Principal, DeGroot Legal
Mr. DeGroot represents businesses in complex litigation, focusing on licensing, insurance, intellectual property, contract disputes, and toxic torts. He has experience in cases involving fraud, breach of contract, unfair competition, patents, business torts, mergers and acquisitions, creditors’ rights, and bankruptcy. He has extensive experience in all aspects of civil litigation, both in federal and state courts, including prejudgment remedies, discovery, trial, appeals, arbitration and mediation.
Mr. DeGroot works with clients in a variety of industries, including financial institutions, insurance, software, construction, semiconductors, and real estate.
Senior Judge, United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
Circuit Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 1986. After receiving his B.S. from Cornell University in 1970, and his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 1973, he clerked on the D.C. Circuit and for Justice Thurgood Marshall on the United States Supreme Court. Thereafter, Judge Ginsburg was a professor at the Harvard Law School, the Deputy Assistant and then Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, as well as the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget. Concurrent with his service as a federal judge, Judge Ginsburg has taught at the University of Chicago Law School and the New York University School of Law. Judge Ginsburg is currently a Professor of Law at the George Mason University and a visiting professor at University College London, Faculty of Laws.
Judge Ginsburg is the Chairman of the International Advisory Board of the Global Antitrust Institute at the Law and Economics Center of the George Mason University School of Law. He also serves on the Advisory Boards of: Competition Policy International; the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy; the Journal of Competition Law and Economics; the Journal of Law, Economics & Policy; the Supreme Court Economic Review; the University of Chicago Law Review; the New York University Journal of Law and Liberty; and, at University College London, both the Centre for Law, Economics and Society and the Jevons Institute for Competition Law and Economics.
In 2020, Judge Ginsburg was the 11th recipient of the John Sherman Award, presented by the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice in recognition of the awardee’s Lifetime Contributions to Antitrust Law and Policy.
In 2014, Judge Ginsburg received the Lifetime Achievement Award given annually by the Global Competition Review.
He is the author or co-author of several books and more than 100 articles on competition and regulation, including, most recently, Growing Convergence: The Limited Role of Antitrust in Standard Essential Patent Disputes, in CPI Antitrust Chronicle, Summer 2021, Vol. 1, No. 2.
Clinical Co-Director and Senior Fellow, Berkman Center for Inter, Harvard Law School
Phil Malone is a Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and the Director of the Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic at the Berkman Center. Phil joined the Center in September, 2004 as a co-director of the Clinical Program; in the years since, he and his clinical colleagues have built the Clinic into one of the leading entities of its kind in the country.
Phil came to the Berkman Center after a little over 20 years as a federal prosecutor with theAntitrust Divisionof the U.S. Department of Justice, where he directed numerous civil and criminal investigations and prosecutions. Most of his DOJ experience over the past 10 years focused on high-technology industries, the Internet and computer software and hardware. Beginning in 1996 Phil was lead counsel in the DOJ's investigations of Microsoft, and he was the primary career counsel, along with outside counsel David Boies, in the trial ofU.S. v. Microsoft Corp.(D.D.C). Before leaving the Justice Department he was one of the lead lawyers in the government's antitrust case against Oracle Corp. Phil first became involved with the Berkman Center during the 2001-2003 academic years when he was the Victor H. Kramer Fellow at HLS. His research then focused on legal approaches to encouraging and preserving innovation in high-tech industries, evolving competition policy in the computer industry, and the use of technology in discovery and litigation.
Phil graduated long ago fromHarvard Collegeand the University of Arizona College of Law. When he is not at the Berkman Center he can often be found around Harvard'sQuincy House, where he and his wife Luci are resident tutors and kids Celia and Zulie are resident entertainment.
Partner, Rule Garza Howley LLP
Rick began his career in the 1980s in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, becoming the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Division from 1986-89 – the youngest person ever to be confirmed by the Senate to that position. Over the last 30+ years since leaving the Division, Rick has led the antitrust practices at several leading D.C. and New York firms including Covington & Burling and Paul, Weiss.
During his time in private practice, Rick has represented major multi-national companies and executives in virtually every industry – from, among others, agricultural and animal health (Monsanto, Elanco) to energy (ExxonMobil) to defense contractors (Northrop Grumman, United Technologies) to professional sports (NFL, NBA, MLB) to technology platforms (Microsoft, Nuance) to pharmaceutical manufacturers (Eli Lilly, Pfizer) to health insurers (Cigna). (For a complete list of industry experience, click here.)
Rick has represented his clients before the Antitrust Division, the Federal Trade Commission, State Attorneys General and major foreign antitrust regulators in connection with many of the most notable merger investigations, including Exxon’s merger with Mobil, US Airways’ merger with American Airlines, and Cigna’s acquisition of Express Scripts. At the same time, Rick has represented clients in some of most prominent government investigations of the last quarter century, including leading the team that settled the Government’s monopolization case against Microsoft and defending international companies and executives in major antitrust criminal investigations.
For four decades, Rick has been at the forefront of antitrust law and is uniquely capable of advising clients on the antitrust regulatory environment affecting the way they do business globally. As agencies and rules have evolved, he has helped clients to understand the dynamic legal framework, to assess the legal risk and rewards associated with a range of competitive strategies, and to work with government bodies to take advantage of, and ensure appropriate compliance with, the regulations governing the clients’ chosen strategy.
Principal, DeGroot Legal
Mr. DeGroot represents businesses in complex litigation, focusing on licensing, insurance, intellectual property, contract disputes, and toxic torts. He has experience in cases involving fraud, breach of contract, unfair competition, patents, business torts, mergers and acquisitions, creditors’ rights, and bankruptcy. He has extensive experience in all aspects of civil litigation, both in federal and state courts, including prejudgment remedies, discovery, trial, appeals, arbitration and mediation.
Mr. DeGroot works with clients in a variety of industries, including financial institutions, insurance, software, construction, semiconductors, and real estate.
Senior Judge, United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
Circuit Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 1986. After receiving his B.S. from Cornell University in 1970, and his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 1973, he clerked on the D.C. Circuit and for Justice Thurgood Marshall on the United States Supreme Court. Thereafter, Judge Ginsburg was a professor at the Harvard Law School, the Deputy Assistant and then Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, as well as the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget. Concurrent with his service as a federal judge, Judge Ginsburg has taught at the University of Chicago Law School and the New York University School of Law. Judge Ginsburg is currently a Professor of Law at the George Mason University and a visiting professor at University College London, Faculty of Laws.
Judge Ginsburg is the Chairman of the International Advisory Board of the Global Antitrust Institute at the Law and Economics Center of the George Mason University School of Law. He also serves on the Advisory Boards of: Competition Policy International; the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy; the Journal of Competition Law and Economics; the Journal of Law, Economics & Policy; the Supreme Court Economic Review; the University of Chicago Law Review; the New York University Journal of Law and Liberty; and, at University College London, both the Centre for Law, Economics and Society and the Jevons Institute for Competition Law and Economics.
In 2020, Judge Ginsburg was the 11th recipient of the John Sherman Award, presented by the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice in recognition of the awardee’s Lifetime Contributions to Antitrust Law and Policy.
In 2014, Judge Ginsburg received the Lifetime Achievement Award given annually by the Global Competition Review.
He is the author or co-author of several books and more than 100 articles on competition and regulation, including, most recently, Growing Convergence: The Limited Role of Antitrust in Standard Essential Patent Disputes, in CPI Antitrust Chronicle, Summer 2021, Vol. 1, No. 2.
