General Counsel, xAI and X
Partner, First & Fourteenth PLLC
Michael Francisco is a public and commercial litigator with extensive appellate experience who often serves as a strategic advisor to clients facing acute legal challenges. He has represented clients nationally for public impact litigation, bet-the-company lawsuits, and in defense of constitutional rights. Michael served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and Judge Timothy Tymkovich of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
Michael regularly takes on challenging matters where citizens must rely on the judiciary to vindicate their rights. His experience runs the gambit from successfully seeking injunctive relief, winning critical legal motions, defending judgments on appeal, overturning multi-million-dollar judgments, and obtaining discretionary high court review. He relishes the opportunity to develop a well-crafted legal strategy to solve the most novel and complex problems that may arise.
Michael has deep experience with political litigation representing candidates, voters, political parties, and advocacy organizations for ballot access, election administration, campaign finance, and for the unfortunate trend of criminalization of political activity.
After deciding to pursue a legal career to defend religious liberty, Michael has regularly engaged in constitutional litigation under the religion clauses and the free speech clause. He has been involved in many recent U.S. Supreme Court cases involving these core freedoms, including Groff v. DeJoy, 303 Creative v. Elenis, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, National Institute of Family & Life Advocates v. Becerra, Trinity Lutheran Church v. Pauley, and similar cases in lower courts on topics ranging from the ministerial exception, church property disputes, to religious land use disputes.
As an appellate advocate Michael frequently handles matters before the U.S. Supreme Court, federal courts of appeals, and Colorado appellate courts. He has argued four times before the Colorado Supreme Court and briefed 19 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Michael also frequently advises clients on strategic public matters challenging federal government authority and overreach. He has regularly litigated business disputes, employment matters, as well as represented clients before state and federal administrative agencies or arbitration panels.
Prior to joining First & Fourteenth, Michael was a partner at McGuireWoods, LLP in Washington D.C., representing litigation, white collar, and government investigation clients.
At home Michael is married with four children and he enjoys many outdoor activities, ranging from competitive shooting to fixing his jeep.
President and Co-Founder, America First Legal Foundation
Gene Hamilton is the President of America First Legal, which he co-founded, and where he was previously the Executive Director, Executive Vice President, and General Counsel. He most recently served as Deputy White House Counsel to President Donald Trump. Earlier in his career, Gene served as Counselor to Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice and as Senior Counselor to the Secretary of Homeland Security. He also served as General Counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee and held several roles at the Department of Homeland Security, including with U.S. Immigration Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Office of the General Counsel. He holds a B.A. from the University of Georgia and a J.D. from Washington and Lee University School of Law.
Clinical Professor and Director of the First Amendment Clinic, Florida State University College of Law
Denise Mayo Harle is a clinical professor and director of the First Amendment Clinic at FSU College of Law, where she leads student advocacy and litigation on free speech, religious liberty, and press freedom issues. Her teaching and scholarship focus on constitutional law, appellate practice, and First Amendment rights. Before entering academia, Professor Harle was a partner at Shutts & Bowen LLP in Tallahassee, where she was a member of the firm’s Appellate Practice Group and Constitutional Law Practice Area. Prior to that, she served as Deputy Solicitor General in the Office of the Florida Attorney General. Professor Harle has briefed and argued high-profile cases involving significant constitutional issues and questions of statutory interpretation in both state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.
Professor Harle’s early career includes clerking for Justice Ricky L. Polston on the Florida Supreme Court and practicing appellate law in California. In 2022, she was selected as a finalist for a seat on the Florida Supreme Court. She was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis to Florida’s Faith and Community Advisory Council and currently serves on the Judicial Nominating Commission for Florida’s Second Circuit. She was also selected for the prestigious U.S. Supreme Court Fellowship through the National Association of Attorneys General in 2017. She earned her J.D. cum laude from Duke University Law School and her B.A. and B.S. summa cum laude from Florida State University.
Professor Harle is active in the legal and academic communities. She is a member of the American Enterprise Institute’s Leadership Network and the Federalist Society’s Speakers Bureau. She has served on the board of Tallahassee Women Lawyers, the Florida Bar’s Client Security Fund Committee, and the First District Appellate American Inn of Court.
Before practicing law, Professor Harle completed doctoral coursework in Political Science at Stanford University as a Stanford Graduate Fellow, where she taught undergraduate courses on public policy, law, and American politics, and earned a Master’s degree. She continues to serve as a dissertation faculty advisor for Concordia University–St. Paul mentors doctoral students in research and writing.
A frequent speaker and media commentator on constitutional law, Professor Harle has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The New York Times, and has appeared on national outlets including C-SPAN and Fox News. She has also testified before the U.S. Senate on matters of constitutional significance.
Professor of Law, Notre Dame Law School
Professor Derek Muller is a nationally-recognized scholar in the field of election law. His research focuses on the role of states in the administration of federal elections, the constitutional contours of voting rights and election administration, the limits of judicial power in the domain of elections, and the Electoral College.
