Co-Chair, Republican National Lawyers Association
Jennifer Bukowsky is a syndicated talk radio host, Co-Chair of the Republican National Lawyers Association, and Vice-Chair of the Missouri Republican Party.
An accomplished criminal defense attorney, Jennifer has handled more than 1,400 cases ranging from trespass to first-degree murder. She clerked for Missouri Supreme Court Judge Mary R. Russell, served as an Assistant Public Defender, and later built her own firm before launching Show-Me Defenders in 2021.
Her contributions have been widely recognized with awards including the David J. Dixon Appellate Advocacy Award, the President’s Service Award from the Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, the Distinguished Recent Alumni Award from the University of Missouri School of Law, and “20 Under 40” honors from the Columbia Business Times. She has helped shape Missouri law as a member of committees that revised the Criminal Code and drafted the state’s expungement bill—both now enacted.
A leader in conservative legal circles, Jennifer serves on the Missouri Supreme Court’s Task Force on Criminal Justice and the Show-Me Institute Board, previously taught the Innocence Clinic at Mizzou, and has deployed multiple times as an election attorney for the Republican National Lawyers Association.
A University of Missouri School of Law graduate with highest honors and Order of the Coif membership, she also holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accountancy and is a licensed CPA. She lives in Columbia, Missouri, with her husband and two sons.
Senior Legal Fellow, Pacific Legal Foundation
Steve Davis is a Senior Legal Fellow in Pacific Legal Foundation’s Constitutional Scholarship group and chair's the Federalist Society's Property Rights Practice Group Executive Committee. Steve’s work at PLF focuses on the study of the U.S. Constitution’s protection of property rights, and he plans and conducts Pacific Legal Foundation-sponsored conferences, symposia, and academic workshops on property rights issues and the Constitution. He enjoys pursuing constitutional scholarship research, writing, and speaking and is a frequent speaker at law and history seminars.
Prior to joining PLF, Steve litigated all stages of property rights cases in federal trial and appellate courts in private practice at large and small law firms. He filed property rights claims on behalf of hundreds of private property owners who own land in over a dozen states against the federal government, litigating those claims through trial and appeal. He also maintained a robust amicus-party practice in the U.S. Supreme Court, filing briefs on behalf of many legal scholars and public-interest groups.
Beginning in 2006, Steve served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, litigating civil rights, constitutional tort, tort, and employment discrimination claims in federal district court and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Following law school, Steve began his legal career pursing his passion for public policy and the legislative process in the Missouri legislature, where he served first as chief of staff to the minority leader of the Missouri House of Representatives and then was twice elected by the members of the House as the House’s 62nd Chief Clerk and Administrator.
Partner, Stinson LLP
Chuck draws on 25 years’ experience litigating and negotiating very high profile cases, primarily involving some sort of government action, to help offer clients a broad and insightful perspective on Missouri's government and judiciary.
In its annual 100+ List, The Missouri Times newspaper said: Chuck Hatfield's "time at the highest levels of state government have made him very sought after as an attorney in private practice. There is probably no attorney who knows more members of the judiciary and the executive branch in the state. He is also known for his quick wit on social media and willingness to take on tough cases." He has personally handled more than a dozen major cases before the Missouri Supreme Court. Chuck regularly appears before administrative agencies as well as trial and appellate courts at both the state and federal levels.
In his regulatory practice, Chuck has handled matters involving every department of Missouri government. As an outgrowth of his regulatory- based litigation, Chuck is a highly rated commercial litigator. He defends complex high-stakes litigation including class actions involving regulated industries such as securities, insurance and merchandising practices. He chairs the firm’s Financial Services and Class Action Litigation division and its Government Solutions group.
Chuck understands the importance of providing great legal service and value to his clients. As an attorney certified in Legal Project Management (LPM), he has been trained in matter budgeting and management in order to provide transparency and efficiency to his clients.
