Shareholder, Kirton McConkie
Christopher Bates is co-chair of the firm’s Appellate section and a member of the Litigation and First Amendment and Religious Organizations sections. His practice focuses on appeals and critical motions in complex cases. He has argued dozens of cases in courts across the country, including the Utah Supreme Court, Utah Court of Appeals, and eleven of the thirteen federal circuits. He has also handled a variety of dispositive motions in both state and federal court. Chris’s subject matter experience includes a range of constitutional, regulatory, and commercial issues.
Chris has significant experience in senior positions in both state and federal government. Before joining Kirton McConkie, Chris served as deputy solicitor general for Utah. In that position, he managed complex ligation for the state on a range of topics and routinely appeared in both appellate and trial courts. He also led the state’s amicus efforts in the U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts of appeals. Prior to that, Chris served as senior counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he defended agency rulemakings and other administrative actions against statutory and constitutional challenges.
Earlier in his career, Chris was chief counsel to U.S. Senator Orrin G. Hatch on the Senate Judiciary Committee. In that role, he served as Senator Hatch’s chief legal advisor on intellectual property, antitrust, and criminal law. He led introduction and passage of several key pieces of legislation and staffed the senator at two Supreme Court confirmation hearings. He brings this legislative experience to bear in analyzing complex statutes and building coalitions in multiparty litigation.
Chris began his career by serving as a law clerk to Judge Thomas B. Griffith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He was then a litigation associate in Sidley Austin’s Supreme Court and Appellate Practice in Washington, DC. He has also taught college-level courses on constitutional law and legal studies.
Principal, Spero Law LLC
Christopher Mills is the founder of Spero Law LLC. He was previously a partner at a national law firm and a Constitutional Law Fellow at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. He served as a law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas on the U.S. Supreme Court during October Term 2018. He also clerked for the Honorable David B. Sentelle, then-Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He has authored briefs and motions in the Supreme Court, courts of appeals, and trial courts, and successfully argued before the D.C. Circuit. He has served as special counsel to South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, and is an Adjunct Professor at the Charleston School of Law.
A 2012 magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, Christopher was a senior editor of the Harvard Law Review, an editor of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, and served on the Executive Board of the Harvard Federalist Society. In 2009, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude with a degree in economics from Furman University.
Christopher lives in Charleston, South Carolina with his wife, children, and golden retriever.
Shareholder, Kirton McConkie
Christopher Bates is co-chair of the firm’s Appellate section and a member of the Litigation and First Amendment and Religious Organizations sections. His practice focuses on appeals and critical motions in complex cases. He has argued dozens of cases in courts across the country, including the Utah Supreme Court, Utah Court of Appeals, and eleven of the thirteen federal circuits. He has also handled a variety of dispositive motions in both state and federal court. Chris’s subject matter experience includes a range of constitutional, regulatory, and commercial issues.
Chris has significant experience in senior positions in both state and federal government. Before joining Kirton McConkie, Chris served as deputy solicitor general for Utah. In that position, he managed complex ligation for the state on a range of topics and routinely appeared in both appellate and trial courts. He also led the state’s amicus efforts in the U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts of appeals. Prior to that, Chris served as senior counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he defended agency rulemakings and other administrative actions against statutory and constitutional challenges.
Earlier in his career, Chris was chief counsel to U.S. Senator Orrin G. Hatch on the Senate Judiciary Committee. In that role, he served as Senator Hatch’s chief legal advisor on intellectual property, antitrust, and criminal law. He led introduction and passage of several key pieces of legislation and staffed the senator at two Supreme Court confirmation hearings. He brings this legislative experience to bear in analyzing complex statutes and building coalitions in multiparty litigation.
Chris began his career by serving as a law clerk to Judge Thomas B. Griffith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He was then a litigation associate in Sidley Austin’s Supreme Court and Appellate Practice in Washington, DC. He has also taught college-level courses on constitutional law and legal studies.
Principal, Spero Law LLC
Christopher Mills is the founder of Spero Law LLC. He was previously a partner at a national law firm and a Constitutional Law Fellow at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. He served as a law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas on the U.S. Supreme Court during October Term 2018. He also clerked for the Honorable David B. Sentelle, then-Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He has authored briefs and motions in the Supreme Court, courts of appeals, and trial courts, and successfully argued before the D.C. Circuit. He has served as special counsel to South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, and is an Adjunct Professor at the Charleston School of Law.
A 2012 magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, Christopher was a senior editor of the Harvard Law Review, an editor of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, and served on the Executive Board of the Harvard Federalist Society. In 2009, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude with a degree in economics from Furman University.
Christopher lives in Charleston, South Carolina with his wife, children, and golden retriever.
Partner, Ashbrook Byrne Kresge Flowers LLC
Ben Flowers, a partner at Ashbrook Byrne Kresge Flowers LLC, is an accomplished litigator with experience briefing, arguing, and winning high-stakes cases in courts throughout the country.
Before joining the law firm, Ben served as Ohio's 10th Solicitor General. In that role he regularly represented the State of Ohio before the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and the Supreme Court of Ohio. Most prominently, in National Federation of Independent Business v. Department of Labor, Ben led a multi-state challenge to OSHA's vaccine mandate, ultimately prevailing before the Supreme Court.
