Partner, Consovoy McCarthy PLLC
Mr. Weir is an experienced litigator who focuses on constitutional and regulatory matters. He has particular expertise in cases involving the First and Fourteenth Amendments, civil rights statutes, and challenges to federal agency actions. He has briefed and presented oral argument in state and federal courts across the country, including in the Supreme Court of the United States. He was trial counsel and part of the team that prevailed before the Supreme Court in the landmark case Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Harvard College and University of North Carolina.
Since 2015, Mr. Weir has been an adjunct professor for the Administrative Law and Supreme court clinics at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. He is a former law clerk to Judge Carlos T. Bea of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Judge Anthony J. Trenga of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. He earned his A.B. cum laude from Georgetown University and his J.D. summa cum laude from George Mason University School of Law.
Attorney General, Alaska
Stephen J. Cox serves as the 28th Attorney General of the State of Alaska, where he oversees the state’s legal affairs and serves as the chief prosecutor with oversight of all district attorneys, general counsel to the Governor and executive branch, and represents the State in all civil and criminal cases in federal and state court. He brings to the role a proven record of public service at the highest levels of the U.S. Department of Justice, combined with deep experience in Alaska’s private sector and community life.
Before his appointment, he was Senior Vice President, Chief Legal and Strategy Officer of Bristol Bay Industrial—an investment platform of the Bristol Bay Native Corporation—acting as the chief legal officer for the industrial services portfolio on behalf of the Alaska Native shareholders in the Bristol Bay region. In that role, he led legal, compliance, and strategic planning for major energy, infrastructure, and utility projects across the State and in the Lower 48.
Earlier in his career, beginning in 2011, Cox served as in-house counsel for Apache Corporation, where he was the principal attorney for Apache Alaska and focused on new ventures and exploratory work in Cook Inlet, including seismic initiatives and ongoing regulatory coordination with state agencies.
Cox is deeply rooted in Anchorage’s community and faith life. He and his family attend Holy Family Old Cathedral in downtown Anchorage and support Mission Alaska, the Dominican friars’ outreach ministry under the Western Dominican Province. He was the founding board president and chairman of a new classical school in South Anchorage.
On the national stage, Cox held senior leadership roles in the U.S. Department of Justice under the Trump Administration. As Deputy Associate Attorney General, he co-chaired the DOJ’s Regulatory Reform Task Force and the Working Group on Corporate Enforcement and Accountability, and helped implement landmark policies aimed at curbing regulatory overreach and aligning enforcement with fairness and oversight. Later, as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, he oversaw prosecutions and civil litigation spanning 43 counties, prioritizing healthcare fraud, elder fraud, and violent crime while ensuring enforcement remained transparent and fair.
Earlier in his career, Cox practiced complex litigation at a major international law firm, served as counselor to the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and helped lead the William H. Webster Commission, which reviewed FBI counterterrorism intelligence and operations following the Fort Hood tragedy.
He began his legal career with a clerkship for Judge J. L. Edmondson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Cox earned a B.S. in Computer Science from Texas A&M University and a J.D., summa cum laude, from the University of Houston Law Center. He and his wife, Cristina, are raising their three children in Anchorage, and have made Alaska their home.
Vice President for Public Policy, American Forest and Paper Association
Paul Noe serves as Vice President for Public Policy at the American Forest and Paper Association. Paul has extensive regulatory, legislative and technical experience, including in environmental regulation, regulatory reform, renewable energy, biomass carbon neutrality, chemicals and product stewardship, workplace health and safety, and sustainability. He previously served as the Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at the Grocery Manufacturers Association.
Paul also has broad experience in public service, including as Counselor to the Administrator in the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (2001-2006), where he helped to lead the development of regulatory policy and White House review of regulations in the Administration of George W. Bush. He previously served as Senior Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs under Chairmen Fred Thompson, Ted Stevens and Bill Roth (1995-2001), where his work focused on reforming the regulatory process. He also has been a lawyer in private practice, most recently as a partner with C&M Capitolink LLC, as well as counsel in Crowell & Moring’s Environment and Natural Resources Group.
