President and CEO, The Buckeye Institute
Robert Alt is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Buckeye Institute where he has catalyzed exponential growth since he took the organization’s helm in 2012. He has since founded Buckeye’s renowned Economic Research Center and established its impactful Legal Center.
Alt is a distinguished scholar and attorney with particular expertise in legal policy, criminal justice, national security, and constitutional law. He previously worked for former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese III, regularly provides commentary on television and radio programs, and his writings have appeared in countless outlets.
In 2004, Alt spent five months in Iraq as an embedded war correspondent.
Alt has testified before Congress multiple times—including at the confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan—the Federal Election Commission regarding matters of constitutional and administrative law, and numerous state legislatures.
Alt serves as an officer on the boards of The Philadelphia Society and the Federalist Society’s Columbus Lawyers Chapter. He taught national security law, criminal law, and legislation at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, as well as constitutional law and political parties and interest groups at Ashland University.
Alt earned his Doctor of Law degree from The University of Chicago Law School, where he was Symposium Editor and the winner of the Mulroy Prize for Excellence in Appellate Advocacy as well as research assistant to Professor Richard Epstein. Following law school, he clerked for Judge Alice Batchelder on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Alt graduated with his Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and political science magna cum laude from Azusa Pacific University where he also won the Outstanding Senior Award in Political Science.
Alt is an accomplished high-altitude alpinist and endurance athlete who has successfully climbed 6.75 of the famed Seven Summits of the World including Mount Everest. He is the creator of PROFOUND CLIMBING™ and a frequent speaker across the country and around the world on legal and public policy topics as well as effective leadership, management, decision-making, and teamwork in contexts ranging from extraordinary life/death situations to ordinary professional/business settings.
Carter C. Kissell Professor of Law, The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law
In law school, Professor Hébert served as editor-in-chief of the Kansas Law Review and was elected to Order of the Coif. Following graduation from law school, she clerked for Judge James K. Logan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and practiced labor and employment law, representing management, for five years with Spencer, Fane, Britt, and Browne in Kansas City, Mo.
Professor Hébert has published a number of law review articles on employment discrimination, sexual harassment, employee privacy, and alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Her treatise Employee Privacy Lawwas published in 1993 and is supplemented annually.
Professor Hébert makes frequent presentations to academic and professional audiences on issues of sexual harassment and employee privacy, including genetic testing and electronic surveillance. Professor Hébert served as Chair of the Employment Discrimination Section of the Association of American Law Schools in 1998. She currently serves as a member of the Workplace Mediation Advisory Committee of the State of Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management.
From 1997 to 2000, Professor Hébert served as associate dean for academic affairs at the Moritz College of Law. Professor Hébert is a member of the Associated Graduate Faculty of the Department of Womens Studies at Ohio State. Professor Hébert’s courses include Employment Discrimination Law, Employment Law, Employee Benefits,Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Workplace, Legal Writing and Analysis, and a Sexual Harassment seminar. She taught Comparative Employment Discrimination and Comparative Dispute Resolution during the Oxford semester program in 2010.
Vice President and Legal Director, National Right to Work Legal Defense and Education Foundation, Inc.
William Messenger is Foundation Vice President and Legal Director. He was a staff attorney for over twenty years and, during that time, represented individuals in numerous cases that sought to expand worker freedom of choice. This includes acting as lead counsel in three cases before the United States Supreme Court. In 2018, Messenger argued Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, where the Supreme Court held it violates the First Amendment for governments and unions to compel individuals to financially support unions and their speech. Originally from Youngstown Ohio, Messenger attended Ohio University as an undergraduate and then the George Washington University School of Law.
President and CEO, The Buckeye Institute
Robert Alt is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Buckeye Institute where he has catalyzed exponential growth since he took the organization’s helm in 2012. He has since founded Buckeye’s renowned Economic Research Center and established its impactful Legal Center.
Alt is a distinguished scholar and attorney with particular expertise in legal policy, criminal justice, national security, and constitutional law. He previously worked for former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese III, regularly provides commentary on television and radio programs, and his writings have appeared in countless outlets.
