Partner, Clement & Murphy, PLLC
Erin Murphy is founding partner of Clement & Murphy, PLLC. She is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading Supreme Court and appellate advocates. She has argued dozens of cases in appellate and trial courts throughout the country, including the Supreme Court and nearly all of the federal courts of appeals. Erin has long been ranked by Chambers & Partners rankings as a leading appellate practitioner, and the National Law Journal has named her one of the nation’s “Outstanding Women Lawyers.” Erin also has an active pro bono practice, through which she has successfully represented many religious organizations and adherents, criminal defendants, asylum applicants, adoptive parents, and more.
Erin is an adjunct professor at her alma mater the Georgetown University Law Center, a member and former officer of the Edward Coke Appellate Inn of Court, and a frequent speaker on topics relating to the Supreme Court and appellate advocacy. In her spare time, Erin serves on the board of directors of Street Law.
Associate Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics, The University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business
Amanda Shanor is an Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School, where her scholarship focuses on constitutional and administrative law, and in particular the First Amendment.
Shanor is a graduate of Yale Law School and Yale College, and a PhD candidate in law at Yale University. She served as a law clerk to Judges Cornelia T.L. Pillard and Judith W. Rogers on the D.C. Circuit, and Judge Robert W. Sweet in the Southern District of New York. She has taught at both Yale and Georgetown law schools and has published in the New York University Law Review, the Harvard Law Review Forum, and the Yale Law Journal Forum, among others. She is a contributor to Take Care and the co-author of a textbook on counterterrorism law.
Prior to joining the academy, Amanda worked in the National Legal Department of the American Civil Liberties Union on the organization’s Supreme Court litigation, including Masterpiece Cakeshop. Previously, she litigated a number of constitutional and national security cases with Professor David Cole, including Humanitarian Law Project v. Holder, while a fellow at Georgetown.
Host, The Prosecutors Podcast; Partner, Culper Law
Brett J. Talley is former a federal prosecutor (appellate chief in the Middle District of Alabama) and host of the true crime podcast "The Prosecutors." Brett has served as nominations chief and deputy assistant attorney general at the US Department of Justice, Advisor to the White House Counsel, speechwriter to Senator Rob Portman, a political and legal communications professional, deputy state solicitor general, staff writer for a presidential campaign, award-nominated horror fiction author (possibly related to the previous items on the list), US District and 11th Circuit judicial clerk, and adjunct law school professor. He is currently a partner ar Culper Law. Along the way, Brett has been involved at some level in the confirmation of a full majority of the sitting justices on the U.S. Supreme Court and scores of U.S. district and appellate court judges. A native Alabamian, Brett earned his undergraduate degree in History and Philosophy from the University of Alabama and JD from Harvard Law School. He lives in Montgomery with his wife Annie and their three small kids.
Solicitor General, Iowa Office of the Attorney General
Eric Wessan serves as Iowa’s Solicitor General in the Iowa Attorney General’s Office. In that role, Wessan leads Iowa’s litigation before State and federal appellate courts, including the Iowa and U.S. Supreme Courts. Before that role, Wessan worked on complex commercial litigation at two large law firms in Chicago. Wessan also served as a law clerk for the Honorable James C. Ho on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and for the Honorable John F. Kness on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Wessan is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, with honors, and of the University of Chicago.
Laurence H. Silberman Chair in Constitutional Governance, American Enterprise Institute; Executive Director, Antonin Scalia Law School’s C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State
Adam J. White is the Laurence H. Silberman Chair in Constitutional Governance and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on the Supreme Court and the administrative state. He also directs the Antonin Scalia Law School’s C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State.
He writes on regulation and constitutional government for a variety of publications. He practiced law in Washington, D.C., after clerking for the D.C. Circuit's Judge David Sentelle. He also has been chairman of the ABA's Administrative Law Section.
In 2021, he served on the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States, where he criticized “Court packing” and other efforts to restructure the Supreme Court.
In his 35 years at the Justice Department and in private practice, Mike Carvin was one of the leading appellate and trial lawyers challenging state and federal regulations on constitutional and statutory grounds, with 10 Supreme Court arguments and numerous high-profile victories. In addition to his numerous cases in the United States Supreme Court, he argued in virtually every federal appeals court. His major cases include the recent constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care Act and the decisions invalidating Sarbanes-Oxley's accounting board, preventing the Justice Department from obtaining monetary relief against the tobacco industry under RICO, overturning the federal government's plan to statistically adjust the census, limiting the Justice Department's ability to create "majority-minority" districts, and upholding Proposition 209's ban on racial preferences in California.
