Professor and Director, Prolife Center, University of St. Thomas School of Law
Teresa Collett, J.D., is professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, where she serves as director of the school's Prolife Center. Collett received her doctorate at the University of Oklahoma College of Law. As a well-known advocate for the protection of human life and the family, Collett specializes in the subjects of marriage, religion and bioethics in her research.
Collett has published numerous legal articles and is the co-author of a law casebook on professional responsibility and co-editor of a collection of essays exploring “catholic” and “Catholic” perspectives on American law. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute, and has testified before committees of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, as well as before legislative committees in several states.
In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Collett to a five-year term on the Pontifical Council for the Family. Her appointment was renewed by His Holiness Pope Francis until 2016 when the responsibilities of the Council were assumed by the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life. In 2013, she served as a delegate to the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) for the Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations.
She represented Congressman Ron Paul and various medical groups in the defense of the U.S. federal ban of partial-birth abortion, and the governors of Minnesota and North Dakota defending the N.H. requirement of state parental involvement prior to performance of an abortion on a minor before the U.S. Supreme Court. Collett is often asked to represent the interests of government officials before federal appellate courts. She has served as special attorney general for the states of Oklahoma and Kansas, as well as assisting other state attorneys general in defending laws protecting human life and marriage. Prior to joining St. Thomas in 2003, Collett taught at the South Texas College of Law, where she established the nation's first annual symposium on legal ethics.
Partner, Jenner & Block LLP
Adam Unikowsky is a partner in Jenner & Block LLP’s Appellate & Supreme Court Practice Group, where he has worked since 2011.
Prior to his time at Jenner & Block, Mr. Unikowsky served as a Judicial Law Clerk to former Justice Antonin Scalia. He also previously clerked for Judge Douglas Ginsberg at the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Mr. Unikowsky got his JD from Harvard University, following achieving his Masters of Engineering & Bachelors of Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Partner, Cooper & Kirk
Megan M. Wold focuses her practice on legal issues and brief-writing in complex commercial matters, constitutional litigation, and administrative law disputes. She has argued cases in both state and federal court, drafted briefs at all levels of state and federal litigation, and regularly practices before the U.S. Supreme Court. She has represented Fortune 500 clients in international arbitrations, complex tort and fraud litigation, class actions, commercial property disputes, and complex multi-district litigation. She has frequently represented clients in regulatory disputes with state and federal agencies.
Ms. Wold previously served as a Simon Karas Fellow and Deputy Solicitor General in the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. Ms. Wold has practiced as an associate at Bancroft PLLC and as a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP.
Ms. Wold served as a law clerk to Justice Samuel A. Alito of the U.S. Supreme Court and to Judge Jeffrey Sutton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She graduated from the University of Notre Dame School of Law in 2011 and is a member of the bars of Ohio and the District of Columbia. Ms. Wold graduated summa cum laude from Ohio Wesleyan University in 2008 with an undergraduate degree in international studies and religion. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and a recipient of the Meek Family Service Leadership Prize.
Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig
Jennifer Weddle is the Co-Chair of Greenberg Traurig's American Indian Law Practice and has wide-ranging experience in complex regulatory and jurisdictional issues, with a focus in Indian law, handling a variety of matters for tribal and non-tribal clients. She has a dynamic, inter-disciplinary practice that centers on providing strategies for resolving complex jurisdictional problems. Much of her practice focuses in the areas of tribal economic development and natural resources development. Jennifer also has U.S. Supreme Court experience, including serving as one of the attorneys for the respondent in Nevada v. Hicks (2001) and representing the petitioners in Ute Mountain Ute Tribe v. Padilla (2012) and Grand Canyon Skywalk Development, LLC v. Grand Canyon Resort Corporation (2013) and cert stage amici in Saginaw-Chippewa Tribe v. NLRB (2016) and United States v. Cooley (2020) and amici on the merits in Lewis v. Clarke (2017), U.S. v. Washington (2018), Carpenter v. Murphy (2018), McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020), and United States v. Cooley (2021).