Clinical Co-Director and Senior Fellow, Berkman Center for Inter, Harvard Law School
Phil Malone is a Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and the Director of the Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic at the Berkman Center. Phil joined the Center in September, 2004 as a co-director of the Clinical Program; in the years since, he and his clinical colleagues have built the Clinic into one of the leading entities of its kind in the country.
Phil came to the Berkman Center after a little over 20 years as a federal prosecutor with theAntitrust Divisionof the U.S. Department of Justice, where he directed numerous civil and criminal investigations and prosecutions. Most of his DOJ experience over the past 10 years focused on high-technology industries, the Internet and computer software and hardware. Beginning in 1996 Phil was lead counsel in the DOJ's investigations of Microsoft, and he was the primary career counsel, along with outside counsel David Boies, in the trial ofU.S. v. Microsoft Corp.(D.D.C). Before leaving the Justice Department he was one of the lead lawyers in the government's antitrust case against Oracle Corp. Phil first became involved with the Berkman Center during the 2001-2003 academic years when he was the Victor H. Kramer Fellow at HLS. His research then focused on legal approaches to encouraging and preserving innovation in high-tech industries, evolving competition policy in the computer industry, and the use of technology in discovery and litigation.
Phil graduated long ago fromHarvard Collegeand the University of Arizona College of Law. When he is not at the Berkman Center he can often be found around Harvard'sQuincy House, where he and his wife Luci are resident tutors and kids Celia and Zulie are resident entertainment.
Partner, Rule Garza Howley LLP
Rick began his career in the 1980s in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, becoming the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Division from 1986-89 – the youngest person ever to be confirmed by the Senate to that position. Over the last 30+ years since leaving the Division, Rick has led the antitrust practices at several leading D.C. and New York firms including Covington & Burling and Paul, Weiss.
During his time in private practice, Rick has represented major multi-national companies and executives in virtually every industry – from, among others, agricultural and animal health (Monsanto, Elanco) to energy (ExxonMobil) to defense contractors (Northrop Grumman, United Technologies) to professional sports (NFL, NBA, MLB) to technology platforms (Microsoft, Nuance) to pharmaceutical manufacturers (Eli Lilly, Pfizer) to health insurers (Cigna). (For a complete list of industry experience, click here.)
Rick has represented his clients before the Antitrust Division, the Federal Trade Commission, State Attorneys General and major foreign antitrust regulators in connection with many of the most notable merger investigations, including Exxon’s merger with Mobil, US Airways’ merger with American Airlines, and Cigna’s acquisition of Express Scripts. At the same time, Rick has represented clients in some of most prominent government investigations of the last quarter century, including leading the team that settled the Government’s monopolization case against Microsoft and defending international companies and executives in major antitrust criminal investigations.
For four decades, Rick has been at the forefront of antitrust law and is uniquely capable of advising clients on the antitrust regulatory environment affecting the way they do business globally. As agencies and rules have evolved, he has helped clients to understand the dynamic legal framework, to assess the legal risk and rewards associated with a range of competitive strategies, and to work with government bodies to take advantage of, and ensure appropriate compliance with, the regulations governing the clients’ chosen strategy.
Professor, Dale E. Fowler School of Law, Chapman University
Professor Bell joined the faculty of Fowler School of Law in 1998. Professor Bell specializes in high-tech legal issues and has written a variety of works on intellectual property and Internet law, including the book, Intellectual Privilege: Copyright, Common Law, and the Common Good (2014). He received his Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School in 1993, where he served both as a member of the University of Chicago Law Review and as Articles Editor and cofounder of the University of Chicago Legal Roundtable. After graduating from law school, Professor Bell joined the Silicon Valley law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. He entered teaching in 1995, when he became an Assistant Professor of Law in the Law and Technology Program at the University of Dayton School of Law. During a one year leave of absence from that school, and just prior to joining the Fowler School of Law faculty, he served as Director of Telecommunications and Technology Studies at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. Professor Bell joined the faculty of Fowler School of Law in 1998. In addition to writing a steady stream of scholarly works, Professor Bell has appeared on or been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, CNN, Economist, Los Angeles Times, and many other news sources, and starred in several online videos addressing timely legal issues.
Assistant Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School
Robin Effron teaches civil procedure and business law courses. Her articles on complex litigation have been published in several law reviews. Fluent in German, she spent an academic year in Germany as a fellow in the D.A.A.D. Program for International Lawyers and worked with attorneys in the legal department of a large investment bank to research questions of German and U.S. law. She also edits the Civil Procedure and Federal Courts Blog for the Law Professors Blog Network.
Prior to joining Brooklyn Law School's faculty, Professor Effron served as a Bigelow Fellow and Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago Law School. She also served as a law clerk to Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. In law school, she was articles editor on the NYU Law Review.
Assistant Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School
Minor Myers joined the faculty at Brooklyn Law School after serving as a visiting assistant professor of law at the school from 2007 to 2009, teaching corporate law and property. His research interests include corporate law and local government law, and his most recent scholarship addresses the decisions of corporate special litigation committees.
Previously, Professor Myers was in private practice in the corporate and litigation departments at Debevoise & Plimpton in New York. Following law school, he clerked for Judge Peter W. Hall and then Judge Ralph K. Winter of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
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).
WFFC Distinguished Chair, Spring Arbor University; Counselor of the Ministry & President Emeritus, Salt & Light Global; Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Western Michigan University Cooley Law School
Following distinguished service as a federal judge and tenured university professor, William Wagner dedicated his life to full-time ministry. Now holding the rank of Distinguished Professor Emeritus, he is the Founder and President Emeritus of Salt & Light Global. He currently holds the WFFC Distinguished Chair for Faith & Freedom at Spring Arbor University.
Seasoning the public dialog with Truth, Wagner fights to protect free expression, religious conscience, and good governance under the rule of law. A frequent speaker at world conferences, his writing is published in a number of articles, books, and other publications, including an Amazon national best seller (#1in its category). As lead amicus counsel in many matters before the United States Supreme Court, he authored briefs on behalf of various organizations. He also authored written testimony, evidence, and briefs in such forums as the Swedish Supreme Court, the U.S. Congress, and the U.K. Parliament. He has further addressed many executive, legislative, parliamentary, and judicial audiences throughout the world, and presented at various diplomatic forums including the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
As a Federal Judge, Wagner adjudicated cases arising under the Constitution and laws of the United States. Prior to his appointment on the federal bench, he served as the chief American diplomat for the Department of Justice at an American Embassy in Africa. There he led a diplomatic mission charged with strengthening good governance and the rule of law.
During his career in public service, he provided international assistance to the justice sector institutions of numerous countries on five continents. Professor Wagner also served as Senior Assistant United States Attorney, litigating hundreds of federal cases and serving as chief of appellate litigation for the Office of the United States Attorney. Professor Wagner served as legal counsel in the United States Senate and as chief counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee of the Michigan legislature. Most recently he served as Senior Advisor for Global Criminal Justice at the Department of State.
Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law and Director, Classical Liberal Institute, New York University School of Law; Director, Classical Liberal Institute, Civitas Institute University of Texas at Austin
Richard A. Epstein is the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law, at New York University, a senior research fellow at the Civitas Institute at the University of Texas Austin, and a senior Lecturer, the University of Chicago. He received an LL.D., h.c . from the University of Ghent, 2003 , and an LLD h.c . from the University of Siegen in 2018 and the Bradley Prize in 2011. He has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1985. He has edited both the Journal of Legal Studies (1981-1991) and the Journal of Law and Economics (1991-2001). He is also a founder and director of the Classical Liberal Institute at NYU Law School. His most recent book is The Classical Liberal Constitution: The Uncertain Quest for Limited Government (2014). His other books include Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain ( 1985); Bargaining with the State (1993); Simple Rules for a Complex World (1995); Principles for a Free Society: Reconciling Individual Liberty and the Common Good (1998); Skepticism and Freedom: A Modern Theory of Classical Liberalism (2003); Design for Liberty: Private Property, Public Administration and the Rule of Law (2011), and most recently, The Myth of Birthright citizenship—and Beyond (2026). He has taught courses in , administrative law, antitrust, constitutional, contracts, environmental law, land use planning; real property, torts and water law. He has written and spoken extensively on a wide range of topics, and is writes a regular column for Defining Ideas.
Assistant Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School
William H. Rehnquist Professor of Law, Pepperdine University School of Law
Professor Nelson joined the Pepperdine faculty in 2007 as the William H. Rehnquist Professor of Law. Before coming to Pepperdine, Professor Nelson was on the faculty at UCLA School of Law since 1991 and taught Real Estate Finance, Advanced Real Estate Transactions, Property, Land Use Regulation, and Remedies. He was the recipient of the UCLA School of Law's Rutter Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2000 and the UCLA University's Distinguished Teaching Award in 2002. UCLA Law graduates selected him as "Professor of the Year" in 2004, 2005 and 2007.
He was the co-reporter for the American Law Institute's Restatement of Property (Third)--Mortgages (1997), served on the Law School Editorial Advisory Board of the West Publishing Company, and as a commissioner of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws.
While in law school, Professor Nelson was an editor on the Minnesota Law Review. After serving as an officer in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam era, he practiced real estate finance at Faegre and Benson, a large Minneapolis law firm. He taught at the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law for twenty-four years, where he was the Enoch H. Crowder & Earl F. Nelson Professor of Law and was elected Outstanding Professor by three classes. He was also Professor of the Year at two other law schools where he was visiting.
Professor Nelson has published many books and articles on real estate finance law, property, and remedies, the most recent of which include: Real Estate Finance Law(with Dale A. Whitman), 5th ed. West Publishing (2007); Contemporary Property (with W. Stoebuck and Dale A. Whitman), 3rd ed. West Publishing (2008); and Real Estate Transfer, Finance and Development (with Dale A. Whitman, Ann Burkhart & Wilson Freyermuth), 8th ed. West Group (2009).
DeMuth Chair of Business Law, University of Colorado Law School
Andrew A. Schwartz joined the Colorado Law faculty in 2008 and was promoted to full professor in 2017. He teaches and publishes on corporate, securities and contract law, and has become an internationally recognized expert on investment crowdfunding. In 2017, Professor Schwartz served as a Fulbright Research Scholar and visiting professor at the University of Auckland Law School in New Zealand.
Professor Schwartz earned an Sc.B. in Civil Engineering from Brown University and a J.D. from Columbia University, where he served on the Columbia Law Review and was named a James Kent Scholar (top honors) all three years. Before entering academia, he clerked for Judge William A. Fletcher of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Following his clerkships, Professor Schwartz practiced corporate law in New York at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.
Professor Schwartz is the author of one book, Investment Crowdfunding, forthcoming from the Oxford University Press, as well as more than forty scholarly publications. His major articles have appeared in leading flagship law reviews including the UCLA Law Review, Minnesota Law Review, and Notre Dame Law Review, top specialty journals such as the Yale Journal on Regulation and Harvard Business Law Review, and peer-reviewed journals like the New Zealand Law Review.
Professor Schwartz has won numerous national awards for his scholarship, including the AALS Scholarly Paper Competition and the Federalist Society Young Legal Scholars Paper Competition. At Colorado Law, Professor Schwartz has received the Provost's Award for Faculty Achievement, the Gilbert Goldstein Faculty Fellowship, and the Outstanding New Faculty Award. His research is frequently cited and relied upon by courts and commentators across the country and around the world, including numerous citations by the Delaware Court of Chancery, the nation's leading venue for corporate law.
Professor of Law, Brigham Young University
Professor Paul Stancil joined the Brigham Young University law faculty in 2014. Prior to this, Professor Stancil was a professor at Illinois University College of Law and a shareholder at Godfrey & Kahn, S.C. (Milwaukee), where his practice focused on antitrust and trade regulation matters. Professor Stancil teaches Antitrust Law, Civil Procedure, Public Choice Theory, and Mergers & Acquisitions.
Professor Stancil has broad research interests in law and economics, antitrust law, civil procedure, and public choice theory. He specializes in analyzing the complex incentives that motivate individuals and groups in both the creation and application of law. Professor Stancil has written on the legitimacy of statutory interpretation by courts and the economic incentives facing parties in civil and criminal litigation; he has also written articles exploring the influence of interest groups in various aspects of the political process. Professor Stancil’s research strives to connect a rich theoretical account of law and lawmaking with the complex and often messy dynamics of the real world. He is particularly interested in the role transaction costs play in motivating real-world individual and group behavior.
Professor Stancil’s articles have appeared in the Virginia Law Review, the William & Mary Law Review, the Cardozo Law Review, and the Baylor Law Review, among others.
Professor Stancil earned his B.A. in economics and Spanish from the University of Virginia and graduated Order of the Coif from the University of Virginia School of Law. After law school graduation, Professor Stancil worked for Baker Botts (Houston) and another small Texas firm as an antitrust and litigation associate before leaving to help start an antitrust practice group at Godfrey & Kahn.
Visiting Professor, Case Western Reserve University School of Law
Robert E. Wagner is a Visiting Professor at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Before his appointment, Professor Wagner served as a member of the Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps of the U.S. Air Force for five years. He last held the position of Chief of Military Justice of the Little Rock Air Force Base and was in charge of all the criminal prosecutions on the base. He currently teaches Criminal Procedure, Business Associations, and the White Collar Crime research seminar. His scholarship has appeared in the University of Cincinnati Law Review and Nexus: Chapman's Journal of Law and Policy (symposium edition).
Assistant Professor of Law, University of Wisconsin Law School
Professor Yackee's research centers on international investment law, international economic relations, foreign arbitration, and administrative law and politics. He teaches Contracts, International Investment Law, International Arbitration, and International Business Transactions.
Professor Yackee graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa fromUniversity of Pittsburgh, earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science (International Relations) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and earned a J.D., summa cum laude and Order of the Coif, from Duke University School of Law where he was an editor for the Duke Law Journal. He has also studied French and European law at L'Universite Pantheon-Assas (Paris-2).
Professor Yackee has published articles in a variety of peer-reviewed social science journals, student-edited law reviews, and edited volumes, including volumes published by the Cambridge and Oxford University Presses. His latest article,"Do Bilateral Investment Treaties Promote Foreign Direct Investment? Some Hints from Alternative Evidence?", is forthcoming in the Virginia Journal of International Law, one of the most influential student-edited law reviews in its field.
Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law and Director, Classical Liberal Institute, New York University School of Law; Director, Classical Liberal Institute, Civitas Institute University of Texas at Austin
Richard A. Epstein is the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law, at New York University, a senior research fellow at the Civitas Institute at the University of Texas Austin, and a senior Lecturer, the University of Chicago. He received an LL.D., h.c . from the University of Ghent, 2003 , and an LLD h.c . from the University of Siegen in 2018 and the Bradley Prize in 2011. He has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1985. He has edited both the Journal of Legal Studies (1981-1991) and the Journal of Law and Economics (1991-2001). He is also a founder and director of the Classical Liberal Institute at NYU Law School. His most recent book is The Classical Liberal Constitution: The Uncertain Quest for Limited Government (2014). His other books include Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain ( 1985); Bargaining with the State (1993); Simple Rules for a Complex World (1995); Principles for a Free Society: Reconciling Individual Liberty and the Common Good (1998); Skepticism and Freedom: A Modern Theory of Classical Liberalism (2003); Design for Liberty: Private Property, Public Administration and the Rule of Law (2011), and most recently, The Myth of Birthright citizenship—and Beyond (2026). He has taught courses in , administrative law, antitrust, constitutional, contracts, environmental law, land use planning; real property, torts and water law. He has written and spoken extensively on a wide range of topics, and is writes a regular column for Defining Ideas.
Assistant Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School
William H. Rehnquist Professor of Law, Pepperdine University School of Law
Professor Nelson joined the Pepperdine faculty in 2007 as the William H. Rehnquist Professor of Law. Before coming to Pepperdine, Professor Nelson was on the faculty at UCLA School of Law since 1991 and taught Real Estate Finance, Advanced Real Estate Transactions, Property, Land Use Regulation, and Remedies. He was the recipient of the UCLA School of Law's Rutter Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2000 and the UCLA University's Distinguished Teaching Award in 2002. UCLA Law graduates selected him as "Professor of the Year" in 2004, 2005 and 2007.
He was the co-reporter for the American Law Institute's Restatement of Property (Third)--Mortgages (1997), served on the Law School Editorial Advisory Board of the West Publishing Company, and as a commissioner of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws.
While in law school, Professor Nelson was an editor on the Minnesota Law Review. After serving as an officer in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam era, he practiced real estate finance at Faegre and Benson, a large Minneapolis law firm. He taught at the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law for twenty-four years, where he was the Enoch H. Crowder & Earl F. Nelson Professor of Law and was elected Outstanding Professor by three classes. He was also Professor of the Year at two other law schools where he was visiting.
Professor Nelson has published many books and articles on real estate finance law, property, and remedies, the most recent of which include: Real Estate Finance Law(with Dale A. Whitman), 5th ed. West Publishing (2007); Contemporary Property (with W. Stoebuck and Dale A. Whitman), 3rd ed. West Publishing (2008); and Real Estate Transfer, Finance and Development (with Dale A. Whitman, Ann Burkhart & Wilson Freyermuth), 8th ed. West Group (2009).
DeMuth Chair of Business Law, University of Colorado Law School
Andrew A. Schwartz joined the Colorado Law faculty in 2008 and was promoted to full professor in 2017. He teaches and publishes on corporate, securities and contract law, and has become an internationally recognized expert on investment crowdfunding. In 2017, Professor Schwartz served as a Fulbright Research Scholar and visiting professor at the University of Auckland Law School in New Zealand.
Professor Schwartz earned an Sc.B. in Civil Engineering from Brown University and a J.D. from Columbia University, where he served on the Columbia Law Review and was named a James Kent Scholar (top honors) all three years. Before entering academia, he clerked for Judge William A. Fletcher of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Following his clerkships, Professor Schwartz practiced corporate law in New York at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.
Professor Schwartz is the author of one book, Investment Crowdfunding, forthcoming from the Oxford University Press, as well as more than forty scholarly publications. His major articles have appeared in leading flagship law reviews including the UCLA Law Review, Minnesota Law Review, and Notre Dame Law Review, top specialty journals such as the Yale Journal on Regulation and Harvard Business Law Review, and peer-reviewed journals like the New Zealand Law Review.
Professor Schwartz has won numerous national awards for his scholarship, including the AALS Scholarly Paper Competition and the Federalist Society Young Legal Scholars Paper Competition. At Colorado Law, Professor Schwartz has received the Provost's Award for Faculty Achievement, the Gilbert Goldstein Faculty Fellowship, and the Outstanding New Faculty Award. His research is frequently cited and relied upon by courts and commentators across the country and around the world, including numerous citations by the Delaware Court of Chancery, the nation's leading venue for corporate law.
Professor of Law, Brigham Young University
Professor Paul Stancil joined the Brigham Young University law faculty in 2014. Prior to this, Professor Stancil was a professor at Illinois University College of Law and a shareholder at Godfrey & Kahn, S.C. (Milwaukee), where his practice focused on antitrust and trade regulation matters. Professor Stancil teaches Antitrust Law, Civil Procedure, Public Choice Theory, and Mergers & Acquisitions.
Professor Stancil has broad research interests in law and economics, antitrust law, civil procedure, and public choice theory. He specializes in analyzing the complex incentives that motivate individuals and groups in both the creation and application of law. Professor Stancil has written on the legitimacy of statutory interpretation by courts and the economic incentives facing parties in civil and criminal litigation; he has also written articles exploring the influence of interest groups in various aspects of the political process. Professor Stancil’s research strives to connect a rich theoretical account of law and lawmaking with the complex and often messy dynamics of the real world. He is particularly interested in the role transaction costs play in motivating real-world individual and group behavior.
Professor Stancil’s articles have appeared in the Virginia Law Review, the William & Mary Law Review, the Cardozo Law Review, and the Baylor Law Review, among others.
Professor Stancil earned his B.A. in economics and Spanish from the University of Virginia and graduated Order of the Coif from the University of Virginia School of Law. After law school graduation, Professor Stancil worked for Baker Botts (Houston) and another small Texas firm as an antitrust and litigation associate before leaving to help start an antitrust practice group at Godfrey & Kahn.
Visiting Professor, Case Western Reserve University School of Law
Robert E. Wagner is a Visiting Professor at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Before his appointment, Professor Wagner served as a member of the Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps of the U.S. Air Force for five years. He last held the position of Chief of Military Justice of the Little Rock Air Force Base and was in charge of all the criminal prosecutions on the base. He currently teaches Criminal Procedure, Business Associations, and the White Collar Crime research seminar. His scholarship has appeared in the University of Cincinnati Law Review and Nexus: Chapman's Journal of Law and Policy (symposium edition).
Assistant Professor of Law, University of Wisconsin Law School
Professor Yackee's research centers on international investment law, international economic relations, foreign arbitration, and administrative law and politics. He teaches Contracts, International Investment Law, International Arbitration, and International Business Transactions.
Professor Yackee graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa fromUniversity of Pittsburgh, earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science (International Relations) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and earned a J.D., summa cum laude and Order of the Coif, from Duke University School of Law where he was an editor for the Duke Law Journal. He has also studied French and European law at L'Universite Pantheon-Assas (Paris-2).
Professor Yackee has published articles in a variety of peer-reviewed social science journals, student-edited law reviews, and edited volumes, including volumes published by the Cambridge and Oxford University Presses. His latest article,"Do Bilateral Investment Treaties Promote Foreign Direct Investment? Some Hints from Alternative Evidence?", is forthcoming in the Virginia Journal of International Law, one of the most influential student-edited law reviews in its field.
Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission
Paul S. Atkins was sworn into office as the 34th Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 21, 2025, after being nominated by President Donald J. Trump on January 20, 2025, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 9, 2025.
Prior to returning to the SEC, Chairman Atkins was most recently chief executive of Patomak Global Partners, a company he founded in 2009. Chairman Atkins helped lead efforts to develop best practices for the digital asset sector. He served as an independent director and non-executive chairman of the board of BATS Global Markets, Inc. from 2012 to 2015.