In 2004, Alt spent five months in Iraq as an embedded war correspondent.
Alt has testified before Congress multiple times—including at the confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan—the Federal Election Commission regarding matters of constitutional and administrative law, and numerous state legislatures.
Alt serves as an officer on the boards of The Philadelphia Society and the Federalist Society’s Columbus Lawyers Chapter. He taught national security law, criminal law, and legislation at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, as well as constitutional law and political parties and interest groups at Ashland University.
Alt earned his Doctor of Law degree from The University of Chicago Law School, where he was Symposium Editor and the winner of the Mulroy Prize for Excellence in Appellate Advocacy as well as research assistant to Professor Richard Epstein. Following law school, he clerked for Judge Alice Batchelder on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Alt graduated with his Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and political science magna cum laude from Azusa Pacific University where he also won the Outstanding Senior Award in Political Science.
Alt is an accomplished high-altitude alpinist and endurance athlete who has successfully climbed 6.75 of the famed Seven Summits of the World including Mount Everest. He is the creator of PROFOUND CLIMBING™ and a frequent speaker across the country and around the world on legal and public policy topics as well as effective leadership, management, decision-making, and teamwork in contexts ranging from extraordinary life/death situations to ordinary professional/business settings.
Carter C. Kissell Professor of Law, The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law
In law school, Professor Hébert served as editor-in-chief of the Kansas Law Review and was elected to Order of the Coif. Following graduation from law school, she clerked for Judge James K. Logan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and practiced labor and employment law, representing management, for five years with Spencer, Fane, Britt, and Browne in Kansas City, Mo.
Professor Hébert has published a number of law review articles on employment discrimination, sexual harassment, employee privacy, and alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Her treatise Employee Privacy Lawwas published in 1993 and is supplemented annually.
Professor Hébert makes frequent presentations to academic and professional audiences on issues of sexual harassment and employee privacy, including genetic testing and electronic surveillance. Professor Hébert served as Chair of the Employment Discrimination Section of the Association of American Law Schools in 1998. She currently serves as a member of the Workplace Mediation Advisory Committee of the State of Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management.
From 1997 to 2000, Professor Hébert served as associate dean for academic affairs at the Moritz College of Law. Professor Hébert is a member of the Associated Graduate Faculty of the Department of Womens Studies at Ohio State. Professor Hébert’s courses include Employment Discrimination Law, Employment Law, Employee Benefits,Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Workplace, Legal Writing and Analysis, and a Sexual Harassment seminar. She taught Comparative Employment Discrimination and Comparative Dispute Resolution during the Oxford semester program in 2010.
Vice President and Legal Director, National Right to Work Legal Defense and Education Foundation, Inc.
William Messenger is Foundation Vice President and Legal Director. He was a staff attorney for over twenty years and, during that time, represented individuals in numerous cases that sought to expand worker freedom of choice. This includes acting as lead counsel in three cases before the United States Supreme Court. In 2018, Messenger argued Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, where the Supreme Court held it violates the First Amendment for governments and unions to compel individuals to financially support unions and their speech. Originally from Youngstown Ohio, Messenger attended Ohio University as an undergraduate and then the George Washington University School of Law.
Professor of Law, South Texas College of Law Houston
Josh Blackman is a national thought leader on constitutional law and the United States Supreme Court. Josh’s work was quoted during two presidential impeachment trials. He has testified before Congress and advises federal and state lawmakers. Josh regularly appears on TV, including NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, and the BBC. Josh is also a frequent guest on NPR and other syndicated radio programs. He has published commentaries in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and leading national publications.
Since 2012, Josh has served as a professor at the South Texas College of Law Houston. He holds the Centennial Chair of Constitutional Law. Josh is an Adjunct Fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Josh has written more than seven dozen law review articles that have been cited more than a thousand times. Josh was selected as the Jurist of the Year by the Texas Journal of Law & Public Policy, received the inaugural Meese III Originalism Award, and was awarded the Inaugural Joseph Story Award. Josh was selected by Forbes Magazine for the “30 Under 30” in Law and Policy. Josh is the President of the Harlan Institute, and founded FantasySCOTUS, the Internet’s Premier Supreme Court Fantasy League. He blogs at the Volokh Conspiracyand posts@JoshMBlackman.