Earl F. Nelson Professor of Law, University of Missouri at Columbia School of Law
Gary Myers is the Earl F. Nelson Professor of Law at the School of Law. Myers received his juris doctor with honors from Duke University School of Law and graduated summa cum laudewith a bachelor’s degree in economics from New York University. He also earned an MA in economics from the Duke University Graduate School as part of a joint degree program while at Duke. Myers was an article editor on the Duke Law Journaland was a member of the Moot Court Board. After graduation, he served as a law clerk for Judge Gerald Tjoflat of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Jacksonville, Fla. He then practiced complex commercial litigation with the Atlanta law firm of Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy, which has since merged with the Bryan Cave law firm.
Before serving as the sixteenth dean at the School of Law from 2012 to 2016, Myers was a long-time member of the faculty at the University of Mississippi School of Law. At Mississippi, Myers held the Ray & Louise Stewart Lectureship and served as its first associate dean for research. Myers has been a visiting professor of law at the College of William & Mary School of Law and Tulane University School of Law. He also served as a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at the Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans.
Myers is an elected member of the American Law Institute, a member of the American Law and Economics Association, and a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association. He is the author or coauthor of a series of five books: (1) Intellectual Property: Cases & Materials (West 4th edition 2012); (2) Principles of Intellectual Property (West 2d edition 2012); (3) Entertainment Law: Cases & Materials (West 5th edition 2016); (4) Intellectual Property: Questions & Answers (LexisNexis 2d edition 2014); and (5) The Intersection of Intellectual Property & Antitrust Law (West 2007). He is also the author of more than a dozen articles, including publications in the Duke Law Journal, the Minnesota Law Review, the Washington & Lee Law Review, the Columbia-VLA Journal of Law & the Arts and the Journal of Intellectual Property Law.
Co-Chair, Republican National Lawyers Association
Jennifer Bukowsky is a syndicated talk radio host, Co-Chair of the Republican National Lawyers Association, and Vice-Chair of the Missouri Republican Party.
An accomplished criminal defense attorney, Jennifer has handled more than 1,400 cases ranging from trespass to first-degree murder. She clerked for Missouri Supreme Court Judge Mary R. Russell, served as an Assistant Public Defender, and later built her own firm before launching Show-Me Defenders in 2021.
Her contributions have been widely recognized with awards including the David J. Dixon Appellate Advocacy Award, the President’s Service Award from the Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, the Distinguished Recent Alumni Award from the University of Missouri School of Law, and “20 Under 40” honors from the Columbia Business Times. She has helped shape Missouri law as a member of committees that revised the Criminal Code and drafted the state’s expungement bill—both now enacted.
A leader in conservative legal circles, Jennifer serves on the Missouri Supreme Court’s Task Force on Criminal Justice and the Show-Me Institute Board, previously taught the Innocence Clinic at Mizzou, and has deployed multiple times as an election attorney for the Republican National Lawyers Association.
A University of Missouri School of Law graduate with highest honors and Order of the Coif membership, she also holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accountancy and is a licensed CPA. She lives in Columbia, Missouri, with her husband and two sons.
Senior Legal Fellow, Pacific Legal Foundation
Steve Davis is a Senior Legal Fellow in Pacific Legal Foundation’s Constitutional Scholarship group and chair's the Federalist Society's Property Rights Practice Group Executive Committee. Steve’s work at PLF focuses on the study of the U.S. Constitution’s protection of property rights, and he plans and conducts Pacific Legal Foundation-sponsored conferences, symposia, and academic workshops on property rights issues and the Constitution. He enjoys pursuing constitutional scholarship research, writing, and speaking and is a frequent speaker at law and history seminars.
Prior to joining PLF, Steve litigated all stages of property rights cases in federal trial and appellate courts in private practice at large and small law firms. He filed property rights claims on behalf of hundreds of private property owners who own land in over a dozen states against the federal government, litigating those claims through trial and appeal. He also maintained a robust amicus-party practice in the U.S. Supreme Court, filing briefs on behalf of many legal scholars and public-interest groups.
