President and CEO, The Buckeye Institute
Robert Alt is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Buckeye Institute where he has catalyzed exponential growth since he took the organization’s helm in 2012. He has since founded Buckeye’s renowned Economic Research Center and established its impactful Legal Center.
Alt is a distinguished scholar and attorney with particular expertise in legal policy, criminal justice, national security, and constitutional law. He previously worked for former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese III, regularly provides commentary on television and radio programs, and his writings have appeared in countless outlets.
In 2004, Alt spent five months in Iraq as an embedded war correspondent.
Alt has testified before Congress multiple times—including at the confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan—the Federal Election Commission regarding matters of constitutional and administrative law, and numerous state legislatures.
Alt serves as an officer on the boards of The Philadelphia Society and the Federalist Society’s Columbus Lawyers Chapter. He taught national security law, criminal law, and legislation at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, as well as constitutional law and political parties and interest groups at Ashland University.
Alt earned his Doctor of Law degree from The University of Chicago Law School, where he was Symposium Editor and the winner of the Mulroy Prize for Excellence in Appellate Advocacy as well as research assistant to Professor Richard Epstein. Following law school, he clerked for Judge Alice Batchelder on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Alt graduated with his Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and political science magna cum laude from Azusa Pacific University where he also won the Outstanding Senior Award in Political Science.
Alt is an accomplished high-altitude alpinist and endurance athlete who has successfully climbed 6.75 of the famed Seven Summits of the World including Mount Everest. He is the creator of PROFOUND CLIMBING™ and a frequent speaker across the country and around the world on legal and public policy topics as well as effective leadership, management, decision-making, and teamwork in contexts ranging from extraordinary life/death situations to ordinary professional/business settings.
President and CEO, The Buckeye Institute
Robert Alt is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Buckeye Institute where he has catalyzed exponential growth since he took the organization’s helm in 2012. He has since founded Buckeye’s renowned Economic Research Center and established its impactful Legal Center.
Alt is a distinguished scholar and attorney with particular expertise in legal policy, criminal justice, national security, and constitutional law. He previously worked for former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese III, regularly provides commentary on television and radio programs, and his writings have appeared in countless outlets.
In 2004, Alt spent five months in Iraq as an embedded war correspondent.
Alt has testified before Congress multiple times—including at the confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan—the Federal Election Commission regarding matters of constitutional and administrative law, and numerous state legislatures.
Alt serves as an officer on the boards of The Philadelphia Society and the Federalist Society’s Columbus Lawyers Chapter. He taught national security law, criminal law, and legislation at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, as well as constitutional law and political parties and interest groups at Ashland University.
Alt earned his Doctor of Law degree from The University of Chicago Law School, where he was Symposium Editor and the winner of the Mulroy Prize for Excellence in Appellate Advocacy as well as research assistant to Professor Richard Epstein. Following law school, he clerked for Judge Alice Batchelder on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Alt graduated with his Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and political science magna cum laude from Azusa Pacific University where he also won the Outstanding Senior Award in Political Science.
Alt is an accomplished high-altitude alpinist and endurance athlete who has successfully climbed 6.75 of the famed Seven Summits of the World including Mount Everest. He is the creator of PROFOUND CLIMBING™ and a frequent speaker across the country and around the world on legal and public policy topics as well as effective leadership, management, decision-making, and teamwork in contexts ranging from extraordinary life/death situations to ordinary professional/business settings.
Senior Supervising Attorney and Director, Justice First and Client Re-entry Projects, Center for Appellate Litigation
Claudia Trupp is founder and Director of CAL's Justice First Project, which received the New York State Bar Association's award for Excellence in Mandated Representation in 2015. Before joining CAL, she was a staff attorney with the Criminal Appeals Bureau of The Legal Aid Society in New York City. Claudia is a past recipient of an Outstanding Public Service Award from the New York County Lawyer's Association and the Reginald Heber Smith Award from the National Legal Aid and Defender Association. She is a board member of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NYSACDL) and Vice-President of the NYSACDL Foundation. Claudia received her J.D., magna cum laude, from NYU School of Law, where she was Order of the Coif.She received her B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Rochester.
