Panel Two: Defending Unpopular Clients: The Ethics of Targeting Attorneys, Firms, and Clients for Reprisals
2022 Missouri Chapters Conference
The 2022 Missouri Chapters Conference took place on January 24, 2022, at the Missouri State...
Jennifer K. Bukowsky, Stephen Davis, Charles Hatfield, Gary Myers
2022 Missouri Chapters Conference
The 2022 Missouri Chapters Conference took place on January 24, 2022, at the Missouri State...
Jennifer K. Bukowsky, Stephen Davis, Charles Hatfield, Gary Myers
2022 Missouri Chapters Conference
The 2022 Missouri Chapters Conference took place on January 24, 2022, at the Missouri State...
David Dewhirst, Ryan Dean Newman, Dorit Reiss, Ilya Somin, Kate Comerford Todd
The Supreme Court recently issued its decisions in two federal vaccine mandate cases. Several states...
David Dewhirst, Ryan Dean Newman, Dorit Reiss, Ilya Somin, Kate Comerford Todd
The Supreme Court recently issued its decisions in two federal vaccine mandate cases. Several states...
Randy E. Barnett, William Baude, Gregory G. Katsas, Ashley Keller, Genevieve Lakier
Freedom of Thought Six-Part Series: Part 6
Aside from the purely legal questions already addressed in this programming series, how should we...
Justice, Texas First Court of Appeals
Susanna Dokupil was elected to the First Court of Appeals in November 2024. With over two decades of experience, Susanna’s career has spanned all three branches of government as well as private practice. She has been a Special Counsel and Assistant Solicitor General in the Office of the Attorney General of Texas as well as a Special Counsel to the United States Senate Judiciary Committee and a law clerk to the Hon. Jerry Smith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
In her role as Special Counsel at the Texas Attorney General’s office, Susanna led teams of litigators focused on protecting Texas’s interests against agency regulations that exceeded the agency’s statutory and constitutional power. As an Assistant Solicitor General, she drafted briefs before the Fifth Circuit and United States Supreme Court, primarily focused on First Amendment issues. Susanna’s experience in private practice has combined traditional commercial litigation with advising technology companies and founders on strategic communications.
Susanna has been a prolific speaker and writer on law and public policy topics, including articles in The Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, The Texas Review of Law & Politics, American Enterprise, the Washington Times, and the Houston Chronicle, among others.
Susanna is a graduate of Harvard Law School and also holds degrees from The George Washington University and Baylor University. She lives in Houston and has four children.
Partner, Schaerr | Jaffe LLP
Erik Jaffe has been involved in appeals on a broad range of legal issues, including First Amendment challenges to campaign finance reform, Commerce Clause challenges to Health Care Reform and other federal legislation, Equal Protection Clause challenges to affirmative action in education, First Amendment challenges to school vouchers, Fifth Amendment challenges to takings of property, Second Amendment challenges to restrictions on gun ownership, and a wide variety of cases involving patents, copyrights, ERISA, securities fraud, federal preemption, environmental regulation, and other state and federal constitutional and statutory matters. He has represented businesses and non-profit groups, Judges, Senators, former government officials, Nobel Prize winners, and a broad cross-section of private individuals. Mr. Jaffe has been involved in over 120 Supreme Court matters, including filing over 30 cert. petitions, representing half-a-dozen parties on the merits, and filing over 70 amicus briefs at both the cert. and merits stages.
A 1990 graduate of the Columbia University School of Law, Mr. Jaffe was a law clerk to Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1990 to 1991. Following that clerkship he spent five years in litigation practice with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Williams & Connolly. In the summer of 1996 he left Williams & Connolly to clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. At the end of that clerkship he started his own practice, and he was a sole practitioner from 1997 to 2018. He joined the firm of Schaerr | Jaffe LLP in 2018.
Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow, The Hoover Institution, Stanford University; Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus, UCLA School of Law
Eugene Volokh is the Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution (Stanford), as well as the Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus and Distinguished Research Professor at UCLA School of Law. He recently retired from teaching at UCLA, after 30 years there, and is now focusing on research.
Volokh is the author of the textbooks The First Amendment and Related Statutes (8th ed. 2023), and Academic Legal Writing (5th ed. 2016), as well as over 100 academic law journal articles, mostly on First Amendment law. He is a member of The American Law Institute; the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Free Speech Law; and the creator and coauthor of The Volokh Conspiracy, a leading legal blog founded in 2002 (hosted at the Washington Post from 2014 to 2017 and now at Reason Magazine).
