Law Clerk, U.S. Court of Appeals
Jeff Gurley currently serves as a Law Clerk to Judge E. Grady Jolly on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Prior to this role, he clerked for Judge Sean D. Jordan on the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
Jeff received his J.D. from Michigan Law School. While in law school, he served as chapter president of the Federalist Society, research assistant to Professor Christopher J. Walker, and a judicial intern for Judge Joan L. Larsen on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He earned his B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis, where he studied political science and was an all-conference linebacker on the football team.
U.S. Attorney, Middle District of Tennessee, U.S. Department of Justice
Braden Boucek was sworn in on December 24, 2025, as the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. Prior to becoming United States Attorney, Mr. Boucek served as the senior vice president of litigation at the Southeastern Legal Foundation having previously served as the vice president of legal affairs at the Beacon Center. Mr. Boucek has extensive experience as a prosecutor, starting his career at the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office before serving for two years as an Assistant District Attorney General in Williamson County. He was a federal prosecutor for ten years, first serving as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Tennessee from 2005 to 2011. From 2011 to 2015, Mr. Boucek was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Middle District of Tennessee, the district he now leads as the United States Attorney.
Attorney, Center for American Future
Christian Townsend is an attorney with the Center for the American Future. Prior to joining the Foundation, Christian was a legal associate with the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies.
During law school, Christian interned in Washington, DC at the New Civil Liberties Alliance and the Cato Institute and in Cambodia at the law offices of Tilleke & Gibbins.
Christian received his JD from Indiana University Maurer School of Law, where he was the President of IU’s chapter of the Federalist Society and Executive Online Editor of the Indiana Law Journal. Christian attended undergrad at Cedarville University where he received BAs in political science and history. He is licensed to practice law in Texas and Maryland.
Mark Pulliam, a longtime member of the Federalist Society (and former President of the San Diego Lawyers Chapter), is a lawyer and writer in Austin, Texas. He is a contributing editor of Law and Liberty, and also writes for a variety of publications, including his blog, Misrule of Law.
United States District Court, Southern District of Texas
Prior to joining TXSE, Jeff served as acting general counsel of Charles Schwab and led its Office of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs in Washington, D.C. for the past two decades, managing the company's response to public policy initiatives and advocating for policies that aid individual investors. He has over four decades of securities markets experience, starting his career as an options trader at the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, then founding his own trading firm, and later serving on the exchange's Board of Governors. He also served as senior counsel in the Division of Market Regulation at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Jeff's additional experience in the securities industry includes serving as vice president for regulation and general counsel at the Cincinnati Stock Exchange and as chairman of the Operating Committee of the National Market System Plan governing Nasdaq securities. Jeff holds degrees from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Ohio Northern School of Law.
Texas Supreme Court Clarifies Standard for Awarding Noneconomic Damages
Jeff Gurley
The case of Gregory v. Chohan arose out of a tragic highway accident that...
Texas Supreme Court Rules ERCOT Is a Government Entity, Blocks Suit Stemming From Winter Storm Uri
Braden H. Boucek
In the winter of 2021, Winter Storm Uri sent Texas into a deep freeze of...
Texas Supreme Court Tackles Attorney-Client Privilege and the Texas Public Information Act
Christian Townsend
One of the bedrock principles of our legal system is confidentiality between attorneys and their...
Topics
Docket Watch: Alamo Heights Independent School District v. Clark
Texas’s employment discrimination statute (the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act, codified in the Texas...
Alamo Heights Independent School District v. Clark
Mark S. Pulliam
Texas’s employment discrimination statute (the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act, codified in the Texas...
A Conversation with Justice Debra Lehrmann
Candidate Forum: Texas Supreme Court