SARAH ISGUR is the editor of SCOTUSblog, host of the legal podcast Advisory Opinions, and a legal analyst for ABC News. Isgur has previously worked on multiple presidential campaigns and in all three branches of the federal government. During the first Trump administration, she served in the Department of Justice as the director of the Office of Public Affairs and senior counsel to the deputy attorney general during the Russia investigation. She clerked for Judge Edith H. Jones of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Northwestern University. She is the author of the book, Last Branch Standing: A Potentially Surprising, Occasionally Witty Journey Inside Today's Supreme Court.
James Burnham is the General Counsel of xAi and X. Before his current role, James served as Managing Partner of King Street Legal, PLLC (which he founded), and recently served for six months as the General Counsel for the Department of Government Efficiency. In his role at DOGE, James designed the legal structure of DOGE, advised DOGE personnel on policy initiatives across the Executive Branch, and supervised dozens of DOGE-related lawsuits against the Executive Branch – many of which DOGE won at the United States Supreme Court. Before founding King Street Legal, James was a litigation partner at Jones Day, a senior official in the Department of Justice's Civil Division and Office of the Attorney General, and a Senior Associate Counsel to the President. James also clerked for Justice Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court and Judge Alex Kozinski on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He graduated with high honors from the University of Chicago Law School and earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Texas at Austin. James is also the President of Vallecito Capital, LLC, a mission-driven litigation fund that ensures meritorious litigation does not falter due to lack of resources.
Judge, United States District Court, Northern District of Texas
Biography
Matthew J. Kacsmaryk serves as United States District Judge for the Northern District of Texas.
He previously served as (1) an Associate in the Dallas office of Baker Botts LLP, (2) an Assistant United States Attorney, and (3) Deputy General Counsel to FLI.
He is an Honors graduate of the University of Texas Law School.
In 2013, he earned the Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Furthering the Interest of U.S. National Security.
In 2026, he was named Jurist of the Year by the Texas Review of Law & Politics, the conservative law review at the University of Texas.
United States Attorney, Western District of North Carolina
Biography
Russ Ferguson leads the U.S. Attorney’s Office as the presidentially-appointed United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, following his confirmation by the United States Senate on December 18, 2025. Nominated by President Donald Trump, who formally signed his commission on December 23, 2025, U.S. Attorney Ferguson took the oath of office, administered by the Honorable Frank D. Whitney, Senior United States District Judge, on Christmas Eve.
Mr. Ferguson was first appointed as interim United States Attorney by Attorney General Pamela Bondi on March 3, 2025, and sworn in on March 11, 2025. He was subsequently unanimously appointed to the position by all federal judges in this district effective June 30, 2025. He was then nominated by the President on July 30, 2025.
As U.S. Attorney, Mr. Ferguson serves as the chief federal law enforcement officer in the Western District, responsible for representing the United States in all civil and criminal litigations. Mr. Ferguson leads an office of nearly 100 federal prosecutors and support personnel, serving 32 counties across western North Carolina, including the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the largest Native American community in the eastern United States.
U.S. Attorney Ferguson brings 16 years of significant legal experience to his new role. He began his legal career as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, where he tried 28 cases to verdict. Before his appointment as U.S. Attorney, Mr. Ferguson was a partner at the international law firm of Womble Bond Dickinson, where he led the firm’s complex litigation group and handled complex civil and criminal cases. Mr. Ferguson’s work included representing clients in high-profile and complex criminal and civil trials, as well as in international arbitrations before a number of world arbitral bodies.
U.S. Attorney Ferguson has held leadership roles with the Mecklenburg County Bar, which honored him with an award for Best Individual Attorney for his pro bono service. He has been named to Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America, North Carolina Business Elite, and received the Charlotte Business Journal’s Forty Under Forty Award. Mr. Ferguson has also served as a speaker and panelist for local and national events and has published numerous articles on topics related to civil and criminal law.
U.S. Attorney Ferguson has served the community by serving on the Board of NourishUp, Charlotte’s food pantry and meals on wheels organization, demonstrating his ongoing commitment to addressing hunger and supporting families in need. He also previously served on Keep Charlotte Beautiful, to which he was appointed by the City Council, and on the Mecklenburg County Bar’s Board of Directors.
