Vice President for Legal Affairs, Goldwater Institute
Vice President for Legal Affairs, Goldwater Institute
Professor of Law and J. Philip Johnson Faculty Fellow, University of North Dakota School of Law
Michael S. McGinniss is Professor of Law and J. Philip Johnson Faculty Fellow at the University of North Dakota School of Law, where he joined the faculty in 2010 and served as the Dean from 2019 to 2022. He chairs the executive committee for the Federalist Society's Practice Group on Professional Responsibility and Legal Education.
Before entering the legal academy, Professor McGinniss served for twelve years as a Disciplinary Counsel for the Supreme Court of Delaware. He currently teaches courses on Professional Responsibility, Advanced Legal Ethics, Civil Procedure, and Federal Courts. He also serves as Faculty Advisor for the North Dakota Law Review and the UND Law Federalist Society student chapter.
Professor McGinniss’ research and scholarship interests are wide-ranging and include lawyer and judicial ethics, lawyer discipline and regulation of the profession, constitutional law (especially First Amendment, separation of powers, and federalism), and cultural challenges faced by conservatives in the law schools and the legal profession. His most recent law review article, Declaring Independence to Secure Integrity: The Supreme Court Justices' Code of Conduct, was published in the Federalist Society Review. His article Expressing Conscience with Candor: Saint Thomas More and First Freedoms in the Legal Profession, was published in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy.
Professor McGinniss has spoken to Federalist Society lawyer and student chapters across the country about judicial independence and ethics, especially relating to the federal courts and the United States Supreme Court Justices. In addition, he has spoken to several chapters about rising challenges to ideological diversity and targeting of conservative viewpoints in law schools and the legal profession. Although he is very pleased to speak on these and many other topics that may be of interest to lawyer and student chapters, in 2026-2027, he has particular interest in speaking on the topic “Lawyer Discipline as Political ‘Resistance’: Separation of Powers, Federalism, and the Rule of Law,” concerning his work-in-progress on the weaponization of professional disciplinary processes against conservative lawyers for political and ideological purposes.
Partner, Lewis Brisbois
Sarah E. Lang is a partner in the New York office of Lewis Brisbois and a member of the Appellate Practice. Ms. Lang has represented clients at all levels of state and federal courts, including the New York State Appellate Division, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court. The primary focus of her practice is drafting and arguing substantive motions and appeals before the federal courts and New York’s trial and appellate courts in substantive areas including general liability, New York Labor Law, medical malpractice, premises liability, and rideshare and transportation matters, among others. She also has extensive experience representing clients, including religious institutions, in matters arising under Title VII, the First Amendment, RLUIPA, New York’s City and State Human Rights Laws, New York’s Religious Corporations Law, and New York’s Real Property Tax Law. This includes federal jury trial experience and providing preventive advice and counseling. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Lang clerked on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, as well as the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. She also previously served as an Attorney Advisor for the United States Department of Education.
Vice President for Legal Affairs, Goldwater Institute
Courthouse Steps Oral Argument: Kennedy v. Braidwood Management, Inc.
Timothy Sandefur
In Kennedy v. Braidwood Management, Inc. the Supreme Court will consider "Whether the U.S. Court...
Courthouse Steps Oral Argument: Kennedy v. Braidwood Management, Inc.
Timothy Sandefur
In Kennedy v. Braidwood Management, Inc. the Supreme Court will consider "Whether the U.S. Court...
Courthouse Steps Oral Argument: Kennedy v. Braidwood Management, Inc.
Topics
Murthy Provides a Teachable Moment About the “Vast Power” of the Administrative State
Digital platforms, as private entities, enjoy First Amendment protection. Indeed, the Supreme Court said last...
Topics
The Future of Article III Standing
Is it “too easy” to show Article III standing, particularly in environmental cases? That is...
Declaring Independence to Secure Integrity: The Supreme Court Justices' Code of Conduct
Michael S. McGinniss
[T]he judiciary is beyond comparison the weakest of the three departments of power; that it...
Topics
Moore v. United States and the Uncertainty About “Direct” and “Indirect” Taxes
Our Constitution distinguishes between direct and indirect taxes. Indirect tax rates must be uniform throughout...
Groff v. DeJoy: The Death of the “De Minimis” Test Breathes Life Back into Religious Accommodation
Sarah E. Lang
In a unanimous decision last June, the Supreme Court in Groff v. DeJoy heightened the...
Topics
A Federal Gestational Age Abortion Ban is the Wrong (and Unconstitutional) Hill for the Pro-Life Movement to Die On
In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, decided in June 2022, the Supreme Court overruled...
Topics
Federal Departments Propose New Regulations for Contraceptive Services Mandate
On February 2, 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of...