Dean and Anthony B. Buzbee Endowed Dean's Chair, Texas A&M University School of Law
A graduate of Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and Yale Law School, Robert B. Ahdieh served as law clerk to Judge James R. Browning of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit before his selection for the Honor's Program in the Civil Division of the US Department of Justice.
While still in law school, Ahdieh published what remains one of the seminal treatments of the constitutional transformation of post-Soviet Russia: "Russia's Constitutional Revolution—Legal Consciousness and the Transition to Democracy." Ahdieh's work has also appeared in the Boston University Law Review, Michigan Law Review, theMinnesota Law Review, the NYU Law Review, and the Southern California Law Review, among other journals.
Ahdieh’s scholarly interests revolve around questions of regulatory and institutional design, especially in the financial arena. His particular focus has been on various non-traditional regulatory structures and modes of regulation, including those grounded in dynamics of coordination. Though relatively less studied in the legal literature, the framework of coordination holds significant promise both in helping us theorize existing regulatory patterns and in defining new regulatory constructs for the future.
Ahdieh has explored regulatory and institutional design in a variety of transactional areas, including corporate and securities law, international trade and finance, and contracts. Within these, his work has emphasized two particular patterns of coordination. The first—intersystemic governance—draws on domestic regimes of federalism and transnational regimes of global governance and subsidiarity to highlight the potential benefits of complex systems of overlapping jurisdiction. The second draws on the dynamics at work in so-called “coordination games” to highlight distinct occasions for potential regulatory intervention, as well as various non-traditional regulatory forms, in our modern economic, social, and political order.
During the 2007–2008 academic year, Ahdieh was a visiting professor and the Microsoft/LAPA Fellow at Princeton University's Program in Law and Public Affairs. In Spring 2014, he served as Douglas McK. Brown Visiting Chair in Law, University of British Columbia. He has also visited at Columbia and Georgetown law schools, as well as numerous law schools overseas.
Texas Supreme Court
Justice Jimmy Blacklock was appointed to the Texas Supreme Court in January 2018 by Governor Greg Abbott. Before that, Jimmy served as Governor Abbott’s General Counsel and in the Attorney General’s Office under then-AG Abbott. While at the AG’s Office, he handled appeals and trials of constitutional cases in state and federal court involving matters such as federalism, religious liberty, and the separation of powers. As Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel, he oversaw the Open Records and Opinions divisions of the AG’s Office. Earlier in his career, Jimmy was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and he worked in private practice in Houston and Austin. He clerked for Judge Jerry Smith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit after graduating from U.T.-Austin (B.A., Plan II/History) and Yale Law School. He was born in Houston and now lives in Austin with his wife and three daughters.
Costa is a partner in Gibson Dunn’s Houston office and co-chair of the firm’s Trials Practice Group. Mr. Costa offers clients a unique perspective as the only former federal trial and appellate judge trying cases and leading investigations. His broad experience—having handled complex civil and criminal matters, at trial and on appeal, as advocate and judge—allows him to offer invaluable skills and strategic insights.
Before joining Gibson Dunn, Mr. Costa served for more than ten years as a federal trial and appellate judge. He served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit from 2014 to 2022. After his nomination by President Obama, the Senate confirmed him by a vote of 97-0. No federal appellate judge nominated since has received more votes. Mr. Costa first served as a district judge for the Southern District of Texas from 2012 to 2014. When appointed to the bench, he was the youngest-sitting federal judge at age 39. Mr. Costa presided over thirty federal trials in four different venues (he continued handling district court matters while serving on the court of appeals). He wrote precedential opinions in almost every area of the law, including antitrust, intellectual property, class actions, international arbitration, securities fraud, bankruptcy, conflicts of law, labor and employment, oil and gas, False Claims Act, administrative law, constitutional law, and criminal law. In press accounts of his tenure, he was described as an “exceptionally gifted jurist” with a “towering intellect” who was “respected by all sides.” The Federal Judicial Center invited Mr. Costa on multiple occasions to teach new federal district judges.
