Professor of Law, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
Joshua Kleinfeld teaches and writes about political, legal, and moral philosophy, criminal law, and criminal procedure. He also practices law in Northwestern's Juvenile Criminal Defense Clinic. He is a full professor with tenure at the Northwestern Pritzker School of the Law and (by courtesy) in Northwestern’s philosophy department. In 2017-18, he was a visiting professor at Harvard and Stanford Law Schools. He is the recipient of the Bator Award, given annually to one American law professor under the age of 40 who has demonstrated "excellence in legal scholarship, a commitment to teaching, a concern for students, and who has made a significant public impact."
In philosophy, Kleinfeld's research focuses on the idea of "embodied ethical life," as developed in the socio-theoretic tradition of Hegel, Weber, and Durkheim. This tradition aims to understand and critique social life by bringing to light the normative ideas implicit in social practices and institutions. In law, this means that the most interesting philosophical concepts are often those reflected or actualized in legal practice – in the law as judges and lawyers think of it and wield it.
In criminal law and procedure, Kleinfeld has developed a theory known as "reconstructivism," which holds that the chief office of criminal law is not to dole out retributive justice, nor to optimize crime and cost control, but to reconstruct a violated normative order in the wake of a crime. This work, which draws on the thought of Hegel, Durkheim, Jean Hampton, and Antony Duff, develops an alternative to retributive and utilitarian theories of criminal law by focusing on the distinctive social function and sense of justice at work in the criminal system.
Kleinfeld is also involved in practical criminal justice reform. In this vein, he defends children accused of homicide in the Northwestern Juvenile Criminal Defense clinic and assists in litigation efforts meant to reform American criminal law through the courts. He has also developed a view of criminal justice reform known as "democratization," which holds that the root of the American criminal justice crisis is a set of bureaucratic attitudes, structures, and incentives divorced from the American public’s concerns and sense of justice, and that the primary solution is to make criminal justice more community-focused and responsive to lay influences. Working with others, he has developed a number of policy proposals meant to reform American criminal justice in a democratic direction.
Kleinfeld holds a JD from Yale Law School, a PhD in philosophy from the Goethe University of Frankfurt (supervised by Axel Honneth, Klaus Günther, and Rainer Forst), and a BA in philosophy from Yale College. He clerked for Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit; Judge Janice Rogers Brown on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit; and President (chief justice) Aharon Barak of the Supreme Court of Israel. He worked as an Associate at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in Frankfurt, Germany, in the area of corporate criminal law. Before law school, he worked as a Senior Research Analyst at the White House’s Council on Bioethics.
Director of Research, American Economic Liberties Project
Matt Stoller is a public intellectual who writes about the American anti-monopoly
tradition. He is the author of the Simon and Schuster book Goliath: The Hundred Year
War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy. Stoller is the Director of Research at
the American Economic Liberties Project. He publishes an email newsletter called BIG.
Stoller is a former policy advisor to the Senate Budget Committee, and worked in the House of Representatives on the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform Act.
He has lectured on competition policy and media at Columbia University, Harvard Law, Duke Law, Bertelsmann Foundation, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, West Point and the National Communications Commission of Taiwan. His writing has appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times, Fast Company, Foreign Policy, the Guardian, Vice, The American Conservative, and the Baffler.
He has also produced for MSNBC and starred in a short-lived television show on FX called Brand X with Russell Brand.
Global Technology Counsel, Sony Corporation of America
Christopher Ekren is Global Technology Counsel for Sony. Based out of Silicon Valley, he is currently the lead US in house counsel for key Sony advanced technology initiatives in the areas of Artificial Intelligence (Sony AI, Inc.) , Gene Therapy (Sony Biotechnology Inc.), Satellite Communications (Sony Space Communications Inc.), Semiconductor and Component Technologies (Sony Semiconductor Solutions of America), Sony’s Research Labs US operations, as well as engineering and product development activities part of Sony’s North American core electronics business. He has concurrent global roles supporting Sony’s technology standards, open source software and special technology projects.
Executive Vice President and Senior Policy Advisor, Stephens, Inc.
Mary Kissel is Executive Vice President and Senior Policy Advisor at Stephens Inc., where she provides advice on geopolitical risk and macroeconomic trends to Stephens clients and the Stephens management team. Previously, she served as Senior Advisor to Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo from October 2018 to January 2021. Prior to joining the State Department, she had a long and distinguished career on The Wall Street Journal editorial board, including stints as chief foreign policy commentator in New York City and Asia-Pacific editorial page editor, based in Hong Kong. Ms. Kissel hosts the Nixon Seminar on Conservative Realism and National Security, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves on the boards of the American Australian Council, The Marathon Initiative, and RXO, Inc. She is a graduate of Harvard University and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
Member of Parliament for Chingford & Woodford Green, House of Commons
The Rt Hon Sir Iain Duncan Smith is the Conservative MP for Chingford and Woodford Green, and has been an MP continuously since 1992.
