Partner, Neilson Law Group P.C.
C. Thomas Ludden is the head of the Appellate Practice group at Lipson Neilson P.C. He has appeared before the United States Supreme Court, the Michigan Supreme Court, the Sixth and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeal and the Michigan Court of Appeals. Mr. Ludden is a 1990 graduate of the University of Michigan (J.D./M.B.A) and a 1986 graduate of Dickinson College (B.A.) where he majored in Latin, Ancient Greek and Economics.
Senior Attorney, Sensient Technologies Corporation
Associate, Jones Day
Tara Fumerton has a broad range of experience in complex civil litigation, intellectual property law, and corporate internal investigations. Tara has litigated cases in state and federal courts involving class actions, fraud, federal and state False Claims Acts, RICO, patent litigation, and nationwide federal cases consolidated by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (so-called "MDL" cases). For several years, she has represented pharmaceutical companies in lawsuits throughout the country brought by private and government plaintiffs dealing with Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance reimbursement. With respect to intellectual property law, her experience has primarily involved patent litigation involving semiconductors and semiconductor processing technologies. She also has represented a number of individual and corporate clients in internal and criminal investigations on a diverse range of topics. She has significant experience in managing complex discovery matters; taking, defending, and preparing witnesses for depositions; working with experts; and arguing motions before the court. In addition, she has drafted countless motions of all kinds in state and federal court, including mandamus petitions before the Texas Supreme Court.
Tara is a member of the Illinois Bar Association and The Chicago Bar Association.
Partner, Neilson Law Group P.C.
C. Thomas Ludden is the head of the Appellate Practice group at Lipson Neilson P.C. He has appeared before the United States Supreme Court, the Michigan Supreme Court, the Sixth and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeal and the Michigan Court of Appeals. Mr. Ludden is a 1990 graduate of the University of Michigan (J.D./M.B.A) and a 1986 graduate of Dickinson College (B.A.) where he majored in Latin, Ancient Greek and Economics.
Professor of Law, Western New England College School of Law
Professor Gouvin has been a member of the Western New England College School of Law faculty since 1991. He was tenured and promoted to full professor in 1996. He served as Associate Dean for External Affairs during the 2003-2004 academic year and as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2004-2009. He is currently the Director of the Law and Business Center for Advancing Entrepreneurship.
During his time on the faculty he has taught contracts, business organizations, banking regulation, secured transactions, and other business-related courses. In 2002 he founded the Small Business Clinicat Western New England College School of Law and was the moving force behind the creation of the Law and Business Center for Advancing Entrepreneurship, a collaborative effort with the Western New England College School of Business.
Prior to 1991, Professor Gouvin practiced corporate, banking, and commercial law with the firm of Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer and Nelson in Portland, Maine. At the firm Professor Gouvin helped to represent a diverse array of clients, from Fortune 500 companies to closely held businesses.
Professor Gouvin holds a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University, a master’s degree from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and J.D. and LL.M. degrees from the Boston University School of Law. His scholarly writings focus on the intersection of corporate law and banking law. He is a co-author of the treatiseBlumberg on Corporate Groupswith Phillip Blumberg and Kurt Strasser at the University of Connecticut School of Law and Nicholas Georgakopoulos at the Indiana University (Indianapolis) School of Law. His contributions dealt primarily with corporate groups in the financial services sector. He has written numerous law review articles on a range of topics affecting financial services.
Vice President & Legal Director, National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation
Raymond J. LaJeunesse, Jr., is Vice President and Legal Director of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, a non-profit legal aid organization. He was the first Staff Attorney employed by the Foundation and has more than forty-five years of experience helping workers in litigation in federal and state courts and administrative agencies over the abuses of compulsory unionism.
