Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
Biography
Professor Alan M. Dershowitz is Brooklyn native who has been called “the nation’s most peripatetic civil liberties lawyer” and one of its “most distinguished defenders of individual rights,” “the best-known criminal lawyer in the world,” “the top lawyer of last resort,” “America’s most public Jewish defender” and “Israel’s single most visible defender – the Jewish state’s lead attorney in the court of public opinion.” He is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. Dershowitz, a graduate of Brooklyn College and Yale Law School, joined the Harvard Law School faculty at age 25 after clerking for Judge David Bazelon and Justice Arthur Goldberg.
He has also published more than 1000 articles in magazines, newspapers, journals and blogs such as The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Harvard Law Review, the Yale Law Journal, Huffington Post, Newsmax, Jerusalem Post and Ha’aretz. Professor Dershowitz is the author of 30 fiction and non-fiction works with a worldwide audience, including The New York Times #1 bestseller Chutzpah and five other national bestsellers. His autobiography, Taking the Stand: My Life in the Law, was published in October 2013 by Crown, a division of Random House. Earlier titles include “an exceptional, action packed book,” The Trials of Zion, a novel which has been called “a thought-provoking page turner;” Rights From Wrong; The Case For Israel; The Case For Peace; Blasphemy; Preemption; Finding Jefferson; and Shouting Fire.
In addition to his numerous law review articles and books about criminal and constitutional law, he has written, taught and lectured about history, philosophy, psychology, literature, mathematics, theology, music, sports – and even delicatessens.
His writing has been praised by Truman Capote, Saul Bellow, William Styron, David Mamet, Aharon Appelfeld, A.B. Yehoshua, Elie Wiesel, Richard North Patterson, and Henry Louis Gate, Jr. More than a million of his books—translated in many languages—have been sold worldwide.
In 1983, the Anti-Defamation League of the B'nai B'rith presented him with the William O. Douglas First Amendment Award for his "compassionate eloquent leadership and persistent advocacy in the struggle for civil and human rights." In presenting the award, Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel said: "If there had been a few people like Alan Dershowitz during the 1930s and 1940s, the history of European Jewry might have been different." Professor Dershowitz has been awarded the honorary doctor of laws degree by Yeshiva University, Brooklyn College, Syracuse University, Tel Aviv University, New York City College, Haifa University and several other institutions of learning. He has also been the recipient of numerous academic awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship for his work on human rights, a fellowship at The Center for The Advanced Study of Behavioral Sciences and several Dean’s Awards for his books.
He has been the subject of two New Yorker cartoons, a New York Times crossword puzzle, and a Trivial Pursuit question. A sandwich at Fenway Park has been named after him—pastrami, of course. He is married to Carolyn Cohen, a PhD psychologist. He has three children, one a film producer, one a lawyer for the Women’s National Basketball Association and one a professional actor. He also has two grandchildren, one a college junior and the other a college freshman.
Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
Biography
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.
John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law and Associate Dean for External Engagement, University of Notre Dame Law School
Biography
Nicole Stelle Garnett is the John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School, where she also serves as the Associate Dean for External Engagement and directs the Notre Dame Education Law Project. Her teaching and research focus on education law and policy, religious liberty, and topics related to property law (especially land use and urban development policies). In addition to dozens of articles on these subjects, she is the author of Lost Classroom, Lost Community: Catholic Schools' Importance in Urban America (University of Chicago Press, 2014) and Ordering the City: Land Use, Policing and the Restoration of Urban America (Yale University Press, 2009).
Garnett received her B.A. with distinction in Political Science from Stanford University and her J.D. from Yale Law School. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable Morris S. Arnold of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and for Associate Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court of the United States. Before joining the law school faculty in 1999, she worked for two years as a staff attorney at the Institute for Justice, a non-profit public-interest law firm in Washington, D.C., where she helped to defend the constitutionality of the nation's first private-school-choice programs.
At Notre Dame, Garnett is a faculty fellow in the Institute for Educational Initiatives, Kellogg Institute for International Studies, Fitzgerald Institute for Real Estate, and deNicola Center for Ethics and Culture. She also is an elected member of the American Law Institute and a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
Clare Morell is a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, where she directs EPPC’s Technology and Human Flourishing Project. Prior to joining EPPC, Ms. Morell worked in both the White House Counsel’s Office and the Department of Justice, as well as in the private and non-profit sectors. She is also the author of the forthcoming book, The Tech Exit: A Practical Guide to Freeing Kids and Teens from Smartphones, which will be published by Penguin Random House.
At the Department of Justice, Ms. Morell worked as an Advisor to Attorney General Bill Barr. As part of her work for the Attorney General, she helped oversee the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice and served as Editor of the Commission’s final report. A major focus of the Commission’s report was the challenges that Big Tech’s end-to-end encryption presents to law enforcement for gaining lawful access to crucial intelligence in criminal investigations, like domestic terrorism, as well as human and drug trafficking crimes. Ms. Morell also supported the Attorney General’s work on Section 230 reform as one of his main priorities.
Prior to her role with the Office of the Attorney General, Ms. Morell worked on judicial nominations for the White House Counsel’s office and monitored all nominations data to create high-level presentations for briefing White House leadership. From her experience, Ms. Morell brings an intimate knowledge and understanding of how policy is advanced within the Executive Branch of the federal government, particularly in the Department of Justice and the White House.
Ms. Morell has had opinion pieces published in the Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Newsweek, the Washington Examiner, National Review, American Affairs Journal,Deseret News, The Federalist, Public Discourse, WORLD Magazine, the Washington Times, and the Daily Signal.
Ms. Morell received a B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, where she majored in Science, Technology, and International Affairs. She graduated summa cum laude and received the Edmund A. Walsh Award for academic achievement in international law. She also is proficient in Spanish.
