Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
Judge Matthew R. Byrne was nominated to serve on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio by President Donald J. Trump on June 15, 2026. The nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 15, 2026, and Judge Byrne began his federal judicial service on October 2, 2026.
For nearly six years, beginning in 2021, Judge Byrne served as an elected Judge on Ohio’s Twelfth District Court of Appeals, where he heard civil and criminal appeals from trial courts in eight southwest Ohio counties. Judge Byrne served as the Twelfth District Court of Appeals’ Presiding Judge in 2026 and as its Administrative Judge in 2024 and 2025. In his time at the appeals court, Judge Byrne authored 237 majority opinions and a number of concurring and dissenting opinions.
While at the appeals court, Judge Byrne was appointed to serve as Vice Chairman and Member of the Supreme Court of Ohio’s Commission on the Rules of Practice and Procedure in Ohio Courts (where he also served as chair of the Appellate Rules Committee) and as Member of the Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness. Chief Justice Sharon L. Kennedy appointed Judge Byrne to serve as a visiting judge on the Supreme Court of Ohio in five cases.
From January 2010 to December 2020, Judge Byrne practiced law at the national law firm of Jackson Lewis P.C. He was a member of the firm's General Employment Litigation Practice Group and the Wage and Hour Practice Group. From 2007 to 2010 he practiced at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP. At both firms, Judge Byrne represented clients ranging from small businesses to international corporations in state and federal trial and appellate litigation, including multiple class and collective actions. He also represented clients in arbitration and before numerous administrative agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, and the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. Judge Byrne's litigation and administrative agency experience included matters in fourteen states.
Judge Byrne earned his law degree, cum laude, from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. During law school he was symposium editor of the Ohio State Law Journal and the winner of the Donald S. Teller Memorial Award for student writing contributing most significantly to the Ohio State Law Journal. During law school he working as an Honors Summer Clerk for the Acting General Counsel of the United States Department of the Treasury.
Prior to law school, Judge Byrne served as a member of the White House Staff in the Office of Presidential Personnel. In that role Judge Byrne was responsible for preparing documents submitted to President George W. Bush concerning his selection and nomination of appointees for high-level federal government positions, and for coordinating with the Offices of White House Counsel, Press Secretary, and Executive Clerk regarding candidate background clearances, press announcements, and the status of appointments/nominations.
Judge Byrne earned his bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, from Xavier University, where he majored in International Affairs (Business) and Political Science.
Judge Byrne has been active in numerous community, civic, and religious organizations. He has been a member of the Federalist Society since law school and he served for five years as the president of the Federalist Society's Cincinnati Lawyers Chapter. At various times he has been a member of the Ohio State Bar Association, the Cincinnati Bar Association, the Butler County Bar Association, the Warren County Bar Association, and the Clermont County Bar Association. He is also a former board member and board president of the Saint Thomas More Lawyers Guild of Greater Cincinnati.
Senior Counsel, Alliance Defending Freedom
Jeremiah Galus serves as senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, where he is a key member of the Center for Christian Ministries.
Since joining ADF in 2015, Galus has represented a wide array of religious ministries, schools, and churches, litigating cases at all levels of state and federal court. Galus has successfully briefed and argued appeals before both state appellate courts and the U.S. Court of Appeals. He was a key member of ADF’s litigation team in Uzuegbunam v. Preszewski, leading to a U.S. Supreme Court victory ensuring government officials are held accountable for violating constitutionally protected freedoms.
Prior to joining ADF, Galus worked as an attorney with a large law firm in Washington, D.C., where he focused on complex civil litigation. Galus also served as a prosecutor before joining ADF. Galus received his J.D., cum laude, in 2009 from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he served as senior research editor of the University of Pittsburgh Law Review. He earned a B.A. in government and political affairs from Millersville University in 2006. Galus also is a 2007 Blackstone Fellow.
Galus is admitted to the state bars of Arizona, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Supreme Court, and various lower federal courts.
Vice President of Government Relations, Columbus Chamber of Commerce
As Vice President of Government Relations, Holly Gross helps our members navigate the ever-changing opportunities and challenges businesses face when it comes to local, state and federal policy decisions. Not only can she advocate for your business, but she also helps to unify the voices of our greater Columbus business community. Holly, an attorney, finds creative ways to help businesses better understand critical policy issues, foster relationships with your elected officials and provide your business with the resources it needs to be successful.
A graduate of The Ohio State University and Capital University Law School, Holly represented the State’s retail industry before the Ohio General Assembly as Legislative Counsel for the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants, where she focused on legislative issues pertaining to labor and employment, alcohol and gambling, economic and workforce development and the automotive industry. Her previous experiences also include Executive Director for the Ohio Association of Convenience Stores and the Ohio Tire and Automotive Association, as well as a Legislative Aide for the Ohio House of Representatives.
