Member, Dykema Gossett PLLC
Christopher D. Kratovil is a member of Dykema’s Litigation practice in the firm’s Dallas office. Prior to joining Dykema, Mr. Kratovil was a partner at K&L Gates. Mr. Kratovil is a former law clerk to the Honorable Edith H. Jones, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Mr. Kratovil focuses his practice on appellate matters, representing clients in complex commercial disputes before tribunals ranging from small town Texas trial courts to the U.S. Supreme Court, with a particular concentration on matters in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and in the Texas courts of appeals. He has considerable experience in federal and state mandamus practice, including serving as the lead draftsman of the winning briefs in the landmark Fifth Circuit case that authorized the use of mandamus to compel convenience-based venue transfers, In re Volkswagen II, 545 F.3d 304 (5th Cir. 2008)(en banc).
In addition to his extensive appellate work, Mr. Kratovil regularly handles case dispositive briefing and argument, jury charges, complex motions, research intensive legal issues and error preservation in the trial courts. He also regularly assists in the white collar defense of clients accused of financial, securities and tax crimes. Mr. Kratovil is the author of several high-profile amicus curiae briefs, including on behalf United States Senator John Cornyn and, separately, for the Texas state representative who sponsored the so-called “Pole Tax” user fee on patrons of adult entertainment.
A frequent author and lecturer, Mr. Kratovil earned a B.A. magna cum laude from University of Notre Dame and a J.D. with honors from University of Texas at Austin School of Law, where he was an editor of the Texas Law Review. He has been recognized repeatedly as a “Rising Star” by Texas Monthly and was recently named one of the “Best Lawyers in Dallas” by D Magazine.
Legal Director & General Counsel, Criminal Justice Legal Foundation
Kent S. Scheidegger has been the Legal Director of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation since December 1986. He also served as Chairman of the Criminal Law Practice Group of the Federalist Society 2003 to 2005. His articles on criminal and constitutional law have been published in law reviews, national legal publications, and congressional reports. Legal arguments authored by Mr. Scheidegger have been cited and incorporated in several precedent-setting United States Supreme Court decisions.
After receiving a degree in physics with honors from New Mexico State University in 1976, Mr. Scheidegger served for six years in the United States Air Force as a Nuclear Research Officer. He took his law degree with distinction from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in 1982 and practiced civil law in Northern California. He was general counsel of California Cooler, Inc. from 1984 until 1986, when he joined the Foundation.
Director, Berkeley Research Group LLC
Walter J. Mix III heads the financial services practice at Berkeley Research Group. He is also a former commissioner of the California Department of Financial Institutions (DFI). He previously served as a banking executive at Union Bank of California.
Mr. Mix works with the firm’s domestic and foreign bank clients on corporate governance, risk management, strategic planning, and financial advisory assignments. He has significant experience in strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, enterprise risk management, regulatory compliance, and capital planning. He has also advised clients on reengineering and implementing technology to improve profitability. In addition, he performs litigation and expert services based on his extensive expertise in financial services. He speaks frequently before bankers’ groups and regulatory seminars.
In his position as commissioner of the DFI, he reorganized the organization and improved its efficiency and effectiveness. Mr. Mix worked with financial institutions on more than 60 mergers and acquisitions and the formation of 50 de novo institutions. He reengineered the examination processes for banking and other licensees. He was instrumental in the development and passage of California’s identity theft law and many other laws, including the interstate banking and branching law and cooperative supervisory agreements for domestic and foreign banks. Mr. Mix also spearheaded proposals designed to enhance financial institutions’ electronic banking and commerce capabilities.
He joined BRG from LECG, LLC and before that The Secura Group; he served as managing director in both firms. Mr. Mix is a graduate of the University of California, Riverside and earned a master’s degree with a concentration in economics and public policy from Rutgers University. Mr. Mix serves as chairman of the International Bankers Association of California.