Justice, Florida Supreme Court
On May 23, 2023, Governor Ron DeSantis appointed Justice Meredith L. Sasso to be the 93rd justice of the Supreme Court of Florida.
Justice Sasso was raised in Tallahassee. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Florida in 2005 and her law degree from the University of Florida in 2008, where she was a member of the Justice Campbell Thornal Moot Court Board. She began her career in private practice, representing clients in large loss general liability, auto negligence, and complex commercial claims in state and federal courts at trial and on appeal. She also served as guardian ad litem, representing abused or neglected children.
In August 2016, Justice Sasso joined the Office of the General Counsel to Governor Rick Scott, serving as Chief Deputy General Counsel. In this role, she represented the Governor in litigation before the Florida Supreme Court, the First District Court of Appeal, and state and federal trial courts, among other duties. In January 2019, Governor Rick Scott appointed her to the Fifth District Court of Appeal. Governor Ron DeSantis recommissioned her to the newly created Sixth District Court of Appeal on January 1, 2023, where she was elected by her colleagues to serve as its first Chief Judge.
She is an appointed member of the Florida Bar Appellate Court Rules Committee. She is also a member of the American Enterprise Institute Leadership Network and the Federalist Society.
United States Senator, Florida
Rick Scott was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018 and is currently serving his first term representing the state of Florida. Prior to his election to the U.S. Senate, Rick Scott served two terms as the 45th Governor of Florida, working every day to turn around Florida’s economy and secure the state’s future as the best place for families and businesses to succeed. Rick Scott grew up in public housing in the Midwest as his adoptive father, a World War II veteran and truck driver, and his mother, a store clerk, struggled to financially support their family. After marrying his high school sweetheart, Ann, Rick Scott joined the Navy, where he served active duty as a radar man aboard the USS Glover. He used the G.I. Bill to attend the University of Missouri, Kansas City, and eventually opened his first business – a donut shop. Rick Scott went on to run the world’s largest healthcare company and continues to fight every day so families across the state can have the same opportunities he had to live the American dream.
Rick Scott knows firsthand that a good paying job is one of the most important things for a family, and following Florida’s economic collapse ten years ago, he made the decision to run for governor as a businessman with no political experience. During his term as Governor, he successfully championed more than $10 billion in tax cuts and cut thousands of burdensome regulations that led Florida businesses to create nearly 1.7 million new jobs. Under his leadership, the unemployment rate dropped from 11 percent to 3.3 percent, Florida paid down $10 billion in state debt, and record investments were made in what matters most to Floridians – education, the environment, and public safety.
Rick Scott and his wife, Ann, have been married for 49 years and have two daughters, Allison and Jordan, six grandsons, Auguste, Quinton, Sebastian, Eli, Louie and Jude, and one granddaughter, Zelda Ann.
Attorney General, Florida
Attorney General Ashley Moody, a fifth generation Floridian, was born and raised in Plant City, Florida. She attended the University of Florida where she earned her bachelors and masters degrees in accounting and juris doctorate. She later attended Stetson University College of Law earning a masters of law in international law. In 2018, she was elected the 38th Attorney General of Florida.
General Moody joined the United States Attorney’s Office prosecuting drug, firearm, and fraud offenses. While a federal prosecutor, Ashley was commended by the DEA for prosecutorial excellence and outstanding initiative in drug law enforcement. She was also recognized by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for her lead of “Operation Round-Up,” a targeted prosecution of violent and repeat offenders.