Partner, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP
Philip litigates complex matters in state and federal courts. He has briefed appeals in multiple U.S. Courts of Appeals, including the Sixth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits, as well as state appellate courts in Ohio, Kentucky, and Georgia. Philip has also represented amici at both the cert petition and merits stages in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Prior to joining Taft, Philip served as a law clerk for Judge Raymond M. Kethledge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Judge Amul R. Thapar of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Judge Lavenski R. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Philip serves on the board of directors for the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky lawyers chapters of the Federalist Society. He was a 2018 James Wilson Fellow with the James Wilson Institute, a 2013 John Marshall Fellow with the Claremont Institute Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, and a 2011 Blackstone Fellow with the Alliance Defending Freedom.
Philip received his undergraduate degree, with Highest Honors, from Ouachita Baptist University. He received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served as the submissions review editor for the Journal of Law and Politics.
Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
Judge Matthew R. Byrne was nominated to serve on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio by President Donald J. Trump on June 15, 2026. The nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 15, 2026, and Judge Byrne began his federal judicial service on October 2, 2026.
For nearly six years, beginning in 2021, Judge Byrne served as an elected Judge on Ohio’s Twelfth District Court of Appeals, where he heard civil and criminal appeals from trial courts in eight southwest Ohio counties. Judge Byrne served as the Twelfth District Court of Appeals’ Presiding Judge in 2026 and as its Administrative Judge in 2024 and 2025. In his time at the appeals court, Judge Byrne authored 237 majority opinions and a number of concurring and dissenting opinions.
While at the appeals court, Judge Byrne was appointed to serve as Vice Chairman and Member of the Supreme Court of Ohio’s Commission on the Rules of Practice and Procedure in Ohio Courts (where he also served as chair of the Appellate Rules Committee) and as Member of the Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness. Chief Justice Sharon L. Kennedy appointed Judge Byrne to serve as a visiting judge on the Supreme Court of Ohio in five cases.
From January 2010 to December 2020, Judge Byrne practiced law at the national law firm of Jackson Lewis P.C. He was a member of the firm's General Employment Litigation Practice Group and the Wage and Hour Practice Group. From 2007 to 2010 he practiced at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP. At both firms, Judge Byrne represented clients ranging from small businesses to international corporations in state and federal trial and appellate litigation, including multiple class and collective actions. He also represented clients in arbitration and before numerous administrative agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, and the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. Judge Byrne's litigation and administrative agency experience included matters in fourteen states.
Judge Byrne earned his law degree, cum laude, from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. During law school he was symposium editor of the Ohio State Law Journal and the winner of the Donald S. Teller Memorial Award for student writing contributing most significantly to the Ohio State Law Journal. During law school he working as an Honors Summer Clerk for the Acting General Counsel of the United States Department of the Treasury.
Prior to law school, Judge Byrne served as a member of the White House Staff in the Office of Presidential Personnel. In that role Judge Byrne was responsible for preparing documents submitted to President George W. Bush concerning his selection and nomination of appointees for high-level federal government positions, and for coordinating with the Offices of White House Counsel, Press Secretary, and Executive Clerk regarding candidate background clearances, press announcements, and the status of appointments/nominations.
Judge Byrne earned his bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, from Xavier University, where he majored in International Affairs (Business) and Political Science.
Judge Byrne has been active in numerous community, civic, and religious organizations. He has been a member of the Federalist Society since law school and he served for five years as the president of the Federalist Society's Cincinnati Lawyers Chapter. At various times he has been a member of the Ohio State Bar Association, the Cincinnati Bar Association, the Butler County Bar Association, the Warren County Bar Association, and the Clermont County Bar Association. He is also a former board member and board president of the Saint Thomas More Lawyers Guild of Greater Cincinnati.
Senior Counsel, Alliance Defending Freedom
Jeremiah Galus serves as senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, where he is a key member of the Center for Christian Ministries.
Since joining ADF in 2015, Galus has represented a wide array of religious ministries, schools, and churches, litigating cases at all levels of state and federal court. Galus has successfully briefed and argued appeals before both state appellate courts and the U.S. Court of Appeals. He was a key member of ADF’s litigation team in Uzuegbunam v. Preszewski, leading to a U.S. Supreme Court victory ensuring government officials are held accountable for violating constitutionally protected freedoms.
Prior to joining ADF, Galus worked as an attorney with a large law firm in Washington, D.C., where he focused on complex civil litigation. Galus also served as a prosecutor before joining ADF. Galus received his J.D., cum laude, in 2009 from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he served as senior research editor of the University of Pittsburgh Law Review. He earned a B.A. in government and political affairs from Millersville University in 2006. Galus also is a 2007 Blackstone Fellow.
Galus is admitted to the state bars of Arizona, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Supreme Court, and various lower federal courts.
Vice President of Government Relations, Columbus Chamber of Commerce
As Vice President of Government Relations, Holly Gross helps our members navigate the ever-changing opportunities and challenges businesses face when it comes to local, state and federal policy decisions. Not only can she advocate for your business, but she also helps to unify the voices of our greater Columbus business community. Holly, an attorney, finds creative ways to help businesses better understand critical policy issues, foster relationships with your elected officials and provide your business with the resources it needs to be successful.