Before taking the bench, Mr. Costa was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Houston from 2005 to 2012. As a prosecutor, he tried more than 15 jury trials, including serving as a lead prosecutor of Allen Stanford, the head of Stanford Financial Group, for orchestrating a multibillion-dollar international fraud scheme. Mr. Costa is featured in a documentary about the case, The Man Who Bought Cricket. A Reuters article about the trial quotes a victim who said that Mr. Costa’s closing argument “brought her to tears.” For his work on the Stanford case, Mr. Costa received the John Marshall Award for Trial of Litigation and the Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service. He also prosecuted cases involving kickbacks in the energy industry, public corruption, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, securities fraud, internet fraud, and counterfeit technology products. During his time as a federal prosecutor, Mr. Costa served as the Southern District of Texas’s Deputy International Affairs Coordinator, during which he assisted with investigations in more than a dozen countries.
Mr. Costa is a frequent speaker and author on legal topis, including writing for the ABA’s Litigation Journal on various trial-related issues. He also taught Federal Jurisdiction at the University of Houston Law Center, where he was named an Honorary Alumnus.
After college, Mr. Costa taught elementary school for two years in the Mississippi Delta through Teach for America. He has remained involved in the Delta and in education, launching a nonprofit in Mississippi, serving on the board of the Houston Urban Debate League, and helping teach Government at a Houston‑area charter school.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
Reed Charles O'Connor is a federal judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. He joined the court in 2007 after being nominated by President George W. Bush.
A native of Houston, Texas, O'Connor graduated from the University of Houston with his bachelor's degree in 1986 and from South Texas College of Law with his J.D. in 1989.
Executive General Counsel, First Liberty Institute
Hiram Sasser is Executive General Counsel for First Liberty Institute, where he oversees First Liberty’s litigation and media efforts. Sasser’s practice focuses on First Amendment and other constitutional and civil rights issues relating to religious liberty. Sasser served as co-counsel in seven victories before the United States Supreme Court, including Groff v. DeJoy (landmark case overturning the “de minimis cost” test for Title VII in place almost 50 years), Kennedy v. Bremerton (landmark case overturning 50 years of Establishment Clause precedent), Carson v. Makin (overturning 40 years of Maine’s discrimination against parents choosing faith-based schools), American Legion v. American Humanist Association (landmark case ending Establishment Clause attacks on veterans’ memorials with religious imagery), Klein v. Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (granted, vacated, and remanded (twice) in religious wedding service case), and Sause v. Bauer (summary reversal revoking qualified immunity for police who ordered a citizen not to pray in her own home).
In addition to his legal duties, Sasser develops, coordinates, and implements successful media strategies on behalf of his clients. This includes numerous appearances on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, CNN, and the BBC as well as being heard on various radio stations throughout the United States, Asia, Africa, and Europe.
In 2016, Sasser took a leave of absence to serve a temporary assignment as the Chief of Staff for the Attorney General of Texas. He currently serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at both The University of Texas at Austin School of Law (teaching Religious Liberty) and Oklahoma City University School of Law (teaching Civil Rights Procedure).
Regional Deputy General Counsel, North America and Lead Counsel, Treasury, Willis Towers Watson
Texas Second Court of Appeals
Justice Kerr grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, graduating from White Station High School in 1974. She became a Texan when she matriculated at Rice University in Houston, obtaining a B.A. in English and Art History in 1978, followed by a J.D. from the University of Texas in 1982. Immediately following law school, Justice Kerr spent two years as a briefing attorney for the late Honorable Lucius D. Bunton, III, Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Midland Division.
From there, Justice Kerr began her private practice in Fort Worth in 1984, first with the firm of Law, Snakard & Gambill. During the 1990s, in addition to maintaining her legal practice Justice Kerr worked on numerous projects with lexicographer and author Bryan A. Garner, including as a contributing editor of the seventh edition of Black’s Law Dictionary. Starting in 1995, Justice Kerr taught legal writing and research off and on for a number of years at what began as the DFW School of Law and then became Texas Wesleyan (now Texas A&M) School of Law.
Most recently, she joined Friedman, Suder & Cooke in 2006, where she was of counsel until her election to the appellate bench in 2016. While at Friedman, Suder & Cooke, Justice Kerr was a member of the planning committee of the Tarrant County Bar Association’s appellate section, serving as its chair for the 2010-2011 bar year. She is a Fellow of the Tarrant County Bar Foundation and a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation.
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.