Paul currently serves as the Co-Chair of the Legislation Committee in the American Bar Association’s Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice, and recently coauthored a chapter, “Beyond Process Excellence: Enhancing Societal Well-Being,” published in a book by Brookings Institution Press entitled, “Achieving Regulatory Excellence.” In the spring of 2016, he also served as a Policy Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he offered lectures in environmental law, advanced regulatory policy, legislation, and administrative law.
Paul is a graduate of The Georgetown University Law Center, where he was a John M. Olin fellow in law and economics and an editor on the law journal, and Williams College, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Dr. John Eastman is the former Henry Salvatori Professor of Law & Community Service and former Dean at Chapman University's Dale E. Fowler School of Law, where he had been a member of the faculty since 1999, specializing in Constitutional Law, Legal History, and Property. He is a founding director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a public interest law firm affiliated with the Claremont Institute that he founded in 1999. He has a Ph.D. in Government from the Claremont Graduate School and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, and a B.A. in Politics and Economics from the University of Dallas. He serves as the Chairman of the Board of the National Organization for Marriage.
Prior to joining the Chapman law faculty, Dr. Eastman served as a law clerk to the Honorable Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States, and to the Honorable J. Michael Luttig, Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and practiced law with the national law firm of Kirkland & Ellis. Dr. Eastman has also represented numerous clients in important constitutional law matters and has argued before the Supreme Court. On behalf of the Claremont Institute Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, he has participated as amicus curiae before the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Courts of Appeals, and State Supreme Courts in more than one hundred cases of constitutional significance, including Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (the school vouchers case), Kelo v. New London, Ct. (eminent domain), and Van Orden v. Perry (the 10 Commandments case). He has also appeared as an expert legal commentator on numerous television and radio programs, including C-SPAN, Fox News, PBS, NewsHour, and The O'Reilly Factor.
Partner, Cooper & Kirk, PLLC
Pete Patterson is a partner at Cooper & Kirk. His practice includes appellate litigation, constitutional litigation, commercial litigation, and administrative law. In addition, Mr. Patterson for a number of years taught an appellate litigation clinic at the University of Cincinnati College of Law. Mr. Patterson has argued in the U.S. Supreme Court and in nearly every regional federal circuit court of appeals.
Mr. Patterson has extensive experience in complex matters involving important questions of constitutional, statutory, and administrative law. He frequently has represented plaintiffs in cases alleging constitutional or statutory violations by federal, state, and local government officials. He also has represented plaintiffs in class action litigation against corporations and the federal government.
Mr. Patterson joined the firm in 2009. Prior to arriving at Cooper & Kirk, he served as a law clerk to Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Mr. Patterson typically works from Cincinnati, Ohio.
Mr. Patterson received his J.D. from Stanford Law School in 2006, earning Order of the Coif honors for finishing in the top 10% of his class. There, he was a member of the Stanford Law Review, serving as an Articles Editor. He also participated in litigation before the United States Supreme Court through the Stanford Supreme Court Litigation Clinic.
Mr. Patterson graduated with University Honors from Carnegie Mellon University in 2000 with a B.S. in Information and Decision Systems. While at Carnegie Mellon, he wrote a regular column for the student newspaper and was a member of the football team.
Associate Professor of Politics, Hillsdale College
Higher education is one of the few remaining environments where human beings can be at leisure to read, think, and study. Hillsdale College is one of the few remaining places in higher education where students are actively encouraged and required to engage in those activities. This opportunity to be at leisure to think about the most fundamental and pressing questions of modern life is precious and transformative.
As a first-year undergraduate at a liberal arts college, my own life was changed over several evenings of reading in the library about the history of the French Revolution. It was in that moment that I realized the importance of the perennial and perplexing questions in which we engage in the liberal arts setting. I switched my major to political science, history, and philosophy, and have never looked back.