A graduate of The Ohio State University and Capital University Law School, Holly represented the State’s retail industry before the Ohio General Assembly as Legislative Counsel for the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants, where she focused on legislative issues pertaining to labor and employment, alcohol and gambling, economic and workforce development and the automotive industry. Her previous experiences also include Executive Director for the Ohio Association of Convenience Stores and the Ohio Tire and Automotive Association, as well as a Legislative Aide for the Ohio House of Representatives.
Partner, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP
Philip litigates complex matters in state and federal courts. He has briefed appeals in multiple U.S. Courts of Appeals, including the Sixth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits, as well as state appellate courts in Ohio, Kentucky, and Georgia. Philip has also represented amici at both the cert petition and merits stages in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Prior to joining Taft, Philip served as a law clerk for Judge Raymond M. Kethledge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Judge Amul R. Thapar of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Judge Lavenski R. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Philip serves on the board of directors for the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky lawyers chapters of the Federalist Society. He was a 2018 James Wilson Fellow with the James Wilson Institute, a 2013 John Marshall Fellow with the Claremont Institute Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, and a 2011 Blackstone Fellow with the Alliance Defending Freedom.
Philip received his undergraduate degree, with Highest Honors, from Ouachita Baptist University. He received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served as the submissions review editor for the Journal of Law and Politics.
Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law
Aditya Bamzai is a professor of law at the University of Virginia. He teaches administrative law, civil procedure, computer crime and conflicts of law, and he has written about these and related subjects. He has argued cases relating to the separation of powers and national security in the U.S. Supreme Court, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, D.C. Circuit and other federal courts of appeals. From 2019 to 2021, he served as a Member of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, a federal agency charged with ensuring that the government’s national security efforts are balanced with the need to protect privacy and civil liberties. Before entering the academy, Bamzai was an attorney-adviser in the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice, and an appellate attorney in both private practice and for the National Security Division of the Department of Justice. Earlier in his career, he was a law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court of the United States and to Judge Jeffrey Sutton of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Associate Justice, Supreme Court of Ohio
Justice Pat DeWine began his six-year term on the Supreme Court of Ohio on Jan. 2, 2017, following his statewide election in November 2016. An excellent writer, Justice DeWine is known for the quality and thoroughness of his legal opinions. His opinions reflect his strong belief in judicial restraint and his respect for the constitutional roles of the other coequal branches of government.
Justice DeWine has served at all levels of the Ohio judiciary. Prior to his election to the Supreme Court, Justice DeWine served for four years on the First District Court of Appeals, and prior to that, for four years on the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.
Justice DeWine has a strong commitment to furthering the rule of law through education. He is an adjunct professorat the University of Cincinnati College of Law where he teaches Appellate Practice and Procedure. In addition, he has taught undergraduate courses at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio Government & Politics and American Courts.
Justice DeWine has strong academic credentials. He graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in the top ten percent of his class with Order of the Coif honors. As an undergraduate student at Miami University, he maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average and received summa cum laude honors. He was also a member of the Varsity Track and Cross Country teams.
After law school, he was selected for a clerkship on United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He served under the Honorable David A. Nelson, who had been appointed to the Sixth Circuit by President Ronald Reagan.
Justice DeWine understands the litigant’s perspective, having practiced law for 13 years with one of Cincinnati’s top law firms, Keating, Muething & Klekamp. He represented clients in appellate matters in Ohio and in federal courts across the country. He handled a diverse range of litigation matters, including mass tort bankruptcies, securities fraud litigation, and constitutional issues.
Other Public Service
Justice DeWine brings a unique perspective to the bench because of his public service as a County Commissioner and a member of Cincinnati City Council.
As a member of the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners, he focused on reforming County government, lowering the tax burden, eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy and promoting public safety. He led the citizens referendum that ultimately repealed the nearly $1 billion sales tax increase that was enacted by his colleagues on the Commission. The Reason Foundation named him an “Innovator in Action,” along with such leaders as Rudy Giuliani and Jeb Bush, for his efforts to reform County government.
On Cincinnati City Council, he was known as a taxpayer watchdog, successfully rooting out wasteful spending and abuse in city government. He helped eliminate unnecessary regulations, led the effort to crack down on quality of life issues affecting city neighborhoods and created a development fund that leveraged private capital to spur new housing development downtown and across city neighborhoods. He also led the Issue Four charter change that created a more accountable city government by allowing the city to hire the most qualified individuals for key positions in city government.
He was a founder of the Build Cincinnati reform group that successfully passed a charter amendment to allow Cincinnati voters to directly elect the Mayor.athon.
