Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
John K. Bush is a Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. His chambers are in Louisville, Kentucky. Prior to joining the court, Judge Bush was a partner in the Louisville office of Bingham Greenebaum Doll LLP, where he also was co-chair of the firm’s litigation department. He began his legal practice in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP.
Judge Bush served as a law clerk for Judge J. Smith Henley of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He was graduated summa cum laude from Vanderbilt University in 1986, and cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1989.
Partner, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
Kannon is the head of our Supreme Court & Appellate practice. He has argued 39 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and has argued more than 150 appeals in courts across the country, including every federal court of appeals and numerous state courts.
Kannon is ranked as a “Star Individual” in appellate law by Chambers USA, where a client notes, “It’s hard to think of enough superlatives to describe his talent, his judgment, his ability, his experience – he is as good as it gets.” Legal 500 U.S. recognizes Kannon in its Hall of Fame for appellate work. A client shares, “His work is the best in the business, and he is a wonderful human being in addition to being a world-class appellate litigator.”
In 2024 and 2022, Kannon was a finalist for the American Lawyer’s “Litigator of the Year” award. He was named “Appellate Litigator of the Year” by Benchmark Litigation in 2021 and was a 2026 finalist for that recognition.
Before entering private practice, Kannon served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice.
Judge, United States Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit
Leonard Steven Grasz is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
A graduate of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the University of Nebraska College of Law, Grasz spent eleven years as the state of Nebraska's Chief Deputy Attorney General. He was a senior partner at the law firm of Husch Blackwell prior to his appointment to the federal judiciary.
Governor, State of Nebraska
Governor Pete Ricketts was sworn in as Nebraska’s 40th Governor on January 8, 2015. Governor Ricketts was first elected to office upon winning the Nebraska gubernatorial election on November 4, 2014. Prior to his election as governor, he worked to support Nebraska entrepreneurs and startup companies.
Born in Nebraska City and raised in Omaha, Ricketts is the son of an entrepreneur and a public school teacher. Governor Ricketts and his wife, First Lady Susanne Shore, have been married for 18 years and live in Omaha with their three children, juniors Roscoe and Margot and freshman Eleanor.
Ricketts graduated from Westside High School before attending the University of Chicago where he earned his bachelor’s degree in biology and an MBA in marketing and finance. After graduate school, Ricketts returned to Omaha and worked for Union Pacific before working as a customer services representative in his family’s business, a company that would eventually become known as Ameritrade. He went on to hold leadership roles in the company including Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Development, Senior Vice President of Product Development, Senior Vice President of Marketing, President, and Chief Operating Officer (COO). He is also a past board member of TD Ameritrade’s Board of Directors.
Ricketts is the founder of Drakon, LLC that supports local entrepreneurs and startup companies. He also serves as a director for the Chicago Cubs baseball team.
Driven by a desire to give back to his community and create education and job opportunities, Governor Ricketts has taken on leadership roles in local and state associations and organizations. Currently, he serves on the boards of the Mid-America Council of the Boy Scouts and the Christian Urban Education Service (CUES). Additionally, he serves as a director for the Children’s Scholarship Fund Foundation, a director of the Nebraska Game and Parks Foundation, a member of the Board of Advisors of Opportunity Education Foundation, a member of the Archbishop’s Committee for Development, a member of the Knights of Columbus, and a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre. Governor Ricketts and his family attend St. Margaret Mary’s church.
Partner-in-Charge Washington, Jones Day
Noel Francisco served as the 47th Solicitor General of the United States in the Trump Administration, from 2017 to 2020. He has argued some of the most important cases the Supreme Court has heard in recent years on a wide array of issues.
For example, as Solicitor General, he argued Trump v. Hawaii, where he successfully defended the president's orders restricting travel from countries deemed to present security risks; Janus v. AFSCME, which upheld the First Amendment rights of public employees who decline to join labor unions; Kisor v. Wilkie, which adopted his argument that the "Auer deference doctrine" should be significantly curtailed but retained in its core applications; Apple Inc. v. Pepper, which addressed whether Apple's App Store customers had standing to sue the company for antitrust violations; Knick v. Township of Scott, which held that property owners could sue state and local governments in federal court to vindicate Fifth Amendment takings claims; and Seila Law LLC v. CFPB, which invalidated restrictions on the president's authority to remove the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
He also spearheaded the government's general strategy to seek emergency relief in the appellate courts and the Supreme Court when lower courts issued nationwide injunctions against important government programs.
Noel's service as Solicitor General built on his previous tenure at Jones Day, during which he argued McDonnell v. United States, which reversed the federal bribery conviction of the governor of Virginia; NLRB v. Noel Canning, which limited the president's constitutional recess appointments power; and Zubik v. Burwell, which challenged federal insurance coverage regulations that violated Catholic organizations' religious beliefs.
Of Counsel, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Prerak Shah is Of Counsel at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. He was most recently the Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, leading a team of approximately 120 Assistant U.S. Attorneys handling a wide range of cases, including securities fraud, health care fraud, the False Claims Act, computer crime, national security, tax fraud, money laundering, public corruption, and terrorism. Mr. Shah previously held several leadership positions at the Department of Justice, including Deputy Associate Attorney General in the office overseeing the work of the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment & Natural Resources, and Tax Divisions. Before joining the Justice Department, Mr. Shah served as Chief of Staff to Senator Ted Cruz and as a Chief Counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He graduated from the University of Chicago Law School and clerked for the Honorable Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Cocktail Reception
Fort Worth Lawyers Chapter
Fort Worth, TXWish I Knew Then What I Know Now: Lessons From the Federal Bench Learned by a Former Litigator
Kansas Lawyers Chapter
Topeka, KSCocktail Hour and Book Signing
Raleigh, NCUnited States Supreme Court 2022 Term Review and 2023 Preview feat. Kannon K. Shanmugam
Puerto Rico Lawyers Chapter
San Juan, PRCocktail Reception
Fort Worth Lawyers Chapter | Texas A&M Student Chapter
Fort Worth, TXCocktail Reception with Judge Steven Grasz and Governor Pete Ricketts
Nebraska Lawyers Chapter
Lincoln, NECocktail Hour
Sixth Annual Kentucky Chapters Conference
Louisville, KYCocktail Reception and Supreme Court Roundup
New Jersey Lawyers Chapter
Morristown, NJCocktail Reception with Former Acting US Attorney Pre Shah
San Antonio Lawyers Chapter
San Antonio, TXCocktail Reception
Fort Worth Lawyers Chapter & Texas A&M University Law Students Chapter
Fort Worth , TX