Commissioner, United States Securities and Exchange Commission
Hester M. Peirce was appointed by President Donald J. Trump to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and was sworn in on January 11, 2018.
Prior to joining the SEC, Commissioner Peirce conducted research on the regulation of financial markets at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She was a Senior Counsel on the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, where she advised Ranking Member Richard Shelby and other members of the Committee on securities issues. Commissioner Peirce served as counsel to SEC Commissioner Paul S. Atkins. She also worked as a Staff Attorney in the SEC’s Division of Investment Management. Commissioner Peirce was an associate at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (now WilmerHale) and clerked for Judge Roger Andewelt on the Court of Federal Claims.
Commissioner Peirce earned her bachelor’s degree in Economics from Case Western Reserve University and her JD from Yale Law School.
Executive Vice President, The Federalist Society
Dean Reuter is Executive Vice President at the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies. He has served in two federal government agency Offices of the Inspector General, as Counsel to the Inspector General and Deputy Inspector General, responsible for policing the use of federal funds granted and contracted through those agencies. As such, he helped conduct and oversee criminal investigations across the country. He is the principal author of the non-fiction book, The Hidden Nazi: The Untold Story of America's Deal with the Devil, and editor of Liberty’s Nemesis: The Unchecked Expansion of the State and Confronting Terror: 9/11 and the Future of American National Security. He was appointed by the President and served as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service, and recently served as an appointee on the U.S. Commission on Presidential Scholars. He is a graduate of Hood College (BA with Honors) and the University of Maryland School of Law.
Board Member, Center for Equal Opportunity
Roger Clegg is a Board Member at and former President and General Counsel of the Center for Equal Opportunity. He focuses on legal issues arising from civil rights laws--including the regulatory impact on business and the problems in higher education created by affirmative action. A former Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Reagan and Bush administrations, Clegg held the second highest positions in both the Civil Rights Division (1987-91) and in the Environment and Natural Resources Division (1991-93). He has held several other positions at the U.S. Justice Department, including Assistant to the Solicitor General (1985-87), Associate Deputy Attorney General (1984-85), and Acting Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Policy (1984). Clegg is a graduate of Yale University Law School (1981).
Julius L. Chambers Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Civil Rights, University of North Carolina School of Law
Theodore M. Shaw is the Julius L. Chambers Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Civil Rights at the University of North Carolina School of Law at Chapel Hill. Professor Shaw teaches Civil Procedure and Advanced Constitutional Law/Fourteenth Amendment. Before joining the faculty of UNC Law School, from 2008-2014 Professor Shaw taught at Columbia University Law School, where he was Professor of Professional Practice. During that time he was also “Of Counsel” to the law firm of Norton Rose Fulbright (formerly Fulbright & Jaworski, LLP). His practice involved civil litigation and representation of institutional clients on matters concerning diversity and civil rights.
Professor Shaw was the fifth Director-Counsel and President of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., for which he worked in various capacities over the span of twenty-six years. He has litigated education, employment, voting rights, housing, police misconduct, capital punishment and other civil rights cases in trial and appellate courts, and in the United States Supreme Court.From 1982 until 1987, he litigated education, housing, and capital punishment cases and directed LDF's education litigation docket. In 1987, under the direction of LDF's third Director-Counsel, Julius Chambers, Mr. Shaw relocated to Los Angeles to establish LDF's Western Regional Office. In 1990, Mr. Shaw left LDF to join the faculty of the University of Michigan Law School, where he taught Constitutional Law, Civil Procedure and Civil Rights. While at Michigan, he played a key role in initiating a review of the law school's admissions practices and policies, and served on the faculty committee that promulgated the admissions program that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003 in Grutter v. Bollinger.
In 1993, Mr. Shaw returned to LDF as Associate Director-Counsel, and in 2004, he became LDF's fifth Director-Counsel. Mr. Shaw's legal career began as a Trial Attorney in the Honors Program of the United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C., where he worked from 1979 until 1982.