Associate Dean for Research and Intellectual Life, McKnight Presidential Professor in Law, Distinguished McKnight University Professor, Harlan Albert Rogers Professor in Law, Associate Director, Corporate Institute, University of Minnesota Law School
Professor Kristin E. Hickman is the McKnight Presidential Professor in Law, a Distinguished McKnight University Professor, and Harlan Albert Rogers Professor in Law at the University of Minnesota Law School. She also has taught at Harvard Law School and Northwestern University School of Law. Professor Hickman teaches and writes primarily in the areas of administrative law, tax administration, and statutory interpretation. Her articles on these topics have appeared in the Columbia Law Review, Cornell Law Review, Virginia Law Review, Duke Law Journal, and other publications. She also co-authors the Administrative Law Treatise with Richard J. Pierce, Jr., and a casebook on federal administrative law with Pierce and Christopher J. Walker. Her scholarly work has been cited several times in opinions of the United States Supreme Court as well as regularly in lower court judicial opinions and court briefs.
In 2018-19, Professor Hickman served as Special Adviser to the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in Washington, D.C. She presently serves as a Senior Fellow, and previously served as a public member and chair of the judicial review committee, for the Administrative Conference of the United States. She also is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel.
Professor Hickman received her B.S. degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting and a secondary major in history from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. After practicing for several years as a certified public accountant, Professor Hickman earned her J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from Northwestern University School of Law, where she was awarded the Raoul Berger Prize and the Lowden Wigmore Prize for her scholarly writings. Following law school, Professor Hickman clerked for The Honorable David B. Sentelle of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and practiced law as an associate with the Chicago office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, concentrating on corporate and international tax transactions and matters.
Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School
Christopher J. Walker is a Professor of Law at the University of Michigan. Prior to joining Michigan law faculty in 2022, he spent a decade teaching at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. He previously clerked for Justice Anthony Kennedy of the U.S. Supreme Court, worked on the Civil Appellate Staff at the U.S. Department of Justice, and served on the Senate Judiciary Committee staff for the Gorsuch Supreme Court confirmation. Professor Walker’s research focuses on administrative law, regulation, and law and policy at the agency level. Outside the law school, he chaired the American Bar Association’s Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice in 2020-21 and served as one of forty Public Members of the Administrative Conference of the United States from 2016-2022, and he continues to serve in both organizations in various capacities. He also works of counsel at the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center. In 2022, he received the Federalist Society’s Joseph Story Award.
Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law
Aditya Bamzai is a professor of law at the University of Virginia. He teaches administrative law, civil procedure, computer crime and conflicts of law, and he has written about these and related subjects. He has argued cases relating to the separation of powers and national security in the U.S. Supreme Court, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, D.C. Circuit and other federal courts of appeals. From 2019 to 2021, he served as a Member of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, a federal agency charged with ensuring that the government’s national security efforts are balanced with the need to protect privacy and civil liberties. Before entering the academy, Bamzai was an attorney-adviser in the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice, and an appellate attorney in both private practice and for the National Security Division of the Department of Justice. Earlier in his career, he was a law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court of the United States and to Judge Jeffrey Sutton of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Associate Justice, Supreme Court of Ohio
Justice Pat DeWine began his six-year term on the Supreme Court of Ohio on Jan. 2, 2017, following his statewide election in November 2016. An excellent writer, Justice DeWine is known for the quality and thoroughness of his legal opinions. His opinions reflect his strong belief in judicial restraint and his respect for the constitutional roles of the other coequal branches of government.
Justice DeWine has served at all levels of the Ohio judiciary. Prior to his election to the Supreme Court, Justice DeWine served for four years on the First District Court of Appeals, and prior to that, for four years on the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.
Justice DeWine has a strong commitment to furthering the rule of law through education. He is an adjunct professorat the University of Cincinnati College of Law where he teaches Appellate Practice and Procedure. In addition, he has taught undergraduate courses at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio Government & Politics and American Courts.
Justice DeWine has strong academic credentials. He graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in the top ten percent of his class with Order of the Coif honors. As an undergraduate student at Miami University, he maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average and received summa cum laude honors. He was also a member of the Varsity Track and Cross Country teams.
After law school, he was selected for a clerkship on United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He served under the Honorable David A. Nelson, who had been appointed to the Sixth Circuit by President Ronald Reagan.
Justice DeWine understands the litigant’s perspective, having practiced law for 13 years with one of Cincinnati’s top law firms, Keating, Muething & Klekamp. He represented clients in appellate matters in Ohio and in federal courts across the country. He handled a diverse range of litigation matters, including mass tort bankruptcies, securities fraud litigation, and constitutional issues.
Other Public Service
Justice DeWine brings a unique perspective to the bench because of his public service as a County Commissioner and a member of Cincinnati City Council.
As a member of the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners, he focused on reforming County government, lowering the tax burden, eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy and promoting public safety. He led the citizens referendum that ultimately repealed the nearly $1 billion sales tax increase that was enacted by his colleagues on the Commission. The Reason Foundation named him an “Innovator in Action,” along with such leaders as Rudy Giuliani and Jeb Bush, for his efforts to reform County government.
On Cincinnati City Council, he was known as a taxpayer watchdog, successfully rooting out wasteful spending and abuse in city government. He helped eliminate unnecessary regulations, led the effort to crack down on quality of life issues affecting city neighborhoods and created a development fund that leveraged private capital to spur new housing development downtown and across city neighborhoods. He also led the Issue Four charter change that created a more accountable city government by allowing the city to hire the most qualified individuals for key positions in city government.