Mike was one of the lead lawyers, and argued before the Florida Supreme Court, on behalf of George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential election Florida recount controversy. He also has represented state governments, financial institutions, telecommunications, and energy companies in "takings," First Amendment, civil rights, and statutory challenges to federal government actions.
Chairman, Center for Equal Opportunity
Linda Chavez is Chairman of the Center for Equal Opportunity. She has published opinions and columns in newspapers across the country and appears regularly on cable news. Chavez is the author of the three books: Out of the Barrio: Toward a New Politics of Hispanic Assimilation, An Unlikely Conservative: The Transformation of an Ex-Liberal, and Betrayal: How Union Bosses Shake Down Their Members and Corrupt American Politics. She has been honored by the Library of Congress as a "Living Legend" and as nominee for Secretary of Labor by President George W. Bush.
Chavez has held many appointed positions and has served on numerous corporate and nonprofit boards. Among her appointed positions has been Chairman, National Commission on Migrant Education (1988-1992); White House Director of Public Liaison (1985); Staff Director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (1983-1985); and member of the Administrative Conference of the United States (1984-1986). Chavez was also the Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Maryland in 1986 and was elected by the United Nations' Human Rights Commission to serve a four-year term as U.S. Expert to the U.N. Sub-commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities.
Chavez earned her BA from the University of Colorado.
Adjunct Professor of Law; Director, N.Y. Census and Redistricting Institute, New York Law School
Jeff Wice is a Distinguished Adjunct Professor and Senior Fellow at New York Law School where he directs the New York Elections, Census & Redistricting Institute and teaches classes on redistricting, election law, and the census. He is now working on his sixth redistricting cycle. In past years, he served as a redistricting counsel to New York State Legislativbe Leaders and as counsel to three New York City Districting Commissions and to numerous counties and localities across New York and the nation.
During the 2000 census cycle, Professor Wice served as counsel to President Bill Clinton’s members of the U.S. Census Monitoring Board. He is the co-editor/author of the National Conference of State Legislatures' 2020 Redistricting Redbook, a comprehensive handbook on the census and redistricting.
‘’City & State NY’ recognized Professor Wice as one of New York’s “Top 50 Over 50” in 2022 and just last month as a "New York legal trailblazer" for his efforts promoting fair representation and the census. He is a graduate of the George Washington University and Antioch School of Law.
In his 35 years at the Justice Department and in private practice, Mike Carvin was one of the leading appellate and trial lawyers challenging state and federal regulations on constitutional and statutory grounds, with 10 Supreme Court arguments and numerous high-profile victories. In addition to his numerous cases in the United States Supreme Court, he argued in virtually every federal appeals court. His major cases include the recent constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care Act and the decisions invalidating Sarbanes-Oxley's accounting board, preventing the Justice Department from obtaining monetary relief against the tobacco industry under RICO, overturning the federal government's plan to statistically adjust the census, limiting the Justice Department's ability to create "majority-minority" districts, and upholding Proposition 209's ban on racial preferences in California.
Mike was one of the lead lawyers, and argued before the Florida Supreme Court, on behalf of George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential election Florida recount controversy. He also has represented state governments, financial institutions, telecommunications, and energy companies in "takings," First Amendment, civil rights, and statutory challenges to federal government actions.
Chairman, Center for Equal Opportunity
Linda Chavez is Chairman of the Center for Equal Opportunity. She has published opinions and columns in newspapers across the country and appears regularly on cable news. Chavez is the author of the three books: Out of the Barrio: Toward a New Politics of Hispanic Assimilation, An Unlikely Conservative: The Transformation of an Ex-Liberal, and Betrayal: How Union Bosses Shake Down Their Members and Corrupt American Politics. She has been honored by the Library of Congress as a "Living Legend" and as nominee for Secretary of Labor by President George W. Bush.
Chavez has held many appointed positions and has served on numerous corporate and nonprofit boards. Among her appointed positions has been Chairman, National Commission on Migrant Education (1988-1992); White House Director of Public Liaison (1985); Staff Director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (1983-1985); and member of the Administrative Conference of the United States (1984-1986). Chavez was also the Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Maryland in 1986 and was elected by the United Nations' Human Rights Commission to serve a four-year term as U.S. Expert to the U.N. Sub-commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities.
Chavez earned her BA from the University of Colorado.
Adjunct Professor of Law; Director, N.Y. Census and Redistricting Institute, New York Law School
Jeff Wice is a Distinguished Adjunct Professor and Senior Fellow at New York Law School where he directs the New York Elections, Census & Redistricting Institute and teaches classes on redistricting, election law, and the census. He is now working on his sixth redistricting cycle. In past years, he served as a redistricting counsel to New York State Legislativbe Leaders and as counsel to three New York City Districting Commissions and to numerous counties and localities across New York and the nation.