Ben is a graduate of The Ohio State University and the University of Chicago Law School. Following law school, Ben clerked for Judge Sandra Ikuta of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and for Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court of this United States. Ben lives in Upper Arlington, Ohio with his wife Denise and their three very active children.
Andrew Sabin Professor of Professional Practice and Founder and Faculty Director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia University Law School
The founder and faculty director of the groundbreaking Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and one of the foremost environmental lawyers in the nation, Michael Gerrard is an advocate, litigator, teacher, and scholar who has pioneered cutting-edge legal tools and strategies for addressing climate change. He writes and teaches courses on environmental law, climate change law, and energy regulation. He was the chair of the faculty of Columbia University’s renowned Earth Institute from 2015 to 2018 and now holds a joint appointment to the faculty of its successor, the Columbia Climate School.
For three decades, before joining the Columbia Law School faculty in 2009, Gerrard practiced law in New York, most recently as the partner in charge of the New York office of Arnold & Porter. As an environmental lawyer, he tried numerous cases and argued many appeals in federal and state courts and administrative tribunals. He also handled the environmental aspects of diverse transactions and development projects and provided regulatory compliance advice to an array of clients in the private and public sectors. Several publications rated him the leading environmental lawyer in New York and one of the leaders in the world.
President, Yale Student Chapter
David Haungs is a student at Yale Law School, where he serves as President of the Yale Federalist Society chapter.
Senior Attorney, Institute for Justice
Rob Johnson is a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, where he litigates to protect private property, free speech, and other individual rights. Rob is a nationally-recognized expert on civil forfeiture. He previously represented a series of small business owners who had their entire bank accounts seized by the IRS, and he launched an initiative that resulted in the IRS reopening hundreds of closed forfeiture cases and returning millions of dollars. He has also litigated cases challenging the constitutionality of civil forfeiture procedures, and he scored a victory striking down a forfeiture program as a violation of due process.
Beyond civil forfeiture, Rob has litigated cases defending a range of constitutional rights. He was part of teams that successfully challenged occupational licensing requirements for tour guides in Savannah and Charleston. He also developed a class action lawsuit fighting the NYPD’s use of a draconian “no-fault eviction” statute to coerce residents to waive their constitutional rights, which led New York City to reform the challenged law.
Rob’s writing has been published in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Politico, and Reason, among other venues. Rob has testified about occupational licensing before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees and has twice testified about civil forfeiture before the House Ways & Means Oversight Subcommittee. He has also testified before state legislatures across the country.
From 2014-2017, Rob served as IJ’s first Elfie Gallun Fellow for Freedom and the Constitution. In that role, Rob wrote and spoke about the vital role the U.S. Constitution plays in protecting our most precious freedoms. He is currently at work on a book about the Fourteenth Amendment.
Rob studied literature and anthropology at Columbia University, and he studied law at Harvard Law School. Upon graduation, he clerked for Chief Judge Alex Kozinski on the Ninth Circuit and for Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court.
Rob lives in Cleveland with his wife and two daughters—all named after characters in Shakespeare plays—and is an amateur large format photographer.
Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Hon. Jennifer Mascott served as Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Separation of Powers Institute at The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law before her appointment to the federal bench. On July 16, 2025, President Donald J. Trump nominated her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (Delaware), and she was confirmed on October 9, 2025.
Prior to her confirmation, Judge Mascott wrote extensively in administrative and constitutional law, statutory interpretation, and the separation of powers. Her scholarship—published in leading journals including the Stanford Law Review, Notre Dame Law Review, and Supreme Court Review—was cited by the U.S. Supreme Court and multiple federal courts. She also contributed Supreme Court commentary for NBC Universal.
Before joining Catholic Law, she was an Assistant Professor and Co-Director of The C. Boyden Gray Center at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School. In 2022 she became co-author of Beermann, Cass & Diver’s Administrative Law: Cases and Materials (9th ed.). In 2023 she received the Justice Joseph Story Award for excellence in scholarship, teaching, and advancing the rule of law.
Judge Mascott also served as a Council Member of the ABA’s Administrative Law Section and as a Public Member of the Administrative Conference of the United States. She frequently testified before Congress on executive power, regulatory reform, and judicial jurisdiction, and participated in multiple Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
From 2019 to 2021, she took leave from academia to serve as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel and later as Associate Deputy Attorney General, where she argued federal cases and assisted with Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation. Earlier in her career, she clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas and for then-Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh on the D.C. Circuit.
Judge Mascott earned her J.D. summa cum laude from the George Washington University Law School and her B.A. from the same institution.
Partner, Keller Postman LLP
JJ Snidow is a Partner at Keller Postman where he specializes in civil litigation in the trial courts. His area of practice focuses on product liability, consumer protection, and antitrust. Before joining Keller Postman, he practiced in DC at Wilkinson Stekloff, a defense-side trial firm. He clerked for Judge Raymond M. Kethledge on the Sixth Circuit, Judge Amul R. Thapar on the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on the Supreme Court. He was formerly chairman of the Federalist Society's emerging leaders council, and in law school he served as president of the Yale chapter.
