolio for the Chairman. He obtained dual graduate degrees in Law and Theology from Duke University (summa cum laude), where he served on the Duke Law Journal and Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy. After law school, he clerked for Chief Judge Steven D. Merryday in the Middle District of Florida. Following his clerkship, he practiced law at White & Case, specializing in commercial and appellate litigation. Prior to serving as Chief Civil Counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee, he served as Senior Counsel of Oversight and Investigations for the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Austin obtained undergraduate degrees (summa cum laude) in International Business and Theology from Southeastern University and Wheaton College, respectively, and played college soccer at both schools.
He has published First Amendment scholarship in the Duke Law Journal and the Marquette Law Review, and he has a forthcoming article that will be published in the Florida Law Review. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar, the Republican National Lawyers Association, and the Federalist Society, where he serves in a volunteer capacity. Austin is actively involved in his church and serves on its worship team.
Attorney, Institute for Justice
Anya Bidwell (née Cherkasova) leads IJ’s Project on Immunity and Accountability (“PIA”). Through this project, Anya works to promote judicial engagement and ensure that government officials are held to account when they violate individuals’ constitutional rights. Anya also serves as an adviser on the American Law Institute’s Restatement of the Law, Constitutional Torts project.
One of Anya’s PIA cases—Gonzalez v. Trevino—was heard by the United States Supreme Court on March 20, 2024. She argued the case for the petitioner, with the goal of convincing the Justices that retaliatory arrests not involving on-the-spot decisions by police officers should be actionable under the First Amendment regardless of probable cause. The decision is expected in June.
This was Anya’s third appearance before the U.S. Supreme Court. She second-chaired Brownback v. King (an excessive force case) and Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Association v. Thomas (a commerce clause case) in November 2020 and January 2019 respectfully.
Before joining IJ, Anya worked for a top national law firm, handling cases in trial and appellate courts. She earned her J.D. with honors from the University of Texas. Two years prior to entering law school, Anya received a master’s degree in Global Policy Studies, also from the University of Texas, and wrote a thesis on asymmetric warfare.
Anya spent her childhood in Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. At 16, she left her family behind and came to America on a university scholarship. Her upbringing motivated her to study law and become an advocate for a strong, independent judiciary.
Anya’s work has been featured in numerous publications, including the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, and the Guardian. She is also the host of live recordings of our Short Circuit podcast and a co-producer of our documentary-style podcast Bound by Oath.
Challenges to Originalism IX: Originalism is Inconsistent with Natural Law
Lee J. Strang
The Federalist Society's Student Division & UNC School of Law Student Chapterpresent Challenges to Originalism IX:...
Panel II: Practical Challenges to Legal Licensing Reform
Daniel Greenberg, Andy Kvesic, Paul Sherman, Caleb Trotter
Legal Licensing Reform: Does the World Need More Lawyers?
Featured: Paul Sherman, Senior Attorney, Institute for Justice Caleb Trotter, Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation Andy...
Lunch & Keynote Address
Clark Neily
Legal Licensing Reform: Does the World Need More Lawyers?
Event Video: Lunch & Keynote Address
Panel I: Broad Perspectives on Legal Licensing Reform
Braden H. Boucek, Lucian Pera, Jonathan Riches, Stephen Younger
Legal Licensing Reform: Does the World Need More Lawyers?
Featuring: Braden Boucek, Vice President of Litigation, Southeastern Legal Foundation Lucian Pera, Partner, Adams &...
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Legal Licensing Reform: Does the World Need More Lawyers?
Event Video: Welcome & Opening Remarks
Challenges to Originalism VIII: Common Good Constitutionalism is Superior to Originalism
Lee J. Strang
The Federalist Society's Student Division & Michigan Law School Student Chapterpresent Challenges to Originalism...
Regulation and Red Tape: Tax Inversions: Unpacking the Pfizer Case
John A. Allison, Richard M. Kovacevich, Timothy G. Massad, Paul J. Ray
A Regulatory Transparency Project Fourth Branch Video
In 2014, the pharmaceutical company Pfizer initiated a restructuring, only to encounter impediments from the...
Courthouse Steps Decision: Pulsifer v. United States
Vikrant P. Reddy
In Pulsifer v. United States, the Supreme Court considered an Eighth Circuit case that raised...
303 Creative, Masterpiece Cakeshop, and the Fate of Free Exercise for Wedding Vendors
Andrew Koppelman, Douglas Laycock, Jonathan Scruggs, Austin Rogers
Over the past decade, the tension between First Amendment rights and public accommodations laws has...
Courthouse Steps Oral Argument: Gonzalez v. Trevino
Anya Bidwell
In Gonzalez v. Trevino, Petitioner Sylvia Gonzalez is a 72 year-old city councilwoman from Castle...