Beginning in 2006, Steve served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, litigating civil rights, constitutional tort, tort, and employment discrimination claims in federal district court and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Following law school, Steve began his legal career pursing his passion for public policy and the legislative process in the Missouri legislature, where he served first as chief of staff to the minority leader of the Missouri House of Representatives and then was twice elected by the members of the House as the House’s 62nd Chief Clerk and Administrator.
Partner, Stinson LLP
Chuck draws on 25 years’ experience litigating and negotiating very high profile cases, primarily involving some sort of government action, to help offer clients a broad and insightful perspective on Missouri's government and judiciary.
In its annual 100+ List, The Missouri Times newspaper said: Chuck Hatfield's "time at the highest levels of state government have made him very sought after as an attorney in private practice. There is probably no attorney who knows more members of the judiciary and the executive branch in the state. He is also known for his quick wit on social media and willingness to take on tough cases." He has personally handled more than a dozen major cases before the Missouri Supreme Court. Chuck regularly appears before administrative agencies as well as trial and appellate courts at both the state and federal levels.
In his regulatory practice, Chuck has handled matters involving every department of Missouri government. As an outgrowth of his regulatory- based litigation, Chuck is a highly rated commercial litigator. He defends complex high-stakes litigation including class actions involving regulated industries such as securities, insurance and merchandising practices. He chairs the firm’s Financial Services and Class Action Litigation division and its Government Solutions group.
Chuck understands the importance of providing great legal service and value to his clients. As an attorney certified in Legal Project Management (LPM), he has been trained in matter budgeting and management in order to provide transparency and efficiency to his clients.
Earl F. Nelson Professor of Law, University of Missouri at Columbia School of Law
Gary Myers is the Earl F. Nelson Professor of Law at the School of Law. Myers received his juris doctor with honors from Duke University School of Law and graduated summa cum laudewith a bachelor’s degree in economics from New York University. He also earned an MA in economics from the Duke University Graduate School as part of a joint degree program while at Duke. Myers was an article editor on the Duke Law Journaland was a member of the Moot Court Board. After graduation, he served as a law clerk for Judge Gerald Tjoflat of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Jacksonville, Fla. He then practiced complex commercial litigation with the Atlanta law firm of Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy, which has since merged with the Bryan Cave law firm.
Before serving as the sixteenth dean at the School of Law from 2012 to 2016, Myers was a long-time member of the faculty at the University of Mississippi School of Law. At Mississippi, Myers held the Ray & Louise Stewart Lectureship and served as its first associate dean for research. Myers has been a visiting professor of law at the College of William & Mary School of Law and Tulane University School of Law. He also served as a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at the Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans.
Myers is an elected member of the American Law Institute, a member of the American Law and Economics Association, and a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association. He is the author or coauthor of a series of five books: (1) Intellectual Property: Cases & Materials (West 4th edition 2012); (2) Principles of Intellectual Property (West 2d edition 2012); (3) Entertainment Law: Cases & Materials (West 5th edition 2016); (4) Intellectual Property: Questions & Answers (LexisNexis 2d edition 2014); and (5) The Intersection of Intellectual Property & Antitrust Law (West 2007). He is also the author of more than a dozen articles, including publications in the Duke Law Journal, the Minnesota Law Review, the Washington & Lee Law Review, the Columbia-VLA Journal of Law & the Arts and the Journal of Intellectual Property Law.
Former Chief Justice, Arizona Supreme Court
Scott Bales served on the Arizona Supreme Court for fourteen years, including as Chief Justice from July 2014 until July 2019. After retiring from the Court, he was the Executive Director of the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the University of Denver through July 2020. He now consults on appellate matters and internal investigations and serves as a neutral.