He has published more than two dozen academic works, and his op-eds have appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Wall Street Journal. He has testified before Congress, and he is a contributor at the Election Law Blog. He is a co-author on a Federal Courts casebook published by Carolina Academic Press. He is also the co-reporter on a new Restatement of the Law, Election Litigation, an effort led by the American Law Institute.
Professor Muller teaches Election Law, Civil Procedure, and Evidence.
Senior Counsel, Miller Johnson
Brett Swearingen is a Senior Counsel in Miller Johnson’s Employment and Labor practice. A native of Southwest Michigan, Brett’s practice focuses on employment and ERISA litigation, as well as counseling clients on employment matters and dealing with the government.
Mr. Swearingen litigates on behalf of clients in complex matters of employment and ERISA law, including FLSA collective actions, multiemployer pension withdrawal liability disputes, and government investigations. In addition, Brett regularly advises clients—especially state and federal contractors and grantees—on compliance with civil rights laws, as well as religious non-profits on matters regarding employment law and religious liberty. Brett is also experienced in the statistical analysis of workplace issues, such as using “disparate impact analysis” to help employers test for (and root out) potential discriminatory effects of workplace policies and practices.
Brett previously served as Counselor to the Deputy Secretary at the United States Department of Labor. At the DOL, he advised the Deputy Secretary and Secretary on employee benefits and civil rights matters and was a key advisor on several important rulemakings within the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), including regulations concerning ESG investing, proxy voting, and fiduciary investment advice, and reforms to OFCCP’s enforcement procedures and religious exemption.
Prior to his time at DOL, Brett was a litigator in the employee benefits practice of a global law firm, where he defended clients in several multi-million dollar ERISA withdrawal liability cases against multiemployer pension funds concerning alleged evade or avoid liability, successor liability, and employer challenges to pension funds’ discount rates.
Mr. Swearingen is currently licensed in Michigan and Washington, D.C.
Chairman, Center for Equal Opportunity
Linda Chavez is Chairman of the Center for Equal Opportunity. She has published opinions and columns in newspapers across the country and appears regularly on cable news. Chavez is the author of the three books: Out of the Barrio: Toward a New Politics of Hispanic Assimilation, An Unlikely Conservative: The Transformation of an Ex-Liberal, and Betrayal: How Union Bosses Shake Down Their Members and Corrupt American Politics. She has been honored by the Library of Congress as a "Living Legend" and as nominee for Secretary of Labor by President George W. Bush.
Chavez has held many appointed positions and has served on numerous corporate and nonprofit boards. Among her appointed positions has been Chairman, National Commission on Migrant Education (1988-1992); White House Director of Public Liaison (1985); Staff Director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (1983-1985); and member of the Administrative Conference of the United States (1984-1986). Chavez was also the Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Maryland in 1986 and was elected by the United Nations' Human Rights Commission to serve a four-year term as U.S. Expert to the U.N. Sub-commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities.
Chavez earned her BA from the University of Colorado.
Partner, WilmerHale LLP
Matthew Martens represents clients in their toughest civil and criminal investigations and litigation. He is one of the few lawyers who has appeared—and won—at trial at “all four tables”: civil plaintiff, civil defendant, criminal prosecution, and criminal defendant. In all, he has tried 26 cases ranging from securities fraud to patent infringement to consumer fraud to murder to employment law to money laundering, in New York, California, Illinois, Texas, Florida, Washington, South Dakota, New Jersey, and North Carolina. He has also argued 18 appeals in federal and state appellate courts across the country. Martens joined WilmerHale after a long career of government service, including both as Chief Litigation Counsel for the SEC’s Division of Enforcement and, earlier, as Chief of Staff for the Criminal Division at the US Department of Justice during the Bush Administration. He has been recognized as an AmLaw Daily Litigator of the Week, a National Law Journal Litigation Trailblazer and a Law360 Securities Law MVP.
At the SEC, Martens led the Enforcement Division's litigation program, managing cases nationwide and supervising a trial unit of approximately 40 attorneys in Washington DC, as well as coordinating the activity of litigators throughout the SEC's 11 regional offices. He personally developed and directed the Commission's nationwide litigation response to the Supreme Court's decision in Janus Capital, for which he received the SEC's prestigious Chairman's Award for Excellence.
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).
Partner, WilmerHale LLP
Matthew Martens represents clients in their toughest civil and criminal investigations and litigation. He is one of the few lawyers who has appeared—and won—at trial at “all four tables”: civil plaintiff, civil defendant, criminal prosecution, and criminal defendant. In all, he has tried 26 cases ranging from securities fraud to patent infringement to consumer fraud to murder to employment law to money laundering, in New York, California, Illinois, Texas, Florida, Washington, South Dakota, New Jersey, and North Carolina. He has also argued 18 appeals in federal and state appellate courts across the country. Martens joined WilmerHale after a long career of government service, including both as Chief Litigation Counsel for the SEC’s Division of Enforcement and, earlier, as Chief of Staff for the Criminal Division at the US Department of Justice during the Bush Administration. He has been recognized as an AmLaw Daily Litigator of the Week, a National Law Journal Litigation Trailblazer and a Law360 Securities Law MVP.