Senior Fellow, Claremont Institute
Daniel J. Mahoney is professor emeritus at Assumption University (where he taught from 1986 until 2021), Senior Fellow at the Claremont Institute, Senior Writer at Law and Liberty, and executive editor of Perspectives on Political Science. He has written extensively (in a dozen books and over 500 articles, essays, and reviews) on statesmanship, French political thought, the art and political thought of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, conservatism, religion and politics, and various themes in political philosophy. His book, The Statesman as Thinker: Portraits of Greatness, Courage, and Moderation was awarded the Palouci Prize for Conservative Book of the Year by ISI in 2023. His forthcoming book, The Persistence of the Ideological Lie: The Totalitarian Impulse Then and Now, will be published by Encounter Books in the spring of 2025. Mahoney has written for a wide range of academic and public journals from The Political Science Reviewer and Perspectives on Political Science to the Public Interest, the National Interest, First Things, National Review, the Claremont Review of Books, The New Criterion, Modern Age, Commentaire, La Nef, The European Conservative, and the Hungarian Review, among others. He has also edited and introduced the writings of Raymond Aron, Aurel Kolnai, Pierre Manent, Bertrand de Jouvenel, Joszef Cardinal Mindszenty, and the Nobel Laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (see the acclaimed The Solzhenitsyn Reader: New and Essential Writings, 1947-2005, published in 2006). His writings have been translated into thirteen languages including French, Italian, Hungarian, Romanian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Korean. In his scholarship and public writings, Mahoney vigorously defends a conservative-minded liberalism informed by classical and Christian wisdom and the best currents of moderate modernity, as well as the practical wisdom of the American Founders and public-spirited statesman such as Burke, Lincoln, Churchill, and de Gaulle. His public writings have taken eloquent and pointed aim at the totalitarian temptation in its various forms.
Chief Deputy Attorney General
Ryan Newman is currently Chief Deputy Attorney General for Florida Office of the Attorney General.
During the first Trump Administration, he served as Counselor to the United States Attorney General for national security and international affairs, Deputy General Counsel (Legal Counsel) for the Department of Defense, and Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy at the Department of Justice. Prior to serving in the Executive Branch, Ryan was Chief Counsel to United States Senator Ted Cruz during the 114th Congress.
Ryan served as a law clerk to the Honorable Samuel A. Alito, Jr. on the United States Supreme Court, the Honorable Richard J. Leon on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and the Honorable J.L. Edmondson on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Prior to law school, Ryan was an armor officer in the United States Army assigned to the 1st Squadron, 10th U.S. Cavalry Regiment (Buffalo Soldiers). He deployed to Iraq in 2003 for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Ryan graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1998. He earned his law degree with high honors from The University of Texas School of Law in 2007.
Senior Policy Analyst, Independent Women’s Forum
Inez Feltscher Stepman is a senior policy analyst at IWF and host of High Noon with Inez Stepman, a podcast that hosts conversations with heterodox thinkers on a variety of important cultural and political subjects. She has over a decade of experience in education policy, and also handles issues related to institutional capture and the definition of sex in law and culture.
She is a Lincoln Fellow with the Claremont Institute and a senior contributor to The Federalist. Her work has additionally appeared in outlets such as USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and New York Post, and she has made appearances on Fox News, PBS, CSPAN, and NPR.
Inez has a BA in Philosophy from the University of California, San Diego, and a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. She lives in New York City with her husband.
Co-Chair, Republican National Lawyers Association
Jennifer Bukowsky is a syndicated talk radio host, Co-Chair of the Republican National Lawyers Association, and Vice-Chair of the Missouri Republican Party.
An accomplished criminal defense attorney, Jennifer has handled more than 1,400 cases ranging from trespass to first-degree murder. She clerked for Missouri Supreme Court Judge Mary R. Russell, served as an Assistant Public Defender, and later built her own firm before launching Show-Me Defenders in 2021.
Her contributions have been widely recognized with awards including the David J. Dixon Appellate Advocacy Award, the President’s Service Award from the Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, the Distinguished Recent Alumni Award from the University of Missouri School of Law, and “20 Under 40” honors from the Columbia Business Times. She has helped shape Missouri law as a member of committees that revised the Criminal Code and drafted the state’s expungement bill—both now enacted.
