United States Attorney, Western District of Tennessee
Biography
D. Michael Dunavant is currently serving for the second time as the Presidentially Appointed, Senate Confirmed United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, and was sworn into office on October 10, 2025. In that role, he is the 50th and 54th person to serve as the chief federal prosecutor and legal representative of the United States for the 22 counties and approximately 1.6 million citizens of West Tennessee. Mr. Dunavant is the first person to serve the district twice as the Presidential appointee, having previously served as U.S. Attorney from 2017–2021 during the first Trump administration. In addition to his service as the U.S. Attorney, Mr. Dunavant has served as the Deputy Executive Director of Legal Services & Policy for the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference from 2023-2025; the Chief Investigative Counsel for the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury Division of Investigations from 2021-2023; and the elected District Attorney General for the 25th Judicial District of Tennessee, where he served as the chief state criminal prosecutor for Lauderdale, Tipton, Fayette, Hardeman, and McNairy counties in West Tennessee from 20062017. Prior to his service as District Attorney, Mr. Dunavant was a partner in the law firm of Carney, Wilder & Dunavant in Ripley, Tennessee. A native of Ripley, Mr. Dunavant holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and a Doctor of Jurisprudence Degree with honors from the University of Mississippi at Oxford, and has been practicing law in Tennessee since 1995.
Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Biography
Hon. Jennifer Mascott served as Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Separation of Powers Institute at The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law before her appointment to the federal bench. On July 16, 2025, President Donald J. Trump nominated her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (Delaware), and she was confirmed on October 9, 2025.
Prior to her confirmation, Judge Mascott wrote extensively in administrative and constitutional law, statutory interpretation, and the separation of powers. Her scholarship—published in leading journals including the Stanford Law Review, Notre Dame Law Review, and Supreme Court Review—was cited by the U.S. Supreme Court and multiple federal courts. She also contributed Supreme Court commentary for NBC Universal.
Before joining Catholic Law, she was an Assistant Professor and Co-Director of The C. Boyden Gray Center at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School. In 2022 she became co-author of Beermann, Cass & Diver’s Administrative Law: Cases and Materials (9th ed.). In 2023 she received the Justice Joseph Story Award for excellence in scholarship, teaching, and advancing the rule of law.
Judge Mascott also served as a Council Member of the ABA’s Administrative Law Section and as a Public Member of the Administrative Conference of the United States. She frequently testified before Congress on executive power, regulatory reform, and judicial jurisdiction, and participated in multiple Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
From 2019 to 2021, she took leave from academia to serve as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel and later as Associate Deputy Attorney General, where she argued federal cases and assisted with Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation. Earlier in her career, she clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas and for then-Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh on the D.C. Circuit.
Judge Mascott earned her J.D. summa cum laude from the George Washington University Law School and her B.A. from the same institution.
Regional Counsel, Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel, First District, Florida
Biography
Candice Brower is a Board-Certified attorney in the area of Juvenile Law and in 2019 was the recipient of the Award for Excellence in the Promotion of Board Certification from the Florida Bar. Juvenile law concentrates not only on the rights of juveniles in the delinquency system but also on every area of dependency and termination of parental rights cases. These cases combined constitute almost half of all of the types of cases that the Regional Counsel’s offices are assigned to handle. She was with the first group of attorneys ever to achieve this type of board-certification and was appointed by the Florida Bar President to serve as Chair of the Juvenile Law Board Certification Committee in 2025. Candice was appointed by the Florida Supreme Court in 2018 to serve on the Steering Committee on Families and Children in the Court which works to “establish a fully integrated, comprehensive approach to handling all cases involving children and families.” – Chief Justice Charles T. Canady, Supreme Court of Florida. See Supreme Court of Florida Administrative Order Number AOSC20-60 In Re: Steering Committee on Families and Children in the Court (flcourts.gov) She was appointed as Chair for the workgroup on the Steering Committee that is charged with assisting the Court on post-COVID changes to the delinquency and dependency Court rules. Candice was appointed by the Florida Bar President in 2021 to be Chair of the Florida Bar Juvenile Rules Committee. She was also appointed to serve on the Special Committee for Parent and Child Representation. She has served on the Executive Council for the Public Interest Law Section of the Florida Bar and is a member of the statewide Dependency Court Improvement Panel.