At the SEC, Martens led the Enforcement Division's litigation program, managing cases nationwide and supervising a trial unit of approximately 40 attorneys in Washington DC, as well as coordinating the activity of litigators throughout the SEC's 11 regional offices. He personally developed and directed the Commission's nationwide litigation response to the Supreme Court's decision in Janus Capital, for which he received the SEC's prestigious Chairman's Award for Excellence.
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).
Attorney, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP
Elliott is an associate in BCLP’s Business and Commercial Disputes and Appellate and Supreme Court Practice Groups. Elliott has experience with a variety of litigation, including criminal matters, complex commercial disputes, class actions, and products liability matters.
Before joining BCLP, Elliott clerked for the Honorable Richard C. Tallman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Elliott graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center, where he joined Barrister’s Council and earned a position on the trial advocacy team. Elliott also worked as a research assistant for Georgetown’s Supreme Court Institute.
Prior to attending law school, Elliott was a police officer in Seattle, Washington. In law school, Elliott was a student attorney in Georgetown Law’s Domestic Violence Clinic, where he helped victims of domestic violence obtain protection orders.
Attorney, Institute for Justice
Anya Bidwell (née Cherkasova) leads IJ’s Project on Immunity and Accountability (“PIA”). Through this project, Anya works to promote judicial engagement and ensure that government officials are held to account when they violate individuals’ constitutional rights. Anya also serves as an adviser on the American Law Institute’s Restatement of the Law, Constitutional Torts project.
One of Anya’s PIA cases—Gonzalez v. Trevino—was heard by the United States Supreme Court on March 20, 2024. She argued the case for the petitioner, with the goal of convincing the Justices that retaliatory arrests not involving on-the-spot decisions by police officers should be actionable under the First Amendment regardless of probable cause. The decision is expected in June.
This was Anya’s third appearance before the U.S. Supreme Court. She second-chaired Brownback v. King (an excessive force case) and Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Association v. Thomas (a commerce clause case) in November 2020 and January 2019 respectfully.
Before joining IJ, Anya worked for a top national law firm, handling cases in trial and appellate courts. She earned her J.D. with honors from the University of Texas. Two years prior to entering law school, Anya received a master’s degree in Global Policy Studies, also from the University of Texas, and wrote a thesis on asymmetric warfare.
Anya spent her childhood in Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. At 16, she left her family behind and came to America on a university scholarship. Her upbringing motivated her to study law and become an advocate for a strong, independent judiciary.
Anya’s work has been featured in numerous publications, including the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, and the Guardian. She is also the host of live recordings of our Short Circuit podcast and a co-producer of our documentary-style podcast Bound by Oath.
Attorney, Most & Associates
Attorney William Most graduated from Harvard College in 2005 and obtained a law degree from the U.C. Berkeley School of Law in 2011. At Berkeley, Mr. Most was a member of the Order of the Coif, a designation awarded to the top ten percent of each class.
He practiced at the California law firm of Briscoe Ivester & Bazel LLP before moving to New Orleans and founding Most & Associates. He is licensed to practice in Louisiana and California.
Mr. Most has represented individuals, businesses, families, international entities, states, counties, non-profits, municipalities, state agencies, regional planning agencies, American Indian tribes, candidates for office, activists, law enforcement officers, journalists, artists, law professors, students, prisoners, farmers, tenants, developers, family trusts, private landowners, and utilities. He has experience in trial and appellate courts, and has sat on several advisory boards.
He has practiced before the U.S. Supreme Court, a state supreme court, multiple federal and state courts of appeal, and trial courts from California to Louisiana to Maine.
He holds a Certificate of Specialization in Environmental Law, and a Certificate of Honor from the San Francisco District Attorney. He has been an editor of the Climate Change Law and Policy Reporter, a city-council-appointed member of the San Francisco Urban Forestry Council, and a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for foster youth.
Mr. Most is Of Counsel to the ATA Law Group, a California-based law firm. He has served as a board member of the National Police Accountability Project. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Politics, New Orleans, Louisiana, and a Scholar of the National Lawyers Guild.
He is also the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 Chair of the New Orleans Bar Association Civil Rights Committee.
Mr. Most was selected for the Louisiana Rising Stars lists published by Thomson Reuters for 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. He was selected for the Louisiana Super Lawyers list for 2024 and 2025. He is the recipient of the New Orleans Chapter of the Federal Bar Association's 2025 Public Service Award.
Mr. Most has been voted by his peers to be among the Top Lawyers listed in New Orleans Magazine, including:
Prior to a career in law, Mr. Most was a fisheries biologist.
Attorney, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP
Elliott is an associate in BCLP’s Business and Commercial Disputes and Appellate and Supreme Court Practice Groups. Elliott has experience with a variety of litigation, including criminal matters, complex commercial disputes, class actions, and products liability matters.
Before joining BCLP, Elliott clerked for the Honorable Richard C. Tallman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Elliott graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center, where he joined Barrister’s Council and earned a position on the trial advocacy team. Elliott also worked as a research assistant for Georgetown’s Supreme Court Institute.