A leader in conservative legal circles, Jennifer serves on the Missouri Supreme Court’s Task Force on Criminal Justice and the Show-Me Institute Board, previously taught the Innocence Clinic at Mizzou, and has deployed multiple times as an election attorney for the Republican National Lawyers Association.
A University of Missouri School of Law graduate with highest honors and Order of the Coif membership, she also holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accountancy and is a licensed CPA. She lives in Columbia, Missouri, with her husband and two sons.
Senior Legal Fellow, Pacific Legal Foundation
Steve Davis is a Senior Legal Fellow in Pacific Legal Foundation’s Constitutional Scholarship group and chair's the Federalist Society's Property Rights Practice Group Executive Committee. Steve’s work at PLF focuses on the study of the U.S. Constitution’s protection of property rights, and he plans and conducts Pacific Legal Foundation-sponsored conferences, symposia, and academic workshops on property rights issues and the Constitution. He enjoys pursuing constitutional scholarship research, writing, and speaking and is a frequent speaker at law and history seminars.
Prior to joining PLF, Steve litigated all stages of property rights cases in federal trial and appellate courts in private practice at large and small law firms. He filed property rights claims on behalf of hundreds of private property owners who own land in over a dozen states against the federal government, litigating those claims through trial and appeal. He also maintained a robust amicus-party practice in the U.S. Supreme Court, filing briefs on behalf of many legal scholars and public-interest groups.
Beginning in 2006, Steve served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, litigating civil rights, constitutional tort, tort, and employment discrimination claims in federal district court and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Following law school, Steve began his legal career pursing his passion for public policy and the legislative process in the Missouri legislature, where he served first as chief of staff to the minority leader of the Missouri House of Representatives and then was twice elected by the members of the House as the House’s 62nd Chief Clerk and Administrator.
Partner, Stinson LLP
Chuck draws on 25 years’ experience litigating and negotiating very high profile cases, primarily involving some sort of government action, to help offer clients a broad and insightful perspective on Missouri's government and judiciary.
In its annual 100+ List, The Missouri Times newspaper said: Chuck Hatfield's "time at the highest levels of state government have made him very sought after as an attorney in private practice. There is probably no attorney who knows more members of the judiciary and the executive branch in the state. He is also known for his quick wit on social media and willingness to take on tough cases." He has personally handled more than a dozen major cases before the Missouri Supreme Court. Chuck regularly appears before administrative agencies as well as trial and appellate courts at both the state and federal levels.
In his regulatory practice, Chuck has handled matters involving every department of Missouri government. As an outgrowth of his regulatory- based litigation, Chuck is a highly rated commercial litigator. He defends complex high-stakes litigation including class actions involving regulated industries such as securities, insurance and merchandising practices. He chairs the firm’s Financial Services and Class Action Litigation division and its Government Solutions group.
Chuck understands the importance of providing great legal service and value to his clients. As an attorney certified in Legal Project Management (LPM), he has been trained in matter budgeting and management in order to provide transparency and efficiency to his clients.
Earl F. Nelson Professor of Law, University of Missouri at Columbia School of Law
Gary Myers is the Earl F. Nelson Professor of Law at the School of Law. Myers received his juris doctor with honors from Duke University School of Law and graduated summa cum laudewith a bachelor’s degree in economics from New York University. He also earned an MA in economics from the Duke University Graduate School as part of a joint degree program while at Duke. Myers was an article editor on the Duke Law Journaland was a member of the Moot Court Board. After graduation, he served as a law clerk for Judge Gerald Tjoflat of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Jacksonville, Fla. He then practiced complex commercial litigation with the Atlanta law firm of Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy, which has since merged with the Bryan Cave law firm.
Before serving as the sixteenth dean at the School of Law from 2012 to 2016, Myers was a long-time member of the faculty at the University of Mississippi School of Law. At Mississippi, Myers held the Ray & Louise Stewart Lectureship and served as its first associate dean for research. Myers has been a visiting professor of law at the College of William & Mary School of Law and Tulane University School of Law. He also served as a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at the Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans.