Mr. Shaw has testified on numerous occasions before Congress and before state and local legislatures. His human rights work has taken him to Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America. In addition to teaching at Columbia and at Michigan Law School, Professor Shaw held the 1997-1998 Haywood Burns Chair at CUNY School of Law at Queens College and the 2003 Phyllis Beck Chair at Temple Law School. He was a visiting scholar at the Constitution Center in Philadelphia in 2008-2009. He is a member of the faculty of the Practicing Law Institute (PLI).
Mr. Shaw served on the Obama Transition Team after the 2008 presidential election, as team leader for the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department.
Executive Vice President, The Federalist Society
Dean Reuter is Executive Vice President at the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies. He has served in two federal government agency Offices of the Inspector General, as Counsel to the Inspector General and Deputy Inspector General, responsible for policing the use of federal funds granted and contracted through those agencies. As such, he helped conduct and oversee criminal investigations across the country. He is the principal author of the non-fiction book, The Hidden Nazi: The Untold Story of America's Deal with the Devil, and editor of Liberty’s Nemesis: The Unchecked Expansion of the State and Confronting Terror: 9/11 and the Future of American National Security. He was appointed by the President and served as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service, and recently served as an appointee on the U.S. Commission on Presidential Scholars. He is a graduate of Hood College (BA with Honors) and the University of Maryland School of Law.
Professor of Law, University of Washington School of Law
Professor O'Connor's research focuses on intellectual property and business law with regard to start-ups and commercializing technology and arts innovation. His teaching and law practice specialize in transactions and the strategic role of the general counsel. Professor O'Connor received his law degree from Stanford Law School, a master's degree in philosophy from Arizona State University, and a bachelor's degree in history from University of Massachusetts. He has published numerous articles and book chapters and lectures frequently around the world. Professor O'Connor's award-winning research has been funded by the National Academies of Science, International Intellectual Property Institute, Kauffman Foundation, and the Center for Protection of Intellectual Property (George Mason University), in many cases through competitive fellowships. He is currently working on Method+ology and the Means of Innovation to be published by Oxford University Press.
Since joining the UW Law faculty in 2003, he has served in a number of Law School and university-wide leadership positions, including designing and launching the ground-breaking Entrepreneurial Law Clinic. He has also been a Visiting Professor at UC Berkeley, George Washington University, Katholieke Universitat (Leuven BELGIUM), and Hanken School of Economics (Helsinki FINLAND).
Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law and Director, Classical Liberal Institute, New York University School of Law; Senior Fellow, The Civitas Institute, University of Texas at Austin
Richard A. Epstein is the inaugural Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law at NYU School of Law. Prior to his joining the faculty, he was a visiting law professor at NYU from 2007 through 2009. He served as the Peter and Kirstin Bedford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution from 2000 to 2024. Since 2024 to the present he is a senior lecturer at the Civitas Institute at the University of Texas—Austin. Epstein is also the James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law Emeritus and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago. His initial law school appointment was at the University of Southern California from 1968 to 1972. Epstein received an LL.D., h.c. from the University of Ghent, 2003. He has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1985 and was a Senior Fellow of the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago Division of Biological Sciences, also from 1983. to 2022 He served as editor of the Journal of Legal Studies from 1981 to 1991, and of the Journal of Law and Economics from 1991-2001. From 2001 to 2010 he was a director of the John M. Olin Program in Law and Economics at the University of Chicago.