Mr. LaJeunesse has argued four cases in the United States Supreme Court. Those cases include Lehnert v. Ferris Faculty Ass’n, 500 U.S. 507 (1991), which limited the purposes for which compulsory union fees collected from public employees may lawfully be spent; Air Line Pilots Ass’n v. Miller, 523 U.S. 866 (1998), which established that unions cannot compel nonmembers to exhaust union-established remedies before going to court to challenge compulsory union fees; and Marquez v. Screen Actors Guild, 525 U.S. 33 (1998), in which the Court recognized that unions must notify employees that they can satisfy the “membership” requirement of “union shop” agreements by just paying fees for union bargaining activities and need not join and pay full dues to keep their jobs. He also was lead attorney in Hohe v. Casey, 956 F.2d 399 (3d Cir. 1992), in which more than $8.3 million in compulsory agency fees was recovered from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees for a class of 57,000 nonmembers.
Mr. LaJeunesse is the author of several published articles about labor law, has testified before Congressional committees several times, and was an Advisor on the Transition Team for Labor- Related Agencies, Office of the President-Elect, in 1980-81 and a legislative aide to a member of the Virginia state legislature. He is a Vice Chairman of the Federalist Society’s Labor and Employment Law Practice Group and has spoken or debated at the Society’s National Lawyers Convention and at many Lawyers and Student Chapters on such topics as Right to Work laws, compulsory unionism arrangements, the misuse of union dues for politics, union organizing tactics (“card check” vs. secret-ballot elections), and the future of the union movement.
President, UAW 2322
Ron moved to Springfield 35 years ago after graduating high school and has lived in western Massachusetts ever since. Starting a pottery and stained glass business in 1986 at his home in the Maple High-Six Corners neighborhood and working in the hospitality industry he still made time to be involved in city politics. Ron was a member of his Neighbor Council and the Neighborhood Watch.
In 1993 Ron went to work in the healthcare field working at an area hospital as an alcohol and substance abuse counselor and mental health counselor, spending the next 12 years helping people learn to help themselves.
When their employer tried to cut their wages, increase their health insurance costs and make other changes to their wages, benefits and working conditions, Ron joined his coworkers and helped lead and win a campaign to join UAW 2322. He spent the next 6 years fighting for and winning better wages and benefits for his coworkers as chief steward of the union.
In 2004 Ron ran for and won the position of President of UAW Local 2322 and has worked tirelessly with the 3,200 workers they represent to fight for and win better wages, benefits and working conditions, so they and their families can enjoy a better life.
In 2006 Ron won the Pioneer Valley Labor Leader of the Year award for his efforts on behalf of working people and the community. Later that year Ron and the UAW worked on the campaign to elect Deval Patrick, Governor of the Commonwealth. The UAW was the second major union to endorse Deval due in no small part to Ron’s efforts. In recognition of Ron’s efforts for workers, Governor Patrick appointed him to the Commonwealth Corporation Board of Directors which oversees over $34 million annually in funding for job training in the Commonwealth.
Professor of Law, Western New England College School of Law
Professor Gouvin has been a member of the Western New England College School of Law faculty since 1991. He was tenured and promoted to full professor in 1996. He served as Associate Dean for External Affairs during the 2003-2004 academic year and as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2004-2009. He is currently the Director of the Law and Business Center for Advancing Entrepreneurship.
During his time on the faculty he has taught contracts, business organizations, banking regulation, secured transactions, and other business-related courses. In 2002 he founded the Small Business Clinicat Western New England College School of Law and was the moving force behind the creation of the Law and Business Center for Advancing Entrepreneurship, a collaborative effort with the Western New England College School of Business.
Prior to 1991, Professor Gouvin practiced corporate, banking, and commercial law with the firm of Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer and Nelson in Portland, Maine. At the firm Professor Gouvin helped to represent a diverse array of clients, from Fortune 500 companies to closely held businesses.
Professor Gouvin holds a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University, a master’s degree from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and J.D. and LL.M. degrees from the Boston University School of Law. His scholarly writings focus on the intersection of corporate law and banking law. He is a co-author of the treatiseBlumberg on Corporate Groupswith Phillip Blumberg and Kurt Strasser at the University of Connecticut School of Law and Nicholas Georgakopoulos at the Indiana University (Indianapolis) School of Law. His contributions dealt primarily with corporate groups in the financial services sector. He has written numerous law review articles on a range of topics affecting financial services.