Chairman Atkins was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as a Commissioner of the SEC from 2002 to 2008. During his tenure, he advocated for transparency, consistency, and the use of cost-benefit analysis at the agency. Chairman Atkins also represented the SEC at meetings of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets and the U.S.-EU Transatlantic Economic Council. From 2009 to 2010, he was appointed a member of the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Before serving as an SEC Commissioner, Chairman Atkins was a consultant on securities and investment management industry matters, especially regarding issues of strategy, regulatory compliance, risk management, new product development, and organizational control.
From 1990 to 1994, Chairman Atkins served on the staff of two chairmen of the SEC, Richard C. Breeden and Arthur Levitt, ultimately as chief of staff and counselor, respectively. He received the SEC’s 1992 Law and Policy Award for work regarding corporate governance matters.
Chairman Atkins began his career as a lawyer in New York, focusing on a wide range of corporate transactions for U.S. and foreign clients, including public and private securities offerings and mergers and acquisitions. He was resident for 2½ years in his firm's Paris office and admitted as conseil juridique in France.
A member of the New York and Florida bars, Chairman Atkins received his J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1983 and was Senior Student Writing Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review. He received his A.B., Phi Beta Kappa, from Wofford College in 1980.
Originally from Lillington, North Carolina, Chairman Atkins grew up in Tampa, Florida. He and his wife Sarah have three sons.
Ruby R. Vale Professor of Corporate and Business Law, Widener University School of Law
Lawrence A. Hamermesh is the Ruby R. Vale Professor of Corporate and Business Law at Widener's Delaware campus and former Director of the Widener Institute of Delaware Corporate and Business Law. Professor Hamermesh received a B.A. from Haverford College in 1973, and a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1976.
Following graduation from law school, Professor Hamermesh worked as Associate Attorney with Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell in Wilmington, Delaware, from 1976-84, and was a partner at Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell from 1985-94.
Professor Hamermesh joined the faculty at Widener in 1994 as Associate Professor of Law. Professor Hamermesh is admitted to practice in Delaware, and he teaches and writes in the areas of Corporate Finance, Mergers and Acquisitions, Securities Regulation, Business Organizations, Corporate Takeovers, and Professional Responsibility.
Professor Hamermesh was elected in 1999 as a member of the American Law Institute. Since 1995 he has been a member of the Corporation Law Council of the Corporation Law Section of the Delaware State Bar Association, which is responsible for the annual review and modernization of the Delaware General Corporation Law, and was Chair of the Council from 2002-2004.
In 2001, Professor Hamermesh was elected as a member of the Corporate Laws Committee of the American Bar Association Business Law Section, which supervises the drafting and revision of the Model Business Corporation Act. Professor Hamermesh is also a member of the Board of Directors of ACLU Delaware, Inc., and the national board of directors of the ACLU.
Professor Hamermesh has been active in a number of professional and civic organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union Delaware (President since 1996-2003) and Delaware Volunteer Legal Services, Inc. (Treasurer and Director from 1992 to 2000). In 2002-2003, Professor Hamermesh served as the Reporter for the American Bar Association Task Force on Corporate Responsibility.
Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law
Jeffrey P. Mahoney joined the Council of Institutional Investors ("Council") in 2006 as General Counsel. As General Counsel, Mahoney responsibilities include advocating the Council's membership approved policies before standard setters, regulators, Members of Congress, and other policy makers. Prior to joining the Council, Mahoney was Counsel to the Chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB"). Since 1996, he served FASB and, its parent entity, the Financial Accounting Foundation, in a variety of research, technical and administrative matters and was primarily responsible for the FASB's Washington, DC liaison activities. Prior to joining the FASB, Mahoney was a corporate/securities lawyer at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, a law clerk to the Honorable James G. Exum, Jr., Chief Justice, of the North Carolina Supreme Court, and an auditor at Arthur Andersen LLP.
Mahoney holds a J.D. degree, served on the North Carolina Law Review, and was named to the Order of the Coif. He also holds a B.B.A. degree and an A.A. degree. He is a member of the District of Columbia and North Carolina Bar Associations. He also is a certified public accountant in North Carolina and Michigan and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Mahoney is currently a member and was the initial Co-Chair of the FASB's Investors Technical Advisory Committee, Vice Chair of the Investor Rights Committee of the Corporation, Finance, and Securities Law Section of the DC Bar, a member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's Standing Advisory Group, and a member of the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Hearing Panel. Mahoney holds a J.D. degree and served on the North Carolina Law Review. He also holds a B.B.A. degree and an A.A. degree. He is a member of the District of Columbia and North Carolina Bar Associations. He also is a certified public accountant in North Carolina and Michigan and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Mahoney is currently the Co-Chair of the FASB's Investor Technical Advisory Committee, Vice Chair of the Investor Rights Committee of the Corporation, Finance, and Securities Law Section of the DC Bar, a member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's Standing Advisory Group, and a member of the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Hearing Panel.
Deputy Director, AFL-CIO Office of Investment
Senior Vice President, Policy and Governance, Apache Corporation
SARAH B. TESLIK was appointed senior vice president - Policy and Governance in October 2006.
Prior to joining the Company, she was chief executive officer of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. from November 2004 to October 2006, and executive director of the Council of Institutional Directors from July 1988 to October 2004.
Ms. Teslik holds a bachelor's degree from Whitman College, a master's degree from Oxford University, and a juris doctorate from Georgetown University.
Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission
Paul S. Atkins was sworn into office as the 34th Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 21, 2025, after being nominated by President Donald J. Trump on January 20, 2025, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 9, 2025.
Prior to returning to the SEC, Chairman Atkins was most recently chief executive of Patomak Global Partners, a company he founded in 2009. Chairman Atkins helped lead efforts to develop best practices for the digital asset sector. He served as an independent director and non-executive chairman of the board of BATS Global Markets, Inc. from 2012 to 2015.
Chairman Atkins was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as a Commissioner of the SEC from 2002 to 2008. During his tenure, he advocated for transparency, consistency, and the use of cost-benefit analysis at the agency. Chairman Atkins also represented the SEC at meetings of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets and the U.S.-EU Transatlantic Economic Council. From 2009 to 2010, he was appointed a member of the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Before serving as an SEC Commissioner, Chairman Atkins was a consultant on securities and investment management industry matters, especially regarding issues of strategy, regulatory compliance, risk management, new product development, and organizational control.
From 1990 to 1994, Chairman Atkins served on the staff of two chairmen of the SEC, Richard C. Breeden and Arthur Levitt, ultimately as chief of staff and counselor, respectively. He received the SEC’s 1992 Law and Policy Award for work regarding corporate governance matters.
Chairman Atkins began his career as a lawyer in New York, focusing on a wide range of corporate transactions for U.S. and foreign clients, including public and private securities offerings and mergers and acquisitions. He was resident for 2½ years in his firm's Paris office and admitted as conseil juridique in France.
A member of the New York and Florida bars, Chairman Atkins received his J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1983 and was Senior Student Writing Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review. He received his A.B., Phi Beta Kappa, from Wofford College in 1980.
Originally from Lillington, North Carolina, Chairman Atkins grew up in Tampa, Florida. He and his wife Sarah have three sons.
Ruby R. Vale Professor of Corporate and Business Law, Widener University School of Law
Lawrence A. Hamermesh is the Ruby R. Vale Professor of Corporate and Business Law at Widener's Delaware campus and former Director of the Widener Institute of Delaware Corporate and Business Law. Professor Hamermesh received a B.A. from Haverford College in 1973, and a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1976.
Following graduation from law school, Professor Hamermesh worked as Associate Attorney with Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell in Wilmington, Delaware, from 1976-84, and was a partner at Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell from 1985-94.