In 2006, at the age of 31, General Moody became the youngest judge in Florida when she was elected Circuit Court Judge of the 13th Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County. As a judge, she founded the Attorney Ad Litem program recruiting volunteer attorneys to stand in the place of parents who did not appear in court with their children. She also developed a mentoring program for at-risk children within the juvenile delinquency system.
Ashley is married to Justin, a federal law enforcement agent. They have two sons, Connor and Brandon. Their eldest son Brandon is serving in the United States Army.
Lecturer, University of Liverpool
Conor was appointed Lecturer in Law at the School of Law and Social Justice in August 2021. From 2020-2021 he was a Max Weber Postdoctoral Fellow at the European University Institute, Florence.
Prior to this, he completed an LLB at Trinity College, Dublin in 2015, an LLM from Yale Law School in 2017, and a Ph.D. from Trinity College, Dublin in 2020. Conor is a non-practising barrister, having been called to the Irish Bar in 2020.
Conor’s research specialises in administrative law, constitutional law, and legal theory.
Conor has had work featured in leading journals like the Edinburgh Law Review, European Constitutional Law Review, International Journal of Constitutional Law, Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, Maryland Law Review, Modern Law Review, Law & Literature and Public Law.
Conor's work has been cited by the Irish Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, and High Court. His work has also been cited by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and Oireachtas Library & Research Service. In April 2022 Conor was invited to provide expert evidence on constitutional issues to the Irish Government's Housing Commission. In the United Kingdom, Conor has given expert evidence to the House of Lords Constitution Committee on the work of the Law Officers. His work has been cited before the House of Commons Justice Committee and by the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee of the Tynwald.
In April 2021 Conor was a co-author of an Irish Human Rights & Equality Commission-funded report analysing the Irish State’s response to the crisis from a human rights and rule of law perspective. In January 2022 Conor was co-author of a report on the Attorney General of England & Wales commissioned by the think-tank Policy Exchange.
Conor is a regular commentator on legal matters in leading national newspapers and radio stations. He has written for the Irish Times, Journal.ie, and Washington Post.
John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law and Associate Dean for External Engagement, University of Notre Dame Law School
Nicole Stelle Garnett is the John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School, where she also serves as the Associate Dean for External Engagement and directs the Notre Dame Education Law Project. Her teaching and research focus on education law and policy, religious liberty, and topics related to property law (especially land use and urban development policies). In addition to dozens of articles on these subjects, she is the author of Lost Classroom, Lost Community: Catholic Schools' Importance in Urban America (University of Chicago Press, 2014) and Ordering the City: Land Use, Policing and the Restoration of Urban America (Yale University Press, 2009).
Garnett received her B.A. with distinction in Political Science from Stanford University and her J.D. from Yale Law School. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable Morris S. Arnold of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and for Associate Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court of the United States. Before joining the law school faculty in 1999, she worked for two years as a staff attorney at the Institute for Justice, a non-profit public-interest law firm in Washington, D.C., where she helped to defend the constitutionality of the nation's first private-school-choice programs.
At Notre Dame, Garnett is a faculty fellow in the Institute for Educational Initiatives, Kellogg Institute for International Studies, Fitzgerald Institute for Real Estate, and deNicola Center for Ethics and Culture. She also is an elected member of the American Law Institute and a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
Chief Justice, Florida Supreme Court
Justice Carlos G. Muñiz was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court by Governor Ron DeSantis on January 22, 2019, becoming the 89th Justice since statehood was granted in 1845. Previously, he served as general counsel for the United States Department of Education, where he led the Office of the General Counsel and provided legal and policy advice to the United States Secretary of Education and to other senior department officials.
Justice Muñiz has wide-ranging legal and policy experience from his years as an attorney and consultant in private practice. He served for three years as the deputy attorney general and chief of staff to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. In that capacity he was responsible for managing a 400-lawyer staff and overseeing duties that included enforcement and litigation, legislative affairs, and communications.
During this time, Justice Muñiz worked with state attorneys general throughout the country and developed substantial experience in multistate enforcement actions, consumer protection issues, government investigations, and disputes between the states and the federal government.
