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Partner, Kirkland & Ellis LLP
H. Christopher Bartolomucci is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Chris’ practice focuses on appellate litigation, products liability litigation, and litigation in the higher education space. He presented oral argument in the U.S. Supreme Court in South Carolina v. North Carolina, 558 U.S. 256 (2010) and prevailed in the case. He served as lead trial counsel and presented the closing oral argument before a three-judge federal court in a high profile preclearance action under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. See South Carolina v. United States, 898 F. Supp. 2d 30 (D.D.C. 2012). In 2007, as a short-listed candidate for nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the Virginia State Bar gave Chris its highest rating of “Highly Qualified.”
Chris’ government service includes experience in every branch of the federal government. He served in the White House as associate counsel to President George W. Bush. He also served in the Solicitor General’s Office, as associate special counsel to the U.S. Senate Whitewater Committee, and as counsel to the D.C. Inspector General. He clerked for Judge William L. Garwood of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Austin, Texas.
Chief Legal Officer, Castle Island Ventures
Gus Coldebella is the Chief Legal Officer of Castle Island Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage investing in blockchain technology, where he handles legal, regulatory, policy, and compliance matters for the firm.
Over a career spanning private practice, government, and technology, he has served as a law firm partner, prosecutor, senior federal official, general counsel, and venture capital partner. He previously served as acting general counsel of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in the George W. Bush administration, leading a team of 1,700 lawyers, and focusing on all major security issues confronting the nation. His private-sector leadership roles have included chief legal officer of Circle; general counsel of Paradigm; partner at True Ventures; and partner in Goodwin Procter’s litigation and investigations practice.
Coldebella holds a J.D. from Cornell Law School and a B.A. from Colgate University, where he later served as vice chair of the Board of Trustees and president of the Alumni Council. He teaches “Artificial Intelligence: Law and Policy” at Boston College Law School.
Staff Writer, National Security, Foreign Policy Magazine
John Reed is a national security reporter for Foreign Policy. He comes to FP after editing Military.com’s publication Defense Tech and working as the associate editor of DoDBuzz. Between 2007 and 2010, he covered major trends in military aviation and the defense industry around the world for Defense News and Inside the Air Force. Before moving to Washington in August 2007, Reed worked in corporate sales and business development for a Swedish IT firm, The Meltwater Group in Mountain View CA, and Philadelphia, PA. Prior to that, he worked as a reporter at the Tracy Press and the Scotts Valley Press-Banner newspapers in California. His first story as a professional reporter involved chasing escaped emus around California’s central valley with Mexican cowboys armed with lassos and local police armed with shotguns. Luckily for the giant birds, the cowboys caught them first and the emus were ok. A New England native, Reed graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a dual degree in international affairs and history.
Legislative Counsel, American Civil Liberties Union
Michelle Richardson is a Legislative Counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union Washington Legislative Office where she focuses on national security and government transparency issues such as the Patriot Act, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, cybersecurity, state secrets and the Freedom of Information Act. Before coming to the ACLU in 2006, Richardson served as counsel to the House Judiciary Committee where she specialized in national security, civil rights and constitutional issues for Democratic Ranking Member John Conyers (D-Mich.).?
Founder and Principal, Fillmore Global Strategies LLC
Ambassador Nathan A. Sales is the founder and principal of Fillmore Global Strategies LLC, a consultancy that provides legal and strategic advisory services on matters at the intersection of law, policy, and diplomacy.
From 2017 to 2021, Ambassador Sales served at the U.S. Department of State as Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights (acting). He oversaw nine bureaus and offices led by Senate-confirmed principals, with 1,300 employees and a combined foreign assistance budget of more than $5 billion annually, and the mission of preventing and countering threats to civilian security, including terrorism, mass atrocities, and violations of human rights and the rule of law.
Concurrently, Ambassador Sales was Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator for Counterterrorism. After being nominated by the President and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate, he was sworn in on August 10, 2017. He served as the principal adviser to the Secretary of State on international counterterrorism matters, and led the State Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau, a 200-person team with an annual foreign assistance budget of $400 million. He was also the Special Presidential Envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, leading U.S. relations with the 83-member Coalition and efforts to ensure the lasting defeat of ISIS in the Middle East and around the world.