During the 2000 census cycle, Professor Wice served as counsel to President Bill Clinton’s members of the U.S. Census Monitoring Board. He is the co-editor/author of the National Conference of State Legislatures' 2020 Redistricting Redbook, a comprehensive handbook on the census and redistricting.
‘’City & State NY’ recognized Professor Wice as one of New York’s “Top 50 Over 50” in 2022 and just last month as a "New York legal trailblazer" for his efforts promoting fair representation and the census. He is a graduate of the George Washington University and Antioch School of Law.
Senior Fellow, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies
Dean Cheng currently a Senior Fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, specializing in the US relationship with China. Prior to being with the Potomac institute, he recently retired as the Senior Research Fellow for Chinese Political and Military Affairs at the Heritage Foundation. He is fluent in Chinese, and uses Chinese language materials regularly in his work. Previously, he worked with the China Studies Division (previously, Project Asia) at the Center for Naval Analysis, a Federally Funded Research and Development Center, where he specialized in Chinese military issues, with a focus on Chinese military doctrine and Chinese space capabilities. Before that, he worked for Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), and as an analyst with the US Congress’ Office of Technology Assessment in the International Security and Space Division.
His published work includes the volume Cyber Dragon: Inside China’s Information Warfare and Cyber Operations (Praeger Publishing, 2016). He has testified before Congress, and spoken at the National Space Symposium, the US National Defense University, the USSTRATCOM Deterrence Symposium, Harvard, and MIT. He has appeared frequently in print and broadcast media to discuss Chinese space and military activities.
General Counsel, TechFreedom
James Dunstan serves as the General Counsel to TechFreedom. Jim has served as a Senior Adjunct Fellow to TechFreedom since its inception. Jim has more than 37 years of private practice experience in a technology-focused practice, including telecommunications, media, computer game, and outer space law. Jim spent 17 years at the telecom boutique firm Haley Bader & Potts (10 years in management), and headed the Telecommunications and Information Technology Group at Garvey, Schubert & Barer from 2000-2006. Jim founded his own firm, Mobius Legal Group, in 2010; he continues that private practice (on matters not in conflict with TechFreedom’s work) while serving as TechFreedom’s General Counsel.
Jim’s career includes being on the legal team that won the first cellular radio license for MCI in 1984, writing the constitutional challenge to the FCC’s Fairness Doctrine that took down the Doctrine in Syracuse Peace Council v. FCC, 867 F.2d 654 (1989), and helping shape the FCC’s children’s television rules on behalf of a client which produces the majority of educational programming for the major television networks. He litigated the first “virtual property” case and drafted and negotiated the first lease for a manned space station (Mir) as well as writing the first contract that was actually executed in outer space.
At TechFreedom, Jim’s substantive portfolio includes FCC regulation, the Children’s Online Protection and Privacy Act (COPPA), and all things outer space. As General Counsel, he oversees the entire legal team, and participates in TechFreedom’s robust appellate litigation team.
Jim was the 1978 Harry S. Truman Scholar from Arizona, is a graduate of Claremont McKenna College (1980), and the Georgetown University Law Center (1983). He is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Virginia. Jim holds multiple patents for innovative computer input devices and has a number of patents pending in the field of computer game devices and methods. Jim is an avid musician, playing French horn in the Fairfax Wind Symphony, and with the Silver 5 Brass Quintet.
Senior Fellow, Asian Military Affairs, International Assessment and Strategy Center
Mr. Richard D. Fisher, Jr. is a Senior Fellow with the International Assessment and Strategy Center. He has previously worked with the Center for Security Policy, Jamestown Foundation China Brief, U.S. House of Representatives Republican Policy Committee, and The Heritage Foundation. Mr. Fisher has previously testified on aspects of China’s strategic challenge before the United States Senate, the House of Representatives and the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. He is the author of China’s Military Modernization, Building for Regional and Global Reach (Praeger, 2008, Stanford University Press, 2010, Taiwan Ministry of National Defense translation, 2012). His articles have been published in the Jane’s Intelligence Review, Jane’s Defence Weekly, Aviation Week and Space Technology, Armed Forces Journal, Far Eastern Economic Review, Asian Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, The Sankei Shimbun, World Airpower Review and Air Forces Monthly. He received a B.A. (Honors) in 1981 from Eisenhower College.