Vice President & Legal Director, National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation
Raymond J. LaJeunesse, Jr., is Vice President and Legal Director of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, a non-profit legal aid organization. He was the first Staff Attorney employed by the Foundation and has more than forty-five years of experience helping workers in litigation in federal and state courts and administrative agencies over the abuses of compulsory unionism.
Mr. LaJeunesse has argued four cases in the United States Supreme Court. Those cases include Lehnert v. Ferris Faculty Ass’n, 500 U.S. 507 (1991), which limited the purposes for which compulsory union fees collected from public employees may lawfully be spent; Air Line Pilots Ass’n v. Miller, 523 U.S. 866 (1998), which established that unions cannot compel nonmembers to exhaust union-established remedies before going to court to challenge compulsory union fees; and Marquez v. Screen Actors Guild, 525 U.S. 33 (1998), in which the Court recognized that unions must notify employees that they can satisfy the “membership” requirement of “union shop” agreements by just paying fees for union bargaining activities and need not join and pay full dues to keep their jobs. He also was lead attorney in Hohe v. Casey, 956 F.2d 399 (3d Cir. 1992), in which more than $8.3 million in compulsory agency fees was recovered from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees for a class of 57,000 nonmembers.
Mr. LaJeunesse is the author of several published articles about labor law, has testified before Congressional committees several times, and was an Advisor on the Transition Team for Labor- Related Agencies, Office of the President-Elect, in 1980-81 and a legislative aide to a member of the Virginia state legislature. He is a Vice Chairman of the Federalist Society’s Labor and Employment Law Practice Group and has spoken or debated at the Society’s National Lawyers Convention and at many Lawyers and Student Chapters on such topics as Right to Work laws, compulsory unionism arrangements, the misuse of union dues for politics, union organizing tactics (“card check” vs. secret-ballot elections), and the future of the union movement.
President, UAW 2322
Ron moved to Springfield 35 years ago after graduating high school and has lived in western Massachusetts ever since. Starting a pottery and stained glass business in 1986 at his home in the Maple High-Six Corners neighborhood and working in the hospitality industry he still made time to be involved in city politics. Ron was a member of his Neighbor Council and the Neighborhood Watch.
In 1993 Ron went to work in the healthcare field working at an area hospital as an alcohol and substance abuse counselor and mental health counselor, spending the next 12 years helping people learn to help themselves.
When their employer tried to cut their wages, increase their health insurance costs and make other changes to their wages, benefits and working conditions, Ron joined his coworkers and helped lead and win a campaign to join UAW 2322. He spent the next 6 years fighting for and winning better wages and benefits for his coworkers as chief steward of the union.
In 2004 Ron ran for and won the position of President of UAW Local 2322 and has worked tirelessly with the 3,200 workers they represent to fight for and win better wages, benefits and working conditions, so they and their families can enjoy a better life.
In 2006 Ron won the Pioneer Valley Labor Leader of the Year award for his efforts on behalf of working people and the community. Later that year Ron and the UAW worked on the campaign to elect Deval Patrick, Governor of the Commonwealth. The UAW was the second major union to endorse Deval due in no small part to Ron’s efforts. In recognition of Ron’s efforts for workers, Governor Patrick appointed him to the Commonwealth Corporation Board of Directors which oversees over $34 million annually in funding for job training in the Commonwealth.
Chancellor Professor, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School of Law
Peltz-Steele received his law degree from Duke University and a bachelor’s in journalism and Spanish from Washington & Lee University. Peltz-Steele has won awards in teaching, research, and public service. He practiced commercial law in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and taught law for more than thirteen years before coming to UMass Law in 2011.
Peltz-Steele is author, co-author, or co-editor of qualitative and quantitative research in law and mass communication in journals and books, of treatises in law and development and access to information, and of textbooks in tort law and freedom of information. He is especially active in international media law and policy, having presented papers on five continents and having published in foreign journals and multinational collaborations. His current research focuses on comparative transparency in the context of development and in the private sector. Peltz-Steele serves in various roles in public service organizations, including the legal education committee of the American Bar Association, International Law Section.