Prior to attending law school, Elliott was a police officer in Seattle, Washington. In law school, Elliott was a student attorney in Georgetown Law’s Domestic Violence Clinic, where he helped victims of domestic violence obtain protection orders.
Attorney, Institute for Justice
Anya Bidwell (née Cherkasova) leads IJ’s Project on Immunity and Accountability (“PIA”). Through this project, Anya works to promote judicial engagement and ensure that government officials are held to account when they violate individuals’ constitutional rights. Anya also serves as an adviser on the American Law Institute’s Restatement of the Law, Constitutional Torts project.
One of Anya’s PIA cases—Gonzalez v. Trevino—was heard by the United States Supreme Court on March 20, 2024. She argued the case for the petitioner, with the goal of convincing the Justices that retaliatory arrests not involving on-the-spot decisions by police officers should be actionable under the First Amendment regardless of probable cause. The decision is expected in June.
This was Anya’s third appearance before the U.S. Supreme Court. She second-chaired Brownback v. King (an excessive force case) and Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Association v. Thomas (a commerce clause case) in November 2020 and January 2019 respectfully.
Before joining IJ, Anya worked for a top national law firm, handling cases in trial and appellate courts. She earned her J.D. with honors from the University of Texas. Two years prior to entering law school, Anya received a master’s degree in Global Policy Studies, also from the University of Texas, and wrote a thesis on asymmetric warfare.
Anya spent her childhood in Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. At 16, she left her family behind and came to America on a university scholarship. Her upbringing motivated her to study law and become an advocate for a strong, independent judiciary.
Anya’s work has been featured in numerous publications, including the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, and the Guardian. She is also the host of live recordings of our Short Circuit podcast and a co-producer of our documentary-style podcast Bound by Oath.
Attorney, Most & Associates
Attorney William Most graduated from Harvard College in 2005 and obtained a law degree from the U.C. Berkeley School of Law in 2011. At Berkeley, Mr. Most was a member of the Order of the Coif, a designation awarded to the top ten percent of each class.
He practiced at the California law firm of Briscoe Ivester & Bazel LLP before moving to New Orleans and founding Most & Associates. He is licensed to practice in Louisiana and California.
Mr. Most has represented individuals, businesses, families, international entities, states, counties, non-profits, municipalities, state agencies, regional planning agencies, American Indian tribes, candidates for office, activists, law enforcement officers, journalists, artists, law professors, students, prisoners, farmers, tenants, developers, family trusts, private landowners, and utilities. He has experience in trial and appellate courts, and has sat on several advisory boards.
He has practiced before the U.S. Supreme Court, a state supreme court, multiple federal and state courts of appeal, and trial courts from California to Louisiana to Maine.
He holds a Certificate of Specialization in Environmental Law, and a Certificate of Honor from the San Francisco District Attorney. He has been an editor of the Climate Change Law and Policy Reporter, a city-council-appointed member of the San Francisco Urban Forestry Council, and a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for foster youth.
Mr. Most is Of Counsel to the ATA Law Group, a California-based law firm. He has served as a board member of the National Police Accountability Project. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Politics, New Orleans, Louisiana, and a Scholar of the National Lawyers Guild.
He is also the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 Chair of the New Orleans Bar Association Civil Rights Committee.
Mr. Most was selected for the Louisiana Rising Stars lists published by Thomson Reuters for 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. He was selected for the Louisiana Super Lawyers list for 2024 and 2025. He is the recipient of the New Orleans Chapter of the Federal Bar Association's 2025 Public Service Award.
Mr. Most has been voted by his peers to be among the Top Lawyers listed in New Orleans Magazine, including:
Prior to a career in law, Mr. Most was a fisheries biologist.
Head of AI Policy, Abundance Institute
Neil Chilson is the Head of AI Policy at the Abundance Institute. Prior to this position, he served as a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Growth and Opportunity. Chilson is a lawyer, computer scientist, and author of the book “Getting Out of Control: Emergent Leadership in a Complex World.”
Chilson was previously the senior research fellow for Technology and Innovation at Stand Together, where he guided efforts to understand and promote the legal and cultural paradigms that best enable people to discover, innovate, and improve all our lives.
Before Stand Together, Chilson was the Chief Technologist at the Federal Trade Commission, where he focused on the economics of privacy and blockchain-related issues. Previously, he was an attorney advisor to Acting FTC Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen. In both roles he advised Chairman Ohlhausen and worked with staff on nearly every major technology-related case, report, workshop, or other FTC proceeding since January 2014. Neil joined the FTC from telecom firm Wilkinson Barker Knauer. Neil is frequently quoted by the press and his work has appeared in numerous news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, USAToday, and Newsweek. Neil has a J.D. from The George Washington Law School, a M.S. in computer science from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and a B.S. in computer science from Harding University.
AI Innovation and Law Fellow, University of Texas School of Law
Kevin Frazier is an AI Innovation and Law Fellow with University of Texas School of Law.