Professor of Law, South Texas College of Law Houston
Josh Blackman is a national thought leader on constitutional law and the United States Supreme Court. Josh’s work was quoted during two presidential impeachment trials. He has testified before Congress and advises federal and state lawmakers. Josh regularly appears on TV, including NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, and the BBC. Josh is also a frequent guest on NPR and other syndicated radio programs. He has published commentaries in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and leading national publications.
Since 2012, Josh has served as a professor at the South Texas College of Law Houston. He holds the Centennial Chair of Constitutional Law. Josh is an Adjunct Fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Josh has written more than seven dozen law review articles that have been cited more than a thousand times. Josh was selected as the Jurist of the Year by the Texas Journal of Law & Public Policy, received the inaugural Meese III Originalism Award, and was awarded the Inaugural Joseph Story Award. Josh was selected by Forbes Magazine for the “30 Under 30” in Law and Policy. Josh is the President of the Harlan Institute, and founded FantasySCOTUS, the Internet’s Premier Supreme Court Fantasy League. He blogs at the Volokh Conspiracyand posts@JoshMBlackman.
University Professor of Law and Religion and Director of the Eleanor H. McCullen Center for Law, Religion and Public Policy, Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law
Michael P. Moreland was appointed University Professor of Law and Religion and Director of the Eleanor H. McCullen Center for Law, Religion and Public Policy at Villanova University in 2017. Professor Moreland joined the Villanova faculty in 2006 and served as Vice Dean from 2012 to 2015. His research is primarily in the areas of torts, law and religion, constitutional law, and Catholic social thought, and he regularly teaches Torts, First Amendment, seminars in law and religion, and undergraduate courses in ethics.
Professor Moreland is the co-editor of Christianity and Private Law (Routledge, 2021), and his most recent publications include: “The Authority of Tradition: John Henry Newman and Legal Theory” in Christianity and the Making of Irish Law (Routledge, 2025); “Christianity and Torts” in The Oxford Handbook on Christianity and Law, (Oxford University Press, 2023); “Germaneness and Religious Liberty” in the Notre Dame Law Review (2023); “Contingency and Contestation in Christianity and Liberalism” in the Notre Dame Law Review (2023); “Friendship as the Primary Purpose of Law” in The American Journal of Jurisprudence 279 (2022); and “The Moral of Torts” (with Jeffrey Pojanowski) in Christianity and Private Law (Routledge, 2021).
Professor Moreland was a Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame and the Mary Ann Remick Senior Visiting Fellow at the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture from 2015 to 2017. He was the Forbes Visiting Fellow at Princeton University in the James Madison Program during academic year 2010-11. He has served as the project leader for grants from the John Templeton Foundation and the Charles Koch Foundation. He serves as the Chair of the Federalist Society’s Religious Liberties Practice Group Executive Committee and the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at the University of Southern California.
Professor Moreland received his BA in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame, his MA and PhD in theological ethics from Boston College, and his JD from the University of Michigan Law School. Following law school, Professor Moreland clerked for the Honorable Paul J. Kelly Jr., of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and was an associate at Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, DC, where he represented clients in First Amendment, professional liability, and products liability matters. Before coming to Villanova, he served as Associate Director for Domestic Policy at the White House under President George W. Bush, where he worked on a range of legal policy issues, including criminal justice, immigration, civil rights, and liability reform.
Legal Associate, Cato Institute
Meggan DeWitt is a legal associate in the Cato Institute’s Center for Constitutional Studies. During law school, she clerked for the Institute for Justice in Arlington, Virginia, and for the Department of Forensic Sciences in Washington, D.C. and was a member of the Supreme Court Clinic, where she worked on research and drafting for Supreme Court amicus and merits briefs. Meggan holds a J.D. from George Mason University School of Law, where she served as a Research Editor for the Civil Rights Law Journal and acted as Chief Justice for the law school’s moot court program. She holds a B.A. in political science and history from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Director, The Conscience Project
Andrea Picciotti-Bayer is Director of the Conscience Project.