He was a founder of the Build Cincinnati reform group that successfully passed a charter amendment to allow Cincinnati voters to directly elect the Mayor.athon.
Associate Dean for Research and Intellectual Life, McKnight Presidential Professor in Law, Distinguished McKnight University Professor, Harlan Albert Rogers Professor in Law, Associate Director, Corporate Institute, University of Minnesota Law School
Professor Kristin E. Hickman is the McKnight Presidential Professor in Law, a Distinguished McKnight University Professor, and Harlan Albert Rogers Professor in Law at the University of Minnesota Law School. She also has taught at Harvard Law School and Northwestern University School of Law. Professor Hickman teaches and writes primarily in the areas of administrative law, tax administration, and statutory interpretation. Her articles on these topics have appeared in the Columbia Law Review, Cornell Law Review, Virginia Law Review, Duke Law Journal, and other publications. She also co-authors the Administrative Law Treatise with Richard J. Pierce, Jr., and a casebook on federal administrative law with Pierce and Christopher J. Walker. Her scholarly work has been cited several times in opinions of the United States Supreme Court as well as regularly in lower court judicial opinions and court briefs.
In 2018-19, Professor Hickman served as Special Adviser to the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in Washington, D.C. She presently serves as a Senior Fellow, and previously served as a public member and chair of the judicial review committee, for the Administrative Conference of the United States. She also is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel.
Professor Hickman received her B.S. degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting and a secondary major in history from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. After practicing for several years as a certified public accountant, Professor Hickman earned her J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from Northwestern University School of Law, where she was awarded the Raoul Berger Prize and the Lowden Wigmore Prize for her scholarly writings. Following law school, Professor Hickman clerked for The Honorable David B. Sentelle of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and practiced law as an associate with the Chicago office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, concentrating on corporate and international tax transactions and matters.
Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School
Christopher J. Walker is a Professor of Law at the University of Michigan. Prior to joining Michigan law faculty in 2022, he spent a decade teaching at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. He previously clerked for Justice Anthony Kennedy of the U.S. Supreme Court, worked on the Civil Appellate Staff at the U.S. Department of Justice, and served on the Senate Judiciary Committee staff for the Gorsuch Supreme Court confirmation. Professor Walker’s research focuses on administrative law, regulation, and law and policy at the agency level. Outside the law school, he chaired the American Bar Association’s Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice in 2020-21 and served as one of forty Public Members of the Administrative Conference of the United States from 2016-2022, and he continues to serve in both organizations in various capacities. He also works of counsel at the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center. In 2022, he received the Federalist Society’s Joseph Story Award.
Partner-in-Charge Washington, Jones Day
Noel Francisco served as the 47th Solicitor General of the United States in the Trump Administration, from 2017 to 2020. He has argued some of the most important cases the Supreme Court has heard in recent years on a wide array of issues.
For example, as Solicitor General, he argued Trump v. Hawaii, where he successfully defended the president's orders restricting travel from countries deemed to present security risks; Janus v. AFSCME, which upheld the First Amendment rights of public employees who decline to join labor unions; Kisor v. Wilkie, which adopted his argument that the "Auer deference doctrine" should be significantly curtailed but retained in its core applications; Apple Inc. v. Pepper, which addressed whether Apple's App Store customers had standing to sue the company for antitrust violations; Knick v. Township of Scott, which held that property owners could sue state and local governments in federal court to vindicate Fifth Amendment takings claims; and Seila Law LLC v. CFPB, which invalidated restrictions on the president's authority to remove the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
He also spearheaded the government's general strategy to seek emergency relief in the appellate courts and the Supreme Court when lower courts issued nationwide injunctions against important government programs.
Noel's service as Solicitor General built on his previous tenure at Jones Day, during which he argued McDonnell v. United States, which reversed the federal bribery conviction of the governor of Virginia; NLRB v. Noel Canning, which limited the president's constitutional recess appointments power; and Zubik v. Burwell, which challenged federal insurance coverage regulations that violated Catholic organizations' religious beliefs.
Partner-in-Charge Washington, Jones Day
Noel Francisco served as the 47th Solicitor General of the United States in the Trump Administration, from 2017 to 2020. He has argued some of the most important cases the Supreme Court has heard in recent years on a wide array of issues.
For example, as Solicitor General, he argued Trump v. Hawaii, where he successfully defended the president's orders restricting travel from countries deemed to present security risks; Janus v. AFSCME, which upheld the First Amendment rights of public employees who decline to join labor unions; Kisor v. Wilkie, which adopted his argument that the "Auer deference doctrine" should be significantly curtailed but retained in its core applications; Apple Inc. v. Pepper, which addressed whether Apple's App Store customers had standing to sue the company for antitrust violations; Knick v. Township of Scott, which held that property owners could sue state and local governments in federal court to vindicate Fifth Amendment takings claims; and Seila Law LLC v. CFPB, which invalidated restrictions on the president's authority to remove the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
He also spearheaded the government's general strategy to seek emergency relief in the appellate courts and the Supreme Court when lower courts issued nationwide injunctions against important government programs.