Principal, Spero Law LLC
Christopher Mills is the founder of Spero Law LLC. He was previously a partner at a national law firm and a Constitutional Law Fellow at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. He served as a law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas on the U.S. Supreme Court during October Term 2018. He also clerked for the Honorable David B. Sentelle, then-Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He has authored briefs and motions in the Supreme Court, courts of appeals, and trial courts, and successfully argued before the D.C. Circuit. He has served as special counsel to South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, and is an Adjunct Professor at the Charleston School of Law.
A 2012 magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, Christopher was a senior editor of the Harvard Law Review, an editor of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, and served on the Executive Board of the Harvard Federalist Society. In 2009, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude with a degree in economics from Furman University.
Christopher lives in Charleston, South Carolina with his wife, children, and golden retriever.
Legal Director, National Center for LGBTQ Rights
Senior Counsel, Alliance Defending Freedom
Christiana (Holcomb) Kiefer serves as senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, where she is a key member of the Center for Conscience Initiatives.
When she joined ADF in 2012, Kiefer worked to defend the constitutionally protected freedom of churches, religious schools, and Christian ministries to exercise their faith without government interference. Since joining the Center for Conscience Initiatives in 2020, Kiefer has worked on groundbreaking cases to protect the right of women and girls to fair athletic competition, including Soule v. Connecticut Association of Schools and Hecox v. Little. She also works to protect the right of people of faith to foster and provide loving homes for children in need.
Kiefer has testified before Congress and successfully advocated at the grassroots level. As an ADF commentator, she regularly speaks at conferences and comments in television, radio, and print media.
Kiefer earned her Juris Doctor in 2010 from Oak Brook College of Law and Government Policy, where she graduated first in her class. Also in 2010, Kiefer completed the ADF leadership development program to become a Blackstone Fellow. She is admitted to the state bar of California, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Supreme Court, and numerous federal district and appellate courts.
Partner, Dinsmore Partner, Dinsmore & Shohl LLP, USA & Canada
Brian O’Shaughnessy is an internationally recognized authority in licensing and commercial transactions involving intellectual property rights. He is a Partner in the Washington DC office of Dinsmore & Shohl LLP; and the President and Chair of the Board of the Licensing Executives Society (USA and Canada), Inc.,
Mr. O’Shaughnessy assists clients in developing international intellectual property portfolios; IP-risk avoidance strategies; post-grant proceedings at the USPTO; and other IP-related disputes. He has also been retained as a consulting and testifying expert witness in disputes involving technology licensing. He works with life sciences companies in lifecycle management strategies, and in bringing and resolving Hatch-Waxman litigation. His wide-ranging experience affords a diverse perspective and creative solutions to intellectual property management, licensing, enforcement, and risk avoidance.
Brian has served on the LES USA & Canada Board of Trustees since 2007. Most recently, his Board duties included responsibility for the Society’s public policy positions and external education, including congressional outreach; and, prior to that, he served as Trustee for Education.
Brian has been acknowledged as among the “IAM Strategy 300”, the world’s leading IP strategists, and among the “The World’s Leading Patent and Technology Licensing Lawyers”, by Intellectual Asset Management Magazine. In 2013, Brian was awarded the Outstanding Alumnus Award by his alma mater, Rochester Institute of Technology; and, in 2005, was awarded the RIT College of Science Distinguished Alumnus Award.
St. Robert Bellarmine Professor of Law, The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law; Nonresident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute, The Catholic University of America
José Joel Alicea is the inaugural St. Robert Bellarmine Professor of Law, Associate Dean for Faculty Research, and Director of the Law School’s Center for the Constitution and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. He has also served as a Visiting Professor at Duke Law School and Notre Dame Law School. Prior to joining the Catholic Law faculty, Professor Alicea practiced law for several years at the law firm of Cooper & Kirk, PLLC, where he specialized in constitutional litigation. He previously served as a law clerk for Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., on the United States Supreme Court and for Judge Diarmuid F. O'Scannlain on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Professor Alicea’s scholarship has focused on constitutional theory. His scholarship has appeared, or is forthcoming, in the Yale Law Journal, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, the Virginia Law Review, and the Notre Dame Law Review, among other publications. He has also been active in public debates about constitutional law, testifying before Congress and publishing essays in places like The New York Times, City Journal, and National Affairs.