His newest book, The Myth of Birthright Citizenship: What the Fourteenth Amendment Really Says was published in 2026 (Encounter Books). Prior to that he has published many books including, The Dubious Morality of the Modern Administrative State (Roman & Littlefield 2020).Earlier he published th Classical Liberal Constitution: The Uncertain Quest for Limited Government (Harvard 2014) iHis previous books include Design for Liberty: Private Property, Public Administration and the Rule of Law (Harvard 2011); The Case Against the Employee Free Choice Act (Hoover 2009); Supreme Neglect: How to Revive the Constitutional Protection of Property Rights (Oxford 2008); Antitrust Decrees in Theory and Practice: Why Less is More (AEI 2007); Overdose: How Excessive Government Regulation Stifles Pharmaceutical Innovation (Yale University Press. 2006); How Progressives Rewrote the Constitution (Cato 2006); Cases and Materials on Torts (Aspen Law & Business; 8th ed. 2004); Skepticism and Freedom: A Modern Case for Classical Liberalism (University of Chicago, 2003); Torts (Aspen Law & Business 1999); Principles for a Free Society: Reconciling Individual Liberty with the Common Good (Perseus Books, 1998): Mortal Peril: Our Inalienable Rights to Health Care (Addison-Wesley, 1997); Simple Rules for a Complex World (Harvard, 1995); Bargaining With the State (Princeton, 1993); Forbidden Grounds: The Case Against Employment Discrimination Laws (Harvard , 1992); Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain (Harvard, 1985); and Modern Products Liability Law (Greenwood Press, 1980). He has also edited(with Catherine M. Sharkey) Cases and Materials on the Law of Torts (10th edition 2012).
Professor Epstein has written numerous articles on a wide range of legal and interdisciplinary subjects. He has taught courses in administrative law, antitrust law, civil procedure, communications, constitutional law, contracts, corporations, criminal law, employment discrimination law, environmental law, food and drug law health law and policy, legal history, labor law, property, real estate development and finance, jurisprudence, labor law; land use planning, patents, individual, estate and corporate taxation, Roman Law; torts, and workers' compensation.
Professor Epstein also writes a regular column for Civitas Institute, which also sponsors his podcast, The Libertarian with Charles C.W. Cooke, and Law Talk, with Cooke and John Yoo. He also does a podcast with John Batchelor. And appears regularly on the Freedom File with Judge Andrew Napolitano.
Professor of Law, Ave Maria School of Law
Professor Bonner began his legal career at the U.S. Department of Justice and served in a variety of capacities there for more than 25 years, including Assistant U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Resident Legal Advisor in Moscow. For 10 years, he directed the investigation and prosecution of high-profile federal cases involving international and domestic terrorism. He subsequently joined the U.S. Department of Treasury, where he held the position of Senior Advisor and Chief of Staff to the Undersecretary of the Treasury for Enforcement. Prior to coming to Ave Maria, Professor Bonner served as a Senior Advisor in the United States Department of Homeland Security’s Office of International Affairs, where he oversaw the Department’s activities within the Group of 8 (G8) countries. He also taught as an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center for 13 years.
Dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law, UC Berkeley School of Law
Erwin Chemerinsky became the 13th Dean of Berkeley Law on July 1, 2017, when he joined the faculty as the Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law.
Prior to assuming this position, from 2008-2017, he was the founding Dean and Distinguished Professor of Law, and Raymond Pryke Professor of First Amendment Law, at University of California, Irvine School of Law, with a joint appointment in Political Science. Before that he was the Alston and Bird Professor of Law and Political Science at Duke University from 2004-2008, and from 1983-2004 was a professor at the University of Southern California Law School, including as the Sydney M. Irmas Professor of Public Interest Law, Legal Ethics, and Political Science. He also has taught at DePaul College of Law and UCLA Law School.
He is the author of eleven books, including leading casebooks and treatises about constitutional law, criminal procedure, and federal jurisdiction. His most recent books are, We the People: A Progressive Reading of the Constitution for the Twenty-First Century (Picador Macmillan) published in November 2018, and two books published by Yale University Press in 2017, Closing the Courthouse Doors: How Your Constitutional Rights Became Unenforceable and Free Speech on Campus (with Howard Gillman).
He also is the author of more than 200 law review articles. He writes a regular column for the Sacramento Bee, monthly columns for the ABA Journal and the Daily Journal, and frequent op-eds in newspapers across the country. He frequently argues appellate cases, including in the United States Supreme Court.