Myers is an elected member of the American Law Institute, a member of the American Law and Economics Association, and a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association. He is the author or coauthor of a series of five books: (1) Intellectual Property: Cases & Materials (West 4th edition 2012); (2) Principles of Intellectual Property (West 2d edition 2012); (3) Entertainment Law: Cases & Materials (West 5th edition 2016); (4) Intellectual Property: Questions & Answers (LexisNexis 2d edition 2014); and (5) The Intersection of Intellectual Property & Antitrust Law (West 2007). He is also the author of more than a dozen articles, including publications in the Duke Law Journal, the Minnesota Law Review, the Washington & Lee Law Review, the Columbia-VLA Journal of Law & the Arts and the Journal of Intellectual Property Law.
Co-Chair, Republican National Lawyers Association
Jennifer Bukowsky is a syndicated talk radio host, Co-Chair of the Republican National Lawyers Association, and Vice-Chair of the Missouri Republican Party.
An accomplished criminal defense attorney, Jennifer has handled more than 1,400 cases ranging from trespass to first-degree murder. She clerked for Missouri Supreme Court Judge Mary R. Russell, served as an Assistant Public Defender, and later built her own firm before launching Show-Me Defenders in 2021.
Her contributions have been widely recognized with awards including the David J. Dixon Appellate Advocacy Award, the President’s Service Award from the Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, the Distinguished Recent Alumni Award from the University of Missouri School of Law, and “20 Under 40” honors from the Columbia Business Times. She has helped shape Missouri law as a member of committees that revised the Criminal Code and drafted the state’s expungement bill—both now enacted.
A leader in conservative legal circles, Jennifer serves on the Missouri Supreme Court’s Task Force on Criminal Justice and the Show-Me Institute Board, previously taught the Innocence Clinic at Mizzou, and has deployed multiple times as an election attorney for the Republican National Lawyers Association.
A University of Missouri School of Law graduate with highest honors and Order of the Coif membership, she also holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accountancy and is a licensed CPA. She lives in Columbia, Missouri, with her husband and two sons.
Senior Legal Fellow, Pacific Legal Foundation
Steve Davis is a Senior Legal Fellow in Pacific Legal Foundation’s Constitutional Scholarship group and chair's the Federalist Society's Property Rights Practice Group Executive Committee. Steve’s work at PLF focuses on the study of the U.S. Constitution’s protection of property rights, and he plans and conducts Pacific Legal Foundation-sponsored conferences, symposia, and academic workshops on property rights issues and the Constitution. He enjoys pursuing constitutional scholarship research, writing, and speaking and is a frequent speaker at law and history seminars.
Prior to joining PLF, Steve litigated all stages of property rights cases in federal trial and appellate courts in private practice at large and small law firms. He filed property rights claims on behalf of hundreds of private property owners who own land in over a dozen states against the federal government, litigating those claims through trial and appeal. He also maintained a robust amicus-party practice in the U.S. Supreme Court, filing briefs on behalf of many legal scholars and public-interest groups.
Beginning in 2006, Steve served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, litigating civil rights, constitutional tort, tort, and employment discrimination claims in federal district court and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Following law school, Steve began his legal career pursing his passion for public policy and the legislative process in the Missouri legislature, where he served first as chief of staff to the minority leader of the Missouri House of Representatives and then was twice elected by the members of the House as the House’s 62nd Chief Clerk and Administrator.
Partner, Stinson LLP
Chuck draws on 25 years’ experience litigating and negotiating very high profile cases, primarily involving some sort of government action, to help offer clients a broad and insightful perspective on Missouri's government and judiciary.
In its annual 100+ List, The Missouri Times newspaper said: Chuck Hatfield's "time at the highest levels of state government have made him very sought after as an attorney in private practice. There is probably no attorney who knows more members of the judiciary and the executive branch in the state. He is also known for his quick wit on social media and willingness to take on tough cases." He has personally handled more than a dozen major cases before the Missouri Supreme Court. Chuck regularly appears before administrative agencies as well as trial and appellate courts at both the state and federal levels.
In his regulatory practice, Chuck has handled matters involving every department of Missouri government. As an outgrowth of his regulatory- based litigation, Chuck is a highly rated commercial litigator. He defends complex high-stakes litigation including class actions involving regulated industries such as securities, insurance and merchandising practices. He chairs the firm’s Financial Services and Class Action Litigation division and its Government Solutions group.
Chuck understands the importance of providing great legal service and value to his clients. As an attorney certified in Legal Project Management (LPM), he has been trained in matter budgeting and management in order to provide transparency and efficiency to his clients.