Partner, Ashbrook Byrne Kresge Flowers LLC
Ben Flowers, a partner at Ashbrook Byrne Kresge Flowers LLC, is an accomplished litigator with experience briefing, arguing, and winning high-stakes cases in courts throughout the country.
Before joining the law firm, Ben served as Ohio's 10th Solicitor General. In that role he regularly represented the State of Ohio before the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and the Supreme Court of Ohio. Most prominently, in National Federation of Independent Business v. Department of Labor, Ben led a multi-state challenge to OSHA's vaccine mandate, ultimately prevailing before the Supreme Court.
Ben is a graduate of The Ohio State University and the University of Chicago Law School. Following law school, Ben clerked for Judge Sandra Ikuta of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and for Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court of this United States. Ben lives in Upper Arlington, Ohio with his wife Denise and their three very active children.
Andrew Sabin Professor of Professional Practice and Founder and Faculty Director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia University Law School
The founder and faculty director of the groundbreaking Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and one of the foremost environmental lawyers in the nation, Michael Gerrard is an advocate, litigator, teacher, and scholar who has pioneered cutting-edge legal tools and strategies for addressing climate change. He writes and teaches courses on environmental law, climate change law, and energy regulation. He was the chair of the faculty of Columbia University’s renowned Earth Institute from 2015 to 2018 and now holds a joint appointment to the faculty of its successor, the Columbia Climate School.
For three decades, before joining the Columbia Law School faculty in 2009, Gerrard practiced law in New York, most recently as the partner in charge of the New York office of Arnold & Porter. As an environmental lawyer, he tried numerous cases and argued many appeals in federal and state courts and administrative tribunals. He also handled the environmental aspects of diverse transactions and development projects and provided regulatory compliance advice to an array of clients in the private and public sectors. Several publications rated him the leading environmental lawyer in New York and one of the leaders in the world.
President, Yale Student Chapter
David Haungs is a student at Yale Law School, where he serves as President of the Yale Federalist Society chapter.
Senior Attorney, Institute for Justice
Rob Johnson is a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, where he litigates to protect private property, free speech, and other individual rights. Rob is a nationally-recognized expert on civil forfeiture. He previously represented a series of small business owners who had their entire bank accounts seized by the IRS, and he launched an initiative that resulted in the IRS reopening hundreds of closed forfeiture cases and returning millions of dollars. He has also litigated cases challenging the constitutionality of civil forfeiture procedures, and he scored a victory striking down a forfeiture program as a violation of due process.
Beyond civil forfeiture, Rob has litigated cases defending a range of constitutional rights. He was part of teams that successfully challenged occupational licensing requirements for tour guides in Savannah and Charleston. He also developed a class action lawsuit fighting the NYPD’s use of a draconian “no-fault eviction” statute to coerce residents to waive their constitutional rights, which led New York City to reform the challenged law.
Rob’s writing has been published in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Politico, and Reason, among other venues. Rob has testified about occupational licensing before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees and has twice testified about civil forfeiture before the House Ways & Means Oversight Subcommittee. He has also testified before state legislatures across the country.
From 2014-2017, Rob served as IJ’s first Elfie Gallun Fellow for Freedom and the Constitution. In that role, Rob wrote and spoke about the vital role the U.S. Constitution plays in protecting our most precious freedoms. He is currently at work on a book about the Fourteenth Amendment.
Rob studied literature and anthropology at Columbia University, and he studied law at Harvard Law School. Upon graduation, he clerked for Chief Judge Alex Kozinski on the Ninth Circuit and for Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court.
Rob lives in Cleveland with his wife and two daughters—all named after characters in Shakespeare plays—and is an amateur large format photographer.
Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Hon. Jennifer Mascott served as Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Separation of Powers Institute at The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law before her appointment to the federal bench. On July 16, 2025, President Donald J. Trump nominated her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (Delaware), and she was confirmed on October 9, 2025.
Prior to her confirmation, Judge Mascott wrote extensively in administrative and constitutional law, statutory interpretation, and the separation of powers. Her scholarship—published in leading journals including the Stanford Law Review, Notre Dame Law Review, and Supreme Court Review—was cited by the U.S. Supreme Court and multiple federal courts. She also contributed Supreme Court commentary for NBC Universal.
Before joining Catholic Law, she was an Assistant Professor and Co-Director of The C. Boyden Gray Center at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School. In 2022 she became co-author of Beermann, Cass & Diver’s Administrative Law: Cases and Materials (9th ed.). In 2023 she received the Justice Joseph Story Award for excellence in scholarship, teaching, and advancing the rule of law.
Judge Mascott also served as a Council Member of the ABA’s Administrative Law Section and as a Public Member of the Administrative Conference of the United States. She frequently testified before Congress on executive power, regulatory reform, and judicial jurisdiction, and participated in multiple Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
From 2019 to 2021, she took leave from academia to serve as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel and later as Associate Deputy Attorney General, where she argued federal cases and assisted with Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation. Earlier in her career, she clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas and for then-Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh on the D.C. Circuit.
Judge Mascott earned her J.D. summa cum laude from the George Washington University Law School and her B.A. from the same institution.