Jennifer's work also includes negotiations for mineral leasing employment matters and representation before federal agencies. She has also been involved in civil litigation, working on numerous complex federal, state and tribal litigation matters, including class action tort litigation and large commercial disputes. Her transactional experience includes oil and gas renewables projects throughout the west, as well as Endangered Species Act work. Jennifer frequently assists tribes, banks and non-bank entities with financing and regulatory matters with Indian law components. Jennifer has wide-ranging project siting experience, including the application of NEPA, NHPA, and other environmental laws on tribal and public lands, including with respect to large linear multi-state energy and infrastructure projects. Jennifer has deep transactional, regulatory and litigation experience involving very complex matters with both legal and policy components.
Jennifer is past President of the National Native American Bar Association and past two-term Chair of the Federal Bar Association Indian Law Section. She currently serves as the Tenth Circuit Representative on the American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, a role she has held since 2018, spanning the evaluations for more than two dozen federal judicial nominees at every level of the federal courts. She is a ’00 graduate of Harvard Law School and a ’97 graduate of the University of Michigan (Classical Languages and Literature).
Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig
Jennifer Weddle is the Co-Chair of Greenberg Traurig's American Indian Law Practice and has wide-ranging experience in complex regulatory and jurisdictional issues, with a focus in Indian law, handling a variety of matters for tribal and non-tribal clients. She has a dynamic, inter-disciplinary practice that centers on providing strategies for resolving complex jurisdictional problems. Much of her practice focuses in the areas of tribal economic development and natural resources development. Jennifer also has U.S. Supreme Court experience, including serving as one of the attorneys for the respondent in Nevada v. Hicks (2001) and representing the petitioners in Ute Mountain Ute Tribe v. Padilla (2012) and Grand Canyon Skywalk Development, LLC v. Grand Canyon Resort Corporation (2013) and cert stage amici in Saginaw-Chippewa Tribe v. NLRB (2016) and United States v. Cooley (2020) and amici on the merits in Lewis v. Clarke (2017), U.S. v. Washington (2018), Carpenter v. Murphy (2018), McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020), and United States v. Cooley (2021).
Jennifer's work also includes negotiations for mineral leasing employment matters and representation before federal agencies. She has also been involved in civil litigation, working on numerous complex federal, state and tribal litigation matters, including class action tort litigation and large commercial disputes. Her transactional experience includes oil and gas renewables projects throughout the west, as well as Endangered Species Act work. Jennifer frequently assists tribes, banks and non-bank entities with financing and regulatory matters with Indian law components. Jennifer has wide-ranging project siting experience, including the application of NEPA, NHPA, and other environmental laws on tribal and public lands, including with respect to large linear multi-state energy and infrastructure projects. Jennifer has deep transactional, regulatory and litigation experience involving very complex matters with both legal and policy components.
Jennifer is past President of the National Native American Bar Association and past two-term Chair of the Federal Bar Association Indian Law Section. She currently serves as the Tenth Circuit Representative on the American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, a role she has held since 2018, spanning the evaluations for more than two dozen federal judicial nominees at every level of the federal courts. She is a ’00 graduate of Harvard Law School and a ’97 graduate of the University of Michigan (Classical Languages and Literature).
Partner, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Theodore J. Boutrous, Jr. is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Gibson Dunn and one of the nation’s leading litigators. He is a member of the American Law Institute and a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers.
As The New York Times has noted, Mr. Boutrous has “a long history of pushing the courts and the public to see the bigger picture on heated issues.” The American Lawyer named Mr. Boutrous the 2019 “Litigator of the Year, Grand Prize Winner” and the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journals in 2021 named him a “Top Lawyer of the Decade.” According to The National Law Journal, which in 2013 named him one of the “100 Most Influential Lawyers in America,” he “is known for his wise, strategic advice to clients in crisis and is a media law star.”