Professor Hamermesh joined the faculty at Widener in 1994 as Associate Professor of Law. Professor Hamermesh is admitted to practice in Delaware, and he teaches and writes in the areas of Corporate Finance, Mergers and Acquisitions, Securities Regulation, Business Organizations, Corporate Takeovers, and Professional Responsibility.
Professor Hamermesh was elected in 1999 as a member of the American Law Institute. Since 1995 he has been a member of the Corporation Law Council of the Corporation Law Section of the Delaware State Bar Association, which is responsible for the annual review and modernization of the Delaware General Corporation Law, and was Chair of the Council from 2002-2004.
In 2001, Professor Hamermesh was elected as a member of the Corporate Laws Committee of the American Bar Association Business Law Section, which supervises the drafting and revision of the Model Business Corporation Act. Professor Hamermesh is also a member of the Board of Directors of ACLU Delaware, Inc., and the national board of directors of the ACLU.
Professor Hamermesh has been active in a number of professional and civic organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union Delaware (President since 1996-2003) and Delaware Volunteer Legal Services, Inc. (Treasurer and Director from 1992 to 2000). In 2002-2003, Professor Hamermesh served as the Reporter for the American Bar Association Task Force on Corporate Responsibility.
Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law
Jeffrey P. Mahoney joined the Council of Institutional Investors ("Council") in 2006 as General Counsel. As General Counsel, Mahoney responsibilities include advocating the Council's membership approved policies before standard setters, regulators, Members of Congress, and other policy makers. Prior to joining the Council, Mahoney was Counsel to the Chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB"). Since 1996, he served FASB and, its parent entity, the Financial Accounting Foundation, in a variety of research, technical and administrative matters and was primarily responsible for the FASB's Washington, DC liaison activities. Prior to joining the FASB, Mahoney was a corporate/securities lawyer at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, a law clerk to the Honorable James G. Exum, Jr., Chief Justice, of the North Carolina Supreme Court, and an auditor at Arthur Andersen LLP.
Mahoney holds a J.D. degree, served on the North Carolina Law Review, and was named to the Order of the Coif. He also holds a B.B.A. degree and an A.A. degree. He is a member of the District of Columbia and North Carolina Bar Associations. He also is a certified public accountant in North Carolina and Michigan and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Mahoney is currently a member and was the initial Co-Chair of the FASB's Investors Technical Advisory Committee, Vice Chair of the Investor Rights Committee of the Corporation, Finance, and Securities Law Section of the DC Bar, a member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's Standing Advisory Group, and a member of the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Hearing Panel. Mahoney holds a J.D. degree and served on the North Carolina Law Review. He also holds a B.B.A. degree and an A.A. degree. He is a member of the District of Columbia and North Carolina Bar Associations. He also is a certified public accountant in North Carolina and Michigan and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Mahoney is currently the Co-Chair of the FASB's Investor Technical Advisory Committee, Vice Chair of the Investor Rights Committee of the Corporation, Finance, and Securities Law Section of the DC Bar, a member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's Standing Advisory Group, and a member of the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Hearing Panel.
Deputy Director, AFL-CIO Office of Investment
Senior Vice President, Policy and Governance, Apache Corporation
SARAH B. TESLIK was appointed senior vice president - Policy and Governance in October 2006.
Prior to joining the Company, she was chief executive officer of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. from November 2004 to October 2006, and executive director of the Council of Institutional Directors from July 1988 to October 2004.
Ms. Teslik holds a bachelor's degree from Whitman College, a master's degree from Oxford University, and a juris doctorate from Georgetown University.
Attorney, Spiro Moss LLP
Mr. Leviant is a civil litigation attorney with over 11 years of experience (10 as an attorney) handling complex and class action matters. Over the last five years, Mr. Leviant litigated class actions at several large plaintiffs' firms. Before that, Mr. Leviant worked at the small civil litigation firm Stanbury & Fishelman, Inc., where he handled increasingly sophisticated matters, including complex commercial litigations, class actions, appellate matters and civil trials.
Mr. Leviant has obtained several published appellate decisions, including Ghazaryan v. Diva Limousine, Ltd. 169 Cal. App. 4th 1524 (2009), which reversed a denial of class certification and obtained an Order of the Court of Appeal directing certification of the proposed class, Laliberte v. Pacific Mercantile Bank, 147 Cal. App. 4th 1 (2007), which reversed an adverse trial court ruling and reaffirmed the expansive nature of the “community of interest” concept in California class actions, andJohnson v. Glaxosmithkline, Inc., 166 Cal. App. 4th 1497 (2008), as modified (October 14, 2008), rev. denied, which reversed an adverse trial court ruling and questioned the rationale and viability of Alvarez v. May Dept. Stores Co., 143 Cal. App. 4th 1223 (2006).
Mr. Leviant is also the founder, primary author and Editor-in-Chief of The Complex Litigator, a legal blog focusing on developments in the areas of class action practice, complex litigation, and technology for small firms. In addition to his blog, Mr. Leviant has authored or co-authored various published articles.
Mr. Leviant is in his third year of service on the Board of Governors for the Consumer Attorneys of California.
Mr. Leviant is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth and Ninth Circuits, the United States District Courts for the Central, Southern and Northern Districts of California and all California Courts.
Mr. Leviant received his undergraduate degree from Occidental College. Graduating cum laude, Mr. Leviant majored in economics and received a “minor” emphasis in mathematics. Along with his study of economics and mathematics, he also had an emphasis in physics. This combination of scientific and economic education has been of assistance during his litigation of complex civil actions. Mr. Leviant received his law degree from the University of Southern California Law Center.
University of San Diego School of Law
Former San Diego Superior Court Judge
Hon. Michael B. Orfield (Ret.) was a jurist for 20 years, mostly as a civil independent calendar judge. His experience and expertise as a civil judge spread widely across such diverse areas as catastrophic personal injury, medical and legal malpractice, product and construction defects, breach of warranties, easements, breach of contract, wrongful death and a variety of business disputes. His strength as a mediator "...comes from being able to call upon a broad plain of knowledge, coupled with an attention to detail, empathy for the participants, and a conviction that the resolution should be their own."
Judge Orfield retired as a member of the statewide Continuing Judicial Education Committee, and still has a passion for teaching. He currently teaches "Trying the Complicated Case: From Trial Readiness to Verdict" as well as the LexisNexis Jury Instruction computer program for both civil and criminal jury instructions. He has also taught "Leading Organizational Change" as well as the week long "Civil Overview for Judges".
Judge Orfield was appointed by Chief Justice Ronald George to the original Task Force on Civil Jury Instructions and then to the Advisory Committee on Civil Jury Instructions. Justice George also appointed him a member of the prestigious Judicial Council of the State of California. Judge Orfield has served as a member of the Judicial Council Presiding Judges and Court Executives Advisory Committee and the Judicial Needs Advisory Committee.
Judge Orfield has served on the Board of the San Diego Humane Society and chaired the North County "Bridging the Gap" program for new lawyers. Before transferring to the Vista Courthouse, he co-moderated the San Diego County Bar Association Bridging the Gap program.
In 1972, Judge Orfield earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from the University of California at San Diego, and obtained his law degree from California Western School of Law in 1977. Judge Orfield also completed one year of graduate study in Microbiology and Immunology at Duke University in 1974.