In 2016, he was named a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2017, National Jurist magazine again named Dean Chemerinsky as the most influential person in legal education in the United States.
Board Member, Center for Equal Opportunity
Roger Clegg is a Board Member at and former President and General Counsel of the Center for Equal Opportunity. He focuses on legal issues arising from civil rights laws--including the regulatory impact on business and the problems in higher education created by affirmative action. A former Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Reagan and Bush administrations, Clegg held the second highest positions in both the Civil Rights Division (1987-91) and in the Environment and Natural Resources Division (1991-93). He has held several other positions at the U.S. Justice Department, including Assistant to the Solicitor General (1985-87), Associate Deputy Attorney General (1984-85), and Acting Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Policy (1984). Clegg is a graduate of Yale University Law School (1981).
Professor of Law, The George Washington University Law School; CEO Emeritus, National Constitution Center
Jeffrey Rosen is the CEO Emeritus of the National Constitution Center, a professor of law at the George Washington University Law School, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), and a contributing editor of The Atlantic. Host of "The Blessings of Liberty" podcast, he was previously the legal affairs editor of The New Republic and a staff writer for the New Yorker.
Rosen is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Pursuit of Happiness and Conversations with RBG. His new book is The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America.
Rosen is a graduate of Harvard College; Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar; and Yale Law School. He is an elected member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Law Institute. In 2024, the French government recognized him as a Chevalier in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
Bruce C. Hafen Professor of Law, Brigham Young University, J. Reuben Clark Law School
American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant - Post-Decision SCOTUScast
Chris Kratovil
SCOTUScast 7-3-13 featuring Christopher Kratovil
On June 20, 2013the Supreme Court announced its decision in American Express Co. v. Italian...
Salinas v. Texas - Post-Decision SCOTUScast
Kent Scheidegger
SCOTUScast 7-2-13 featuring Kent Scheidegger
On June 17, 2013, the Supreme Court announced its decision in Salinas v. Texas. This case...
Due Process in the Banking Industry - Podcast
Walter J. Mix, Hester M. Peirce, Dean Reuter
Financial Services & E-Commerce Practice Group Podcast
The bank regulators require larger banking organizations to prepare and file financial projections assuming various...
The Growing Use of Disparate Impact Analysis - Podcast
Roger B. Clegg, Theodore M. Shaw, Dean Reuter
Civil Rights Practice Group Podcast
The use of disparate impact analysis is growing very rapidly, and it is becoming the...
Bowman v. Monsanto - Post-Decision SCOTUScast
Sean M. O'Connor
SCOTUScast 7-2-13 featuring Sean O’Connor
On May 13, 2013, the Supreme Court announced its decision in Bowman v. Monsanto. The...
Koontz v. St. John’s River Water Management District - Post-Decision SCOTUScast
Richard A. Epstein
SCOTUScast 7-1-13 featuring Richard Epstein
On June 25, 2013, the Supreme Court announced its decision in Koontz v. St. John’s...
United States v. Davila - Post-Decision SCOTUScast
Mark Bonner
SCOTUScast 7-1-13 featuring Mark Bonner
On June 13, 2013, the Supreme Court announced its decision in United States v. Davila....
Arkansas Game & Fish Commission v. United States: A Temporary Fix for Temporary Takings
Engage Volume 14, Issue 1 February 2013
The United States Supreme Court’s decision in Arkansas Game & Fish Commission v. United States1...
Debate on Fisher and Shelby County - Podcast
Erwin Chemerinsky, Roger B. Clegg, Jeffrey Rosen
Civil Rights Practice Group, American Constitution Society, and National Constitution Center Podcast
The Federalist Society co-sponsored a Teleforum call with the National Constitution Center and the American...
“Conscience Exemptions”
Lynn Wardle
Engage Volume 14, Issue 1 February 2013
Note from the Editor: This paper discusses the meaning, history, and present application of conscience...