Mr. Boutrous has represented clients in federal and state appellate courts throughout the nation in a wide spectrum of cases, and he is currently serving as Co-Chair of the firm's First Amendment and Free Expression Practice Group. He has argued hundreds of appeals, including before the Supreme Court of the United States, 12 different federal circuit courts of appeals, and 12 different state supreme courts (including 14 arguments in the California Supreme Court), and he has led a multitude of other complex civil, constitutional and criminal matters. Mr. Boutrous has successfully persuaded courts to overturn some of the largest jury verdicts and class actions in history, and prevailed in many cutting-edge cases. In 2011, he successfully represented Walmart before the Supreme Court of the United States in the Dukes case, which unanimously reversed what had been the largest employment class action in history and established important standards governing class actions (Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes). In 2013, he successfully represented the prevailing party in obtaining a unanimous Supreme Court decision enforcing the Class Action Fairness Act (Standard Fire Insurance Co. v. Knowles). Also in 2013, Mr. Boutrous successfully represented plaintiffs in the Supreme Court in a case invalidating California’s prohibition on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8 (Hollingsworth v. Perry), in which he also served as one of the lead trial lawyers and architects of the legal strategy that led to this landmark victory. In 2018, Mr. Boutrous successfully represented CNN and its reporter Jim Acosta in bringing First Amendment and due process claims against then-President Donald Trump and other White House officials, forcing the White House to restore Mr. Acosta’s press credentials. “Litigators of the Week: Gibson Dunn’s Two Teds Score for the Free Press,” The AmLaw Litigation Daily (November 30, 2018). And in 2021, he secured a major victory for Hewlett-Packard Company when the California Court of Appeal affirmed a more than $3 billion verdict in HP’s long-running contract dispute with Oracle Corporation. “Litigators of the Week: Gibson Dunn Protects Its $3B Trial Win for HP Against Oracle on Appeal,” The AmLaw Litigation Daily (June 18, 2021).
As both a crisis management strategist and a seasoned appellate and media lawyer, Mr. Boutrous has extensive experience handling high-profile litigation, media relations and media legal issues. He routinely advises clients in planning how to respond, and in responding, to crises and other especially significant legal problems that attract the media spotlight.
Mr. Boutrous has also received the 2021 Freedom of the Press Award from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Distinguished Leadership Award from PEN America in 2019 for his leadership in advancing First Amendment rights and protecting freedom of expression. As The Hollywood Reporter noted in naming him to its 2022 “Power Lawyers” list, “When issues of free speech are in play, Boutrous is the attorney on speed dial.” Hollywood’s Top 100 Attorneys (March 2022). Mr. Boutrous was also named a “First Amendment Rights Trailblazer” by The National Law Journal in 2020.
Numerous profiles of Mr. Boutrous and his practice have appeared in the media. Prominent mentions include: “Mr. Boutrous, You Have 4 Minutes’: On Rebuttal With Ted Boutrous of Gibson Dunn,” The AmLaw Litigation Daily (August 25, 2022); “Litigator of the Week: How Gibson Dunn Helped Hit Print on Mary Trump’s Best-Seller,” The AmLaw Litigation Daily (July 17, 2020); “Litigation Department of the Year,” The American Lawyer (January 2020); “Litigator of the Week: Gibson Dunn’s Theodore Boutrous Jr. Scores Another Win for the Fourth Estate,”The AmLaw Litigation Daily (September 6, 2019); “Lawyer of the week: Theodore Boutrous Jr, attorney in White House press pass victory,” The Times of London (November 29, 2018); Ted Boutrous, CNN’s Champion, Is Fired Up,” Law.com (November 30, 2018); “Litigator of the Week: From Zero to Hero in Seven Days” The AmLaw Litigation Daily (April 27, 2017); “Litigator of the Week” The AmLaw Litigation Daily (September 8, 2016); “Practice Group Performs In Spotlight and Under Pressure,” Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal (March 14, 2012); “Litigator of the Week,” The AmLaw Litigation Daily (June 23, 2011); “Lawyer of the Week,” The Times of London (June 30, 2011); “Appellate Lawyer of the Week,” National Law Journal (March 23, 2011); “Litigation Department of the Year,” The American Lawyer (January 2016); “Litigation Department of the Year,” The American Lawyer (January 2012); “Litigation Department of the Year,” The American Lawyer (January 2010); and “He’s a Hired Gun of the Highest Caliber,” The Los Angeles Times (June 24, 2007).