Between 1997 and 2001, he was Shadow Secretary of State for Social Security and then Shadow Secretary of State for Defence. From 2001 to 2003, he was leader of the Conservative Party.
He took a lead role in the Vote Leave campaign ahead of the EU referendum on 23 June 2016, appearing many times in the media and public debates, and is now working alongside colleagues to ensure the Government achieves a smooth and rapid exit from the EU and forms a new relationship based on trade, continuing friendship and cooperation.
Before entering politics, he served in the Scots Guards from 1975 to 1982. During this time, he saw service in Northern Ireland and Rhodesia/ Zimbabwe. After leaving the army, he worked in industry, first with the GUC, then as a Director of a property company and subsequently as a Director at the publishing company Jane’s Information Group.
Payson J. Treat Distinguished Research Fellow in Contemporary Asia, Hoover Institution
Michael Auslin, PhD, is the Payson J. Treat Distinguished Research Fellow in Contemporary Asia at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. A historian by training, he specializes in US policy in Asia and geopolitical issues in the Indo-Pacific region.
Auslin is the author of six books, including Asia’s New Geopolitics: Essays on Reshaping the Indo-Pacific and the best-selling The End of the Asian Century: War, Stagnation, and the Risks to the World's Most Dynamic Region. He is a longtime contributor to the Wall Street Journal and National Review, and his writing appears in other leading publications, including the Financial Times, The Spectator, and Foreign Policy. He comments regularly for US and foreign print and broadcast media.
Previously, Auslin was an associate professor of history at Yale University, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, and a visiting professor at the University of Tokyo. He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the senior advisor for Asia at the Halifax International Security Forum, a senior fellow at London’s Policy Exchange, and a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. Among his honors are being named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, a Fulbright Scholar, and a German Marshall Fund Marshall Memorial Fellow. He serves on the board of the Wilton Park USA Foundation.
Auslin cohosts the podcast "The Pacific Century" with John Yoo, where they broadly address developments in China and Asia. They discuss the latest politics, economics, law, and cultural news, with a focus on US policy in the region.
Payson J. Treat, for whom Auslin’s current Stanford position is named, held the first professorship at an American university in what was then called Far Eastern history, a post created for him at Stanford in 1906.
Senior Public Policy Advisor, Wiley Rein LLP
Nova Daly, an experienced international investment and trade policy professional, has held senior leadership positions at the U.S. Departments of the Treasury and Commerce, the White House, and the U.S. Senate. Drawing on his experience in the management, development, and implementation of the U.S. economic and national security policies and programs, he provides both high-level insight and deep operational experience to help clients navigate the policy and regulatory environment surrounding cross-border business activities, especially through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
Partner, CFIUS and Foreign Investment Reviews; National Security; International Trade, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates
Ambassador Gerrish returned to Skadden in 2020 after serving as the deputy U.S. trade representative for Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Industrial Competitiveness. In this role, he formulated and implemented U.S. trade policy for the regions and issues under his purview, led critically important trade negotiations, and developed and executed strategies to address trade barriers and unfair trade practices in countries around the world. In addition, he was responsible for global trade policy in the areas of intellectual property and innovation. Ambassador Gerrish served as lead negotiator for the U.S.-China Economic and Trade Agreement and played a key role in the negotiation or renegotiation of several other major trade agreements, including the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement, the U.S.-Japan Digital Trade Agreement, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement. From April 2018 to May 2019, Ambassador Gerrish also served as acting president and chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, where he developed and implemented major policy initiatives, including an increased focus on programs to aid small businesses.
Ambassador Gerrish helps clients navigate challenges and barriers in international trade and investment. He advises on the market access opportunities and compliance challenges presented by trade agreements, and counsels clients on how to address market access issues, trade barriers and unfair trade practices that affect their ability to export to, operate within or invest in other countries. He develops strategies for clients to open or maintain international markets for their products or services, and he advocates on their behalf before the U.S. government and foreign governments. Additionally, Ambassador Gerrish advises clients on how best to structure their operations and supply chains to avoid supply chain disruptions and take advantage of current trade agreements and structures.
Ambassador Gerrish also works with clients in ongoing negotiations relating to international trade agreements, including negotiations at the World Trade Organization and for bilateral trade agreements. He advises clients on how such negotiations may affect their interests and operations and helps them to develop and execute strategies for the negotiations.
Another important part of Ambassador Gerrish’s practice is working closely with clients in matters involving U.S. export controls and U.S. customs laws and regulations. He has helped a broad array of clients in handling compliance issues, interpreting the scope and applicability of the requirements in these areas, developing and implementing company compliance programs, and resolving internal investigations and government enforcement matters.
Ambassador Gerrish has extensive experience assisting companies in complex antidumping, countervailing duty and safeguards cases and in other high-stakes trade disputes before the U.S. government and foreign governments and international institutions. He has litigated hundreds of cases before the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. International Trade Commission, U.S. Court of International Trade, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, North American Free Trade Agreement binational panels and World Trade Organization dispute settlement panels. In addition, Ambassador Gerrish works with clients on national security investigations under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and in investigations into unfair trade policies and practices before the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. He has achieved highly successful outcomes for clients in these matters in industries ranging from steel to geosynthetics.