He is the immediate past Chair of the Council of the ABA’s Section on Legal Education and serves on the Council of the American Law Institute and the Board of Trustees for the National Conference of Bar Examiners. He previously chaired the Appellate Judges Conference of the ABA’s Judicial Division. Justice Bales has often taught courses at the law schools at Arizona State University and the University of Arizona.
Before his appointment to the Court, he had practiced law in Arizona for nearly 20 years as a private and public lawyer. He was a partner in Phoenix firms that later became Osborn Maledon P.A. and Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie. He also served as Arizona’s Solicitor General from 1999-2001 and as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Policy Development from 1998-1999, a Special Investigative Counsel for the Justice Department’s Inspector General from 1995-97, and as a federal prosecutor.
He clerked for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Joseph T. Sneed III on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. After graduating from Michigan State University with degrees in history and economics, he received a master’s degree in economics and his law degree from Harvard.
Judge, United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
Judge Katsas was appointed to the D.C. Circuit in December 2017. He graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School, where he was an executive editor on the Harvard Law Review. Between 1989 and 1992, he served as a law clerk to Judge Edward Becker on the Third Circuit, to then-Judge Clarence Thomas on the D.C. Circuit, and to Justice Thomas on the Supreme Court. Between 1992 and 2001, he was an associate and then partner in the Washington office of Jones Day, where he specialized in appellate and complex civil litigation. Between 2001 and 2009, he served in many senior positions in the Department of Justice, including as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division and as Acting Associate Attorney General. In 2009, he returned to Jones Day. From January to December 2017, he served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Counsel to the President.
Before joining the bench, Judge Katsas argued more than 75 appeals, including three cases in the Supreme Court, 13 cases in the D.C. Circuit, and cases in every other federal court of appeals. By appointment of the Chief Justice, he served on the Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules from 2013 to 2017. In 2016, he was elected to membership in the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers.
George C. Dix Professor in Constitutional Law, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
John O. McGinnis is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He also has an MA degree from Balliol College, Oxford, in philosophy and theology. Professor McGinnis clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. From 1987 to 1991, he was deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice. He is the author of Accelerating Democracy: Transforming Government Through Technology (Princeton 2013) and Originalism and the Good Constitution (Harvard 2013) (with M. Rappaport). He is a past winner of the Paul Bator award given by the Federalist Society to an outstanding academic under 40. He has been listed by the United States on the roster of panelists who may be called upon to decide World Trade Organization Disputes.
Oppenheim Professor Emeritus of Antitrust and Trade Regulation Law, George Washington University Law School
Thomas D. Morgan is Oppenheim Professor of Antitrust and Trade Regulation Law Emeritus at George Washington University. He was Dean of the Emory University School of Law and on the faculties of the University of Illinois and Brigham Young University. He is co-author of Problems and Materials on Professional Responsibility (14th Ed. 2022), with Professors Mitt Regan and John Dzienkowski. Professor Morgan served as an Associate Reporter for both the American Law Institute’s Restatement of the Law (Third): The Law Governing Lawyers and the American Bar Association’s Ethics 2000 Commission. He is an Executive Committee member of the Federalist Society’s Professional Responsibility and Legal Education Practice Group and a member of the ABA Business Law Section’s Professional Responsibility committee. His book, “The Vanishing American Lawyer” (2010), was published by Oxford University Press.
Shareholder, Webber & Thies PC
Mr. Thies has litigated complex commercial disputes and defended class actions throughout the state of Illinois, and in federal courts across the country, including the First, Second, Seventh, and Tenth Circuits. He has represented clients in numerous trials and arbitrations, including serving as part of a trial team winning a $64 million judgment after a jury verdict in the Northern District of New York.
Prior to joining Webber & Thies, Mr. Thies was an associate at Sidley Austin LLP (2013-2018) and clerked for Chief Judge James F. Holderman of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2011-2013) and for Judge Jerry Smith of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (2010-2011).
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Panel Two: Defending Unpopular Clients: The Ethics of Targeting Attorneys, Firms, and Clients for Reprisals
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