In 2025, The Daily Journal recognized Mr. Boutrous with its inaugural Distinguished Counsel award, which honors lawyers “whose consistent excellence and enduring influence in California’s legal community have earned them a place among the Top 100 lawyers for 15 years or more,” and has repeatedly named him to its list of “Top 100 Lawyers” and “Leading Commercial Litigators” in California for over two decades. The Hollywood Reporter, featuring him in Power Lawyers 2021: Hollywood’s Top 100 Attorneys, declared that “Boutrous is there when an industry’s future rides on a big argument.” He has been named a California “Litigation Star” in Benchmark Litigation, as well as a “National Practice Area Star.” Chambers USA ranks him as a leading lawyer in five different categories, describing him as “an absolute star,” with clients praising his skills as “an amazing orator” and his “incredible knack of picking the winning argument and his oral advocacy skills are peerless. He picks the right point in response to every question without even blinking.” The Legal 500 named Mr. Boutrous a “Leading Lawyer” for Supreme Court and Appellate litigation, calling him a “renowned advocate” and “the preeminent authority on punitive damages defenses in the U.S.” Lawdragon recognizes Mr. Boutrous as one of its distinguished "Lawdragon Legends," an honor reserved for those who have appeared in Lawdragon's guide at least ten times since its inception in 2005. Over the years, he has been named to the following Lawdragon lists: 500 Leading Litigators in America, Leading Global Litigators, 500 Leading Lawyers in America, 500 Leading Global Entertainment, Sports & Media Lawyers, 500 Global Leaders in Crisis Management, and 100 Leading AI & Tech Legal Advisors.
Mr. Boutrous is a frequent commentator on legal issues. His articles include: Spare the ‘Dreamers’ a Nightmare by According Them Due Process,” The Wall Street Journal (May 2, 2017); “Poor Children Need a New Brown v. Board of Education,” The Wall Street Journal (August 28, 2016); “A First Amendment Blind Spot,” The Wall Street Journal (May 27, 2014); “California Kids Go to Court to Demand a Good Education,” The Wall Street Journal (January 28, 2014); “A Radical Departure on Press Freedom,” The Wall Street Journal (May 23, 2013); “A Killer’s Notebook, a Reporter’s Rights,” The New York Times (April 9, 2013); and “Broadcast ‘Indecency’ on Trial,” The Wall Street Journal (January 17, 2012).
Mr. Boutrous is a member of the Steering Committee of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and was a recipient of its 2021 Freedom of the Press Awards. He also sits on the Advisory Board of the International Women’s Media Foundation, which named him its 2015 Leadership Honoree. In addition, he is a member of the Advisory Board of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which advises the Chief Judge on matters related to the effective administration of the courts in the Ninth Circuit.
Mr. Boutrous received his law degree, summa cum laude, from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1987, where he was Valedictorian and Editor-in-Chief of the San Diego Law Review.
Mr. Boutrous is admitted to practice in California, New York, and the District of Columbia.
Senior Fellow, Stand Together Trust
Vikrant Reddy is a senior fellow at Stand Together Trust, specializing in the area of criminal justice reform. Reddy previously served as a senior policy analyst at the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), where he managed the launch of TPPF’s national Right on Crime initiative in 2010. He has worked as a research assistant at the Cato Institute, as a judicial clerk to the Hon. Gina M. Benavides in Texas, and as an attorney in private practice. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas, and he serves on the Executive Committee of the Criminal Law Practice Group of the Federalist Society. He is also an appointee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Texas State Advisory Committee.
Reddy’s research and scholarly opinions have appeared in a range of national media outlets, including USA Today, National Review, The Federalist, and others.
Reddy earned his law degree from the Southern Methodist University School of Law. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
Senior Fellow, Stand Together Trust
Vikrant Reddy is a senior fellow at Stand Together Trust, specializing in the area of criminal justice reform. Reddy previously served as a senior policy analyst at the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), where he managed the launch of TPPF’s national Right on Crime initiative in 2010. He has worked as a research assistant at the Cato Institute, as a judicial clerk to the Hon. Gina M. Benavides in Texas, and as an attorney in private practice. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas, and he serves on the Executive Committee of the Criminal Law Practice Group of the Federalist Society. He is also an appointee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Texas State Advisory Committee.
Reddy’s research and scholarly opinions have appeared in a range of national media outlets, including USA Today, National Review, The Federalist, and others.
Reddy earned his law degree from the Southern Methodist University School of Law. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
Courthouse Steps Decision: FDA v. AHM
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Courthouse Steps Decision: Becerra v. San Carlos Apache Tribe
Jennifer H. Weddle
The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDA), which allows Native tribes to administer their...
Courthouse Steps Decision: Becerra v. San Carlos Apache Tribe
Jennifer H. Weddle
The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDA), which allows Native tribes to administer their...
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