Partner, Keller Postman LLP
JJ Snidow is a Partner at Keller Postman where he specializes in civil litigation in the trial courts. His area of practice focuses on product liability, consumer protection, and antitrust. Before joining Keller Postman, he practiced in DC at Wilkinson Stekloff, a defense-side trial firm. He clerked for Judge Raymond M. Kethledge on the Sixth Circuit, Judge Amul R. Thapar on the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on the Supreme Court. He was formerly chairman of the Federalist Society's emerging leaders council, and in law school he served as president of the Yale chapter.
Partner, Clement & Murphy, PLLC
Paul served as the 43rd Solicitor General of the United States from June 2005 until June 2008. Before his confirmation as Solicitor General, he served as Acting Solicitor General for nearly a year and as Principal Deputy Solicitor General for over three years.
Paul has argued over 100 cases before the United States Supreme Court, including McConnell v. FEC, Tennessee v. Lane, United States v. Booker, MGM v. Grokster, Hobby Lobby v. Burwell, Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, Rucho v. Common Cause, Facebook v. Duguid, and TransUnion v. Ramirez. Paul has argued more Supreme Court cases since 2000 than any lawyer in or out of government. He has also argued many important cases in the lower courts, including Walker v. Cheney, United States v. Moussaoui and NFL v. Brady.
Paul’s practice focuses on appellate matters, constitutional litigation and strategic counseling. He represents a broad array of clients in the Supreme Court and in federal and state appellate courts. Last year, for example, he successfully argued Supreme Court cases involving significant issues of energy regulation, statutory interpretation, state sovereign immunity and Article III standing, and successfully argued a trademark appeal in the Fourth Circuit, and a constitutional appeal before the en banc Eleventh Circuit.
Paul focuses on high-stakes appeals. In recent years, he successfully defended a $1.2 billion jury verdict for clients in a Tenth Circuit case, while securing the reversal of an over $2 billion jury verdict for another client in the Seventh Circuit and the approval of a nearly $1 billion dollar class action settlement in the Third Circuit. He has initiated major administrative law challenges and constitutional litigation against the federal government, such as the successful challenge to the HHS drug-pricing rule and threatened challenges that led to the withdrawal of the Treasury Department’s proposed cryptocurrency regulations. He also counsels clients on a variety of strategic legal questions, whether arising from pending legislation, government inquiries or ongoing litigation.
Paul has undertaken substantial pro bono engagements in the Supreme Court, such as twice successfully representing the defendant in Bond v. United States and successfully representing the Omaha Tribe in Nebraska v. Parker, the guardian ad litem in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, the defendant in Sekhar v. United States, a high school football coach in Kennedy v. Bremerton, and the Little Sisters of the Poor. Paul’s pro bono representation also precipitated the federal government’s confession of error in United States v. Rojas.
Following law school, Paul clerked for Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court. After his clerkships, he went on to serve as Chief Counsel of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Federalism and Property Rights.
Paul is a Distinguished Lecturer in Law at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he has taught in various capacities since 1998. He also serves as a Senior Fellow of the Law Center’s Supreme Court Institute. He is the Justice Joseph Story Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at the Gray Center at Scalia Law School.
United States District Judge, United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
In November 2020, the Senate confirmed Kathryn Kimball Mizelle as a United States District Judge for the Middle District of Florida. At age 33, she became the youngest Article III judge in the country. Prior to her confirmation, Judge Mizelle was in private practice at Jones Day, where she focused on complex civil and criminal litigation and appeals. Judge Mizelle previously served at the United States Department of Justice in the Office of the Associate Attorney General, in the Southern Criminal Enforcement Section of the Tax Division, and in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Judge Mizelle has also taught as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School.
Judge Mizelle earned her B.A., summa cum laude, from Covenant College, and her J.D., summa cum laude, from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. After graduation, Judge Mizelle served as a law clerk at every level of the federal judiciary: at the Supreme Court for Justice Clarence Thomas, at the D.C. Circuit for Judge Gregory G. Katsas, at the Eleventh Circuit for Chief Judge William H. Pryor Jr., and at the Middle District of Florida for Judge James S. Moody Jr.
Partner, Consovoy McCarthy PLLC
Mr. Norris helps clients win important questions of federal law in trial and appellate courts across the country. He has represented prominent nonprofits, many States, the Republican Party, and the former President of the United States. He has argued in eight of the twelve federal circuits and twice at the U.S. Supreme Court, including the landmark case Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.
Mr. Norris is barred in Tennessee and Virginia, and is an elected member of the American Law Institute. Mr. Norris lives with his family in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Solicitor General, Tennessee Attorney General's Office
Matt Rice serves as the Solicitor General of Tennessee. Before joining the State, Matt worked in private practice at Williams & Connolly LLP. He clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas on the United States Supreme Court as well as Judge Sandra Ikuta on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Before his legal career, Matt played professional baseball in the Tampa Bay Rays organization.
Solicitor General, Mississippi Attorney General's Office
Scott G. Stewart is the Solicitor General of Mississippi. He has litigated and presented oral argument in the U.S. Supreme Court, in all regional federal courts of appeals, and in trial-level courts across the country. Stewart previously served as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice and worked in private practice as a litigator. He served as a law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court of the United States and to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Stewart graduated from Princeton University and Stanford Law School.