Noel's service as Solicitor General built on his previous tenure at Jones Day, during which he argued McDonnell v. United States, which reversed the federal bribery conviction of the governor of Virginia; NLRB v. Noel Canning, which limited the president's constitutional recess appointments power; and Zubik v. Burwell, which challenged federal insurance coverage regulations that violated Catholic organizations' religious beliefs.
Commissioner, Portage County, Ohio
Kathleen Clyde is a former member of the Ohio House of Representatives, representing District 75 from 2011 to 2018. Clyde resigned from the Ohio House on December 20, 2018, to become a Portage County commissioner in Ohio.
Partner, Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP
Larry builds on a wide range of experiences – including as an accomplished attorney, a former President of the Ohio Senate, and a legal academic – to help solve his clients’ most challenging legal problems. Larry focuses on complex litigation, including high-stakes appeals.
Larry is a Partner in the firm’s Litigation practice. He focuses his practice on litigation at both the trial and appellate levels and has experience in a variety of matters involving antitrust, fiduciary duties, torts, contracts, securities, and employment law. These range from standard contract disputes to constitutional challenges against federal statutes to defending against complex class actions.
In addition to his litigation practice, Larry served as a member of the Ohio Senate for nearly a decade. His colleagues unanimously elected him to serve as Senate President, the presiding officer of the 33-member chamber, from 2017-2020. During his time in the Senate, Larry successfully sponsored legislation on a wide range of topics, including education, tax law, elections administration, criminal law, and corporate law. These included a comprehensive update to Ohio’s corporate code and limited liability company law, including the sections setting out fiduciary duties for officers and shareholders. Larry also sponsored significant updates to Ohio’s Control Share Acquisition Act (which governs corporate takeovers). In 2018, he received the Ohio State Bar Association’s Lawyer-Legislator Distinguished Service Award.
Larry has also taught courses on Civil Procedure and Legislation as an adjunct law professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. He has published legal scholarship on a range of issues including constitutional law, education, law and economics, and securities. He has been cited in roughly 75 law journals throughout the country and by a member of the United States Supreme Court.
Larry began his legal career as a law clerk to Judge Alice M. Batchelder of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He has worked at some of the nation’s largest law firms and began his private practice by spending more than five years with Chicago-based Kirkland & Ellis LLP.
From 2018-2020, Larry was a Rodel Fellow at the Aspen Institute, a program designed to bring greater civility to public discourse. He is active in the Federalist Society and is a former board member of the Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation (now known as the Ohio Access to Justice Foundation), the statewide umbrella organization for legal aid.
Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
JEFFREY S. SUTTON is the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He has served as Chair of the Federal Judicial Conference Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, Chair of the Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules, and Chair of the Supreme Court Fellows Commission. He currently serves as Chair of the Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. Since 1993, Chief Judge Sutton has been an adjunct professor at The Ohio State University College of Law, where he teaches seminars on State Constitutional Law, the United States Supreme Court, and Appellate Advocacy. He also teaches a class on State Constitutional Law at Harvard Law School. Among other publications, he is the author of Who Decides? States as Laboratories of Constitutional Experimentation and 51 Imperfect Solutions: States and the Making of American Constitutional Law. He is the co-author of a casebook, State Constitutional Law: The Modern Experience, as well as The Law of Judicial Precedent. He is also the co-editor of The Essential Scalia: On the Constitution, the Courts, and the Rule of Law. In 2006, Chief Judge Sutton was elected to the American Law Institute, and in 2017 he was elected to its Council.
Partner, Troutman Pepper Locke LLP
Misha leads Troutman Peppers' national appellate and Supreme Court practice. Most recently, he successfully obtained orders from the Supreme Court blocking an unconstitutional restriction on places of worship, as well as overturning a lower court order that had blocked several state election laws. He has also argued and prevailed before the Supreme Court in Gill v. Whitford, one of the most significant redistricting cases in decades, as well as Murr v. Wisconsin, a high-stakes regulatory taking case.
Before joining Troutman, Misha served as Solicitor General of the State of Wisconsin. Misha previously served as a law clerk for the Honorable Anthony M. Kennedy of the Supreme Court, Janice Rogers Brown of the D.C. Circuit, and Alex Kozinski of the 9th Circuit. He graduated from Georgetown University Law Center, where he was President of the Federalist Society Chapter.
Commissioner, Portage County, Ohio
Kathleen Clyde is a former member of the Ohio House of Representatives, representing District 75 from 2011 to 2018. Clyde resigned from the Ohio House on December 20, 2018, to become a Portage County commissioner in Ohio.
Partner, Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP
Larry builds on a wide range of experiences – including as an accomplished attorney, a former President of the Ohio Senate, and a legal academic – to help solve his clients’ most challenging legal problems. Larry focuses on complex litigation, including high-stakes appeals.