Earl F. Nelson Professor of Law, University of Missouri at Columbia School of Law
Gary Myers is the Earl F. Nelson Professor of Law at the School of Law. Myers received his juris doctor with honors from Duke University School of Law and graduated summa cum laudewith a bachelor’s degree in economics from New York University. He also earned an MA in economics from the Duke University Graduate School as part of a joint degree program while at Duke. Myers was an article editor on the Duke Law Journaland was a member of the Moot Court Board. After graduation, he served as a law clerk for Judge Gerald Tjoflat of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Jacksonville, Fla. He then practiced complex commercial litigation with the Atlanta law firm of Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy, which has since merged with the Bryan Cave law firm.
Before serving as the sixteenth dean at the School of Law from 2012 to 2016, Myers was a long-time member of the faculty at the University of Mississippi School of Law. At Mississippi, Myers held the Ray & Louise Stewart Lectureship and served as its first associate dean for research. Myers has been a visiting professor of law at the College of William & Mary School of Law and Tulane University School of Law. He also served as a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at the Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans.
Myers is an elected member of the American Law Institute, a member of the American Law and Economics Association, and a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association. He is the author or coauthor of a series of five books: (1) Intellectual Property: Cases & Materials (West 4th edition 2012); (2) Principles of Intellectual Property (West 2d edition 2012); (3) Entertainment Law: Cases & Materials (West 5th edition 2016); (4) Intellectual Property: Questions & Answers (LexisNexis 2d edition 2014); and (5) The Intersection of Intellectual Property & Antitrust Law (West 2007). He is also the author of more than a dozen articles, including publications in the Duke Law Journal, the Minnesota Law Review, the Washington & Lee Law Review, the Columbia-VLA Journal of Law & the Arts and the Journal of Intellectual Property Law.
Solicitor General, State of Florida
Previously, David served as Senior Advisor to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Chief Deputy Attorney General of Idaho, and Solicitor General of Montana.
As an appointee of President Donald J. Trump, David served as the Principal Deputy General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Commerce, where he advised the Secretary on legal and policy matters implicating every corner of Commerce’s broad mandate. In this role, David worked closely with the White House to advance the President's agenda, and managed the Department’s expansive litigation portfolio. He also defended Department officials in Congressional investigations, and served as Commerce’s Regulatory Reform Officer and Chief Environmental Review Permitting Officer.
David clerked for Judge Lawrence VanDyke on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and helped create and lead the public interest litigation group at the Freedom Foundation, where he litigated constitutional, labor, and campaign finance cases before federal and state courts and administrative agencies.
David received his B.A. from Western Kentucky University. After a year teaching overseas, David earned his J.D. from The George Washington University Law School, where he served as symposium editor for the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy and President of the Federalist Society.
Chief Deputy Attorney General
Ryan Newman is currently Chief Deputy Attorney General for Florida Office of the Attorney General.
During the first Trump Administration, he served as Counselor to the United States Attorney General for national security and international affairs, Deputy General Counsel (Legal Counsel) for the Department of Defense, and Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy at the Department of Justice. Prior to serving in the Executive Branch, Ryan was Chief Counsel to United States Senator Ted Cruz during the 114th Congress.
Ryan served as a law clerk to the Honorable Samuel A. Alito, Jr. on the United States Supreme Court, the Honorable Richard J. Leon on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and the Honorable J.L. Edmondson on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Prior to law school, Ryan was an armor officer in the United States Army assigned to the 1st Squadron, 10th U.S. Cavalry Regiment (Buffalo Soldiers). He deployed to Iraq in 2003 for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Ryan graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1998. He earned his law degree with high honors from The University of Texas School of Law in 2007.
Professor of Law and the James Edgar Hervey '50 Chair of Litigation, UC Hastings Law
Professor Dorit Rubinstein Reiss’ received her undergraduate degree in Law and Political Science from the Faculty of Law in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and her Ph.D. from the Jurisprudence and Social Policy program in UC Berkeley, writing her dissertation on accountability in the liberalized telecommunications and electricity sectors in England, France and Sweden.
Professor Reiss’ initial research examined accountability of administrative agencies at the state, national and international level, using as case studies the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC), the FAA, and other agencies in the United States and Europe.