Ambassador Gerrish also assists clients in navigating national security reviews before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). In this capacity, he draws upon his experience at the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office, where he advised on CFIUS reviews and helped to formulate the regulations and policies implementing the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act.
Ambassador Gerrish is a frequent speaker on international trade topics. He also was previously appointed (and reappointed) by the chief judge of the U.S. Court of International Trade to serve as a member of the court’s Rules Advisory Committee, and he served as co-chair of the International Trade Committee and a board member of the Customs and International Trade Bar Association. Ambassador Gerrish repeatedly has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America.
Professor Emeritus of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
Jeremy A. Rabkin is a Professor Emeritus of Law at the Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University. Before joining the faculty in June 2007, he was for over two decades a professor in the Department of Government at Cornell University. Professor Rabkin serves on the board of directors of the Center for Individual Rights, a public interest law firm based in Washington, D.C. Previously he was a board member of the U.S. Institute of Peace and the board of academic advisors of the American Enterprise Institute.
Professor Rabkin’s books include Law Without Nations? (Princeton University Press, 2005). He authored “If You Need a Friend, Don’t Call a Cosmopolitan,” a chapter in Varieties of Sovereignty and Citizenship (Sigal R. Ben-Porath & Rogers M. Smith eds., University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012). His articles have appeared in major law reviews and political science journals and his journalistic contributions in a range of magazines and newspapers, including the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.
Director and Senior Fellow, Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, University of California at Berkeley
Mark Cohen heads the Asia IP Project at the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology at Berkeley Law School. He is also responsible for teaching international trade law and research and writing on IP issues. Previously, Cohen was Senior Counsel, China in the Office of Policy and International Affairs at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, after serving as a visiting professor at Fordham Law School (2011-2012). Prior to that time, he served in such functions as: Director, International Intellectual Property at Microsoft Corporation; Of Counsel to Jones Day’s Beijing office; and Senior Intellectual Property Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing (2004- 2008). In total, he has over 30 years private, public sector, in-house and academic experience in China and transition economies, with a focus on technology trade and intellectual property.
Cohen was the first IPR Attaché posted by USPTO to handle IPR issues in a foreign country. In addition, he launched the annual “Ambassador’s IPR Roundtable” which he co-chaired for five years, devised IPR “toolkits”, “road shows”, pro-bono programs, internal training programs for the US government and external training programs, and worked with USPTO and other US agencies to engage China and Chinese IP agencies. Cohen led a China team at USPTO consisting of 21 individuals in DC, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, China on all aspects of USPTO’s activities in China. Among his book-length publications are Antimonopoly Law and Practice in China (Oxford University Press 2011, with Steve Harris et al.). He was also the editor of Chinese Intellectual Property Law and Practice (Kluwer Law International 1999) and has edited or published a number of on-line publications, including the blog www.chinaipr.com.
Mr. Cohen has taught and lectured at numerous universities in the United States, Asia and Europe. Amongst other honors, he was the recipient of the US Chamber of Commerce’s “IP Champion” award in 2014. Mr. Cohen holds a J.D. degree from Columbia University (1984), an M.A. from the University of Wisconsin in Chinese Language and Literature (1979) and a B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany in Chinese Studies (1977).
Hon. William Matthew Byrne, Jr. Chair Professor of Law, Loyola Law School, Loyola Marymount University
Prior to joining Loyola in 2013, Professor Justin Hughes taught at Cardozo Law School where he served as director of Cardozo’s Intellectual Property Program, 2004 through 2008, and founded the law school’s Indie Film Clinic, the first of its kind.
From 2009 through 2013, Professor Hughes also worked in the Obama Administration as Senior Advisor to the Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property. In that capacity he was the United States chief negotiator for the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances (2012) and the Marrakesh Treaty for the Blind (2013).
In the 1990s, Professor Hughes did volunteer work in democracy development in Latin America, West Africa and the Balkans. He has practiced law in Paris and Los Angeles. As a Henry Luce Scholar, he clerked for the Lord President of the Malaysian Supreme Court in Kuala Lumpur.
Dinsmore & Shohl LLP, Partner
Brian is chair of Dinsmore’s IP Transactions and Licensing Group. He is a past president of the Licensing Executives Society (USA and Canada), Inc. (LES), the leading professional society devoted to commercial transactions and licensing of intangible property. He continues to serve LES as senior vice president for public policy. He has extensive experience in a wide variety of commercial transactions involving intangible property, and is known for creative licensing strategies to promote collaboration and resolve IP-related disputes.
He is a registered patent attorney with more than 30 years of experience before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in structuring global IP portfolios and strategies. He has extensive experience in contested proceedings before the USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board (interferences, Inter Partes Reviews and Post Grant Reviews), as well as contested matters in federal courts and the International Trade Commission. His wide-ranging experience affords a broad, informed perspective and facilitates creative approaches to intellectual property management, licensing, and enforcement.