In addition to his service in the Attorney General’s Office, Justice Muñiz held positions of responsibility throughout Florida state government. He served as deputy general counsel in the Office of Governor Jeb Bush, as a deputy chief of staff and counsel in the Office of the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, and as general counsel of the Florida Department of Financial Services.
Justice Muñiz is a graduate of the University of Virginia and of Yale Law School. Upon receipt of his law degree, he clerked for Judge José A. Cabranes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and for Judge Thomas A. Flannery of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Associate Professor, University of Notre Dame Law School
Jeffrey Pojanowski joined the faculty and community of Notre Dame Law School in 2010. He teaches and writes in the areas of administrative law, jurisprudence, and torts. At present, his scholarship focuses on the legal theory of administrative action, as well as the philosophy and intellectual history of legal reasoning.
Prof. Pojanowski earned his A.B. in Public Policy with highest honors from Princeton University and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 2004, where he was Articles Co-Chair for the Harvard Law Review. After law school, he served as a law clerk to then-Judge John Roberts on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and then to Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court of the United States. He then practiced law with Latham & Watkins in Washington, D.C., where he specialized in appellate litigation and administrative-law matters.
General Counsel, Strive
Before joining Strive, Alexandra served as the Director of Regulatory Affairs at River Financial, where she handled all regulatory and government matters and served as product counsel. Prior to her time at River, Alexandra worked at the U.S. Department of Treasury, first in the General Counsel’s office and then as the youngest-ever Executive Secretary, where she worked directly with Secretary Mnuchin. Alexandra previously worked as an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Akin Gump. She clerked for then-Justice Allison Eid on the Colorado Supreme Court and Judge Jennifer Elrod on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She holds a J.D. from the University of Texas and a B.A. from The King’s College.
Alton C. and Cecile Cunningham Craig Professor of Law, The University of Alabama School of Law
Julie Andersen Hill is the Alton C. and Cecile Cunningham Craig Professor of Law at the University of Alabama School of Law where she teaches banking and commercial law. Her scholarly work focuses on the unwritten rules of banking regulation. She often examines how regulators respond to financial innovation. Before entering the legal academy, Professor Hill practiced law in the Washington, D.C. office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. As part of the litigation group, she represented large financial institutions in government investigations. She also clerked for Judge Wade Brorby on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Professor Hill earned her undergraduate degree in economics summa cum laude from Southern Utah University and her J.D. summa cum laude from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University.
General Counsel, TRM Labs
Sujit Raman joined Sidley Austin after nearly a dozen years as a federal prosecutor, culminating in his service as Associate Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). In that role, he personally advised the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General in their oversight of the nation’s cyber-related criminal and national security investigations and prosecutions. Sujit also led DOJ’s policy formulation in a number of critical areas, including cybersecurity, cross-border data transfers and protection, 5G/supply chain security, and emerging technologies such as facial recognition, cryptocurrency, and encryption. He brings clients a deep understanding of substantive and procedural issues involved in white collar defense, corporate internal investigations, cyber/data protection, and national security matters.
Sujit was a lead U.S. representative in high-profile international data-sharing negotiations with the United Kingdom, Australia, and the European Union. He also coordinated DOJ’s response to the Schrems II decision of the EU Court of Justice and, from 2018–2020, chaired the Attorney General’s Cyber-Digital Task Force, leading formulation of DOJ’s policy and operational response to transnational cybercrime, nation-state-sponsored malign cyber activity, and online foreign influence operations. Sujit was instrumental in drafting the legislation for the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act and led the team that worked with industry and Capitol Hill to secure the legislation’s bipartisan passage.