Her current research and activities focus on legal and policy issues related to vaccines. She writes about vaccines mandates, policy responses to non-vaccinating, tort issues and administrative issues related to vaccines, and the anti-vaccine movement.
Professor Reiss teaches torts, administrative law, public health law, and several seminars, and appreciates the opportunity to work with UC Hastings’ talented, hardworking body of students.
Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
ILYA SOMIN is Professor of Law at George Mason University and the B. Kenneth Simon Chair in Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute. His research focuses on constitutional law, property law, democratic theory, federalism, and migration rights. He is the author of Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom (Oxford University Press, revised and expanded edition, 2022), Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter (Stanford University Press, revised and expanded second edition, 2016), and The Grasping Hand: Kelo v. City of New London and the Limits of Eminent Domain (University of Chicago Press, 2015, rev. paperback ed., 2016), coauthor of A Conspiracy Against Obamacare: The Volokh Conspiracy and the Health Care Case (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), and co-editor of Eminent Domain: A Comparative Perspective (Cambridge University Press, 2017). Democracy and Political Ignorance has been translated into Italian and Japanese.
Somin’s work has appeared in numerous scholarly journals, including the Yale Law Journal, Stanford Law Review, Northwestern University Law Review, Georgetown Law Journal, Critical Review, and others. Somin has also published articles in a variety of popular press outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, CNN, NBC, The Atlantic, USA Today, Boston Globe, US News and World Report, South China Morning Post, National Law Journal and Reason. He has been quoted or interviewed by the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Time, Newsweek, The Economist, the Christian Science Monitor, the Financial Times, The Guardian, the Associated Press, CBS, MSNBC, NPR, BBC, Reuters, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Al Jazeera, and the Voice of America, among other media.
Somin’s writings have been cited in decisions by the United States Supreme Court, multiple state supreme courts and lower federal courts, and the Supreme Court of Israel. He is co-counsel for the plaintiffs in VOS Selections, Inc. v. Trump, a case challenging the constitutionality of President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs. Somin has testified on the use of drones for targeted killing in the War on Terror before the US Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights. In 2009, he testified on property rights issues at the United States Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Somin writes regularly for the popular Volokh Conspiracy law and politics blog, now affiliated with Reason magazine (previously affiliated with the Washington Post from 2014 to 2017). From 2006 to 2013, he served as Co-Editor of the Supreme Court Economic Review, one of the country’s top-rated law and economics journals.
Somin has served as a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He has also been a visiting professor or scholar at the Georgetown University Law Center, the University of Hamburg, Germany, the University of Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Uriel Reichman University in Israel, and Zhengzhou University in China. He is a University Affiliate of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, and an affiliated faculty member of the George Mason University Institute for Immigration Research. Before joining the faculty at George Mason, Somin was the John M. Olin Fellow in Law at Northwestern University Law School in 2002-2003. In 2001-2002, he clerked for the Hon. Judge Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Professor Somin earned his B.A., Summa Cum Laude, at Amherst College, M.A. in Political Science from Harvard University, and J.D. from Yale Law School.
Solicitor General, State of Florida
Previously, David served as Senior Advisor to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Chief Deputy Attorney General of Idaho, and Solicitor General of Montana.
As an appointee of President Donald J. Trump, David served as the Principal Deputy General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Commerce, where he advised the Secretary on legal and policy matters implicating every corner of Commerce’s broad mandate. In this role, David worked closely with the White House to advance the President's agenda, and managed the Department’s expansive litigation portfolio. He also defended Department officials in Congressional investigations, and served as Commerce’s Regulatory Reform Officer and Chief Environmental Review Permitting Officer.
David clerked for Judge Lawrence VanDyke on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and helped create and lead the public interest litigation group at the Freedom Foundation, where he litigated constitutional, labor, and campaign finance cases before federal and state courts and administrative agencies.
David received his B.A. from Western Kentucky University. After a year teaching overseas, David earned his J.D. from The George Washington University Law School, where he served as symposium editor for the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy and President of the Federalist Society.
Chief Deputy Attorney General
Ryan Newman is currently Chief Deputy Attorney General for Florida Office of the Attorney General.
During the first Trump Administration, he served as Counselor to the United States Attorney General for national security and international affairs, Deputy General Counsel (Legal Counsel) for the Department of Defense, and Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy at the Department of Justice. Prior to serving in the Executive Branch, Ryan was Chief Counsel to United States Senator Ted Cruz during the 114th Congress.