Professor Alicea is a Fellow at the Columbus School of Law's Center for Religious Liberty and a Nonresident Fellow at The American Enterprise Institute. He is the recipient of several research and teaching awards, including the student-selected Professor of the Year teaching award.
Patrick Hotung Professor of Constitutional Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Randy Barnett is the Patrick Hotung Professor of Constitutional Law at Georgetown University Law Center. He has argued before the United States Supreme Court, tried murder cases to juries as a prosecutor in Chicago, and appeared as a prosecutor in the feature film Inalienable. He is the author of numerous books, including Restoring the Lost Constitution, The Structure of Liberty, Our Republican Constitution, and The Original Meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment. He has published two memoirs, A Life for Liberty: The Making of an American Originalist, and Felony Review: Tales of True Crime and Corruption in Chicago. He is currently working on a new book, Freedom and Flourishing: Libertarianism for the Real World.
Ralph S. Tyler, Jr. Professor of Constitutional Law, Harvard Law School
Judge, United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
Judge Rao was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in March 2019. She graduated from Yale College in 1995 and the University of Chicago Law School in 1999. Following graduation, she served as a law clerk to Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and, in the 2001 October Term, as law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas of the U.S. Supreme Court. Between her clerkships, Judge Rao served as counsel for nominations and constitutional law to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. In 2002, she joined the international arbitration group of Clifford Chance LLP in London, England. From 2005-2006, she served as Special Assistant and Associate White House Counsel to President George W. Bush. From 2006 to 2017, Judge Rao was a professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, where she taught constitutional law, legislation and statutory interpretation, and the history and foundations of the administrative state. In 2014, she founded the Center for the Study of the Administrative State, a non-profit Center that promotes academic scholarship and public policy debates about administrative law. In July 2017, she was appointed to serve as the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management Budget. She served in this position until her appointment to the D.C. Circuit.
Antonin Scalia Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
Stephen E. Sachs is the Antonin Scalia Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, where he teaches civil procedure, conflict of laws, and seminars on constitutional law. His research focuses on the law and theory of constitutional interpretation, the jurisdiction of state and federal courts, the history of procedure and private law, and the role of the general common law in the U.S. legal system.
Sachs has authored numerous articles, essays, and book chapters. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute, an adviser to the ALI’s project on the Restatement of the Law (Third), Conflict of Laws, a former member of the Judicial Conference’s Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules, and a founding member of the Academic Freedom Alliance.
In 2020, Sachs received the Federalist Society’s Joseph Story Award, which recognizes a young academic who has demonstrated excellence in legal scholarship, a commitment to teaching, a concern for students, and who has made a significant public impact in a manner that advances the rule of law in a free society.
Sachs previously taught at Duke University School of Law and as a visiting professor at the University of Chicago Law School. Before entering academia, he practiced in the Washington, D.C., litigation group of Mayer Brown LLP, and he clerked for Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. as well as for Judge Stephen F. Williams of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Sachs received his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was executive editor of the Yale Law Journal and served both as executive editor and articles editor of the Yale Law & Policy Review. A Rhodes Scholar, he graduated from Oxford University with a first-class BA (Hons) degree in philosophy, politics, and economics. He received his A.B. degree summa cum laude in history from Harvard University, earning the Sophia Freund Prize.
Sachs is a licensed attorney in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia, and he is authorized to practice before the D.C. Circuit, the Second Circuit, the Seventh Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States.
St. Robert Bellarmine Professor of Law, The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law; Nonresident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute, The Catholic University of America
José Joel Alicea is the inaugural St. Robert Bellarmine Professor of Law, Associate Dean for Faculty Research, and Director of the Law School’s Center for the Constitution and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. He has also served as a Visiting Professor at Duke Law School and Notre Dame Law School. Prior to joining the Catholic Law faculty, Professor Alicea practiced law for several years at the law firm of Cooper & Kirk, PLLC, where he specialized in constitutional litigation. He previously served as a law clerk for Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., on the United States Supreme Court and for Judge Diarmuid F. O'Scannlain on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Professor Alicea’s scholarship has focused on constitutional theory. His scholarship has appeared, or is forthcoming, in the Yale Law Journal, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, the Virginia Law Review, and the Notre Dame Law Review, among other publications. He has also been active in public debates about constitutional law, testifying before Congress and publishing essays in places like The New York Times, City Journal, and National Affairs.