In addition to his leadership of LES, Brian served on the LES Board of Directors 2007 – 2018. In his ongoing role as senior vice president for public policy he is responsible for coordinating the society’s public policy positions, amicus briefs, and congressional outreach. He works with legislators, the executive branch, and the courts toward consistent, reliable, and prudent IP laws and policies that advance innovation and economic development. He has also served LES as trustee for education, and has long served as an author, editor, and faculty member of LES educational programs focusing on best practices in IP licensing.
He is also active in the global society, LES International (LESI). Among his various roles in LESI, he has served as co-chair of the External Relations Committee, coordinating public policy and advocacy for effective IP laws and policies among the 33 regional LES societies, and with various non-governmental organizations such as WIPO and EPO. In 2019, he received the LES International President’s Service Recognition Award.
Brian also serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Bayh Dole Coalition, a 501(c)(4) corporation dedicated to promoting and preserving the Bayh Dole Act. He is a member of the Founding Board of Directors of the United States Intellectual Property Alliance (USIPA), an organization dedicated to raising public awareness of, and appreciation for, the role of IP in fostering innovation for the public good; and he has served on the DC Bar Intellectual Property Section Steering Committee (2013 – 2016).
In 2016, Brian testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship on the effects of the America Invents Act on small business and entrepreneurs in a hearing entitled “An Examination of Changes to the U.S. Patent System & Impacts on America's Small Businesses.”
With his longstanding and diverse patent practice, in both private practice and in-house, Brian advises corporate leaders and entrepreneurs in effective IP procurement practices, and in maximizing value from IP assets. He has been retained as a testifying witness in IP and licensing disputes by the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and by various private enterprises.
Brian has been acknowledged by IAM magazine as among its “IAM Strategy 300”, the world’s leading IP strategists, and among “The World's Leading Patent and Technology Licensing Lawyers.”
He earned B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Department of Chemistry, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY; and Juris Doctor from Syracuse University, College of Law, Syracuse, NY (1986).
Brian has served his alma mater as president of the RIT Alumni Association 2005 – 2009; and now serves on the RIT Board of Trustees as a member of its Executive Committee, chair of its Student Life Committee, and vice-chair of its Committee on Trustees. In 2013, Brian was awarded RIT’s Outstanding Alumnus Award, and in 2005 he was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award by RIT’s College of Science.
Partner, Arnold & Porter LLP
John Bellinger heads the firm's Global Law and Public Policy practice. He joined the firm in 2009, after holding several senior Presidential appointments in the US government, including as the Senate-confirmed Legal Adviser to the Department of State and Senior Associate Counsel to the President and Legal Adviser to the National Security Council (NSC) at the White House in the George W. Bush Administration.
Mr. Bellinger represents individuals, corporations, and sovereign governments in litigation in US courts and before international institutions. He has extensive experience in US foreign relations litigation involving the Alien Tort Statute, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, the Anti-Terrorism Act, and the diplomatic and official immunities of foreign governments and government officials. He advises clients on other public international law matters, including treaties and international agreements as well as international humanitarian law and human rights law. He also counsels US and foreign clients on national security legal and policy issues, including US and multilateral financial sanctions and asset controls, the extraterritorial application of US criminal and civil laws, and transactions reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
Chambers Global ranks Mr. Bellinger among the best international lawyers in the world, reporting that he has "second-to-none experience in public international law, international litigation and foreign sovereign immunity" and that his "experience at the highest levels of the Executive branch...gives him a distinct and important vantage point on legal issues." Chambers adds: "For any cross border work he's just extraordinary, he knows the area inside-out."
Mr. Bellinger was the State Department Legal Adviser–the most senior international lawyer in the US Government–from 2005 to 2009, serving under Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He directed more than 170 lawyers on domestic and international law matters affecting US foreign relations. Before joining the State Department, Mr. Bellinger managed Secretary Rice's Senate confirmation process and co-directed her State Department transition team. In 2009, Mr. Bellinger received the Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award.
Mr. Bellinger has argued cases before the International Court of Justice (Mexico v. United States–(Medellin)) and the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in The Hague. He has appeared on numerous briefs in US federal courts, including the Supreme Court, in litigation involving international law issues.
As Legal Adviser to the NSC from 2001 to 2005, Mr. Bellinger advised President Bush, Cabinet officials, National Security Advisor Rice, and NSC staff on a wide range of national security and international law issues, including counterterrorism issues after the 9-11 attacks. He was one of the principal drafters of the legislation that created the Director of National Intelligence.
Prior to his service in the Bush Administration, Mr. Bellinger served as Counsel for National Security Matters in the Criminal Division at the US Department of Justice (1997-2001); Of Counsel to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (1996); General Counsel of the Commission on the Roles and Capabilities of the US Intelligence Community (1995-1996); and Special Assistant to Director of Central Intelligence William Webster (1988-1991). Mr. Bellinger is an Adjunct Senior Fellow in International and National Security Law at the Council on Foreign Relations. He has testified before Congress on numerous occasions, is quoted regularly in the media on international and national security law matters, and has lectured at numerous US and foreign universities and law schools. He is the author of many law review articles and op-eds on international law, including op-eds in The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Bellinger is a senior contributor to the Lawfare blog.