Ryan served as a law clerk to the Honorable Samuel A. Alito, Jr. on the United States Supreme Court, the Honorable Richard J. Leon on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and the Honorable J.L. Edmondson on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Prior to law school, Ryan was an armor officer in the United States Army assigned to the 1st Squadron, 10th U.S. Cavalry Regiment (Buffalo Soldiers). He deployed to Iraq in 2003 for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Ryan graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1998. He earned his law degree with high honors from The University of Texas School of Law in 2007.
Professor of Law and the James Edgar Hervey '50 Chair of Litigation, UC Hastings Law
Professor Dorit Rubinstein Reiss’ received her undergraduate degree in Law and Political Science from the Faculty of Law in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and her Ph.D. from the Jurisprudence and Social Policy program in UC Berkeley, writing her dissertation on accountability in the liberalized telecommunications and electricity sectors in England, France and Sweden.
Professor Reiss’ initial research examined accountability of administrative agencies at the state, national and international level, using as case studies the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC), the FAA, and other agencies in the United States and Europe.
Her current research and activities focus on legal and policy issues related to vaccines. She writes about vaccines mandates, policy responses to non-vaccinating, tort issues and administrative issues related to vaccines, and the anti-vaccine movement.
Professor Reiss teaches torts, administrative law, public health law, and several seminars, and appreciates the opportunity to work with UC Hastings’ talented, hardworking body of students.
Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
ILYA SOMIN is Professor of Law at George Mason University and the B. Kenneth Simon Chair in Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute. His research focuses on constitutional law, property law, democratic theory, federalism, and migration rights. He is the author of Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom (Oxford University Press, revised and expanded edition, 2022), Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter (Stanford University Press, revised and expanded second edition, 2016), and The Grasping Hand: Kelo v. City of New London and the Limits of Eminent Domain (University of Chicago Press, 2015, rev. paperback ed., 2016), coauthor of A Conspiracy Against Obamacare: The Volokh Conspiracy and the Health Care Case (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), and co-editor of Eminent Domain: A Comparative Perspective (Cambridge University Press, 2017). Democracy and Political Ignorance has been translated into Italian and Japanese.
Somin’s work has appeared in numerous scholarly journals, including the Yale Law Journal, Stanford Law Review, Northwestern University Law Review, Georgetown Law Journal, Critical Review, and others. Somin has also published articles in a variety of popular press outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, CNN, NBC, The Atlantic, USA Today, Boston Globe, US News and World Report, South China Morning Post, National Law Journal and Reason. He has been quoted or interviewed by the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Time, Newsweek, The Economist, the Christian Science Monitor, the Financial Times, The Guardian, the Associated Press, CBS, MSNBC, NPR, BBC, Reuters, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Al Jazeera, and the Voice of America, among other media.
Somin’s writings have been cited in decisions by the United States Supreme Court, multiple state supreme courts and lower federal courts, and the Supreme Court of Israel. He is co-counsel for the plaintiffs in VOS Selections, Inc. v. Trump, a case challenging the constitutionality of President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs. Somin has testified on the use of drones for targeted killing in the War on Terror before the US Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights. In 2009, he testified on property rights issues at the United States Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Somin writes regularly for the popular Volokh Conspiracy law and politics blog, now affiliated with Reason magazine (previously affiliated with the Washington Post from 2014 to 2017). From 2006 to 2013, he served as Co-Editor of the Supreme Court Economic Review, one of the country’s top-rated law and economics journals.
Somin has served as a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He has also been a visiting professor or scholar at the Georgetown University Law Center, the University of Hamburg, Germany, the University of Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Uriel Reichman University in Israel, and Zhengzhou University in China. He is a University Affiliate of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, and an affiliated faculty member of the George Mason University Institute for Immigration Research. Before joining the faculty at George Mason, Somin was the John M. Olin Fellow in Law at Northwestern University Law School in 2002-2003. In 2001-2002, he clerked for the Hon. Judge Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Professor Somin earned his B.A., Summa Cum Laude, at Amherst College, M.A. in Political Science from Harvard University, and J.D. from Yale Law School.