Professor Alicea is a Fellow at the Columbus School of Law's Center for Religious Liberty and a Nonresident Fellow at The American Enterprise Institute. He is the recipient of several research and teaching awards, including the student-selected Professor of the Year teaching award.
Patrick Hotung Professor of Constitutional Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Randy Barnett is the Patrick Hotung Professor of Constitutional Law at Georgetown University Law Center. He has argued before the United States Supreme Court, tried murder cases to juries as a prosecutor in Chicago, and appeared as a prosecutor in the feature film Inalienable. He is the author of numerous books, including Restoring the Lost Constitution, The Structure of Liberty, Our Republican Constitution, and The Original Meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment. He has published two memoirs, A Life for Liberty: The Making of an American Originalist, and Felony Review: Tales of True Crime and Corruption in Chicago. He is currently working on a new book, Freedom and Flourishing: Libertarianism for the Real World.
Ralph S. Tyler, Jr. Professor of Constitutional Law, Harvard Law School
Judge, United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
Judge Rao was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in March 2019. She graduated from Yale College in 1995 and the University of Chicago Law School in 1999. Following graduation, she served as a law clerk to Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and, in the 2001 October Term, as law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas of the U.S. Supreme Court. Between her clerkships, Judge Rao served as counsel for nominations and constitutional law to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. In 2002, she joined the international arbitration group of Clifford Chance LLP in London, England. From 2005-2006, she served as Special Assistant and Associate White House Counsel to President George W. Bush. From 2006 to 2017, Judge Rao was a professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, where she taught constitutional law, legislation and statutory interpretation, and the history and foundations of the administrative state. In 2014, she founded the Center for the Study of the Administrative State, a non-profit Center that promotes academic scholarship and public policy debates about administrative law. In July 2017, she was appointed to serve as the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management Budget. She served in this position until her appointment to the D.C. Circuit.
Antonin Scalia Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
Stephen E. Sachs is the Antonin Scalia Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, where he teaches civil procedure, conflict of laws, and seminars on constitutional law. His research focuses on the law and theory of constitutional interpretation, the jurisdiction of state and federal courts, the history of procedure and private law, and the role of the general common law in the U.S. legal system.
Sachs has authored numerous articles, essays, and book chapters. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute, an adviser to the ALI’s project on the Restatement of the Law (Third), Conflict of Laws, a former member of the Judicial Conference’s Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules, and a founding member of the Academic Freedom Alliance.
In 2020, Sachs received the Federalist Society’s Joseph Story Award, which recognizes a young academic who has demonstrated excellence in legal scholarship, a commitment to teaching, a concern for students, and who has made a significant public impact in a manner that advances the rule of law in a free society.
Sachs previously taught at Duke University School of Law and as a visiting professor at the University of Chicago Law School. Before entering academia, he practiced in the Washington, D.C., litigation group of Mayer Brown LLP, and he clerked for Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. as well as for Judge Stephen F. Williams of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Sachs received his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was executive editor of the Yale Law Journal and served both as executive editor and articles editor of the Yale Law & Policy Review. A Rhodes Scholar, he graduated from Oxford University with a first-class BA (Hons) degree in philosophy, politics, and economics. He received his A.B. degree summa cum laude in history from Harvard University, earning the Sophia Freund Prize.
Sachs is a licensed attorney in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia, and he is authorized to practice before the D.C. Circuit, the Second Circuit, the Seventh Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law and Director, Classical Liberal Institute, New York University School of Law; Director, Classical Liberal Institute, Civitas Institute University of Texas at Austin
Richard A. Epstein is the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law, at New York University, a senior research fellow at the Civitas Institute at the University of Texas Austin, and a senior Lecturer, the University of Chicago. He received an LL.D., h.c . from the University of Ghent, 2003 , and an LLD h.c . from the University of Siegen in 2018 and the Bradley Prize in 2011. He has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1985. He has edited both the Journal of Legal Studies (1981-1991) and the Journal of Law and Economics (1991-2001). He is also a founder and director of the Classical Liberal Institute at NYU Law School. His most recent book is The Classical Liberal Constitution: The Uncertain Quest for Limited Government (2014). His other books include Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain ( 1985); Bargaining with the State (1993); Simple Rules for a Complex World (1995); Principles for a Free Society: Reconciling Individual Liberty and the Common Good (1998); Skepticism and Freedom: A Modern Theory of Classical Liberalism (2003); Design for Liberty: Private Property, Public Administration and the Rule of Law (2011), and most recently, The Myth of Birthright citizenship—and Beyond (2026). He has taught courses in , administrative law, antitrust, constitutional, contracts, environmental law, land use planning; real property, torts and water law. He has written and spoken extensively on a wide range of topics, and is writes a regular column for Defining Ideas.