While at the State Department, Ambassador Sales led the elements of the U.S. government’s China strategy promoting democratic values and human rights, including with respect to Hong Kong and Xinjiang. He oversaw the development and implementation of a wide range of U.S. government sanctions, including Global Magnitsky actions and Executive Order 13,936, targeting those responsible for undermining Hong Kong’s freedoms and autonomy. Ambassador Sales was the architect of the landmark 2017 UN Security Council Resolution 2396 on terrorist travel, and successfully pressed NATO to make counterterrorism a core Alliance mission. He led diplomatic engagements to persuade a dozen key partners in Europe and the Americas to designate Hizballah as a terrorist organization in its entirety. He launched the Western Hemisphere Counterterrorism Ministerial, in which heads of state and minister-level officials meet bianually to coordinate efforts against terrorist threats in the region. He led the U.S. government’s international efforts to combat white supremacist terrorism. Under his leadership, the State Department imposed terrorism sanctions on the Russian Imperial Movement – the first-ever U.S. designation of white supremacist terrorists.
Before joining the State Department, Ambassador Sales was Of Counsel at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP (formerly Bancroft PLLC). He was also a tenured law professor, teaching and writing in the fields of administrative law, constitutional law, and national security law. His scholarship has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court multiple times.
Ambassador Sales previously was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He led DHS’s efforts to draft and implement legislation that strengthened the security of and expanded the Visa Waiver Program (which allows citizens of certain countries to travel to the United States without a visa). He headed the U.S. delegation in talks with seven countries to implement the new security measures and was the Secretary of Homeland Security’s Special Envoy to South Korea.
Ambassador Sales also served at the Office of Legal Policy at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he worked on regulatory initiatives, counterterrorism, and judicial confirmations. In 2005, he managed DOJ’s “war room” for the confirmation of Chief Justice John Roberts. He received the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service – the Justice Department’s highest honor – for his role in drafting the USA PATRIOT Act, as well as the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award for his work on judicial confirmations.
In addition to his work at Fillmore Global Strategies, Ambassador Sales is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a senior advisor at the Soufan Group, a global intelligence and security consultancy. He serves on a number of advisory boards, including for the Counter-Extremism Project (a nonprofit and nonpartisan international policy organization formed to combat the growing threat from extremist ideologies), the Secure Community Network (the official safety and security organization for the North American Jewish community), and the Sue J. Henry Center for Pre-Law Education at Miami University.
An Ohio native, Ambassador Sales received his B.A., summa cum laude, from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Duke Law School, where he was Research Editor of the Duke Law Journal and joined the Order of the Coif. After law school, he clerked for the Honorable David B. Sentelle of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.
Harry Kalven, Jr. Professor of Law & Faculty Director, Constitutional Law Institute, University of Chicago Law School
William Baude is a Professor of Law and the Faculty Director of the Constitutional Law Institute at the University of Chicago Law School, where he teaches federal courts, constitutional law, and conflict of laws. His current research interests include different aspects of the Fourteenth Amendment (particularly both Section One and Section Three) and the nature of judicial discretion.
Among his other activities Baude is: the co-editor of two textbooks, The Constitution of the United States and Hart & Wechsler's Federal Courts in the Federal System; an Affiliated Scholar at the Center for the Study of Constitutional Originalism; a founding member of the Academic Freedom Alliance; a member of the American Law Institute; an occasional blogger at The Volokh Conspiracy; and a podcaster on Divided Argument. He also recently served on the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States.
Professor Baude received his BS in Mathematics from the University of Chicago and his JD from Yale Law School. He then clerked for then-Judge Michael McConnell on the United States Court of Appeals, and Chief Justice John Roberts on the United States Supreme Court. Before joining the Chicago faculty, he was a fellow at the Stanford Constitutional Law Center, and a lawyer in Washington, DC.
Professor of Law and Rouse Chairholder, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
Professor Miller holds an Allison and Dorothy Rouse Chair in Law at the Antonin Scalia Law School. An elected member of the American Law Institute and a research member of the European Corporate Governance Institute, Professor Miller is also a Fellow and the Co-Director of the Program on Organizations, Business and Markets at the Classical Liberal Institute at the New York University Law School, an Adjunct Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, and an Affiliated Scholar at the James Wilson Institute on Natural Rights and the American Founding. Prior to joining George Mason University in 2025, Professor Miller was the F. Arnold Daum Chair in Corporate Finance and Law and a Professor of Law at the University of Iowa College of Law, where he had also served as the Associate Dean for Faculty Development.
Professor Miller’s research concerns corporate and securities law, the economic analysis of law, and the philosophy of law. He is particularly interested in applying economic concepts and methods to understand provisions in contracts between sophisticated commercial parties. He has written on material adverse effect clauses under Delaware law, the fiduciary duties of corporate directors, director oversight liability, the history and development of Delaware corporate law, and much more. His articles and working papers are available on his SSRN page.