Mr. Bellinger is a member of the Secretary of State's Advisory Committee on International Law. He served from 2005-2019 as one of four US Members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague and a member of the US "National Group", which nominates judges to the International Court of Justice. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Society of International Law. He is a member of the Council of the American Law Institute; the boards of directors of the American Ditchley Foundation, the Salzburg Global Seminar, and the Stimson Center; and the advisory committee of Foreign Affairs magazine.
Mr. Bellinger is a graduate of Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and he holds an MA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia and a JD from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard International Law Journal.
US Department of State, Ambassador At-Large for Global Criminal Justice
Dr. Beth Van Schaack was sworn in as the Department’s sixth Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice (GCJ) on March 17, 2022. In this role, she advises the Secretary of State and other Department leadership on issues related to the prevention of and response to atrocity crimes, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
Ambassador Van Schaack served as Deputy to the Ambassador-at-Large in GCJ from 2012 to 2013. Prior to returning to public service in 2022, Ambassador Van Schaack was the Leah Kaplan Visiting Professor in Human Rights at Stanford Law School, where she taught international criminal law, human rights, human trafficking, and a policy lab on Legal & Policy Tools for Preventing Atrocities. In addition, she directed Stanford’s International Human Rights & Conflict Resolution Clinic. Ambassador Van Schaack began her academic career at Santa Clara University School of Law, where, in addition to teaching and writing on international human rights issues, she served as the Academic Adviser to the United States interagency delegation to the International Criminal Court Review Conference in Kampala, Uganda. Earlier in her career, she was a practicing lawyer at Morrison & Foerster, LLP; the Center for Justice & Accountability, a human rights law firm; and the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague.
Ambassador Van Schaack has published numerous articles and papers on international human rights and justice issues, including her 2020 thesis, Imagining Justice for Syria (Oxford University Press). From 2014 to 2022, she served as Executive Editor for Just Security, an online forum for the analysis of national security, foreign policy, and rights. She is a graduate of Stanford (BA), Yale (JD) and Leiden (PhD) Universities.
Director and Senior Fellow, Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, University of California at Berkeley
Mark Cohen heads the Asia IP Project at the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology at Berkeley Law School. He is also responsible for teaching international trade law and research and writing on IP issues. Previously, Cohen was Senior Counsel, China in the Office of Policy and International Affairs at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, after serving as a visiting professor at Fordham Law School (2011-2012). Prior to that time, he served in such functions as: Director, International Intellectual Property at Microsoft Corporation; Of Counsel to Jones Day’s Beijing office; and Senior Intellectual Property Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing (2004- 2008). In total, he has over 30 years private, public sector, in-house and academic experience in China and transition economies, with a focus on technology trade and intellectual property.
Cohen was the first IPR Attaché posted by USPTO to handle IPR issues in a foreign country. In addition, he launched the annual “Ambassador’s IPR Roundtable” which he co-chaired for five years, devised IPR “toolkits”, “road shows”, pro-bono programs, internal training programs for the US government and external training programs, and worked with USPTO and other US agencies to engage China and Chinese IP agencies. Cohen led a China team at USPTO consisting of 21 individuals in DC, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, China on all aspects of USPTO’s activities in China. Among his book-length publications are Antimonopoly Law and Practice in China (Oxford University Press 2011, with Steve Harris et al.). He was also the editor of Chinese Intellectual Property Law and Practice (Kluwer Law International 1999) and has edited or published a number of on-line publications, including the blog www.chinaipr.com.
Mr. Cohen has taught and lectured at numerous universities in the United States, Asia and Europe. Amongst other honors, he was the recipient of the US Chamber of Commerce’s “IP Champion” award in 2014. Mr. Cohen holds a J.D. degree from Columbia University (1984), an M.A. from the University of Wisconsin in Chinese Language and Literature (1979) and a B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany in Chinese Studies (1977).
Former Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
Judge Michel served for more than 22 years on the Federal Circuit, retiring on May 31, 2010. From December 25, 2004 until his retirement, he also discharged the duties of Chief Judge of this national court, serving simultaneously on the U.S. Judicial Conference -- the Judiciary's governing body -- and by appointment of the Chief Justice on its seven-judge Executive Committee.
He judged several thousand appeals and authored more than 800 opinions, one third concerning intellectual property law. Intellectual Asset Management magazine inducted him into its Hall of Fame and he was designated one of the 50 most influential leaders in intellectual property law in the world. His contributions were also recognized by lifetime achievement and similar awards by the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA); Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation (IPO); the American Bar Association's Intellectual Property Section; Managing Intellectual Property magazine; the Sedona Conference; the Patent and Trademark Office Society (PTOS); the New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles Intellectual Property Law Associations; and the William C. Connor, the Giles S. Rich, and the Richard Linn Intellectual Property American Inns of Court. In 2010 the Los Angeles IP Inn was renamed in his honor as the Paul R. Michel IP Inn.