Candice is also an experienced criminal trial lawyer. When Candice earned her law degree in 1997 she became a criminal prosecutor for the State Attorney in the Third Judicial Circuit of Florida where she worked in the career criminal division trying all serious and habitual felony cases. After serving as an Assistant State Attorney, Candice opened up her own practice in Gainesville before coming to work for the newly created Regional Counsel’s offices in 2008. She served as director for the offices in the eighth circuit until being appointed to lead the agency by Governor Scott in 2016. In 2018, Candice was appointed by Governor Scott to serve on the Eighth Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission and then again by Governor DeSantis in 2022.
When Governor DeSantis was elected in 2018 Candice was honored to be appointed to serve on the advisory committee to his Public Safety Transition Team. In 2019, Candice was appointed to the Child Forensic Interview Advisory Committee. In 2026 she joined the executive committee for the Federalist Society’s family and parental rights network. She is committed to protecting the rights of those involved in juvenile and dependency courts by helping to improve the system to which she has devoted her career.
Darice brings energy and specialized knowledge to each of her families. From 2010 to 2016, she was a certified National Child Welfare Law Specialist (re-certification in progress). She is a member of the Georgia Supreme Court Committee on Justice for Children and the Steering Committee for the National Parents Representation Project of the Children and Law Center at the American Bar Association. Darice also co-authored the adjudication (trial) chapter of the first National Parents Representation book. Lastly, she is a member of the Georgia Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) Panel.”
Her dedication and joy in the practice of juvenile law is evident when you meet and work with her. Darice was voted the 2015 Georgia Juvenile Attorney of the Year. In 2014, She was honored with the Shining Star by the Multi-Alliance Agency for Children. She serves as a pre-tempore judge for Juvenile Court of Fulton County and teaches to juvenile attorneys nationwide.
When Darice first stepped into juvenile court, she knew she found her legal home. Darice is proud to represent families in juvenile court and is ready to help your family navigate her home.
Senior Vice President and Legal Director, The Center for the Rights of Abused Children
Biography
A father of four boys, Tim and his wife opened their home to children who needed safety and stability. What he witnessed in courtrooms changed him: abused children without representation, rights promised but not enforced.
A seasoned constitutional litigator, Tim now devotes his career to building precedent that defends children’s rights to safety, family, and counsel — ensuring that protection is not discretionary, but enforceable.
Executive Director, Family Justice Resource Center
Biography
Weidner has over 20 years of experience in public relations, writing, and nonprofit advocacy. She is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, in which she served as a radio and television broadcaster for the American Forces Network. She has a Master of Public Administration degree and a Bachelor of Science in Political Science, summa cum laude, from Northern Illinois University. She and her husband experienced a medically-based wrongful allegation of abuse in 2010 due to a radiological interpretation error.
Associate Deputy Attorney General, United States Department of Justice
Biography
Ketan Bhirud is Associate Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he advises the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General in their oversight of the Antitrust, Energy and Natural Resources, Tax, and Civil Rights Divisions. In this role, he coordinates across these divisions—encompassing more than 1,000 attorneys—to align enforcement and policy with administration priorities. He collaborates closely with the White House Counsel's Office, Domestic Policy Council, and other interagency partners to implement presidential directives, shape regulatory policies, and defend administration initiatives in high-stakes litigation and proceedings.
Prior to his current position, Mr. Bhirud served as Deputy General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, overseeing litigation and investigations across six agencies with more than 1,400 attorneys, and as General Counsel in the Office of the Nevada Attorney General, where he directed legal policy and supervised nearly 400 staff. Most recently, he was a Member at Cozen O'Connor in their Antitrust & Competition, State Attorneys General, and Commercial Litigation groups. There, he led strategic engagements with state attorneys general, the FTC, and other regulators to resolve complex enforcement matters, designed multi-jurisdictional investigation strategies, and negotiated settlements that minimized client risks. Earlier in his career, he practiced at Troutman Pepper Locke, Dickinson Wright, and Lionel Sawyer & Collins, representing clients in mediations, arbitrations, lawsuits, and regulatory actions.