Senior Fellow for Law, Economics, and Technology, The Heritage Foundation; Professor, Florida International University
Mario Loyola is a Senior Fellow for Law, Economics, and Technology at The Heritage Foundation.
Loyola served in the Trump Administration as Associate Director for Regulatory Reform at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. In that role, he was one of the principal drafters of the One Federal Decision policy, which helped to streamline the permitting and environmental review of large infrastructure projects. While at CEQ, he was a member of the U.S. delegation to the USMCA free trade negotiations with Mexico and Canada, as well as the United Nations conference on biodiversity on the high seas. Loyola initially joined the White House in February 2017 as a Presidential Speechwriter, employing his expertise in many areas of foreign and domestic policy.
After beginning his career in M&A and corporate finance law, Loyola served in the Bush 43 Administration as a special assistant to the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy. He left that position to start writing on national defense issues in magazines such as National Review and The Weekly Standard, reporting from the front lines of the war on terrorism in Lebanon, Israel, and Iraq. He finished the Bush Administration as Foreign and Defense Counsel to the U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee, then under the chairmanship of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas. He subsequently moved to Texas and joined the Texas Public Policy Foundation, where he specialized in energy, environment, and federalism.
Loyola is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal, National Review, and The Atlantic, among others. He teaches environmental and administrative law at Florida International University, where he is Founding Director of the Environmental Finance and Risk Management program in FIU’s prestigious Institute of Environment. He received a bachelor’s degree in European history from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a J.D. from Washington University School of Law.
Director of Artificial Intelligence & Technology Policy, Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator, Vanderbilt University
Asad Ramzanali is the Director of Artificial Intelligence & Technology Policy at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator.
Asad has technology and technology policy experience across government, nonprofit, and industry. Most recently, he served as the Chief of Staff and Deputy Director for Strategy at the Biden-Harris White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), with the designation of Special Assistant to the President. He joined OSTP after four years on Capitol Hill. He was Legislative Director for U.S. Representative Anna Eshoo, whose district included much of Silicon Valley, after a short stint as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Brian Schatz. Before entering public service, Asad worked on the corporate strategy team at Intuit and managed an impact investing program backed by JPMorgan Chase, funding early-stage financial technology startups serving low-income Americans.
Asad earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and a Master of Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He is based in Washington, D.C.
Head of AI Policy, Abundance Institute
Neil Chilson is the Head of AI Policy at the Abundance Institute. Prior to this position, he served as a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Growth and Opportunity. Chilson is a lawyer, computer scientist, and author of the book “Getting Out of Control: Emergent Leadership in a Complex World.”
Chilson was previously the senior research fellow for Technology and Innovation at Stand Together, where he guided efforts to understand and promote the legal and cultural paradigms that best enable people to discover, innovate, and improve all our lives.
Before Stand Together, Chilson was the Chief Technologist at the Federal Trade Commission, where he focused on the economics of privacy and blockchain-related issues. Previously, he was an attorney advisor to Acting FTC Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen. In both roles he advised Chairman Ohlhausen and worked with staff on nearly every major technology-related case, report, workshop, or other FTC proceeding since January 2014. Neil joined the FTC from telecom firm Wilkinson Barker Knauer. Neil is frequently quoted by the press and his work has appeared in numerous news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, USAToday, and Newsweek. Neil has a J.D. from The George Washington Law School, a M.S. in computer science from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and a B.S. in computer science from Harding University.
AI Innovation and Law Fellow, University of Texas School of Law
Kevin Frazier is an AI Innovation and Law Fellow with University of Texas School of Law.
Senior Fellow for Law, Economics, and Technology, The Heritage Foundation; Professor, Florida International University
Mario Loyola is a Senior Fellow for Law, Economics, and Technology at The Heritage Foundation.
Loyola served in the Trump Administration as Associate Director for Regulatory Reform at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. In that role, he was one of the principal drafters of the One Federal Decision policy, which helped to streamline the permitting and environmental review of large infrastructure projects. While at CEQ, he was a member of the U.S. delegation to the USMCA free trade negotiations with Mexico and Canada, as well as the United Nations conference on biodiversity on the high seas. Loyola initially joined the White House in February 2017 as a Presidential Speechwriter, employing his expertise in many areas of foreign and domestic policy.
After beginning his career in M&A and corporate finance law, Loyola served in the Bush 43 Administration as a special assistant to the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy. He left that position to start writing on national defense issues in magazines such as National Review and The Weekly Standard, reporting from the front lines of the war on terrorism in Lebanon, Israel, and Iraq. He finished the Bush Administration as Foreign and Defense Counsel to the U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee, then under the chairmanship of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas. He subsequently moved to Texas and joined the Texas Public Policy Foundation, where he specialized in energy, environment, and federalism.
Loyola is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal, National Review, and The Atlantic, among others. He teaches environmental and administrative law at Florida International University, where he is Founding Director of the Environmental Finance and Risk Management program in FIU’s prestigious Institute of Environment. He received a bachelor’s degree in European history from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a J.D. from Washington University School of Law.
Director of Artificial Intelligence & Technology Policy, Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator, Vanderbilt University
Asad Ramzanali is the Director of Artificial Intelligence & Technology Policy at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator.