Legal Scholar and Solo Practitioner
Jack received his B.A. in History from the University of Virginia in 1977, graduating with Highest Distinction. After graduating Yale Law School in 1980, he served active duty in the U.S. Army's JAG Corps, rising to the rank of Major, where he represented the United States in more than 250 cases.
He practiced for a decade as an Associate for Bradley Arant in Birmingham, Alabama. He proudly served the State of Alabama in the Office of the Attorney General, both as Deputy and Assistant Attorney General, handling complex civil and criminal litigation cases for the people of Alabama. In 2000, he won the "Best Brief Award" from the National Association of Attorneys General for his brief in a case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, James Alexander v. Martha Sandoval – a case he won. He was Special Assistant to the Inspector General for the Corporation for National and Community Service, Visiting Legal Fellow for the Center for Judicial and Legal Studies for the Heritage Foundation, Of Counsel at Strickland Brockington Lewis, a solo practitioner, and General Counsel for Indigo Energy.
Most recently, he "re-upped" for military service, volunteering his legal services to the Georgia State Defense Force where twice each month he provided legal services for National Guardsmen who were being deployed. He wore his military uniform for the last time in October 2024.
Jack Park passed away on March 16, 2026.
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.
Retired
Tom Gede retired in 2023 as a principal in Morgan Lewis Consulting LLC and of counsel to the firm. He currently consults on a variety of legal and policy matters for both public and private clients. Tom has a national reputation and distinguished background in federal Indian law. Prior to retirement, he represented clients in complex governmental matters in litigation, administrative and regulatory proceedings, including high-profile matters involving state governments. A former senior deputy in the California Attorney General’s office, Tom was amicus coordinator and Supreme Court counsel, and argued cases in the US Supreme Court, the California Supreme Court, and numerous state and federal appellate courts.
Tom also served as executive director of the Conference of Western Attorneys General (CWAG), coordinating activities on key legal and policy issues, such as federal Indian law, energy, environmental, public lands, financial services, and telecommunications, for the attorneys general of 18 western states and territories. In 2016, Tom was elected as a Member of the American Law Institute (ALI), and served as an Adviser on the Restatement of the Law Third - The Law of American Indians. Tom also taught federal Indian law as an adjunct law professor at the University of the Pacific - McGeorge School of Law. He served as an assistant editor for and the author of the Indian gaming chapter in CWAG’s American Indian Law Deskbook (2d & 3d eds.). He has been engaged in Indian gaming and Indian law matters for more than three decades, having focused on the gaming compacts with Indian tribes, as well as complex civil and criminal jurisdiction, land, natural resources, water and law enforcement issues in Indian country. He has testified before Congress on American Indian and Native Alaskan issues. In 2012 he was appointed by Speaker John Boehner to serve on the United States Indian Law and Order Commission, where he examined criminal justice issues in Indian country and Alaska, resulting in the issuance of an important report to the President and Congress.
Legal Scholar and Solo Practitioner
Jack received his B.A. in History from the University of Virginia in 1977, graduating with Highest Distinction. After graduating Yale Law School in 1980, he served active duty in the U.S. Army's JAG Corps, rising to the rank of Major, where he represented the United States in more than 250 cases.
He practiced for a decade as an Associate for Bradley Arant in Birmingham, Alabama. He proudly served the State of Alabama in the Office of the Attorney General, both as Deputy and Assistant Attorney General, handling complex civil and criminal litigation cases for the people of Alabama. In 2000, he won the "Best Brief Award" from the National Association of Attorneys General for his brief in a case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, James Alexander v. Martha Sandoval – a case he won. He was Special Assistant to the Inspector General for the Corporation for National and Community Service, Visiting Legal Fellow for the Center for Judicial and Legal Studies for the Heritage Foundation, Of Counsel at Strickland Brockington Lewis, a solo practitioner, and General Counsel for Indigo Energy.
Most recently, he "re-upped" for military service, volunteering his legal services to the Georgia State Defense Force where twice each month he provided legal services for National Guardsmen who were being deployed. He wore his military uniform for the last time in October 2024.