Professor Miller has been cited by federal and state courts in the United States, including the Delaware Supreme Court and the Delaware Court of Chancery, as well as by the Commercial Court of the United Kingdom and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) in Canada. Additionally, he is a member of the Committee on Mergers, Acquisitions & Corporate Control Contests and a former chair of the Corporation Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association.
Earlier in his career, Professor Miller was a Professor of Law at the Villanova University School of Law and the Associate Director of the Matthew J. Ryan Center for the Study of Free Institutions and the Public Good at Villanova University. He has been a Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at the Cardozo Law School, and an Olin Fellow in Law and Economics at the Columbia Law School.
Before entering academia, Professor Miller was an associate with Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. He earned his J.D. from the Yale Law School where he was a Senior Editor of the Yale Law Journal and an Olin Fellow in Law, Economics and Public Policy. He earned his M.A. and M.Phil. degrees in philosophy from Columbia University, where he held a Mellon Fellowship in the Humanities from the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation and a Western Civilization Fellowship from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. He earned his B.A. in philosophy and mathematics from Columbia College.
Shareholder, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart PC
Hal Coxson is a nationally recognized lawyer with over 35 years experience in all aspects of labor and employment law in Washington, DC. He is highly respected for his experience and expertise in government relations and as an advocate on behalf of business clients before Congress, the Executive Branch and independent federal regulatory agencies. He chairs the Firm’s Government Relations Practice Group and is a Principal in Ogletree Governmental Affairs, Inc., the Firm’s wholly-owned subsidiary.
Mr. Coxson concentrates on traditional labor law and international labor relations. He has helped shape national labor policy through oral arguments and the filing of amicus curiae briefs on behalf of business clients in numerous landmark cases before the National Labor Relations Board and federal courts of appeals, including the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition, he has represented the U.S. Employer community before the International Labor Organization, and has defended clients in global corporate campaigns.
In his government relations practice, Mr. Coxson represents individual corporations and national trade associations, as well as business coalitions which he has been responsible for organizing on a variety of the most important workplace issues over the past quarter century. He has testified on behalf of business clients and as an expert witness before federal administrative agencies and both Houses of Congress.
In addition, Hal has a close working relationship with many of the national trade associations in Washington. He is Executive Director of the First Tuesday Group, an informal organization of thirty-five national trade associations and professional organizations involved in workplace issues. He serves on the Boards and committees of many trade associations, including the Labor Relations Committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce where he co-chairs its International Perspectives Subcommittee.
Hal is a frequent speaker on labor and employment topics. He appears as a guest on radio and television talk shows and panels. In addition, he has written several noteworthy publications on workplace law, including most recently “The National Labor Relations Board in the Obama Administration: What Changes to Expect” (U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 2009) which has become required reading in several law schools throughout the country. Currently, he is co-editor of “NLRB Insight,” published bi-monthly by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and is on the Board of Trustees of HR Advisor.
Hal has had numerous speeches and debates before LERA, the Council on Labor Law Equality, US LERN, the Mercer Oil Forum, the Association of Corporate Counsel, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, Society for Human Resource Management, Edison Electric Institute, Associated General Contractors of America, American Bakers Association, Association of Equipment Manufacturers, North American Transportation Employee Relations Association, National Association of Waterfront Employers, Retail Industry Leaders Association, Food Marketing Institute, National Retail Federation, the Business Roundtable, WCI, South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, and Indiana Chamber of Commerce, as well as at meetings/conferences sponsored by the American Bar Association, National Labor Relations Board, and the Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service. He speaks frequently at Ogletree Deakins Annual Workplace Strategies Seminars, Not Your Father’s NLRB, and various Ogletree Deakins Office Seminars across the country.
Member, NLRB
Bill works with a broad range of clients, including trade associations, hospitals and other health care institutions, school districts, transportation and logistics companies and manufacturing companies.
He is a member of Littler Mendelson's Traditional Labor Practice Group and editor of the firm's traditional labor blog, Labor Relations Counsel. He also authored several amicus curiae briefs on behalf of trade associations in cases challenging state laws that allow labor unions to trespass on the private property of employers, including a landmark case now pending at the California Supreme Court.
Co-Chairman, Workplace Policy Institute and Shareholder, Littler Mendelson PC
Michael J. Lotito is the founder and co-chair of Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute® (WPI®), the firm’s government relations and public policy arm. He provides strategic advice to C-suite executives and policy makers on the complex intersection of public policy, communications and the law at the international, national and local levels. Michael takes a proactive and holistic approach to advocating for the interests of employers on a global scale, working with companies, trade associations, business groups and other influencers to define and shape the laws, regulations and policies that have critical implications for the workplace.