In my graduate studies, I focused extensively on political theory, but my current thinking and research are directed to understanding the political institutions that determine how politics works in America. I am especially interested in understanding the modern administrative state, Congress, and political parties. We must grapple with the interaction of these institutions, and how they relate to the basic principles of American constitutionalism, if we want to preserve and restore constitutional government in the United States.
In my teaching, I aim to engage students in a common enterprise, where we think together and discuss fundamental questions. My goal is not to instruct, but to educate students. That requires active and thoughtful engagement rather than passively receiving information. I am blessed to be at a place like Hillsdale where the students are drawn to this model of education and thrive in such an environment.
VP for Policy & Director of Technology Studies, Competitive Enterprise Institute
Wayne Crews is VP for Policy & Director of Technology Studies at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and a Cato Institute alum. A one-time Libertarian candidate for South Carolina state senate, he is widely published, contributes to Forbes.com, and authors the annual Ten Thousand Commandments, which the Wall Street Journal called "the best measure of the overall regulatory burden." Wayne also compiles the Tip of the Costberg report on gov't regulatory costs, and catalogs "regulatory dark matter."
A frequent speaker, Wayne has appeared at venues including the DVD Awards Showcase in Hollywood, the National Academies, the Future of Music Policy Summit, the Consumer Electronics Show, European Commission-sponsored conferences and the Spanish Ministry of Justice. He has testified before Congress numerous times.
While not a lawyer, Wayne's work is cited in hundreds of law reviews, journals, and books. A dad of five, he can still do a handstand on a skateboard and enjoys custom motorcycles, the beach, and the family farm. He is a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon economics honor society.
Wayne is co-editor of the books Who Rules the Net?: Internet Governance and Jurisdiction, and Copy Fights: The Future of Intellectual Property In the Information Age. He is co-author of What’s Yours Is Mine: Open Access and the Rise of Infrastructure Socialism, and a contributing author to others.
TV appearances include Fox, CNN, ABC, CNBC and NewsHour, and radio such as NPR; Wayne's reform ideas have been profiled in the Washington Post, Forbes and Investor’s Business Daily.
Wayne created CEI's c:\spin tech newsletter series, and co-created CEI's OnPoint policy series and Cato's TechKnowledge newsletter (which introduced "The Libertarian Vision for Telecom and High-Technology" with Adam Thierer, which helped inspire the 2012 Declaration of Internet Freedom). He coined the term "Splinternet" in Forbes in 2001 to underscore alternatives to government regulation of the Internet.
CFO and Co-founder, Flytenow, Inc.
Alan is the CFO and Co-founder of Flytenow, Inc., a ridesharing service for small planes. Flytenow was admitted to Y Combinator, an American seed accelerator, which Fast Company has called "the world's most powerful start-up incubator".
Alan received his MBA and JD from Northeastern University in 2014. Prior to launching Flytenow, Alan served as Counsel to Carbonite, Inc. (NASDAQ: CARB) an online data backup company headquartered in Boston, MA and later, as Vice President, Finance & Strategy at Bannerman, a technology-enabled security company.
Alan earned his private pilot’s license in 2009.
He lives in San Francisco, CA.
Vice President for Litigation & General Counsel, Goldwater Institute
Jon Riches is the Vice President for Litigation for the Goldwater Institute’s Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation and General Counsel for the Institute. He litigates in federal and state trial and appellate courts in the areas of economic liberty, regulatory reform, free speech, taxpayer protections, public labor issues, government transparency, and school choice, among others.
Jon has developed and authored several pieces of legislation, including the landmark Right to Earn a Living Act, which provides some of the greatest protections in the country to job-seekers and entrepreneurs facing arbitrary licensing regulations. He also developed legislation eliminating deference to administrative agencies in Arizona—a first-of-its-kind regulatory reform that can serve as a model for the rest of the country.
His work at the Institute has been covered by national media, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, CBS This Morning, Bloomberg News, and Politico. Jon is also a member of the Federalist Society’s Regulatory Transparency Project: State and Local Working Group.