Asad has technology and technology policy experience across government, nonprofit, and industry. Most recently, he served as the Chief of Staff and Deputy Director for Strategy at the Biden-Harris White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), with the designation of Special Assistant to the President. He joined OSTP after four years on Capitol Hill. He was Legislative Director for U.S. Representative Anna Eshoo, whose district included much of Silicon Valley, after a short stint as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Brian Schatz. Before entering public service, Asad worked on the corporate strategy team at Intuit and managed an impact investing program backed by JPMorgan Chase, funding early-stage financial technology startups serving low-income Americans.
Asad earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and a Master of Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He is based in Washington, D.C.
President & General Counsel, ExploraMed
At the ExploraMed incubator, Earl "Eb" Bright has many years of technology development, company formation and financing experience. He is a founder of several companies, a patent attorney and has served on the executive management teams of many start-up companies in multiple capacities (Acclarent, Neotract, Vibrynt, Moximed, Nuelle, Willow).
He is a co-founder of and serves on the Alliance for U.S. Startups & Inventors for Jobs (USIJ) Advisory Committee. He is a former member of the United States Patent Public Advisory Committee. Previously, Eb was Director of Intellectual Property West Coast Operations at Guidant Corporation where he directed a 9 member team involved in litigation and the strategic development of over 1,300 patent and trademark applications related to the Vascular Intervention, Cardiac Surgery and Endovascular Solutions divisions as well as handling legal issues for Guidant Japan and the Compass Group, the unit responsible for Guidant’s venture capital and merger and acquisition activities.
Eb is an inventor on fourteen U.S. issued patents with others currently pending. He holds M.B.A.s from Columbia University and University of California, Berkeley, and Juris Doctorate and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering degrees from the University of Oklahoma.
Executive Director, High Tech Inventors Alliance
David W. Jones is the Executive Director of the High Tech Inventors Alliance. Prior to HTIA, David was Assistant General Counsel for Patent Policy at Microsoft, where he spent more than a decade handling both domestic and international patent issues. He previously held multiple positions on Capitol Hill, most recently as antitrust and IP counsel to Senator Orrin Hatch on the Senate Judiciary Committee. David clerked for Chief Judge Sharon Prost on the Federal Circuit and Judge Will Garwood on the Fifth Circuit and is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law.
Principal, Clear IP, LLC
Joseph Matal is the Principal at Clear IP, LLC.
Joe has served as both the U.S. Patent and Trademark’s Acting Director and Acting Solicitor. As Acting Solicitor, he defended the agency in intellectual property cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court. In his role in the Solicitor’s Office, he participated in briefing almost every major case involving PTAB trials that has come before the Federal Circuit, including cases that have defined the Board’s powers and the evidence that it may consider, the content of final decisions, and the burdens and scope of motions to amend. Recent cases include Uniloc v. Hulu, Thryv v. Click-to-Call, and Aqua Products v. Matal. Previously, Joe served in senior legal roles for more than a decade for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. In that capacity, he negotiated and drafted many of the key provisions of the America Invents Act.
In his roles at the USPTO, Joe briefed and argued numerous appeals of patent and trademark decisions before the Federal Circuit; oversaw the management of the USPTO and its 13,000 employees; and advised the U.S. Solicitor General’s Office in key IP cases before the Supreme Court.
U.S. Court of Appeals For the Federal Circuit (Ret.)
Judge Kathleen (Kate) O’Malley (Ret.) was a Federal Judge for over 27 years. She was appointed to the District Court in 1994 at the age of 37 and was elevated to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) in 2010. Judge O’Malley is the only former District Court judge to be appointed to the CAFC. The CAFC is the only Court of Appeals in the country that handles appeals of patent cases, presiding over appeals from all fora in which such matters originate—District Courts, the Court of Claims, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, the Patent Trial and Trademark Office, and the International Trade Commission. She also has substantial experience with other intellectual property (IP) issues—Copyright, Trademark, Trade Secret, and the intersection of IP and antitrust—and with other areas of federal law, including securities fraud, tax matters, and mass torts.
Judge O’Malley lectures regularly on various IP topics, including the importance of IP to innovation and the importance of innovation to the economy. Judge O’Malley has received numerous awards over these years. For her contributions to the development of IP law alone, she has received the following: the Sedona Conference Lifetime Achievement Award, the New Jersey Intellectual Property Law Association Jefferson Medal, the New York Intellectual Property Law Association Outstanding Public Service Award, and the Intellectual Property Owners Association’s 2020 Distinguished IP Professional Award and was named to the Globe Business Media Group’s IP Hall of Fame. The Kathleen M. O’Malley Inn of Court was recently chartered in Cleveland, Ohio, as a tribute to Judge O’Malley’s service.
Judge O’Malley is the only U.S. representative on the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) judicial advisory council, participates in WIPO’s project relating to the ethical and IP implications of artificial intelligence (AI) and, at the invitation of the Queen’s College of London, served on a committee to establish an IP court system in the Ukraine and to train the judges thereon. Judge O’Malley is currently a Senior Adviser to the Renewing American Innovation Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She has also trained judges, lawyers, and stakeholders on the U.S. IP system in over a dozen countries around the world.