Judge Michel received the Jefferson Medal, the Eli Whitney Award, and the Katz-Kiley Prize as well as Honorary Doctor of Law degrees from the Catholic University of America and the John Marshall Law School. He is a lifetime Member of Honore of FICPI, the international association of private practitioners of intellectual property law. Williams College granted him the Kellogg Award for "outstanding leadership in law and public service."
Judge Michel has written numerous articles on patent law and advocacy, taught related courses and master classes at George Washington University, the University of Akron, and John Marshall law schools, serving as well on their IP advisory boards and on counterpart boards at the universities of California (Berkley), Washington, and Maryland. He co-authored a casebook, Patent Litigation and Strategy (West, 1999) and an August 2010 editorial in the New York Times on strengthening the patent system to promote prosperity and create new jobs.
A frequent speaker at conferences and law schools during his judicial tenure and since, he retired from a lifetime appointment to be free to speak out on the national need for better patent policy and protection of intellectual property and the vital, unmet resource needs of the courts, the PTO, the International Trade Commission, and other IP-related agencies. He was appointed Distinguished Scholar in Residence by IPO, following his retirement. Judge Michel also consults for law firms and their clients in intellectual property litigations, conducting moot courts, mock trials, case evaluations, editing briefs, advising on strategy and providing mediation and arbitration services.
Dinsmore & Shohl LLP, Partner
Brian is chair of Dinsmore’s IP Transactions and Licensing Group. He is a past president of the Licensing Executives Society (USA and Canada), Inc. (LES), the leading professional society devoted to commercial transactions and licensing of intangible property. He continues to serve LES as senior vice president for public policy. He has extensive experience in a wide variety of commercial transactions involving intangible property, and is known for creative licensing strategies to promote collaboration and resolve IP-related disputes.
He is a registered patent attorney with more than 30 years of experience before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in structuring global IP portfolios and strategies. He has extensive experience in contested proceedings before the USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board (interferences, Inter Partes Reviews and Post Grant Reviews), as well as contested matters in federal courts and the International Trade Commission. His wide-ranging experience affords a broad, informed perspective and facilitates creative approaches to intellectual property management, licensing, and enforcement.
In addition to his leadership of LES, Brian served on the LES Board of Directors 2007 – 2018. In his ongoing role as senior vice president for public policy he is responsible for coordinating the society’s public policy positions, amicus briefs, and congressional outreach. He works with legislators, the executive branch, and the courts toward consistent, reliable, and prudent IP laws and policies that advance innovation and economic development. He has also served LES as trustee for education, and has long served as an author, editor, and faculty member of LES educational programs focusing on best practices in IP licensing.
He is also active in the global society, LES International (LESI). Among his various roles in LESI, he has served as co-chair of the External Relations Committee, coordinating public policy and advocacy for effective IP laws and policies among the 33 regional LES societies, and with various non-governmental organizations such as WIPO and EPO. In 2019, he received the LES International President’s Service Recognition Award.
Brian also serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Bayh Dole Coalition, a 501(c)(4) corporation dedicated to promoting and preserving the Bayh Dole Act. He is a member of the Founding Board of Directors of the United States Intellectual Property Alliance (USIPA), an organization dedicated to raising public awareness of, and appreciation for, the role of IP in fostering innovation for the public good; and he has served on the DC Bar Intellectual Property Section Steering Committee (2013 – 2016).
In 2016, Brian testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship on the effects of the America Invents Act on small business and entrepreneurs in a hearing entitled “An Examination of Changes to the U.S. Patent System & Impacts on America's Small Businesses.”
With his longstanding and diverse patent practice, in both private practice and in-house, Brian advises corporate leaders and entrepreneurs in effective IP procurement practices, and in maximizing value from IP assets. He has been retained as a testifying witness in IP and licensing disputes by the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and by various private enterprises.
Brian has been acknowledged by IAM magazine as among its “IAM Strategy 300”, the world’s leading IP strategists, and among “The World's Leading Patent and Technology Licensing Lawyers.”
He earned B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Department of Chemistry, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY; and Juris Doctor from Syracuse University, College of Law, Syracuse, NY (1986).
Brian has served his alma mater as president of the RIT Alumni Association 2005 – 2009; and now serves on the RIT Board of Trustees as a member of its Executive Committee, chair of its Student Life Committee, and vice-chair of its Committee on Trustees. In 2013, Brian was awarded RIT’s Outstanding Alumnus Award, and in 2005 he was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award by RIT’s College of Science.
Chief Judge (ret.), U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and Honorary Professor, Tsinghua University
Randall R. Rader was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit by President George H. W. Bush in 1990 and served as Chief Judge from June 2010 to June 2014. He was appointed to the United States Claims Court (now the U. S. Court of Federal Claims) by President Ronald W. Reagan in 1988. Judge Rader's most prized title may well be "Professor Rader."