Ms. Morell lives with her husband and three children in Washington, D.C.
Associate Justice, Supreme Court of North Carolina
Biography
Phil was born in Danville, Virginia on March 26, 1972, to Philip and Pat Berger. Phil is a 1990 graduate of Morehead High School in Eden, North Carolina. He graduated from UNC-Wilmington in 1994 with a B.A. in History, and earned his law degree from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1999.
Phil began his legal career in private practice in 1999. From 2001 through 2006, he joined his father and brother, Kevin, forming The Berger Law Firm. In 2006, Phil was elected District Attorney in the 17A Prosecutorial District and was re-elected in 2010.
While serving as District Attorney, Phil was the chair of Project SAFE Rockingham County. A collaboration with the US Attorney's Office and local law enforcement, Project SAFE implemented the “focused-deterrence” model for reducing violent crime among recidivists and gang members. In 2013-14, he served as President of the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys. Phil represented the National District Attorneys Association in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as a Non-Governmental Observer to the United States v. Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, et al hearings.
From 2015-2016, Phil served as an Administrative Law Judge with the North Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings. He was elected to the North Carolina Court of Appeals in 2016. In 2020, Phil was elected to the Supreme Court of North Carolina.
Phil has a passion for helping young people. He serves as a volunteer assistant coach with the baseball team at Cedar Ridge High School. Phil previously coached football at the high school level, and he has also coached youth football with the Durham Firebirds and Greensboro Eagles. Phil was the founder and chair of Eden Youth Football, and he served as a board member and basketball coach with Bethany Community Middle School.
Phil is married to Jodie Church, a public school teacher. They have two children, Philip III and Will.
Richard Dietz has served as a judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals for eight years.
Judge Dietz comes from a mountain family of railroad and telephone workers. From an early age, his parents encouraged him to study hard and to get an education. He succeeded, becoming the first in his family to attend college. He went on to graduate first in his class from Wake Forest University School of Law and later earned a master’s degree from Duke University School of Law.
As a lawyer, Judge Dietz became one of the most accomplished appellate advocates in North Carolina. He has personally argued in the U.S. Supreme Court—something only a handful of lawyers in the State have ever done—and is a board-certified specialist in appellate practice. He handled cases in a wide range of constitutional areas including gun rights, religious liberty, and the free speech rights of students.
Before joining the Court of Appeals, Judge Dietz was a partner at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, a 650-lawyer international law firm with its roots in North Carolina. He also served as a law clerk for two highly regarded federal judges—Judge Emory Widener on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and Judge Samuel Wilson on the U.S. District Court in Virginia—and served as a research fellow in international law at Kyushu University in Japan.
Judge Dietz joined the Court of Appeals in 2014 and is now the third-most senior judge on the 15-member court. He has distinguished himself on the Court by writing thoughtful opinions that are concise and easy for the public to read and understand.
Judge Dietz is happily married to Kelley Dietz, who is both the love of his life and his most trusted advisor. Kelley is a former Capitol Hill staffer and political appointee of President George W. Bush who now works in higher education.
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.
Amy Swearer is a leading national expert on a wide range of public policy, legal, and constitutional issues, including the Second Amendment, criminal justice, and mental health policy. She has long been a respected conservative voice on gun policy and is routinely asked to testify before state and federal legislative bodies. Her work on birthright citizenship, meanwhile, has been featured extensively in litigation over the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause.
Swearer was formerly a Senior Legal Fellow in the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal & Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation. At Heritage, she ran the Defensive Gun Use Database and was the primary author of the e-book “The Essential Second Amendment.” She was also a driving force behind the organization’s School Safety Initiative.
She was the 2022 recipient of the Heritage Foundation’s Joseph Shattan Award for “writing that presents conservative ideas in a powerful and compelling fashion to policymakers and the American people.” She was also named the Second Amendment Institute’s 2022 Gun Rights Champion.
Swearer received her law degree from the University of Nebraska College of Law and was a member of the Nebraska Law Review. She holds a B.S. in Criminology & Criminal Justice from the University of Nebraska, where she was a Chancellor’s Scholar and a goalkeeper on the women’s soccer team
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.
President and Co-Founder, America First Legal Foundation
Biography
Gene Hamilton is the President of America First Legal, which he co-founded, and where he was previously the Executive Director, Executive Vice President, and General Counsel. He most recently served as Deputy White House Counsel to President Donald Trump. Earlier in his career, Gene served as Counselor to Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice and as Senior Counselor to the Secretary of Homeland Security. He also served as General Counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee and held several roles at the Department of Homeland Security, including with U.S. Immigration Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Office of the General Counsel. He holds a B.A. from the University of Georgia and a J.D. from Washington and Lee University School of Law.
Walter Olson is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies and is known for his writing on the American legal system. His books include The Rule of Lawyers, on mass litigation, The Excuse Factory, on lawsuits in the workplace, and most recently Schools for Misrule, on the state of the law schools. His first book, The Litigation Explosion, was one of the most widely discussed general-audience books on law of its time. It led the Washington Post to dub him “intellectual guru of tort reform.” Active on social media, he is known as the founder and principal writer of what is generally considered the oldest blog on law as well as one of the most popular, Overlawyered.com. He has advised many public officials from the White House to town councils and in 2015 was named by Gov. Larry Hogan to be co-chair of the Maryland Redistricting Reform Commission, which issued its report recommendations later that year to acclaim across the state.
Before joining Cato, Olson was a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and an editor at the magazine Regulation, then edited by future Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Olson’s more than 400 broadcast appearances include all the major networks, NPR, the BBC, The Diane Rehm Show, and Oprah.