President, Arizona State Student Chapter
Morgan N. Larson is a J.D. candidate at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, where she serves as President of the Federalist Society and Business Editor of the Arizona State Law Journal. She has received multiple CALI Excellence for the Future Awards, given to the student earning the highest grade in a course, in Statutory Interpretation, Legal Method & Writing, and Public Interest Litigation, and is a four-time Pedrick Scholar.
Before attending law school, Morgan worked for seven years in the Financial Services Tax practice at Ernst & Young LLP in Phoenix, advising national banking and capital-markets clients on complex federal tax issues, IRS controversies, and accounting-method changes.
Morgan’s legal experience includes serving as a judicial extern to the Honorable Jennifer M. Perkins on the Arizona Court of Appeals and as a Summer Associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Washington, D.C., where she will return post-graduation to join the firm’s Tax Controversy & Litigation Group. She is also a Ronald Reagan Fellow at the Goldwater Institute and a Blackstone Legal Fellow.
Partner, Clement & Murphy, PLLC
Paul served as the 43rd Solicitor General of the United States from June 2005 until June 2008. Before his confirmation as Solicitor General, he served as Acting Solicitor General for nearly a year and as Principal Deputy Solicitor General for over three years.
Paul has argued over 100 cases before the United States Supreme Court, including McConnell v. FEC, Tennessee v. Lane, United States v. Booker, MGM v. Grokster, Hobby Lobby v. Burwell, Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, Rucho v. Common Cause, Facebook v. Duguid, and TransUnion v. Ramirez. Paul has argued more Supreme Court cases since 2000 than any lawyer in or out of government. He has also argued many important cases in the lower courts, including Walker v. Cheney, United States v. Moussaoui and NFL v. Brady.
Paul’s practice focuses on appellate matters, constitutional litigation and strategic counseling. He represents a broad array of clients in the Supreme Court and in federal and state appellate courts. Last year, for example, he successfully argued Supreme Court cases involving significant issues of energy regulation, statutory interpretation, state sovereign immunity and Article III standing, and successfully argued a trademark appeal in the Fourth Circuit, and a constitutional appeal before the en banc Eleventh Circuit.
Paul focuses on high-stakes appeals. In recent years, he successfully defended a $1.2 billion jury verdict for clients in a Tenth Circuit case, while securing the reversal of an over $2 billion jury verdict for another client in the Seventh Circuit and the approval of a nearly $1 billion dollar class action settlement in the Third Circuit. He has initiated major administrative law challenges and constitutional litigation against the federal government, such as the successful challenge to the HHS drug-pricing rule and threatened challenges that led to the withdrawal of the Treasury Department’s proposed cryptocurrency regulations. He also counsels clients on a variety of strategic legal questions, whether arising from pending legislation, government inquiries or ongoing litigation.
Paul has undertaken substantial pro bono engagements in the Supreme Court, such as twice successfully representing the defendant in Bond v. United States and successfully representing the Omaha Tribe in Nebraska v. Parker, the guardian ad litem in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, the defendant in Sekhar v. United States, a high school football coach in Kennedy v. Bremerton, and the Little Sisters of the Poor. Paul’s pro bono representation also precipitated the federal government’s confession of error in United States v. Rojas.
Following law school, Paul clerked for Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court. After his clerkships, he went on to serve as Chief Counsel of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Federalism and Property Rights.
Paul is a Distinguished Lecturer in Law at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he has taught in various capacities since 1998. He also serves as a Senior Fellow of the Law Center’s Supreme Court Institute. He is the Justice Joseph Story Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at the Gray Center at Scalia Law School.
President, Arizona State Student Chapter
Morgan N. Larson is a J.D. candidate at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, where she serves as President of the Federalist Society and Business Editor of the Arizona State Law Journal. She has received multiple CALI Excellence for the Future Awards, given to the student earning the highest grade in a course, in Statutory Interpretation, Legal Method & Writing, and Public Interest Litigation, and is a four-time Pedrick Scholar.
Before attending law school, Morgan worked for seven years in the Financial Services Tax practice at Ernst & Young LLP in Phoenix, advising national banking and capital-markets clients on complex federal tax issues, IRS controversies, and accounting-method changes.
Morgan’s legal experience includes serving as a judicial extern to the Honorable Jennifer M. Perkins on the Arizona Court of Appeals and as a Summer Associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Washington, D.C., where she will return post-graduation to join the firm’s Tax Controversy & Litigation Group. She is also a Ronald Reagan Fellow at the Goldwater Institute and a Blackstone Legal Fellow.
United States District Judge, United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
In November 2020, the Senate confirmed Kathryn Kimball Mizelle as a United States District Judge for the Middle District of Florida. At age 33, she became the youngest Article III judge in the country. Prior to her confirmation, Judge Mizelle was in private practice at Jones Day, where she focused on complex civil and criminal litigation and appeals. Judge Mizelle previously served at the United States Department of Justice in the Office of the Associate Attorney General, in the Southern Criminal Enforcement Section of the Tax Division, and in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Judge Mizelle has also taught as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School.
Judge Mizelle earned her B.A., summa cum laude, from Covenant College, and her J.D., summa cum laude, from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. After graduation, Judge Mizelle served as a law clerk at every level of the federal judiciary: at the Supreme Court for Justice Clarence Thomas, at the D.C. Circuit for Judge Gregory G. Katsas, at the Eleventh Circuit for Chief Judge William H. Pryor Jr., and at the Middle District of Florida for Judge James S. Moody Jr.