Larry is a Partner in the firm’s Litigation practice. He focuses his practice on litigation at both the trial and appellate levels and has experience in a variety of matters involving antitrust, fiduciary duties, torts, contracts, securities, and employment law. These range from standard contract disputes to constitutional challenges against federal statutes to defending against complex class actions.
In addition to his litigation practice, Larry served as a member of the Ohio Senate for nearly a decade. His colleagues unanimously elected him to serve as Senate President, the presiding officer of the 33-member chamber, from 2017-2020. During his time in the Senate, Larry successfully sponsored legislation on a wide range of topics, including education, tax law, elections administration, criminal law, and corporate law. These included a comprehensive update to Ohio’s corporate code and limited liability company law, including the sections setting out fiduciary duties for officers and shareholders. Larry also sponsored significant updates to Ohio’s Control Share Acquisition Act (which governs corporate takeovers). In 2018, he received the Ohio State Bar Association’s Lawyer-Legislator Distinguished Service Award.
Larry has also taught courses on Civil Procedure and Legislation as an adjunct law professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. He has published legal scholarship on a range of issues including constitutional law, education, law and economics, and securities. He has been cited in roughly 75 law journals throughout the country and by a member of the United States Supreme Court.
Larry began his legal career as a law clerk to Judge Alice M. Batchelder of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He has worked at some of the nation’s largest law firms and began his private practice by spending more than five years with Chicago-based Kirkland & Ellis LLP.
From 2018-2020, Larry was a Rodel Fellow at the Aspen Institute, a program designed to bring greater civility to public discourse. He is active in the Federalist Society and is a former board member of the Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation (now known as the Ohio Access to Justice Foundation), the statewide umbrella organization for legal aid.
Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
JEFFREY S. SUTTON is the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He has served as Chair of the Federal Judicial Conference Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, Chair of the Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules, and Chair of the Supreme Court Fellows Commission. He currently serves as Chair of the Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. Since 1993, Chief Judge Sutton has been an adjunct professor at The Ohio State University College of Law, where he teaches seminars on State Constitutional Law, the United States Supreme Court, and Appellate Advocacy. He also teaches a class on State Constitutional Law at Harvard Law School. Among other publications, he is the author of Who Decides? States as Laboratories of Constitutional Experimentation and 51 Imperfect Solutions: States and the Making of American Constitutional Law. He is the co-author of a casebook, State Constitutional Law: The Modern Experience, as well as The Law of Judicial Precedent. He is also the co-editor of The Essential Scalia: On the Constitution, the Courts, and the Rule of Law. In 2006, Chief Judge Sutton was elected to the American Law Institute, and in 2017 he was elected to its Council.
Partner, Troutman Pepper Locke LLP
Misha leads Troutman Peppers' national appellate and Supreme Court practice. Most recently, he successfully obtained orders from the Supreme Court blocking an unconstitutional restriction on places of worship, as well as overturning a lower court order that had blocked several state election laws. He has also argued and prevailed before the Supreme Court in Gill v. Whitford, one of the most significant redistricting cases in decades, as well as Murr v. Wisconsin, a high-stakes regulatory taking case.
Before joining Troutman, Misha served as Solicitor General of the State of Wisconsin. Misha previously served as a law clerk for the Honorable Anthony M. Kennedy of the Supreme Court, Janice Rogers Brown of the D.C. Circuit, and Alex Kozinski of the 9th Circuit. He graduated from Georgetown University Law Center, where he was President of the Federalist Society Chapter.
Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
Judge Matthew R. Byrne was nominated to serve on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio by President Donald J. Trump on June 15, 2026. The nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 15, 2026, and Judge Byrne began his federal judicial service on October 2, 2026.
For nearly six years, beginning in 2021, Judge Byrne served as an elected Judge on Ohio’s Twelfth District Court of Appeals, where he heard civil and criminal appeals from trial courts in eight southwest Ohio counties. Judge Byrne served as the Twelfth District Court of Appeals’ Presiding Judge in 2026 and as its Administrative Judge in 2024 and 2025. In his time at the appeals court, Judge Byrne authored 237 majority opinions and a number of concurring and dissenting opinions.
While at the appeals court, Judge Byrne was appointed to serve as Vice Chairman and Member of the Supreme Court of Ohio’s Commission on the Rules of Practice and Procedure in Ohio Courts (where he also served as chair of the Appellate Rules Committee) and as Member of the Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness. Chief Justice Sharon L. Kennedy appointed Judge Byrne to serve as a visiting judge on the Supreme Court of Ohio in five cases.
From January 2010 to December 2020, Judge Byrne practiced law at the national law firm of Jackson Lewis P.C. He was a member of the firm's General Employment Litigation Practice Group and the Wage and Hour Practice Group. From 2007 to 2010 he practiced at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP. At both firms, Judge Byrne represented clients ranging from small businesses to international corporations in state and federal trial and appellate litigation, including multiple class and collective actions. He also represented clients in arbitration and before numerous administrative agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, and the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. Judge Byrne's litigation and administrative agency experience included matters in fourteen states.