Partner, Horvitz & Levy LLP
Jeremy Rosen is nationally renowned for his proficiency in numerous issues arising under the First Amendment and California’s anti-SLAPP law. Using that knowledge, Jeremy has helped a wide variety of clients – including churches, private businesses, and individuals – defeat lawsuits that seek to impose liability on clients for exercising their rights of petition, free speech, and free exercise of religion. He has also handled hundreds of appeals in numerous appellate courts, including the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the California Supreme Court, and California’s intermediate appellate courts. In addition to First Amendment and anti-SLAPP cases, his cases have involved numerous important issues regarding anti-trust, class actions, wage and hour law, employment law, breach of contract, California’s Unfair Competition Law, CEQA, the enforceability of arbitration clauses, hospital peer review, the scope of public employee whistleblower protection, and the application of the primary assumption of risk doctrine.
Jeremy is a partner at the firm, which he joined in 2001. He is a California State Bar Certified Appellate Specialist and a member of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers.
Jeremy directed the Pepperdine University School of Law Ninth Circuit Appellate Advocacy Clinic for 6 years. The Clinic represents individuals in the Ninth Circuit who are identified by the court as needing pro bono counsel. Jeremy also previously served a three-year term where he was appointed by the Ninth Circuit to serve as one of 18 appellate lawyer representatives to the court.
Jeremy is a member of the National Chamber Litigation Center’s California Litigation Advisory Committee. Before joining the firm, Jeremy was a Litigation Associate with Munger, Tolles & Olson.
Partner, Morrison & Foerster LLP
Attorney, Spiro Moss LLP
Mr. Leviant is a civil litigation attorney with over 11 years of experience (10 as an attorney) handling complex and class action matters. Over the last five years, Mr. Leviant litigated class actions at several large plaintiffs' firms. Before that, Mr. Leviant worked at the small civil litigation firm Stanbury & Fishelman, Inc., where he handled increasingly sophisticated matters, including complex commercial litigations, class actions, appellate matters and civil trials.
Mr. Leviant has obtained several published appellate decisions, including Ghazaryan v. Diva Limousine, Ltd. 169 Cal. App. 4th 1524 (2009), which reversed a denial of class certification and obtained an Order of the Court of Appeal directing certification of the proposed class, Laliberte v. Pacific Mercantile Bank, 147 Cal. App. 4th 1 (2007), which reversed an adverse trial court ruling and reaffirmed the expansive nature of the “community of interest” concept in California class actions, andJohnson v. Glaxosmithkline, Inc., 166 Cal. App. 4th 1497 (2008), as modified (October 14, 2008), rev. denied, which reversed an adverse trial court ruling and questioned the rationale and viability of Alvarez v. May Dept. Stores Co., 143 Cal. App. 4th 1223 (2006).
Mr. Leviant is also the founder, primary author and Editor-in-Chief of The Complex Litigator, a legal blog focusing on developments in the areas of class action practice, complex litigation, and technology for small firms. In addition to his blog, Mr. Leviant has authored or co-authored various published articles.
Mr. Leviant is in his third year of service on the Board of Governors for the Consumer Attorneys of California.
Mr. Leviant is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth and Ninth Circuits, the United States District Courts for the Central, Southern and Northern Districts of California and all California Courts.
Mr. Leviant received his undergraduate degree from Occidental College. Graduating cum laude, Mr. Leviant majored in economics and received a “minor” emphasis in mathematics. Along with his study of economics and mathematics, he also had an emphasis in physics. This combination of scientific and economic education has been of assistance during his litigation of complex civil actions. Mr. Leviant received his law degree from the University of Southern California Law Center.
University of San Diego School of Law
Former San Diego Superior Court Judge
Hon. Michael B. Orfield (Ret.) was a jurist for 20 years, mostly as a civil independent calendar judge. His experience and expertise as a civil judge spread widely across such diverse areas as catastrophic personal injury, medical and legal malpractice, product and construction defects, breach of warranties, easements, breach of contract, wrongful death and a variety of business disputes. His strength as a mediator "...comes from being able to call upon a broad plain of knowledge, coupled with an attention to detail, empathy for the participants, and a conviction that the resolution should be their own."
Judge Orfield retired as a member of the statewide Continuing Judicial Education Committee, and still has a passion for teaching. He currently teaches "Trying the Complicated Case: From Trial Readiness to Verdict" as well as the LexisNexis Jury Instruction computer program for both civil and criminal jury instructions. He has also taught "Leading Organizational Change" as well as the week long "Civil Overview for Judges".
Judge Orfield was appointed by Chief Justice Ronald George to the original Task Force on Civil Jury Instructions and then to the Advisory Committee on Civil Jury Instructions. Justice George also appointed him a member of the prestigious Judicial Council of the State of California. Judge Orfield has served as a member of the Judicial Council Presiding Judges and Court Executives Advisory Committee and the Judicial Needs Advisory Committee.
Judge Orfield has served on the Board of the San Diego Humane Society and chaired the North County "Bridging the Gap" program for new lawyers. Before transferring to the Vista Courthouse, he co-moderated the San Diego County Bar Association Bridging the Gap program.
In 1972, Judge Orfield earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from the University of California at San Diego, and obtained his law degree from California Western School of Law in 1977. Judge Orfield also completed one year of graduate study in Microbiology and Immunology at Duke University in 1974.
Partner, Horvitz & Levy LLP
Jeremy Rosen is nationally renowned for his proficiency in numerous issues arising under the First Amendment and California’s anti-SLAPP law. Using that knowledge, Jeremy has helped a wide variety of clients – including churches, private businesses, and individuals – defeat lawsuits that seek to impose liability on clients for exercising their rights of petition, free speech, and free exercise of religion. He has also handled hundreds of appeals in numerous appellate courts, including the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the California Supreme Court, and California’s intermediate appellate courts. In addition to First Amendment and anti-SLAPP cases, his cases have involved numerous important issues regarding anti-trust, class actions, wage and hour law, employment law, breach of contract, California’s Unfair Competition Law, CEQA, the enforceability of arbitration clauses, hospital peer review, the scope of public employee whistleblower protection, and the application of the primary assumption of risk doctrine.
Jeremy is a partner at the firm, which he joined in 2001. He is a California State Bar Certified Appellate Specialist and a member of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers.
Jeremy directed the Pepperdine University School of Law Ninth Circuit Appellate Advocacy Clinic for 6 years. The Clinic represents individuals in the Ninth Circuit who are identified by the court as needing pro bono counsel. Jeremy also previously served a three-year term where he was appointed by the Ninth Circuit to serve as one of 18 appellate lawyer representatives to the court.
Jeremy is a member of the National Chamber Litigation Center’s California Litigation Advisory Committee. Before joining the firm, Jeremy was a Litigation Associate with Munger, Tolles & Olson.
Partner, Morrison & Foerster LLP
President, Precursor LLC and Chairman, NetCompetition.org
Partner, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC
Susan Creighton is co-chair of the firm's antitrust practice. Susan's practice focuses on merger review, government conduct investigations, and antitrust litigation and counseling. Representative matters include serving as lead outside counsel for Google in the Federal Trade Commission's search investigation of the company, and representing Netflix in connection with the Justice Department's investigation of the proposed Comcast/TWC merger.
Susan was named "Lawyer of the Year" by Global Competition Review in 2013, and was one of The National Law Journal's "Outstanding Women Lawyers" in 2015. She has testified before the Antitrust Modernization Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Senate on antitrust-related issues. She also has written a number of widely cited articles, including on issues related to mergers, intellectual property, and unilateral conduct.
From 2003 through the end of 2005, Susan served at the Federal Trade Commission as Director of the Bureau of Competition. From 2001 to 2003, she served as Deputy Director of the Bureau. Prior to joining the FTC, Susan wrote the white paper for Netscape that is credited with triggering the Department of Justice's investigation and eventual suit against Microsoft for illegal monopolization.