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.
Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz teaches constitutional law and federal jurisdiction, and he writes articles for the Harvard Law Review and the Stanford Law Review.
He is currently developing a new theory of constitutional interpretation and judicial review. The first installment, entitledThe Subjects of the Constitution, was published in the Stanford Law Review in May of 2010, and it is among the most downloaded articles about constitutional interpretation, judicial review, and/or federal courts in the history of SSRN. The second installment, The Objects of the Constitution, was published in May of 2011, also in the Stanford Law Review. And the comprehensive version is forthcoming as a book by Oxford University Press.
Rosenkranz has served and advised the federal government in a variety of capacities. He clerked for Judge Frank H. Easterbrook on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (1999-2000) and for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy at the U.S. Supreme Court (October Term 2001). He served as an Attorney-Advisor at the Office of Legal Counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice (November 2002 - July 2004). He often testifies before Congress as a constitutional expert—most recently before the House Financial Services Oversight Subcommittee, regarding the Obama Administration's use of bank settlement agreements to circumvent the Appropriations Clause. He has also filed briefs and presented oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court. His most recent Supreme Court brief, in Los Angeles v. Patel, was cited by Justice Alito in dissent.
Rosenkranz is a member of the New York Bar and the U.S. Supreme Court Bar. He is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). He is a founding member of Heterodox Academy and a member of its Executive Committee. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Federalist Society and as the faculty advisor to the Georgetown chapter.
Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law and Director, Classical Liberal Institute, New York University School of Law; Director, Classical Liberal Institute, Civitas Institute University of Texas at Austin
Richard A. Epstein is the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law, at New York University, a senior research fellow at the Civitas Institute at the University of Texas Austin, and a senior Lecturer, the University of Chicago. He received an LL.D., h.c . from the University of Ghent, 2003 , and an LLD h.c . from the University of Siegen in 2018 and the Bradley Prize in 2011. He has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1985. He has edited both the Journal of Legal Studies (1981-1991) and the Journal of Law and Economics (1991-2001). He is also a founder and director of the Classical Liberal Institute at NYU Law School. His most recent book is The Classical Liberal Constitution: The Uncertain Quest for Limited Government (2014). His other books include Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain ( 1985); Bargaining with the State (1993); Simple Rules for a Complex World (1995); Principles for a Free Society: Reconciling Individual Liberty and the Common Good (1998); Skepticism and Freedom: A Modern Theory of Classical Liberalism (2003); Design for Liberty: Private Property, Public Administration and the Rule of Law (2011), and most recently, The Myth of Birthright citizenship—and Beyond (2026). He has taught courses in , administrative law, antitrust, constitutional, contracts, environmental law, land use planning; real property, torts and water law. He has written and spoken extensively on a wide range of topics, and is writes a regular column for Defining Ideas.
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.
Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz teaches constitutional law and federal jurisdiction, and he writes articles for the Harvard Law Review and the Stanford Law Review.
He is currently developing a new theory of constitutional interpretation and judicial review. The first installment, entitledThe Subjects of the Constitution, was published in the Stanford Law Review in May of 2010, and it is among the most downloaded articles about constitutional interpretation, judicial review, and/or federal courts in the history of SSRN. The second installment, The Objects of the Constitution, was published in May of 2011, also in the Stanford Law Review. And the comprehensive version is forthcoming as a book by Oxford University Press.
Rosenkranz has served and advised the federal government in a variety of capacities. He clerked for Judge Frank H. Easterbrook on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (1999-2000) and for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy at the U.S. Supreme Court (October Term 2001). He served as an Attorney-Advisor at the Office of Legal Counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice (November 2002 - July 2004). He often testifies before Congress as a constitutional expert—most recently before the House Financial Services Oversight Subcommittee, regarding the Obama Administration's use of bank settlement agreements to circumvent the Appropriations Clause. He has also filed briefs and presented oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court. His most recent Supreme Court brief, in Los Angeles v. Patel, was cited by Justice Alito in dissent.