In addition to her judicial duties, Judge O’Malley has been involved in numerous projects relating to the intersection of science and the law and the education of the judiciary on how best to handle and understand such issues. At the invitation of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Technology and the Federal Judicial Center, Judge O’Malley served on the Committee on the Development of the Third Edition of the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence and recently co-chaired a planning committee for a workshop on Emerging Areas of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, and the Courts that explored, among other cutting edge scientific questions, legal questions relating to climate change, the ethical and IP implications of AI, implicit bias, computer science, and engineering.
Before joining the bench, Judge O’Malley served as Chief Counsel and First Assistant to the Ohio Attorney General. She also was in private practice, litigating complex commercial matters at Jones Day and Porter Wright in Ohio. Judge O’Malley began her legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable Nathaniel R. Jones on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. She received her A.B. in Economics and History from Kenyon College and earned her JD from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Chief Policy Officer and Counsel, The Council for Innovation Promotion
Jamie Simpson is Chief Policy Officer and Counsel for The Council for Innovation Promotion (c4IP), which is a bipartisan coalition dedicated to promoting strong and effective intellectual property rights that drive innovation, boost economic competitiveness, and improve lives everywhere.
Simpson has almost 20 years of experience in policy and a specific focus on IP-related issues. She previously served as Chief Counsel on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, IP, and the Internet; Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee while on detail from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; and Associate Solicitor at the USPTO.
A graduate of Harvard Law School and, previously, a law clerk at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Simpson has extensive expertise in intellectual property law and policy, as well as an earlier background of working on patent litigation and licensing disputes.
President & General Counsel, ExploraMed
At the ExploraMed incubator, Earl "Eb" Bright has many years of technology development, company formation and financing experience. He is a founder of several companies, a patent attorney and has served on the executive management teams of many start-up companies in multiple capacities (Acclarent, Neotract, Vibrynt, Moximed, Nuelle, Willow).
He is a co-founder of and serves on the Alliance for U.S. Startups & Inventors for Jobs (USIJ) Advisory Committee. He is a former member of the United States Patent Public Advisory Committee. Previously, Eb was Director of Intellectual Property West Coast Operations at Guidant Corporation where he directed a 9 member team involved in litigation and the strategic development of over 1,300 patent and trademark applications related to the Vascular Intervention, Cardiac Surgery and Endovascular Solutions divisions as well as handling legal issues for Guidant Japan and the Compass Group, the unit responsible for Guidant’s venture capital and merger and acquisition activities.
Eb is an inventor on fourteen U.S. issued patents with others currently pending. He holds M.B.A.s from Columbia University and University of California, Berkeley, and Juris Doctorate and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering degrees from the University of Oklahoma.
Executive Director, High Tech Inventors Alliance
David W. Jones is the Executive Director of the High Tech Inventors Alliance. Prior to HTIA, David was Assistant General Counsel for Patent Policy at Microsoft, where he spent more than a decade handling both domestic and international patent issues. He previously held multiple positions on Capitol Hill, most recently as antitrust and IP counsel to Senator Orrin Hatch on the Senate Judiciary Committee. David clerked for Chief Judge Sharon Prost on the Federal Circuit and Judge Will Garwood on the Fifth Circuit and is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law.
Principal, Clear IP, LLC
Joseph Matal is the Principal at Clear IP, LLC.
Joe has served as both the U.S. Patent and Trademark’s Acting Director and Acting Solicitor. As Acting Solicitor, he defended the agency in intellectual property cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court. In his role in the Solicitor’s Office, he participated in briefing almost every major case involving PTAB trials that has come before the Federal Circuit, including cases that have defined the Board’s powers and the evidence that it may consider, the content of final decisions, and the burdens and scope of motions to amend. Recent cases include Uniloc v. Hulu, Thryv v. Click-to-Call, and Aqua Products v. Matal. Previously, Joe served in senior legal roles for more than a decade for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. In that capacity, he negotiated and drafted many of the key provisions of the America Invents Act.
In his roles at the USPTO, Joe briefed and argued numerous appeals of patent and trademark decisions before the Federal Circuit; oversaw the management of the USPTO and its 13,000 employees; and advised the U.S. Solicitor General’s Office in key IP cases before the Supreme Court.
U.S. Court of Appeals For the Federal Circuit (Ret.)
Judge Kathleen (Kate) O’Malley (Ret.) was a Federal Judge for over 27 years. She was appointed to the District Court in 1994 at the age of 37 and was elevated to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) in 2010. Judge O’Malley is the only former District Court judge to be appointed to the CAFC. The CAFC is the only Court of Appeals in the country that handles appeals of patent cases, presiding over appeals from all fora in which such matters originate—District Courts, the Court of Claims, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, the Patent Trial and Trademark Office, and the International Trade Commission. She also has substantial experience with other intellectual property (IP) issues—Copyright, Trademark, Trade Secret, and the intersection of IP and antitrust—and with other areas of federal law, including securities fraud, tax matters, and mass torts.