Partner, Consovoy McCarthy PLLC
Mr. Norris helps clients win important questions of federal law in trial and appellate courts across the country. He has represented prominent nonprofits, many States, the Republican Party, and the former President of the United States. He has argued in eight of the twelve federal circuits and twice at the U.S. Supreme Court, including the landmark case Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.
Mr. Norris is barred in Tennessee and Virginia, and is an elected member of the American Law Institute. Mr. Norris lives with his family in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Solicitor General, Tennessee Attorney General's Office
Matt Rice serves as the Solicitor General of Tennessee. Before joining the State, Matt worked in private practice at Williams & Connolly LLP. He clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas on the United States Supreme Court as well as Judge Sandra Ikuta on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Before his legal career, Matt played professional baseball in the Tampa Bay Rays organization.
Solicitor General, Mississippi Attorney General's Office
Scott G. Stewart is the Solicitor General of Mississippi. He has litigated and presented oral argument in the U.S. Supreme Court, in all regional federal courts of appeals, and in trial-level courts across the country. Stewart previously served as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice and worked in private practice as a litigator. He served as a law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court of the United States and to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Stewart graduated from Princeton University and Stanford Law School.
Managing Attorney, Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic and Term Teaching Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame Law School
Meredith Holland Kessler is the Managing Attorney for the Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic, where she trains, educates, and mentors students in the legal profession as they work to promote the fundamental human right to religious freedom. She represents clients in a variety of legal matters, with a strong focus on the Clinic's litigation efforts, and oversees the Clinic's operations.
Prior to joining Notre Dame Law School in 2022, Kessler practiced law in Washington, D.C. as an Issues & Appeals associate at Jones Day. She also served as a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and to Judge Richard J. Leon on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Kessler earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Theology from the University of Notre Dame. She graduated summa cum laude from Notre Dame Law School, where she served as the Federal Courts and Submissions Editor of the Notre Dame Law Review.
Assistant Clinical Professor of Law & Director, Religious Freedom Clinic, Harvard Law School
Josh is the Director of Harvard Law School’s Religious Freedom Clinic, a pro bono program that gives students a hands-on, supervised experience representing a diverse group of clients in First Amendment and religious freedom cases.
Before entering clinical teaching, Josh clerked for the Honorable Cormac J. Carney of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and the Honorable Jay S. Bybee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In addition to serving as a staff attorney in the clinic’s inaugural semester in 2020, he was previously a trial litigator at Munger, Tolles & Olson and an appellate litigator at Horvitz & Levy, where he specialized in representing individual and organizational clients in both commercial and civil rights cases, with particular expertise in First Amendment and religious freedom issues.
While in private practice, Josh received a Daily Journal 2022 California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year (CLAY) award, was twice named a “One to Watch” in appellate law by Best Lawyers, and argued in numerous appellate courts and courts of last resort, including twice before the California Supreme Court. His amicus brief for Jewish schools in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court was quoted by Justice Kavanaugh at oral argument.
Josh earned his B.A., magna cum laude, from Brigham Young University and graduated first in his class from UCLA School of Law.
Managing Attorney, Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic and Term Teaching Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame Law School
Meredith Holland Kessler is the Managing Attorney for the Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic, where she trains, educates, and mentors students in the legal profession as they work to promote the fundamental human right to religious freedom. She represents clients in a variety of legal matters, with a strong focus on the Clinic's litigation efforts, and oversees the Clinic's operations.
Prior to joining Notre Dame Law School in 2022, Kessler practiced law in Washington, D.C. as an Issues & Appeals associate at Jones Day. She also served as a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and to Judge Richard J. Leon on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Kessler earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Theology from the University of Notre Dame. She graduated summa cum laude from Notre Dame Law School, where she served as the Federal Courts and Submissions Editor of the Notre Dame Law Review.
Assistant Clinical Professor of Law & Director, Religious Freedom Clinic, Harvard Law School
Josh is the Director of Harvard Law School’s Religious Freedom Clinic, a pro bono program that gives students a hands-on, supervised experience representing a diverse group of clients in First Amendment and religious freedom cases.
Before entering clinical teaching, Josh clerked for the Honorable Cormac J. Carney of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and the Honorable Jay S. Bybee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In addition to serving as a staff attorney in the clinic’s inaugural semester in 2020, he was previously a trial litigator at Munger, Tolles & Olson and an appellate litigator at Horvitz & Levy, where he specialized in representing individual and organizational clients in both commercial and civil rights cases, with particular expertise in First Amendment and religious freedom issues.
While in private practice, Josh received a Daily Journal 2022 California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year (CLAY) award, was twice named a “One to Watch” in appellate law by Best Lawyers, and argued in numerous appellate courts and courts of last resort, including twice before the California Supreme Court. His amicus brief for Jewish schools in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court was quoted by Justice Kavanaugh at oral argument.
Josh earned his B.A., magna cum laude, from Brigham Young University and graduated first in his class from UCLA School of Law.