Prior to joining the Goldwater Institute, Jon served on active duty in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps. While on active duty, Jon represented hundreds of clients, litigated dozens of court-martial cases, and advised commanders on a vast array of legal issues.
He previously clerked for Sen. Jon Kyl on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, worked for the Rules Committee in the Arizona State Senate, and clerked in the Office of Counsel to the President at the White House. Jon received his B.A. from Boston College, where he graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He earned his J.D. from the University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law.
Jon served as a presidentially appointed Panel Member on the Federal Service Impasses Panel. He is an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve and an Adjunct Professor at Arizona State University School of Law. Jon is a native of Phoenix.
Clinical Professor and Senior Scholar and Senior Fellow for Copyright Research and Policy of C-IP2, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
Sandra Aistars is Senior Fellow for Copyright Research and Policy and a Senior Scholar at the Center for Intellectual Property x Innovation Policy (C-IP2). She also leads the law school’s Arts & Entertainment Advocacy Program. Professor Aistars has over twenty years of advocacy experience on behalf of copyright and other intellectual property owners. She has served on trade missions and been an industry advisor to the Department of Commerce on intellectual property implications for international trade negotiations; worked on legislative and regulatory matters worldwide; frequently testified before Congress and federal agencies regarding intellectual property matters; chaired cross-industry coalitions and technology standards efforts; and is regularly tapped by government agencies to lecture in U.S. government-sponsored study tours for visiting legislators, judges, prosecutors, and regulators.
Immediately prior to joining Scalia Law, Professor Aistars was the Chief Executive Officer of the Copyright Alliance – a nonprofit, public interest organization that represents the interests of artists and creators across the creative spectrum. While at Scalia Law, she continues to collaborate with the Copyright Alliance as a member of its Academic Advisory Board. Professor Aistars currently serves on the boards of the Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts (WALA) and the Howard Intellectual Property Program (HIPP), and she has previously served as trustee of the Copyright Society of the USA (CSUSA). Professor Aistars has also previously served as Vice President and Associate General Counsel at Time Warner Inc. She began her legal career in private practice at Weil, Gotshal and Manges LLP.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
James Harvie Wilkinson III is an Article III federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He joined the Court in 1984 after being nominated by President Ronald Reagan.
Born in New York City, New York, Wilkinson graduated from Yale University with his Bachelor's degree in 1967. Wilkinson served in the United States Army from 1968 to 1969 and received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1972.
On the recommendation of Virginia U.S. Senator John Warner, Wilkinson was nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit by President Ronald Reagan on January 30, 1984 to a seat vacated by John Butzner, Jr.,. Wilkinson was confirmed by the Senate on August 9, 1984 on a Senate vote and received commission on August 13, 1984. Wilkinson served as the Chief Judge of the Court from 1996 to 2003.
Partner, Clement & Murphy
A seasoned trial and appellate advocate, Danielle Sassoon represents individuals and corporations in high-stakes white-collar, appellate, and commercial matters. Danielle joined the firm after serving as interim United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, following over eight years as an Assistant United States Attorney. During her time at the SDNY, Danielle handled some of the Office’s most sensitive and consequential cases. As Chief of Appeals for the Criminal Division, Danielle supervised and argued dozens of appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. As a leader in the SDNY, Danielle oversaw hundreds of cases, advised on complex legal and strategic issues, and managed over 200 lawyers across the SDNY’s civil and criminal divisions.
As a prosecutor, Danielle handled high-profile investigations and criminal trials, including against Samuel Bankman-Fried, for perpetrating a multi-billion-dollar cryptocurrency fraud, and against Lawrence Ray, for racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and other offenses related to his abuse and exploitation of his daughter’s college roommates. As a prosecutor, Danielle was awarded the FBI Director’s Award for Outstanding Criminal Investigation and the Women in Federal Law Enforcement Top Prosecutor Award.