U.S. Attorney Ferguson received his undergraduate degree from Duke University and earned his law degree and a masters of law from Georgetown University Law Center. After law school, U.S. Attorney Ferguson clerked for the Honorable Frank D. Whitney in the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
Ms. Bates assists clients with a variety of litigation and appellate matters that encompass constitutional law, administrative law, and commercial litigation. Before joining the firm, Ms. Bates was a law clerk to Judge Kyle Duncan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She previously served as a Legal Policy Analyst at the Heritage Foundation, where she researched and wrote about the courts, judicial nominations, and various constitutional issues. She also co-hosted Heritage’s SCOTUS 101 podcast. She earned her B.A. magna cum laude in Politics from Hillsdale College, and her J.D. from the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. Ms. Bates is a member of the Virginia Bar.
Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
Biography
Judge Duncan received his B.A. from Louisiana State University in 1994, his J.D. from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University in 1997, and his LL.M. from Columbia Law School in 2004.
After graduating from law school, he clerked for Louisiana-based Circuit Judge John Malcolm Duhé Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
From 2008–2012, Duncan served as Appellate Chief for Louisiana's Attorney General's office. From 2012–2014, he served as general counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. From 2004-2008, he was an assistant professor of law at the University of Mississippi School of Law.
Before becoming a judge, Duncan practiced at the Washington, D.C. firm of Schaerr Duncan LLP, where he was a founding partner. He was appointed by President Trump to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on May 1, 2018.
General Counsel, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Biography
James H. Percival graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Virginia School of Law. Before his work at the Department of Homeland Security, he was Chief of Staff to then Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody. James previously served in a number of other roles for Attorney General Moody and as Senior Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice. Before beginning his public service, James worked for a global law firm and clerked for Judge Emmett Ripley Cox of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. In between college and law school, James worked as a substitute teacher and as a missionary in South America.
Senior Fellow and Director of Constitutional Studies, Manhattan Institute
Biography
Ilya Shapiro is a senior fellow and director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of City Journal. Previously he was executive director and senior lecturer at the Georgetown Center for the Constitution, and before that a vice president of the Cato Institute.
Shapiro has testified many times before Congress and state legislatures and has filed more than 500 amicus curiae “friend of the court” briefs in the Supreme Court. He lectures regularly on behalf of the Federalist Society, is a member of the board of fellows of the Jewish Policy Center, was an inaugural Washington Fellow at the National Review Institute, and has been an adjunct law professor at the George Washington University and University of Mississippi. He is also the chairman of the board of advisers of the Mississippi Justice Institute, a barrister in the Edward Coke Appellate Inn of Court, and a former member of the Virginia Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
Earlier in his career, Shapiro was a special assistant/adviser to the Multi-National Force in Iraq on rule-of-law issues and practiced at Patton Boggs and Cleary Gottlieb. Before entering private practice, he clerked for Judge E. Grady Jolly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He holds an AB from Princeton University, an MSc from the London School of Economics, and a JD from the University of Chicago Law School.
Nebraskans elected Mike Hilgers to be their 33rd Attorney General in 2022. As Attorney General, Mike will work to keep Nebraskans and their families safe, protect their rights, ensure the integrity of our constitutional structure, help our law enforcement officials around the state, and protect our natural resources, including our water supplies.
Before taking office, Mike was an experienced private practice attorney, successful entrepreneur, and legislator.
Mike was in private practice for over fifteen years, handling complex litigation and discovery disputes in state and federal court. After practicing at a large law firm, Mike founded his own litigation law firm. Mike built that firm from nothing into one of the fastest growing practices in the country. Before leaving his practice to take office as Nebraska’s Attorney General, the firm had over 100 professionals and handled cases around the country. Mike started his private practice after clerking for Judge Edith Clement on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Mike graduated of the University of Chicago Law School, where he was an editor of the law review.
Before taking office as Attorney General, Mike spent six years serving the people of Northwest Lincoln and Lancaster County in the Legislature (District 21), serving his last two as the Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature. In the Legislature Mike introduced and passed a wide variety of legislation to help Nebraskans around the state, from legislation to protect constitutional rights, to protecting our water, to supporting law enforcement.
Mike and his wife, Heather, are raising their four children Alice, Elsie, Clara Jane, and Michael Jr. They are raising their family in Lincoln.