Judge O’Malley lectures regularly on various IP topics, including the importance of IP to innovation and the importance of innovation to the economy. Judge O’Malley has received numerous awards over these years. For her contributions to the development of IP law alone, she has received the following: the Sedona Conference Lifetime Achievement Award, the New Jersey Intellectual Property Law Association Jefferson Medal, the New York Intellectual Property Law Association Outstanding Public Service Award, and the Intellectual Property Owners Association’s 2020 Distinguished IP Professional Award and was named to the Globe Business Media Group’s IP Hall of Fame. The Kathleen M. O’Malley Inn of Court was recently chartered in Cleveland, Ohio, as a tribute to Judge O’Malley’s service.
Judge O’Malley is the only U.S. representative on the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) judicial advisory council, participates in WIPO’s project relating to the ethical and IP implications of artificial intelligence (AI) and, at the invitation of the Queen’s College of London, served on a committee to establish an IP court system in the Ukraine and to train the judges thereon. Judge O’Malley is currently a Senior Adviser to the Renewing American Innovation Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She has also trained judges, lawyers, and stakeholders on the U.S. IP system in over a dozen countries around the world.
In addition to her judicial duties, Judge O’Malley has been involved in numerous projects relating to the intersection of science and the law and the education of the judiciary on how best to handle and understand such issues. At the invitation of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Technology and the Federal Judicial Center, Judge O’Malley served on the Committee on the Development of the Third Edition of the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence and recently co-chaired a planning committee for a workshop on Emerging Areas of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, and the Courts that explored, among other cutting edge scientific questions, legal questions relating to climate change, the ethical and IP implications of AI, implicit bias, computer science, and engineering.
Before joining the bench, Judge O’Malley served as Chief Counsel and First Assistant to the Ohio Attorney General. She also was in private practice, litigating complex commercial matters at Jones Day and Porter Wright in Ohio. Judge O’Malley began her legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable Nathaniel R. Jones on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. She received her A.B. in Economics and History from Kenyon College and earned her JD from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Chief Policy Officer and Counsel, The Council for Innovation Promotion
Jamie Simpson is Chief Policy Officer and Counsel for The Council for Innovation Promotion (c4IP), which is a bipartisan coalition dedicated to promoting strong and effective intellectual property rights that drive innovation, boost economic competitiveness, and improve lives everywhere.
Simpson has almost 20 years of experience in policy and a specific focus on IP-related issues. She previously served as Chief Counsel on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, IP, and the Internet; Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee while on detail from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; and Associate Solicitor at the USPTO.
A graduate of Harvard Law School and, previously, a law clerk at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Simpson has extensive expertise in intellectual property law and policy, as well as an earlier background of working on patent litigation and licensing disputes.
Ethics or Ideology? Bar Associations and the Boundaries of Professional Discipline
James M. Burnham, Michael Francisco, Gene P. Hamilton, Denise M. Harle, Derek T. Muller
Across the country, bar associations are increasingly at the center of legal and political controversy....
Explainer Episode 91 - OFCCP's Proposed Regulatory Changes
Brett Swearingen, Linda L. Chavez
RTP's Fourth Branch Podcast
On July 1st, 2025, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) released three proposed...
Litigation Update: Etienne v. Ferguson
Matthew T. Martens, Hiram Sasser
The ongoing case of Etienne v. Ferguson raises profound questions about the interplay between religious...
Litigation Update: Etienne v. Ferguson
Matthew T. Martens, Hiram Sasser
The ongoing case of Etienne v. Ferguson raises profound questions about the interplay between religious...
Does One Size Fit All? Qualified Immunity Inside and Outside Split-Second Policing Decisions
Elliott Averett, Anya Bidwell, William Most
Qualified immunity shields all government officials from suit when the constitutional rights they violate are...
Does One Size Fit All? Qualified Immunity Inside and Outside Split-Second Policing Decisions
Elliott Averett, Anya Bidwell, William Most
Qualified immunity shields all government officials from suit when the constitutional rights they violate are...
America’s AI Action Plan: Green Lights or Guardrails?
Neil Chilson, Kevin Frazier, Mario Loyola, Asad Ramzanali
America’s new AI Action Plan — announced by the White House in July and framed...
America’s AI Action Plan: Green Lights or Guardrails?
Neil Chilson, Kevin Frazier, Mario Loyola, Asad Ramzanali
America’s new AI Action Plan — announced by the White House in July and framed...
The Patent Eligibility Reform Act: Clarifying Patent Eligibility for the U.S. Patent System?
Earl Bright, David Jones, Joseph Matal, Kathleen M. O'Malley, Jamie Simpson
Join the Federalist Society for a discussion on the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (PERA), legislation...
The Patent Eligibility Reform Act: Clarifying Patent Eligibility for the U.S. Patent System?
Earl Bright, David Jones, Joseph Matal, Kathleen M. O'Malley, Jamie Simpson
Join the Federalist Society for a discussion on the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (PERA), legislation...