Jack Park passed away on March 16, 2026.
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.
Retired
Tom Gede retired in 2023 as a principal in Morgan Lewis Consulting LLC and of counsel to the firm. He currently consults on a variety of legal and policy matters for both public and private clients. Tom has a national reputation and distinguished background in federal Indian law. Prior to retirement, he represented clients in complex governmental matters in litigation, administrative and regulatory proceedings, including high-profile matters involving state governments. A former senior deputy in the California Attorney General’s office, Tom was amicus coordinator and Supreme Court counsel, and argued cases in the US Supreme Court, the California Supreme Court, and numerous state and federal appellate courts.
Tom also served as executive director of the Conference of Western Attorneys General (CWAG), coordinating activities on key legal and policy issues, such as federal Indian law, energy, environmental, public lands, financial services, and telecommunications, for the attorneys general of 18 western states and territories. In 2016, Tom was elected as a Member of the American Law Institute (ALI), and served as an Adviser on the Restatement of the Law Third - The Law of American Indians. Tom also taught federal Indian law as an adjunct law professor at the University of the Pacific - McGeorge School of Law. He served as an assistant editor for and the author of the Indian gaming chapter in CWAG’s American Indian Law Deskbook (2d & 3d eds.). He has been engaged in Indian gaming and Indian law matters for more than three decades, having focused on the gaming compacts with Indian tribes, as well as complex civil and criminal jurisdiction, land, natural resources, water and law enforcement issues in Indian country. He has testified before Congress on American Indian and Native Alaskan issues. In 2012 he was appointed by Speaker John Boehner to serve on the United States Indian Law and Order Commission, where he examined criminal justice issues in Indian country and Alaska, resulting in the issuance of an important report to the President and Congress.
Recent History of the Michigan Supreme Court
C. Thomas Ludden
White Paper on the Michigan Supreme Court
In 2008, Chief Justice Cliff Taylor lost his bid for re-election to the Michigan Supreme...
Illinois Supreme Court: An Analysis of Recent Trends
James C. Dunlop, Tara A. Fumerton
White Paper on the Illinois Supreme Court
In October 2004, we examined the jurisprudence of the Illinois Supreme Court to discern the...
Recent History of the Michigan Supreme Court
C. Thomas Ludden
White Paper on the Michigan Supreme Court
In 2008, Chief Justice Cliff Taylor lost his bid for re-election to the Michigan Supreme...
Forced Unionism and the 1st Amendment
Eric J. Gouvin, Raymond J. LaJeunesse, Isaac Mass, Ron Patenaude
Western New England Student Chapter
On October 13, 2010, the Western New England Student Chapter of the Federalist Society hosted...
Forced Unionism and the 1st Amendment
Eric J. Gouvin, Raymond J. LaJeunesse, Isaac Mass, Ron Patenaude
Western New England Student Chapter
On October 13, 2010, the Western New England Student Chapter of the Federalist Society hosted...
NASA v. Nelson - Post-Argument SCOTUScast
Richard J. Peltz-Steele
SCOTUScast 10-14-10 featuring Richard J. Peltz
On October 5, 2010, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in NASA v. Nelson. The...
Alabama Supreme Court: Role of Court in Key Corporate Cases
John J. Park
White Paper on the Alabama Supreme Court
In recent races for the Supreme Court of Alabama, the subject of “judicial activism” and...
California 2010: The Courts and the Economy
Jeremy B. Rosen, Thomas F. Gede
White Paper on the California Supreme Court
With Chief Justice George’s imminent retirement and replacement by California Court of Appeal Justice Tani...
Alabama Supreme Court: Role of Court in Key Corporate Cases
John J. Park
White Paper on the Alabama Supreme Court
In recent races for the Supreme Court of Alabama, the subject of “judicial activism” and...
California 2010: The Courts and the Economy
Jeremy B. Rosen, Thomas F. Gede
White Paper on the California Supreme Court
With Chief Justice George’s imminent retirement and replacement by California Court of Appeal Justice Tani...