Michael focuses on giving employers a voice in the midst of changes affecting their workplaces. He has been at the forefront of challenging numerous rules and regulations impacting employers, such as the expansion of the joint employer doctrine, changes to the definition of an independent contractor, new overtime pay requirements, the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, and the Persuader Rule. Michael also advocates for employers on issues including nominations to government agencies, state level developments impacting freedom of speech for corporations, and the rapid expansion of sectoral bargaining boards. He serves as labor and policy counsel to the International Franchise Association, as a member of the Labor Relations Committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and a member of the California Business Roundtable’s board of directors.
Michael speaks around the world on workplace topics and writes extensively on emerging issues for the workplace. He has testified before committees in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, as well as before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). He is regularly quoted and published in such media outlets as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Financial Times, Bloomberg, Reuters, Chief Executive Magazine, Law360, Fox Business, National Law Journal, CNBC, The Hill and Politico, and has a significant social media presence on LinkedIn. Michael was inducted into Human Resource Executive magazine’s Most Powerful Employment Attorneys Hall of Fame, and Villanova University Graduate School of Human Resources named him HR Alumnus of the 20th Century.
Through the Emma Coalition – a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that he co-founded in 2018 to address the technology-induced displacement of employment (TIDE™) – Michael has been at the vanguard of preparing American business and the American workforce for the future of work. As technological innovation drives significant changes in employers’ talent needs, the Emma Coalition focuses on understanding the skills the American workforce will need in the future and addressing the country’s varied and complex workforce challenges through education, training and engagement with policymakers.
* Member of the California Bar; not licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia. Practice is limited primarily to governmental affairs advocacy but also includes the practice before Federal Agencies authorized by Rule 49(c)(3) and does not constitute the practice of law under Rule 49 of the District Columbia Court of Appeals.
Partner and Deputy Chair, Securities Department, WilmerHale
Daniel Gallagher advises corporate boards and management on the full range of legal and strategic issues they face, and counsels financial services and accounting firms in investigations, regulatory proceedings and policy matters. Mr. Gallagher brings to his practice an unparalleled breadth of experience from having served not only in senior positions at the Securities and Exchange Commission but also as the chief legal officer of a global, S&P 500 corporation and general counsel of a broker-dealer.
Mr. Gallagher has extensive experience in the public and private sectors, navigating regulatory matters, financial markets, corporate legal affairs and governance, and fintech issues, including the regulatory and policy issues arising from new technology.
Mr. Gallagher previously served as the chief legal officer at Mylan N.V., a leading global pharmaceutical company; as the president of a financial services consulting firm; and as an SEC Commissioner. As an SEC Commissioner, Mr. Gallagher championed corporate governance reform, advocated for a comprehensive holistic review of equity market structural issues, and encouraged greatly improving the commission’s fixed income market expertise.
Mr. Gallagher also served on SEC staff in various senior roles, including as the deputy director and co-acting director of the Division of Trading and Markets, where he was on the front lines of the agency’s response to the financial crisis, including representing the commission in the Lehman Brothers liquidation. He was also a counsel to former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins and to former Chairman Christopher Cox, working on matters involving the Division of Enforcement and the Division of Trading and Markets.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Gallagher was the senior vice president and general counsel of a global provider of financial services technology, where he managed all legal and regulatory matters. He first joined WilmerHale in 1993 as an associate in the firm’s Securities Department.
Senior Fellow, National Review
Bestselling author Andrew C. McCarthy is a contributing editor at National Review, a senior fellow at National Review Institute, and a Fox News contributor. He is a former Chief Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York and led the terrorism prosecution against the “Blind Sheikh” (Omar Abdel Rahman) and eleven other jihadists for conducting a war of urban terrorism against the United States that included the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and a plot to bomb New York City landmarks. During is 20-year career as a prosecutor, he received numerous honors, including the Justice Department’s highest awards. Andy speaks and writes widely on law and national security, radical Islam, politics, and culture. He has testified before Congress as an expert on issues of constitutional law, counterterrorism, and law-enforcement. He is a columnist for The Hill, and his essays and book reviews appear frequently at The New Criterion. His most recent New York Times bestselling book is Ball of Collusion (Encounter Books, 2019), about the Russiagate controversy (an updated version was published in 2020). His other books include Willful Blindness (2008), The Grand Jihad (2010), Spring Fever: The Illusion of Islamic Democracy (2012), and Faithless Execution (2014). He has also written several pamphlets in the Broadside series published by Encounter Books, most recently Islam and Free Speech (2015).