Following law school, Danielle clerked for Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Danielle serves as a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
Professor of Law, Fordham University School of Law
Howard Erichson is one of the nation's leading experts on the procedure and ethics of complex litigation. Professor Erichson teaches Civil Procedure, Complex Litigation, Professional Responsibility, and Torts. He has published widely on such topics as class actions, mass tort litigation, aggregate settlements, and coordination among lawyers. He is the past chair of the Civil Procedure Section of the Association of American Law Schools and was an Advisor to the American Law Institute’s Principles of the Law of Aggregate Litigation. He is the author of the book Inside Civil Procedure and co-author of Complex Litigation. His articles have appeared in the Cornell Law Review, Michigan Law Review, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and many other leading publications. Professor Erichson graduated from Harvard University and from New York University School of Law, where he was editor-in-chief of the Law Review. After law school, he clerked for the New Jersey Supreme Court and for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and he practiced as a litigator with Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton in New York City. In 1995, he joined the faculty of Seton Hall Law School, where he was elected Professor of the Year and was named the John J. Gibbons Professor of Law. He has been a Visiting Professor at Columbia Law School and a Visiting Scholar at NYU Law School. He joined the Fordham Law School faculty as Professor of Law in 2008, and was elected Teacher of the Year in 2012.
Partner, BakerHostetler, Adjunct Fellow, The Manhattan Institute
Andrew Grossman leads BakerHostetler’s Appellate and Major Motion team. He has appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court, nearly all the federal courts of appeals, as well as some state appellate courts, litigating high-profile and complex commercial, administrative and constitutional issues.
Andrew works with practice groups across BakerHostetler to identify and tackle complex issues, advise on administrative law and strategy, tee up issues for appeal and tackle appeals. He has developed and implemented litigation and administrative strategies for clients in several fields and industries.
In addition to his practice, Andrew advises members of Congress on matters of constitutional and administrative law, having testified more than a dozen times before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. He has been a frequent legal commentator on radio and television, having appeared on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, NPR and its affiliates, CBN and elsewhere. His legal commentary has also appeared in dozens of magazines and newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Washington Times and many others.
Andrew is a Senior Legal Fellow at the Buckeye Institute, an Adjunct Fellow the Manhattan Institute and a member of the leadership of the Federalist Society. He previously served as an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies and a legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. He clerked for Judge Edith H. Jones on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Courthouse Steps Decision: District of Columbia v. Wesby
Bryan Weir
On January 22th, the Supreme Court handed down a decision for District of Columbia v....
Shining a Light on Regulatory Dark Matter: Regulating Through Guidance
Stephen Cox, Paul R. Noe
For many years, concerns have been raised that the development and use of guidance documents...
Litigation Update: Sanctuary Cities in the District Court - Podcast
John C. Eastman
On Friday, September 15 Judge Harry Leinenweber of the Northern District of Illinois granted a...
Heimlich Maneuver on Operation Choke Point?
Peter A. Patterson
On August 16, the Department of Justice issued a letter repudiating the Department’s participation in...
Bureaucracy in America
Joseph Postell
Administrative agencies, and extensive regulation of the economy, have always existed in America. But from...
Laws, Regulations, and "Regulatory Dark Matter"
Wayne Crews
Congress passes and the President signs several dozen laws every year. Meanwhile, federal departments and...
Deep Dive Episode 4 – "Uber of the Sky": The Story of Flytenow
Alan Guichard, Jonathan Riches
Flytenow was a ridesharing platform for small planes. The company was founded by two pilots,...
Courthouse Steps: Fashionable Copyright Law in the U.S. Supreme Court - Podcast
Sandra Aistars
Last Wednesday the Supreme Court handed down a 6-2 opinion resolving a long mystifying test...
All Falling Faiths: Reflections on the Promise and Failure of the 1960s - Podcast
J. Harvie Wilkinson, Danielle Sassoon
In this warm and intimate memoir, Judge Wilkinson of the United States Court of Appeals...
Fairness in Class Litigation Act - Podcast
Howard M. Erichson, Andrew Grossman
On Saturday, March 11 the House passed the Fairness in Class Litigation Act by a...