Partner, Holtzman Vogel
Mohammad “Mo” Jazil is a partner with Holtzman Vogel. His broad litigation practice includes state and federal constitutional cases, financial disputes, environmental disputes, white-collar criminal matters, and government investigations. Mohammad has served as first chair in federal and state court trials. He has briefed and argued dispositive motions and appeals before the federal courts, state appellate courts, and state supreme courts. He has also briefed cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, though he has never argued a case there.
Chambers USA calls Mohammad “a very good thinker,” “fantastic,” and “an excellent litigator.”
Since the summer of 2018, Mohammad has represented two Florida Governors and four Florida Secretaries of State on election-related and redistricting matters before federal and state trial courts, the Florida Supreme Court, the Eleventh Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Notably, this work includes wins in nine federal cases related to Florida’s 2018 recounts; the successful defense of Florida’s felon re-enfranchisement program; federal and state-court decisions upholding Florida’s most recent congressional plan; and the defense of various election-related statutes.
Mohammad represents other public officials as well. He has represented two Speakers of the Florida House of Representatives on issues as varied as cannabis regulation and transportation policy. And he has represented Florida’s Surgeon General, members of Florida’s Boards of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine, and the head of Florida’s Medicaid agency on health-policy issues.
Finally, Mohammad routinely represents companies and individuals on a variety of issues. This work includes pricing and tax disputes involving some of the country’s largest companies, commercial disputes where he has obtained and collected on eight-figure trial judgments, and criminal proceedings.
David Johnson is a partner at Holtzman Vogel and focuses his practice on political and election law regulatory compliance, appellate law, and state attorneys general investigations and litigation.
Prior to joining the firm, David was Policy Director and General Counsel to the Republican Attorneys General Association, as well as serving as president for the Rule of Law Defense Fund and Center for Law and Policy. In these roles, he worked closely with Republican attorneys general and their staff on developing and advancing policy priorities. He has also worked with President Trump's administration and other leading Republican political and conservative policy organizations with respect to key policy initiatives.
Previously, David was Senior Counsel with the Office of the Indiana Attorney General where he advised the Attorney General on strategy with respect to litigation, communications, complex legal objectives, and policy goals. Prior to joining the Indiana Office of Attorney General, David served as Corporation Counsel for Lawrence, Indiana. In that role, David advised on myriad issues including municipal bonding, human resources, and capital projects. And before that, David served as Deputy General Counsel and Policy Director for Governor Mike Pence, providing strategic counsel to the Governor on litigation, policy, crisis communications, and legislative strategy, as well as guiding policy efforts on gaming issues in Indiana.
He earned his AB from Wabash College, and his JD from the Indiana University McKinney School of Law.
Partner, Holtzman Vogel
Mark Pinkert is a litigation and appellate partner with Holtzman Vogel. He represents clients at every stage of litigation, in state and federal courts around the country. He has extensive experience in constitutional law, administrative law, political law, antitrust, white collar defense, and complex commercial disputes. Additionally, Mark maintains an active practice focused on religious freedom, First Amendment rights, and combatting antisemitism, especially on college campuses.
Mark is a formidable writer and advocate. He has drafted letters, white papers to government agencies, legal memoranda, regulatory comments, complaints, dispositive motions, motions in limine, appellate briefs, and several briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court. His incisive and persuasive writing style has helped him earn key victories for his clients. Mark has argued a Daubert motion in a multi-billion-dollar environmental dispute and was recently appointed lead counsel by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals to represent an indigent petitioner in a habeas corpus appeal. Mark’s legal commentary has been published in The Wall Street Journal, National Review, Times of Israel, Daily Business Review, University of Miami Law Review, and many others.
Mark is also an adept legal strategist, advising some of the largest companies in the world on their most pressing issues. Rather than merely react to problems, he provides holistic thinking and anticipates issues before they arise. He helps clients develop proactive plans of action that mitigate risks, avoid conflict, and reduce costs.
Before joining Holtzman Vogel, Mark worked at a global law firm and clerked for the Honorable Adalberto Jordan (11th Cir.) and the Honorable Roy K. Altman (S.D. Fla.). Clerking at both the trial and appellate levels has given him rare insight into the federal court system and has sharpened his advocacy.
At Yale Law School, Mark was an Articles Editor for the Yale Law Journal and an editor for the Yale Journal of Law & Humanities. He was also a research assistant and taught constitutional law to high school students in New Haven.
Partner, Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak PLLC
Brandon Smith is a partner at Holtzman Vogel, based in Tennessee, where he focuses on government investigations, white collar matters, and specialty litigation. A seasoned government leader and legal strategist, Brandon has played a central role in shaping conservative policy and litigation at the highest levels of state government.
Before joining the firm, Brandon served as Chief of Staff and Assistant Solicitor General in the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office. In that role, he led multi-state litigation, high-profile constitutional challenges, and efforts to counter federal overreach and ESG-related corporate activism. He worked closely with nearly every Republican Attorney General’s Office in the country, coordinating litigation, strategy, and multi-state policy efforts.
Earlier in his career, Brandon served as Executive Director of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs for Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin and as Policy Director to Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, where he helped drive key legislative and budget initiatives. He also held roles as Deputy Director of the Federalist Society and as an adjunct professor at American University.
Brandon’s career has been defined by a commitment to defending federalism, advancing conservative governance, and shaping legal and policy fights that matter.