Rosenkranz is a member of the New York Bar and the U.S. Supreme Court Bar. He is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). He is a founding member of Heterodox Academy and a member of its Executive Committee. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Federalist Society and as the faculty advisor to the Georgetown chapter.
Judge, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
John W. Holcomb is a U.S. District Judge for the Central District of California, Southern Division, in Santa Ana, California. Judge Holcomb was nominated for that position by President Donald J. Trump in November 2019 and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in September 2020.
Judge Holcomb earned his S.B. in civil engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1984. For the next five years, Judge Holcomb served as a commissioned officer in the United States Navy, including assignments aboard the battleship U.S.S. New Jersey (BB62) and with the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. In 1993, Judge Holcomb received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School. Judge Holcomb then served as a law clerk for Judge Ronald Barliant of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Thereafter, Judge Holcomb joined Irell & Manella LLP as an associate, practicing bankruptcy law and general civil litigation. In 1997, Judge Holcomb joined the intellectual property law firm of Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear, LLP, and he was elevated to partner in 2002. As a partner at Knobbe Martens, Judge Holcomb participated in several speaking engagements regarding the intersection of intellectual property and bankruptcy law. In 2014, Judge Holcomb co-authored the chapter on U.S. Law in Licenses and Insolvency, A Practical Guide to the Effects of Insolvency on IP License Agreements, which was published by the International Bar Association. Judge Holcomb retired from Knobbe Martens in 2018, and he briefly practiced as a bankruptcy and litigation sole-practitioner before joining the firm Greenberg Gross LLP as a partner in 2019.
U.S. Court of Federal Claims and Jurist-In-Residence Professor of Law, The University of Akron School of Law
Judge Ryan T. Holte was sworn in as a judge on the United States Court of Federal Claims in July 2019. Prior to confirmation he served as the David L. Brennan Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Intellectual Property Law and Technology at The University of Akron School of Law (2017-2019) and an assistant professor of law at Southern Illinois University School of Law (2013-2017). Judge Holte has written and presented widely on patent law subjects and empirical legal studies of Federal Circuit and district court patent law cases. His most recent articles were published in the Iowa Law Review (2019), George Mason Law Review (2018), and Washington Law Review (2017).
In practice, Judge Holte served for six years as general counsel and partner of an electrical engineering technology company and is co-inventor of multiple patents related to Systems and Methods for Countering Satellite-Navigated Munitions. Prior to entering academia, Judge Holte practiced as a litigation attorney at the Federal Trade Commission and an associate in the Intellectual Property Practice Group at Jones Day. Prior to practice, he served as a law clerk to Judge Stanley F. Birch, Jr. on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and as a law clerk to Judge Loren A. Smith on the United States Court of Federal Claims.
Judge Holte received his JD from the University of California Davis School of Law and his BS, magna cum laude, in engineering from the California Maritime Academy where he was a First Class graduate of the Corps of Cadets Third Engineering Division and sailed as a U.S. Merchant Marine oiler.
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Austin E. Owen Research Scholar & Professor of Law, The University of Richmond School of Law
Dean Kristen Jakobsen Osenga teaches and writes in the areas of patent law, antitrust, and legislation and regulation. Some of her recent scholarship focuses on standard development organizations, patent eligible subject matter, patent licensing firms, litigation and remedies for patent infringement, and patent law reform. She has written numerous law review articles on these and other topics, as well as book chapters and op eds on various aspects of patent law. Additionally, she has spoken on these issues at many academic conferences and bar events. Dean Osenga is Chief Policy Counselor for the Inventors Defense Alliance, as well as an active member of the Federal Circuit Bar Association and the American Intellectual Property Law Association.
Dean Osenga received a B.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Iowa, an M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Southern Illinois University – Carbondale, and a J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law, where she graduated magna cum laude. After law school, she practiced at the law firm of Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett, & Dunner LLP, (now Finnegan) where she did patent prosecution and litigation. She then clerked for the Judge Richard Linn of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. After clerking, she entered academia, teaching first at Chicago-Kent College of Law and then at the University of Richmond, where she has been since 2006. She has also been a Visiting Professor at Emory University School of Law and at William & Mary School of Law.