Mr. Bhirud is nationally recognized by Chambers USA for his expertise in state attorneys general matters. His thought leadership includes publications in Bloomberg Law, Reuters, and Law360, as well as speaking engagements at forums including the Association of Corporate Counsel.
Mr. Bhirud holds a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School and a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Partner, Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak PLLC
Biography
Abhishek (Abhi) Kambli is a partner at Holtzman Vogel who represents clients in high-stakes appellate and complex litigation, constitutional challenges, and matters involving state attorneys general and federal agencies. He is one of a handful of lawyers nationally who has both led federal litigation from inside the Department of Justice and multi-state coalition work from a State Attorney General’s office—giving clients a 360-degree perspective on government enforcement, regulatory challenges, and constitutional advocacy.
Prior to joining Holtzman Vogel, Abhi served as Deputy Associate Attorney General at the United States Department of Justice, where he acted as lead counsel in high-priority matters for the Trump Administration, oversaw the Department’s civil components on behalf of the Associate Attorney General, advised the White House Counsel’s Office and federal agencies on litigation risk and strategy, and developed the Department’s national affirmative civil litigation strategy.
Earlier, he served as Deputy Attorney General and Division Chief of the Special Litigation and Constitutional Issues Division at the Kansas Attorney General’s Office, where he launched the division and led multi-state coalitions in trial and appellate courts nationwide, including the United States Supreme Court. He began his career as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Indiana, prosecuting more than 100 federal cases from investigation through appeal.
Abhi is also a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General's Corps, having served on active duty and in the reserves since 2013. His military service includes criminal trials as both prosecutor and defense attorney, appellate representation before the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and representation of a high-profile detainee before the Military Commissions at Guantánamo Bay.
Senior Vice President for Legal Studies, Cato Institute
Biography
Clark Neily is senior vice president for legal studies at the Cato Institute. His areas of interest include constitutional law, overcriminalization, civil forfeiture, police accountability, and gun rights. Neily is the author of Terms of Engagement: How Our Courts Should Enforce the Constitution’s Promise of Limited Government. His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and National Review Online, as well as various law reviews, including the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, George Mason Law Review, Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy, NYU Journal of Law and Liberty, and Texas Review of Law and Politics. Neily is a frequent guest speaker and lecturer for the Federalist Society, Institute for Humane Studies, and American Constitution Society.
Before joining Cato in 2017, Neily was a senior attorney and constitutional litigator at the Institute for Justice and director of the Institute’s Center for Judicial Engagement. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Texas School of Law, where he teaches constitutional litigation and public-interest law.
Neily served as co-counsel in District of Columbia v. Heller, the historic case in which the Supreme Court held for the first time that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to own a gun for self-defense.
Neily began his legal career as a law clerk to Judge Royce Lamberth on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. After that he spent four years in the trial department of the Dallas-based firm Thompson & Knight. Neily received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Texas, where he was Chief Articles Editor of the Texas Law Review.
On April 10, 2026, President Trump nominated Matthew Schwartz to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He was confirmed on July 14, 2026.
Prior to his appointment, Matthew Schwartz was a partner in the Firm’s Litigation Group. He joined the Firm in 2007 after clerking for Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was elected partner in 2011.
Mr. Schwartz’s wide-ranging practice comprises complex litigation, arbitration, and government investigations in the areas of securities law, M&A, derivative suits, antitrust, bank regulation, contracts, constitutional law, administrative law and general commercial litigation. He has represented some of the world’s leading corporations, financial institutions, and industry organizations. Mr. Schwartz provides regular advice on legislation and regulations in the AI, banking, FinTech, and payments fields.
Matt also regularly speaks and writes on legal ethics issues.