Solicitor General, Iowa Office of the Attorney General
Eric Wessan serves as Iowa’s Solicitor General in the Iowa Attorney General’s Office. In that
role, Wessan leads Iowa’s litigation before State and federal appellate courts, including the Iowa
and U.S. Supreme Courts. Before that role, Wessan worked on complex commercial litigation at
two large law firms in Chicago. Wessan also served as a law clerk for the Honorable James C.
Ho on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and for the Honorable John F. Kness on the
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Wessan is a graduate of the University of
Chicago Law School, with honors, and of the University of Chicago.
Professor of Law and Faculty Director for the Georgetown Center for the Constitution, Georgetown University Law Center
Stephanie Barclay is a Professor of Law at Georgetown Law School, and the Faculty Director of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution. Her research focuses on the role our different democratic institutions play in protecting minority rights, particularly at the intersection of free speech and religious exercise. Barclay‘s work is published or is forthcoming in leading journals such as the Harvard Law Review, the Chicago Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and the Yale Law Journal Forum. One of her articles was also selected for the 2020 Stanford/Harvard/Yale Junior Faculty Forum. Her work has been featured in many media outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, USA Today, Bloomberg BNA, The Hill, and Law 360. And her work has also been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Prior to joining Georgetown, Barclay was twice voted Professor of the Year. Barclay has also litigated constitutional cases at both the trial and appellate level, including before the U.S. Supreme Court. Barclay served as a law clerk to Judge N. Randy Smith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and to Justice Neil M. Gorsuch of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Barclay is a Faculty Affiliate at the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School; and she is a Nootbaar Fellow at the Nootbaar Institute on Law, Religion, and Ethics at Pepperdine University. She currently serves as the Chair for the AALS Law and Religion Section and as a Member of the Executive Committee for the AALS Constitutional Law Section. She graduated summa cum laude from BYU Law School, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif. She is completing a Ph.D. in Law at Oxford University as a Clarendon Scholar and a Tang Scholar.
Vice President for Legal Strategy, Stand Together
Casey Mattox is Vice President for Legal Strategy at Stand Together and Senior Advisor at
Americans for Prosperity. In these roles he advocates for and creates strategies and
partnerships to ensure a constitutionally limited government that protects the civil liberties of all
Americans. Prior to joining Stand Together and AFP Casey’s legal career focused on defending
the First Amendment rights of students, faculty, healthcare workers and religious organizations.
Casey has a J.D. from Boston College School of Law and an undergraduate degree from the
University of Virginia. You can find him on Twitter at @CaseyMattox_ and on LinkedIn at
@Casey-Mattox-ST.
Courthouse Steps Oral Argument: First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, Inc. v. Platkin
Christopher Bates, Christopher E. Mills
In First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, Inc. v. Platkin, the New Jersey Attorney General, Matthew...
Courthouse Steps Oral Argument: First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, Inc. v. Platkin
Christopher Bates, Christopher E. Mills
In First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, Inc. v. Platkin, the New Jersey Attorney General, Matthew...
Showcase Panel 4: Science in the Courts After COVID and Skrmetti
Benjamin M. Flowers, Michael Gerrard, David Andrew Haungs, Robert E. Johnson, Jenn L. Mascott, J.J. James Snidow
2025 National Lawyers Convention
CLE credit for this event is available at On-Demand CLE. From litigation challenging COVID regulations to...
Showcase Panel 4: Science in the Courts After COVID and Skrmetti
Benjamin M. Flowers, Michael Gerrard, David Andrew Haungs, Robert E. Johnson, Jenn L. Mascott, J.J. James Snidow
2025 National Lawyers Convention
CLE credit for this event is available at On-Demand CLE. From litigation challenging COVID regulations to...
Showcase Panel 1: Landmark SCOTUS Decisions of the 2020s
Paul D. Clement, Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, Cameron T. Norris, Matt Rice, Scott G. Stewart, Morgan Larson
2025 National Lawyers Convention
CLE credit for this event is available at On-Demand CLE. This year marks the 20th anniversary...
Showcase Panel 1: Landmark SCOTUS Decisions of the 2020s
Paul D. Clement, Morgan Larson, Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, Cameron T. Norris, Matt Rice, Scott G. Stewart
2025 National Lawyers Convention
CLE credit for this event is available at On-Demand CLE. This year marks the 20th anniversary...
Courthouse Steps Oral Argument: Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections and Public Safety
Meredith Holland Kessler, Joshua C. McDaniel
Damon Landor, a state prisoner and practicing Rastafarian, refused to cut his hair as an...
Courthouse Steps Oral Argument: Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections and Public Safety
Meredith Holland Kessler, Joshua C. McDaniel
Damon Landor, a state prisoner and practicing Rastafarian, refused to cut his hair as an...
State AGs and the Supreme Court 2025 Term
Mohammad Jazil, David P. Johnson, Mark I. Pinkert, Brandon J. Smith, Eric Wessan
Presented by the In-House Counsel Network andHoltzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak PLLC State...
Courthouse Steps Oral Argument: Chiles v. Salazar
Stephanie Barclay, Casey Mattox
In Chiles v. Salazar, the Court will consider the question of whether a Colorado law...