Patrick Hotung Professor of Constitutional Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Randy Barnett is the Patrick Hotung Professor of Constitutional Law at Georgetown University Law Center. He has argued before the United States Supreme Court, tried murder cases to juries as a prosecutor in Chicago, and appeared as a prosecutor in the feature film Inalienable. He is the author of numerous books, including Restoring the Lost Constitution, The Structure of Liberty, Our Republican Constitution, and The Original Meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment. He has published two memoirs, A Life for Liberty: The Making of an American Originalist, and Felony Review: Tales of True Crime and Corruption in Chicago. He is currently working on a new book, Freedom and Flourishing: Libertarianism for the Real World.
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.
Judge, United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
Judge Katsas was appointed to the D.C. Circuit in December 2017. He graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School, where he was an executive editor on the Harvard Law Review. Between 1989 and 1992, he served as a law clerk to Judge Edward Becker on the Third Circuit, to then-Judge Clarence Thomas on the D.C. Circuit, and to Justice Thomas on the Supreme Court. Between 1992 and 2001, he was an associate and then partner in the Washington office of Jones Day, where he specialized in appellate and complex civil litigation. Between 2001 and 2009, he served in many senior positions in the Department of Justice, including as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division and as Acting Associate Attorney General. In 2009, he returned to Jones Day. From January to December 2017, he served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Counsel to the President.
Before joining the bench, Judge Katsas argued more than 75 appeals, including three cases in the Supreme Court, 13 cases in the D.C. Circuit, and cases in every other federal court of appeals. By appointment of the Chief Justice, he served on the Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules from 2013 to 2017. In 2016, he was elected to membership in the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers.
Partner, Keller Postman
Ashley Keller is one of the founding Partners of Keller Postman LLC. An experienced trial and appellate lawyer, Ashley helps set strategic direction across virtually all of the firm’s cases. He represents clients in a wide variety of practice areas and types of claims, including product-liability, antitrust, class action, and arbitration matters.
Ashley is one of the leaders of Keller Postman’s national product-liability practice. He leverages his ability to detangle complex concepts and develop novel legal theories to support individual client matters and as counsel on numerous product-liability multidistrict litigation matters. He chairs the plaintiffs’ Law & Briefing Committee in the Zantac (Ranitidine) Product Liability MDL in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Ashley also litigates complex antitrust and class action matters. Among his notable cases, Ashley represents numerous States in antitrust litigation against Google for monopolizing products and services used by advertisers and publishers in online-display advertising.
Ashley also has played a central role in developing the firm’s pioneering arbitration practice, which includes pursuing individual arbitrations for clients whose claims are subject to arbitration clauses with class-action waivers. In part through managing the complexity of pursuing these individual claims simultaneously, the firm has secured millions in settlements for more than 500,000 employees and consumers.
Before launching Keller Postman, Ashley co-founded the litigation finance firm Gerchen Keller Capital, which grew to more than $1.3 billion in assets under management and was the world’s largest private investment manager focused on legal and regulatory risk prior to being acquired by Burford Capital in 2016.
Previously, Ashley was a partner at Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP, The American Lawyer’s litigation boutique of the year. While there, he handled various trial and appellate matters involving multi-billion-dollar securities and patent cases, contract disputes, mass torts, and class actions.
Ashley also worked as an analyst at Alyeska Investment Group, a Chicago-based market-neutral hedge fund, where he focused on investments in companies facing litigation and other complicated regulatory matters.
Ashley was named a 2021 Plaintiffs’ Lawyers Trailblazer by the National Law Journal. He is also listed on Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Lawyers in America, Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers, Lawdragon’s Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers, National Trial Lawyers’ Top 100, and Illinois Super Lawyers.
Ashley was a law clerk for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy at the Supreme Court of the United States and Judge Richard Posner at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College, received his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and received his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, where he graduated first in his class.
Professor of Law, Herbert and Marjorie Fried Teaching Scholar, University of Chicago Law School
Genevieve Lakier’s research explores the connections between culture and law. She is currently engaged in a long-term project exploring the cultural history of the First Amendment, and another project exploring the changing role of the state in the regulation of sex.
Genevieve has an AB from Princeton University, a JD from New York University School of Law, and an MA and PhD in anthropology from the University of Chicago. Between 2006 and 2008, she was an Academy Scholar at the Weatherhead Center for International and Area Studies at Harvard University. After law school, she clerked for Judge Leonard B. Sand of the Southern District of New York and Judge Martha C. Daughtrey of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Before joining the faculty, Genevieve taught at the Law School as a Bigelow Fellow and Lecturer in Law.