In addition to his extensive experience in cybersecurity, data protection, and national security issues, Sujit served for over eight years as an Assistant United States Attorney in Maryland where he led numerous complex white collar fraud and public corruption investigations, and tried six cases to jury verdict. He also served as the office’s chief of appeals, supervising the appellate work of over 80 federal prosecutors across the spectrum of federal criminal law, arguing 20 cases in the federal court of appeals, and personally litigating matters of first impression in areas as diverse as export control and economic sanctions compliance; the RICO statute; the border search doctrine and the third-party doctrine as they apply to electronic evidence; and other leading issues at the intersection of law, technology, and privacy.
Sujit is a sought-after speaker and thinker on international regulatory and geopolitical issues and has appeared in national media and testified before the U.S. Senate on these topics. His professional achievements and service to the legal community have earned him public recognition, including the “Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service” (2018), the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association “Best Lawyers Under 40” Award (2015), the National South Asian Bar Association “Cornerstone Award” (2015), and the U.S. Secret Service “Director’s Award” (2013).
A term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Sujit is a graduate of Harvard College, Harvard Law School, and the University of Bristol (UK), where he studied as a Marshall Scholar and served as head coach of the women’s varsity rowing program.
Counsel, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
Andrew B Samuel is Counsel in the Financial Institutions Group at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP and currently working in the Global Regulatory Policy team at Coinbase on secondment. He has extensive experience helping financial institutions to navigate the regulatory landscape and is now at the cutting edge of policy development in crypto. He has previously worked in the Bank of England's Financial Stability Division and contributed to academic publications on financial stability and resolution planning. He holds a J.D. from Columbia Law School and a B.A. cum laude from Yale College.
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, Cato Institute
George Selgin is a senior fellow and director of the Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives at the Cato Institute and Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Georgia. He is the author of The Theory of Free Banking (Rowman & Littlefield, 1988), Bank Deregulation and Monetary Order (Routledge, 1996), Good Money: Birmingham Button Makers, the Royal Mint, and the Beginnings of Modern Coinage (University of Michigan Press, 2008), Money: Free and Unfree (The Cato Institute, 2015), Less Than Zero: The Case for a Falling Price Level in a Growing Economy (The Cato Institute, 2018), and Floored! How a Misguided Fed Experiment Deepened and Prolonged the Great Recession (The Cato Institute 2018). Selgin holds a B.A. in economics and zoology from Drew University, and a Ph.D. in economics from New York University.
CEO, Champion Women
Hogshead-Makar is a life-long advocate for access and equality in all areas of athletics and throughout society. She is one of the nation’s foremost experts on gender equity in sports participation, sexual harassment and abuse, pregnancy discrimination, legal enforcement of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and contemporary legal issues within the Olympic Movement. She has successfully represented athletes in precedent-setting litigation, written amicus briefs in the highest courts, integrated research into frequent Congressional testimony, pushed for new state legislation, published numerous legal and professional articles, made hundreds of presentations and keynote speeches, overseen the creation of new policies and position statements and appeared frequently as a guest on national news programs. She practiced law at Holland & Knight LLP, taught torts and sports law courses as a tenured professor of law and has enjoyed a 30 year relationship with the Women’s Sports Foundation, most recently as the organization’s Senior Director of Advocacy. “Looking around the country at the leaders in women’s sports, particularly athletes, many have a relationship with the Women’s Sports Foundation. Some of my dearest friends are from working with the WSF, and I’m grateful to have received 30 years of numerous powerful opportunities to serve,” stated Hogshead-Makar.
She is a graduate of Duke University and Georgetown University Law Center. At the 1984 Olympics she capped eight years as a world-class athlete, where she was the most decorated swimmer at the 1984 Olympics; three gold medals and one silver medal.
Shareholder, GrayRobinson
Ashley is a shareholder in GrayRobinson’s Tallahassee office. Ashley practices general civil litigation in state and federal court, representing private clients as well as state and local government entities at the trial court and appellate court levels. Ashley also practices administrative law, including rulemaking and licensing disputes, and has represented both property owners and condemning authorities in eminent domain proceedings. Ashley also has experience in election law matters and litigation involving constitutional claims and defenses.