As Professor, Judge Rader has taught courses on patent law and other advanced intellectual property courses at The George Washington University Law School,University of Virginia School of Law, Georgetown University Law Center, the Munich Intellectual Property Law Center, and other university programs in Tokyo, Taipei, New Delhi, and Beijing. Due to the size and diversity of his classes, Judge Rader may have taught patent law to more students than anyone else. Judge Rader has also co-authored several texts including the most widely used textbook on U. S. patent law, "Cases and Materials on Patent Law," (St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson/West 3d ed. 2009) and "Patent Law in a Nutshell," (St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson/West 2007) (translated into Chinese and Japanese). Judge Rader has won acclaim for leading dozens of government and educational delegations to every continent (except Antarctica), teaching rule of law and intellectual property law principles.
Judge Rader has received many awards, including the Sedona Lifetime Achievement Award for Intellectual Property Law, 2009; Distinguished Teaching Awards from George Washington University Law School, 2003 and 2008 (by election of the students); the Jefferson Medal from the New Jersey Intellectual Property Law Association, 2003; the Distinguished Service Award from the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, 2003; the J. William Fulbright Award for Distinguished Public Service from George Washington University Law School, 2000; and the Younger Federal Lawyer Award from the Federal Bar Association, 1983. Before appointment to the Court of Federal Claims, Judge Rader served as Minority and Majority Chief Counsel to Subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. From 1975 to 1980, he served as Counsel in the House of Representatives for representatives serving on the Interior, Appropriations, and Ways and Means Committees. He received a B.A. in English from Brigham Young University in 1974 and a J.D. from George Washington University Law School in 1978.
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, Gates Corporation
Matthew R. A. Heiman joined the Company in May 2026 and has served as the Company’s Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary since June 2026. As Chief Legal Officer, Mr. Heiman is responsible for all legal functions for Gates, including securities and corporate governance, M&A, litigation, commercial, regulatory, compliance, patents and trademarks, real estate, employment and labor, sustainability and environmental matters. Prior to joining Gates, Mr. Heiman held senior legal leadership roles at Waystar, where he served as Chief Legal & Administrative Officer from 2023 to 2025 and as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary from 2020 to 2023. Prior to that, he was with Johnson Controls, where he served as Vice President, Corporate Secretary, and Associate General Counsel. Mr. Heiman has been a Senior Fellow for the National Security Institute at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia School of Law since 2018.
Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
BG (Res.) Professor Jacob Nagel is a senior fellow at FDD and a visiting professor at the Technion Aerospace Engineering Faculty. Nagel was a career Israeli civil servant official (IDF, Defense Ministry and Prime Minister’s Office) for over 40 years.
From January 2016 to May 2017, Jacob served as the head of Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) and as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s National Security Advisor (acting). He led the negotiations and signed the agreement for 38 billion dollar military aid to Israel from 2018 to 2027.
From May 2011 to December 2015, Jacob headed the Strategic and Defense Policy Directorate at Israel’s NSC, where he led the Israeli experts team working with the countries that negotiated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal.
From April 1996 to April 2011, Jacob held various positions at Israel’s Ministry of Defense, Directorate of Defense Research and Development, including the head of military R&D (acting), and Directorate’s Scientific Deputy, he headed the so-called “Nagel Committee,” which was responsible for Israel’s decision to develop Iron Dome as the nation’s short-range defense system.
From October 1979 to April 1996, Jacob served in several positions at the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), in the elite Israel SIGINT National Unit (known as Unit 8200).
Senior Fellow, George Mason University National Security Institute
Bryan Smith is a Senior Fellow at the George Mason University National Security Institute.
Senior Fellow, CNA
Dov Zakheim is an expert in defense strategy, programs and budgets, defense acquisition and contracting, defense-industrial collaboration, inter-agency process, Iraq, missile defense, and naval strategy, policy and organization. His research and analysis, as well as policymaking responsibilities, span the gamut of defense planning, programming and budgeting issues, wartime contracting and acquisition, and major developments in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and East and Southeast Asia. He is also an Executive Advisor to the Chief of Naval Operations.
Previously, Zakheim was Senior Vice President of Booz Allen Hamilton, where he led the firm's support of U.S. Combatant Commanders worldwide. He also served as Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and Chief Financial Officer for the Department of Defense, coordinator of DOD's civilian programs in Afghanistan, and Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Planning and Resources in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Policy). He is a member of the boards of several institutions, including the Atlantic Council, the Center for the National Interest, the Foreign Policy Research Institute and the Defense Business Board of the DOD.
Zakheim has a D.Phil. in Economics and Politics from St. Antony's College at the University of Oxford and a B.A. in Government from Columbia University. He speaks French and Hebrew.
Stevenson Bernard Professor, George Washington University Law School
The Honorable F. Scott Kieff is the Stevenson Bernard Professor at George Washington University Law School and a Visiting Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.
He served as Commissioner of the U.S. International Trade Commission from 2013-2017. He also served during the Bush, Obama, and Trump Administrations in the part-time leadership of the national security defense-intelligence community.