Susan has served in a variety of leadership roles within the firm, including on the board of directors.
Prior to joining the firm, she was a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. She also served as a law clerk to Federal District Judge Pamela Ann Rymer.
Vice President of Legal Services Outsourcing, CPA Global
President and Founder, International Center for Law & Economics
Geoffrey A. Manne is the president and founder of the International Center for Law and Economics (ICLE), a nonprofit, nonpartisan research center based in Portland, Oregon. He is also a distinguished fellow at Northwestern Law School’s Searle Center on Law, Regulation, & Economic Growth. In April 2017 he was appointed by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to the FCC’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee, and he recently served for two years on the FCC’s Consumer Advisory Committee.
Mr. Manne earned his JD and AB degrees from the University of Chicago and is an expert in the economic analysis of law, specializing in competition, telecommunications, consumer protection, intellectual property, and technology policy.
Prior to founding ICLE, Manne was a law professor at Lewis & Clark Law School. From 2006-2009, he took a leave from teaching to develop Microsoft’s law and economics academic outreach program. Manne has also served as a lecturer in law at the University of Chicago Law School and the University of Virginia School of Law. He practiced antitrust law and appellate litigation at Latham & Watkins, clerked for Hon. Morris S. Arnold on the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, and worked as a research assistant for Judge Richard Posner. He was also once (very briefly) employed by the FTC.
Mr. Manne’s publications have appeared in numerous journals including the Journal of Competition Law and Economics, the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology, the Supreme Court Economic Review, and the Arizona Law Review, among others. With former FTC Commissioner, Joshua Wright, Manne is the editor of a volume from Cambridge University Press entitled, Competition Policy and Intellectual Property Law Under Uncertainty: Regulating Innovation. Manne has also testified on several occasions before Congress and at the FCC and FTC, and he regularly files written comments and amicus briefs on key antitrust, IP, and telecommunications issues. His analysis is frequently published in popular print and broadcasting outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Wired, Foreign Affairs, NPR, and Bloomberg, among others.
Manne is a member of the American Law and Economics Association, the Canadian Law and Economics Association, and the Society for Institutional & Organizational Economics. He blogs at Truth on the Market (www.truthonthemarket.com) (of which he is also the co-founder), is a contributor at WIRED, and tweets at @geoffmanne. His scholarly publications are available at http://ssrn.com/author=175541.
Partner, Rule Garza Howley LLP
Rick began his career in the 1980s in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, becoming the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Division from 1986-89 – the youngest person ever to be confirmed by the Senate to that position. Over the last 30+ years since leaving the Division, Rick has led the antitrust practices at several leading D.C. and New York firms including Covington & Burling and Paul, Weiss.
During his time in private practice, Rick has represented major multi-national companies and executives in virtually every industry – from, among others, agricultural and animal health (Monsanto, Elanco) to energy (ExxonMobil) to defense contractors (Northrop Grumman, United Technologies) to professional sports (NFL, NBA, MLB) to technology platforms (Microsoft, Nuance) to pharmaceutical manufacturers (Eli Lilly, Pfizer) to health insurers (Cigna). (For a complete list of industry experience, click here.)
Rick has represented his clients before the Antitrust Division, the Federal Trade Commission, State Attorneys General and major foreign antitrust regulators in connection with many of the most notable merger investigations, including Exxon’s merger with Mobil, US Airways’ merger with American Airlines, and Cigna’s acquisition of Express Scripts. At the same time, Rick has represented clients in some of most prominent government investigations of the last quarter century, including leading the team that settled the Government’s monopolization case against Microsoft and defending international companies and executives in major antitrust criminal investigations.
For four decades, Rick has been at the forefront of antitrust law and is uniquely capable of advising clients on the antitrust regulatory environment affecting the way they do business globally. As agencies and rules have evolved, he has helped clients to understand the dynamic legal framework, to assess the legal risk and rewards associated with a range of competitive strategies, and to work with government bodies to take advantage of, and ensure appropriate compliance with, the regulations governing the clients’ chosen strategy.
U.S. v. Microsoft, 10 Years Later: Who Won, Who Lost, and Did It Matter?
David DeGroot, Douglas H. Ginsburg, Phil Malone, Charles "Rick" Rule
San Francisco Lawyers Chapter
Ten years ago, Microsoft dominated the personal computer market with its ever-expanding operating system. Today,...
U.S. v. Microsoft, 10 Years Later: Who Won, Who Lost, and Did It Matter?
David DeGroot, Douglas H. Ginsburg, Phil Malone, Charles "Rick" Rule
San Francisco Lawyers Chapter
Ten years ago, Microsoft dominated the personal computer market with its ever-expanding operating system. Today,...
Seven-Minute Presentations of Works in Progress
Thomas W. Bell, Robin Effron, Minor Myers, Eugene Volokh, William Robert Wagner
13th Annual Faculty Conference
Prof. Tom W. Bell, Chapman University School of Law, "Libertarian—but not Originalist!—Constitutionalism" Prof. Robin Effron, Brooklyn...
Young Legal Scholars Paper Presentations
Richard A. Epstein, Rebecca Kysar, Grant S. Nelson, Andrew A. Schwartz, Paul J. Stancil, Robert Wagner, Jason Yackee
13th Annual Faculty Conference
Prof. Rebecca Kysar, Brooklyn Law School, "Lasting Legislation" Prof. Andrew Schwartz, University of Colorado Law...
Young Legal Scholars Paper Presentations
Richard A. Epstein, Rebecca Kysar, Grant S. Nelson, Andrew A. Schwartz, Paul J. Stancil, Robert Wagner, Jason Yackee
13th Annual Faculty Conference
Prof. Rebecca Kysar, Brooklyn Law School, "Lasting Legislation" Prof. Andrew Schwartz, University of Colorado Law...
Corporations: The Creeping Federalization of Corporate Governance Law: The Dodd-Frank Bill
Paul S. Atkins, Lawrence A. Hamermesh, Jeffrey P. Mahoney, Brandon Rees, Sarah B. Teslik
2010 National Lawyers Convention
Hon. Paul S. Atkins, Managing Director, Patomak Partners and former Commissioner, U.S. Securities & Exchange...
Corporations: The Creeping Federalization of Corporate Governance Law: The Dodd-Frank Bill
Paul S. Atkins, Lawrence A. Hamermesh, Jeffrey P. Mahoney, Brandon Rees, Sarah B. Teslik
2010 National Lawyers Convention
Hon. Paul S. Atkins, Managing Director, Patomak Partners and former Commissioner, U.S. Securities & Exchange...
California’s 17200 – Its Use and Abuse
Scott Leviant, Shaun P. Martin, Michael Orfield, Jeremy B. Rosen, William L. Stern, Adam Van Susteren
San Diego Lawyers Chapter and State Courts
Prop 64, also known as California 17200, was adopted by initiative in 2004 and was...
California’s 17200 – Its Use and Abuse
Scott Leviant, Shaun P. Martin, Michael Orfield, Jeremy B. Rosen, William L. Stern, Adam Van Susteren
San Diego Lawyers Chapter and State Courts
Prop 64, also known as California 17200, was adopted by initiative in 2004 and was...
Is Google Monopolizing Something, and If So, What?
Scott Cleland, Susan Creighton, Montgomery N. Kosma, Geoffrey A. Manne, Charles "Rick" Rule
Corporations, Securities and Antitrust Practice Group
Last June, Christine Varney, then a lawyer in private practice, now President Obama's nominee to...