Judge Byrne earned his law degree, cum laude, from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. During law school he was symposium editor of the Ohio State Law Journal and the winner of the Donald S. Teller Memorial Award for student writing contributing most significantly to the Ohio State Law Journal. During law school he working as an Honors Summer Clerk for the Acting General Counsel of the United States Department of the Treasury.
Prior to law school, Judge Byrne served as a member of the White House Staff in the Office of Presidential Personnel. In that role Judge Byrne was responsible for preparing documents submitted to President George W. Bush concerning his selection and nomination of appointees for high-level federal government positions, and for coordinating with the Offices of White House Counsel, Press Secretary, and Executive Clerk regarding candidate background clearances, press announcements, and the status of appointments/nominations.
Judge Byrne earned his bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, from Xavier University, where he majored in International Affairs (Business) and Political Science.
Judge Byrne has been active in numerous community, civic, and religious organizations. He has been a member of the Federalist Society since law school and he served for five years as the president of the Federalist Society's Cincinnati Lawyers Chapter. At various times he has been a member of the Ohio State Bar Association, the Cincinnati Bar Association, the Butler County Bar Association, the Warren County Bar Association, and the Clermont County Bar Association. He is also a former board member and board president of the Saint Thomas More Lawyers Guild of Greater Cincinnati.
Attorney General, State of Ohio
Dave Yost was re-elected as Ohio’s 51st attorney general on Nov. 8, 2022, receiving more votes than any other attorney general in the state’s history.
During his first term as the state’s chief legal officer, he quickly gained a national reputation as a fearless advocate for the rule of law — or, as he puts it, “the same rules for everybody.”
Yost’s goal is to “do big good” for the people of Ohio by protecting consumers, rooting out corruption, defending the environment, ensuring an open and competitive marketplace, and fulfilling the many other duties of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.
Yost began his public-service career as Delaware County auditor, later winning election as that county’s prosecutor. From 2011 through 2018, he served as Ohio’s auditor of state and, in January 2019, began his first term as attorney general.
Yost earned his bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University and law degree from Capital University. He and his wife, Darlene, live in Franklin County; they have three grown children and five grandchildren.
Topics
Over-regulation is Killing Medical Innovation – But it’s Not the Agency You Think
Usually when we think about regulation of the medical industry – and specifically pharmaceuticals –...
Panel 3: Emerging Religious Liberty Issues in Ohio
Matthew R. Byrne, Jeremiah Galus, Holly Gross, Philip D. Williamson
2019 Ohio Lawyers Chapters Conference
On April 5, 2019, the Federalist Society's Ohio lawyers chapters hosted the 2019 Ohio Chapters...
Panel 3: Emerging Religious Liberty Issues in Ohio
Matthew R. Byrne, Jeremiah Galus, Holly Gross, Philip D. Williamson
2019 Ohio Lawyers Chapters Conference
On April 5, 2019, the Federalist Society's Ohio lawyers chapters hosted the 2019 Ohio Chapters...
Panel 2: The Future of Administrative Deference
Aditya Bamzai, Pat DeWine, Kristin E. Hickman, Christopher J. Walker
2019 Ohio Lawyers Chapters Conference
On April 5, 2019, the Federalist Society's Ohio lawyers chapters hosted the 2019 Ohio Chapters...
Panel 2: The Future of Administrative Deference
Aditya Bamzai, Pat DeWine, Kristin E. Hickman, Christopher J. Walker
2019 Ohio Lawyers Chapters Conference
On April 5, 2019, the Federalist Society's Ohio lawyers chapters hosted the 2019 Ohio Chapters...
Keynote Presentation by Hon. Noel Francisco
Noel J. Francisco
2019 Ohio Lawyers Chapters Conference
On April 5, 2019, the Federalist Society's Ohio lawyers chapters hosted the 2019 Ohio Chapters...
Keynote Presentation by Hon. Noel Francisco
Noel J. Francisco
2019 Ohio Lawyers Chapters Conference
On April 5, 2019, the Federalist Society's Ohio lawyers chapters hosted the 2019 Ohio Chapters...
Panel 1: The Law and Policy of Redistricting Reform
Kathleen Clyde, Larry J. Obhof, Jeffrey S. Sutton, Misha Tseytlin
2019 Ohio Lawyers Chapters Conference
On April 5, 2019, the Federalist Society's Ohio lawyers chapters hosted the 2019 Ohio Chapters...
Panel 1: The Law and Policy of Redistricting Reform
Kathleen Clyde, Larry J. Obhof, Jeffrey S. Sutton, Misha Tseytlin
2019 Ohio Lawyers Chapters Conference
On April 5, 2019, the Federalist Society's Ohio lawyers chapters hosted the 2019 Ohio Chapters...
Opening Remarks from Hon. Dave Yost
Matthew R. Byrne, Dave Yost
2019 Ohio Lawyers Chapters Conference
On April 5, 2019, the Federalist Society's Ohio lawyers chapters hosted the 2019 Ohio Chapters...