He was previously a professor of law and medicine at Washington University in Saint Louis and a Senior Fellow at Hoover. A former law clerk to U.S. Circuit Judge Giles S. Rich, he is a graduate of Penn Law School and MIT, where he studied molecular biology and microeconomics. He was elected to the European Academy of Sciences and Arts in 2012 and the Academia Europaea in 2024.
His private sector work through Kieff Strategies LLC (www.kieffstrategies.com) provides neutral services including mediation and compliance, and expert services including crisis management, advising, and testimony.
Founder, Libertas-West Project
Karen Lugo is a constitutional law consultant and national security analyst. She was Director of the Center for Tenth Amendment at Texas Public Policy Foundation from 2013 to 2015. When living in California, she was Co-Director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence Center. From 2005 – 2012, she was a clinical visiting and adjunct professor at Chapman University School of Law where she co-taught the advanced Constitutional Law Clinic. Karen has co-authored and written circuit-level and Supreme Court amicus briefs on such issues as FISA Surveillance, Healthcare Reform, Arizona’s Border Security, Gay Marriage, The Ten Commandments, Eminent Domain, Christian Clubs on University Campuses, and Material Support for Terrorists.
Karen is the founder of the Libertas-West Project, a center for study Islamic integration and radicalization issues. In this capacity, she consulted with the Center for Security Policy to write a book on local over-watch of mosque construction and community engagement called: Mosques in America: A Guide to Accountable Permit Hearings and Continuing Citizen Oversight.
Karen writes and speaks for European and American groups on the importance of basing assimilation efforts on principles of Western exceptionalism. She presented a policy brief to the French Conseil d’Etat analyzing the legal implications of banning the burqa. Ms. Lugo has written one of the most comprehensive overviews of sharia law in American courts, American Family Law and Sharia-Compliant Marriages, for the Federalist Society law journal, Engage. She has written several white papers on the American Law for American Courts legislation and sharia tribunals in America.
Ms. Lugo was an appointee to the California Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. She also taught a Human Rights law course on the contrast between French and English Enlightenment theories in Strasbourg, France.
Until moving from California, Ms. Lugo was a member of the David Horowitz Freedom Center Board of Directors. She was also a regular guest on the Orange County PBS local issues debate program, Inside OC, and she is a contributor to Pajamas Media, National Review Online, City Journal, American Spectator, American Greatness, Townhall.com, American Thinker, Daily Caller, and Family Security Matters. She has been interviewed by dozens of radio hosts and has spoken for civic groups on constitutional and cultural concerns.
Attorney, Berman Law Group
A resident of Los Angeles, Matthew was born and raised outside of Boston. Growing up in a family of lawyers, he swore he would never be one. After receiving his bachelor's degree and graduating with distinction in his major from Trinity College (Hartford, CT), he was first an entrepreneur in Boston before moving to Los Angeles, where he became a management and marketing executive. He has produced TV commercials and digital media; built domestic and international sales channels for publishing and entertainment products; and developed e-commerce strategies for a variety of consumer products and services. One day he found himself in the middle of an LGBT focused hate crime, and in the process of helping the victim seek justice, discovered a passion for the law and advocacy – and realized you should never say “never.”
A series of subsequent events brought him to law school in South Florida, where he graduated number one in his class and summa cum laude from the Shepard Broad College of Law at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale in 2009. Along the way he was editor in chief of the Nova Law Review and received the Student Bar Association’s Award for Academic Excellence, an honor chosen by his fellow students.
Since being admitted to the Florida Bar his career has focused on mass torts, class actions, catastrophic injury, and products liability as a plaintiff’s attorney. Notably, Matthew was a key part of helping to shape and draft the litigation that became In re: Checking Account Overdraft Litigation, which resulted in over $1.3 billion in settlements from dozens of U.S. banks that charged customers unjustified overdraft fees. He was also a key part of shaping and drafting the Florida litigation that became In re: Chinese Manufactured Drywall Product Liability Litigation, which resulted in a $1 billion settlement for thousands of homeowners who unwittingly had defective drywall installed in their homes in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the mid-2000’s building boom. In 2014, he was appointed co-class counsel in the Red Bull false advertising class action in the Southern District of New York and led the oral argument for the approval of an innovative settlement that provided an option for reimbursement or 4-packs of Red Bull shipped directly to class members.
In 2018 Matthew moved back to Los Angeles, became a member of the California Bar, and subsequently joined Berman Law Group to oversee their complex litigation and west coast operations.
Associate, Wiley Rein LLP
Tatiana Sainati's practice covers complex commercial litigation, arbitration, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). She represents corporate clients involved in commercial and international litigations and arbitrations, including government contracts, healthcare, intellectual property, personal injury and other contract and tort disputes positioned in domestic and international courts and tribunals.
Prior to joining Wiley, Tatiana served as a Legal Adviser to Judge Rosemary Barkett on the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in the Hague, advising on complex, politically sensitive state-to-state cases, and as a law clerk to the Honorable M. Margaret McKeown on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
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