Andrea got her start as a trial and appellate attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Prior to leading the Conscience Project, she served as the legal advisor for the Catholic Association, filing amicus briefs with federal courts of appeal and the U.S. Supreme Court in key religious freedom and free speech cases.
Andrea appears frequently in the media to discuss religious freedom controversies and legal victories, and in 2021 she received First Place for Best Coverage — Religious Liberty Issues from the Catholic Media Association. Andrea is a legal analyst for EWTN News and a regular columnist for the National Catholic Register. Her writing has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, National Review, Fox News, Newsweek, CNN en Español and other well-regarded publications. She has also joined Fox News, Newsmax and a variety of other shows to share expert commentary.
Andrea lived in Colombia for more than a decade. She has ten children and lives in the Washington, DC area.
Professor, The University of Texas at Austin
Counsel, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
Amanda Salz is counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, where her practice focuses on First Amendment litigation at both the trial and appellate levels. She is also a member of the Federalist Society’s Religious Liberties Executive Committee.
Before joining Becket, Amanda worked as an associate at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. As a member of the firm’s appellate group, Amanda litigated many cases involving constitutional and administrative issues. In addition to her experience in private practice, Amanda clerked for the Honorable Andrew S. Oldham of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the Honorable Reed C. O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
Vice President of Speakers, Texas Student Chapter
Professor, The University of Texas at Austin
Counsel, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
Amanda Salz is counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, where her practice focuses on First Amendment litigation at both the trial and appellate levels. She is also a member of the Federalist Society’s Religious Liberties Executive Committee.
Before joining Becket, Amanda worked as an associate at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. As a member of the firm’s appellate group, Amanda litigated many cases involving constitutional and administrative issues. In addition to her experience in private practice, Amanda clerked for the Honorable Andrew S. Oldham of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the Honorable Reed C. O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
Vice President of Speakers, Texas Student Chapter
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).
Topics
The Tennessee Supreme Court Rejects ABA Model Rule 8.4(g)
On April 23, the Supreme Court of Tennessee denied a petition to adopt a slightly...
Lunch Discussion: Janus v. AFSCME
Robert Alt, L. Camille Hébert, William L. Messenger
2018 Ohio Lawyers Chapters Conference
Earlier this year the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Janus v. American Federation...
Lunch Discussion: Janus v. AFSCME
Robert Alt, L. Camille Hébert, William L. Messenger
2018 Ohio Lawyers Chapters Conference
Earlier this year the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Janus v. American Federation...
The Importance of Free Speech on Campus
Josh Blackman
CUNY Student Chapter
On Thursday, March 29, Professor Josh Blackman was invited to speak at CUNY Law about...
The Importance of Free Speech on Campus
Josh Blackman
CUNY Student Chapter
On Thursday, March 29, Professor Josh Blackman was invited to speak at CUNY Law about...
Courthouse Steps: National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra
Michael P. Moreland
Religious Liberties and Free Speech & Election Law Practice Groups Teleforum
On March 20, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in National Institute of Family and...
NIFLA v. Becerra: Can a State Regulate Professional Speech? [SCOTUSbrief]
Meggan DeWitt, Andrea Picciotti-Bayer
Short video featuring Andrea Picciotti-Bayer and Megan Dewitt
Can a government compel commercial or professional speech when the speaker disagrees with the message?...
The Free Speech Vernacular
Tara A. Smith, Amanda Salz, Ashley H. Terrazas
Conceptual Confusions in the Way We Speak about Speech
Is there something wrong with the way we speak about speech? Tara Smith, Professor of...
The Free Speech Vernacular
Tara A. Smith, Amanda Salz, Ashley H. Terrazas
Conceptual Confusions in the Way We Speak about Speech
Is there something wrong with the way we speak about speech? Tara Smith, Professor of...
The Future of Libel Law
Eugene Volokh
Short video featuring Eugene Volokh
Since 1990, the Supreme Court has not dealt with any libel cases. Has anything happened...