Senior Counsel, Alliance Defending Freedom
Matt Sharp serves as senior counsel and state government relations national director with Alliance Defending Freedom, where he focuses on state and local legislative matters.
Since joining ADF in 2010, Sharp has authored federal and state legislation, regularly provides testimony and legal analysis on how proposed legislation will impact constitutional freedoms, and advises governors, legislators, and state and national policy organizations on the importance of laws and policies that protect First Amendment rights. He has testified before the United States Congress on the importance of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Sharp has also worked on important cases advancing religious freedom and free speech. He has won cases upholding the rights of students to form religious clubs, invite classmates to church, and even perform a religious song at a school talent show. He authored an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of nearly 9,000 students, parents, and community members asking the Court to uphold students’ right to privacy against government intrusion.
Sharp earned his J.D. in 2006 from the Vanderbilt University School of Law. A member of the bar in Georgia and Tennessee, he is also admitted to practice in several federal courts.
Shareholder, GrayRobinson
Jason is a shareholder in GrayRobinson’s Orlando office. He is a member of the firm’s litigation practice with broad experience ranging from securities litigation to bankruptcy to white collar and antitrust law. Jason has represented clients with a wide array of interests, including helping companies and individuals navigate the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice and congressional investigations and defending antitrust assertions in Multi-District Litigation proceedings. Jason has also developed a concentration in e-discovery matters.
Criminal Law Update: A Survey of State Law Changes in 2020
Robert Alt
White Paper
Through legislation, local ordinances, ballot initiatives, executive orders, and constitutional amendments, states across the country...
Topics
ABA Proposes Making the Use of Law School Admissions Tests Optional
On May 20, 2022, the Council of the American Bar Association’s Section on Legal...
Criminal Law Update: A Survey of State Law Changes in 2020
Robert Alt
White Paper
Through legislation, local ordinances, ballot initiatives, executive orders, and constitutional amendments, states across the country...
Topics
Originalism’s Still Around, No Matter What Adrian Vermeule Says
I was taken aback when I read Adrian Vermeule’s recent Washington Post op-ed, which alleges...
Hemphill v. New York [SCOTUSbrief]
Claudia Trupp
Short video featuring Claudia Trupp
Under New York law, a criminal defendant “opens the door” to evidence that would otherwise...
Keynote Remarks
Meredith Sasso, Rick Scott
Second Annual Florida Young Lawyers Summit
Featuring: Hon. Rick Scott, United States Senator, Florida Moderator: Hon. Meredith Sasso, Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal
Remarks from the Florida Attorney General
Ashley Moody
Second Annual Florida Young Lawyers Summit
Hon. Ashley Moody, Attorney General of Florida
Panel 3: Common Good Constitutionalism: A Constitutional Interpretation Theory & Its Critics
Conor Casey, Nicole Stelle Garnett, Carlos G. Muñiz, Jeffrey Pojanowski
Second Annual Florida Young Lawyers Summit
Featuring: Prof. Conor Casey, Lecturer in Law and Assistant Professor, University of Liverpool School of...
Panel 2: Cryptocurrency: Money, Property, Speech, or Something Else? A discussion of current and potential regulatory frameworks.
Alexandra Gaiser, Julie Hill, Sujit Raman, Andrew B. Samuel, George Selgin
Second Annual Florida Young Lawyers Summit
Featuring: Prof. Julie Hill, Professor of Law, The University of Alabama School of Law Sujit...
Panel 1: Intersection of the Law & the LGBTQ Community
Nancy Hogshead-Makar, Ashley H. Lukis, Matthew Sharp, Jason A. Zimmerman
Second Annual Florida Young Lawyers Summit
Featuring: Nancy Hogshead-Makar, Founder, Champion Women Matt Sharp, Senior Counsel and State Government Relations National...