Vice President and Counsel of Government Affairs, QUALCOMM Incorporated
Laurie Self is Vice President and Counsel of Government Affairs at Qualcomm Incorporated, where she specializes in U.S. patent policy matters at the federal and state level. Based in Washington, D.C., Ms. Self also supports Qualcomm’s government affairs initiatives to promote strong intellectual property rights in emerging markets. Ms. Self’s particular focus is to ensure that U.S. intellectual property laws and policies provide the necessary protections and incentives to support the Company’s R&D-driven business model. Prior to her arrival at Qualcomm in July 2012, Ms. Self was a partner at the law firm Covington & Burling where she chaired the firm’s intellectual property practice group.
Head of Patent Policy, Google
Laura Sheridan is Head of Patent Policy at Google, advocating for an effective patent examination process, a patent litigation system that operates fairly for all participants, and transparency in these areas. She has shared her views on patent issues in numerous policy dialogues, including testifying before Congress on the intersection of AI and patents. Her patent policy work is shaped by years of private practice experience in patent prosecution, litigation, due diligence, and post-grant practice before the Patent Office.
An active member of the IP community, Laura is part of the Intellectual Property Owners Association delegation to IP5 Industry, a group which engages on procedural harmonization matters with the IP5 Offices (the Offices of China, Europe, Japan, Korea, and the US). Laura also helped to form the New York chapter of ChIPs and is a member of the Advisory Board for the NYU Law Engelberg Center on Innovation Law & Policy. Laura studied mechanical engineering at Cornell University and received her J.D. from Fordham Law School.
Panel Discussion: The Consequences of Disruption
Robert B. Ahdieh, James Davis Blacklock, Gregg Costa, Reed O'Connor, Hiram Sasser, J. Ammon Smartt
2023 Texas Chapters Conference
Collegiality and the presumption that opposing counsel work together in good faith are bedrocks of...
Panel Discussion: Legal Challenges Involving Gender Identity Post-Bostock
Elizabeth Kerr, Andrew Koppelman, Christopher E. Mills, Shannon Minter, Christiana Michelle Kiefer
2023 Texas Chapters Conference
Litigation and legislation involving complex issues regarding gender identity are at the forefront of public...
The Debate Over Standard Essential Patents
Brian O?Shaughnessy
A Regulatory Transparency Project Fourth Branch Video
Standardized technologies make it possible for devices and equipment to have common components so, for...
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Non-Affirmation of Child’s “LGBTQI+” Identity Is Abuse Under Proposed Foster Care Rule
On September 28, 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children...
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The Case for an AUMF Against Iran and Its Proxies
About 2,500 years ago, the Chinese military theorist Sun Tzu wisely observed that subduing the...
Showcase Panel IV: How Originalist is the Supreme Court?
J. Joel Alicea, Randy E. Barnett, Richard Fallon, Neomi Rao, Stephen E. Sachs
2023 National Lawyers Convention
Featuring: Prof. J. Joel Alicea, Co-Director, Project on Constitutional Originalism and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition,...
Showcase Panel IV: How Originalist is the Supreme Court?
J. Joel Alicea, Randy E. Barnett, Richard Fallon, Neomi Rao, Stephen E. Sachs
2023 National Lawyers Convention
Featuring: Prof. J. Joel Alicea, Co-Director, Project on Constitutional Originalism and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition,...
15th Annual Rosenkranz Debate & Luncheon
Richard A. Epstein, Clark Neily, Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz
2023 National Lawyers Convention
The 2023 National Lawyers Convention will take place November 9-11, 2023 at the Mayflower Hotel...
15th Annual Rosenkranz Debate & Luncheon
Richard A. Epstein, Clark Neily, Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz
2023 National Lawyers Convention
The 2023 National Lawyers Convention will take place November 9-11, 2023 at the Mayflower Hotel...
The Injunction Function: Is IP Law Promoting Markets for Innovators and Creators?
John W. Holcomb, Ryan T. Holte, Kristen Osenga, Laurie Self, Laura Sheridan
2023 National Lawyers Convention
In patent and copyright law, injunctions are now a subject of significant policy debate. Innovators...