Senior Litigation Counsel, New Civil Liberties Alliance
Margaret Harker litigates for a public interest law firm. She has significant experience in government investigations and litigation, having served in the three branches of our government. Previously, she led complex Congressional investigations for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform—including the only government-wide investigation into federal agencies’ strategy (or lack thereof) to counter Chinese Communist Party political warfare against America.
Prior to her time on Capitol Hill, Harker served in the U.S. Department of Justice. She was an Assistant United States Attorney in both the Eastern District of Tennessee and the Eastern District of Virginia. She was a Trial Attorney in the National Security Division, Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, with an emphasis on the administration and enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Harker clerked for the Honorable Henry E. Hudson, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and the Honorable Randolph A. Beales, Court of Appeals of Virginia.
Earlier in her career, she studied in Beijing, China, and worked at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s China Center.
Director, Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute
Thomas Berry is the director in the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies and editor in chief of the Cato Supreme Court Review. Before joining Cato, he was an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation and clerked for Judge E. Grady Jolly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. His academic work has appeared in NYU Journal of Law and Liberty, Washington and Lee Law Review Online, and Federalist Society Review. His popular writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, National Law Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, National Review Online, and The Hill Online. He has testified before the U.S. Senate, and his work has been cited by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Berry holds a J.D. from Stanford Law School, where he was a senior editor on the Stanford Law and Policy Review and a Bradley Student Fellow in the Stanford Constitutional Law Center. He graduated with a B.A. in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College, Santa Fe.
Partner, Boyden Gray PLLC
Jimmy Conde is partner at Boyden Gray PLLC, specializing in energy, environmental, and administrative law, with particular expertise in the Clean Air Act. He has protected clients against agency overreach in cutting-edge and complex legal proceedings, including challenges to EPA, DOE, DOT, and California rules seeking to compel electrification of motor vehicles, the FCC’s universal service fund, Department of Labor Wage & Hour Division rules, and HHS rules interfering with the practice of medicine and sound insurance practices. His written commentary has been published and referenced in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Examiner, Concurrences (an antitrust publication), and Newsweek, among others.
Mr. Conde began his legal career as an associate with Boyden Gray PLLC. He clerked for Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Judge David J. Porter in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Associate Chief Counsel, U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Maria C. Monaghan is associate chief counsel at the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, the litigation arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In this capacity, she handles a variety of litigation matters for the Chamber.
Before joining the Litigation Center, Monaghan practiced as an associate in the D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. She represented clients in the telecommunications, energy, transportation, and e-commerce sectors, with a focus on appellate litigation and regulatory matters.
Monaghan served as a law clerk to the Honorable Samuel A. Alito of the United States Supreme Court, the Honorable Ed Carnes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and the Honorable Amul R. Thapar of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She graduated Order of the Coif from the University of Virginia School of Law, where she served as Articles Development Editor for the Virginia Law Review and participated in the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic. She received her undergraduate degree in Human Resource Management and Labor Studies from Rutgers University.
Senior Counsel, America First Legal Foundation
James Rogers is Senior Counsel at America First Legal Foundation, where he litigates in a number of areas, including border security, election integrity, parental rights, and administrative and constitutional law. Before joining America First Legal, from 2021 to 2022, he was Senior Litigation Counsel at the Solicitor General’s Office of the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. While there, he spearheaded lawsuits against the Biden Administration’s destructive open borders policies and its COVID19 vaccine mandates. From 2015 to 2021, James was a Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. Department of State, where he worked in the Office of the Assistant Legal Advisor for Consular Affairs, at the U.S. Consulate in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and at the U.S. Embassy in Windhoek, Namibia.
Prior to joining the Department of State, he was a commercial litigation partner at Osborn Maledon, a Phoenix-based firm with a #1 litigation ranking from Chambers and Partners. James earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2009, an L.L.M. in International Law from the University of Cambridge in 2008, and a B.A., with honors, in International Studies from Brigham Young University in 2005. He is a sixth-generation Arizonan and lives in Mesa, Arizona, with his four children.
Partner, Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP
Ryan Schermerhorn is a registered patent attorney in the firm's Industrial & Mechanical Technologies Practice Group. His engineering background provides him with an understanding of clients’ technologies and enables him to effectively and efficiently provide a range of patent procurement services. He also leverages his experience to assist on intellectual property litigation as well as develop strategies for acquiring and protecting intellectual property.
Since 2017, Ryan has been listed as an "Emerging Lawyer" by Emerging Lawyers Magazine and has been selected for inclusion in the Illinois Rising Stars® lists. Ryan was recognized in Chicago Daily Law Bulletin's 2023 40 Under Forty list. Since 2024, Ryan has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© list in the practice areas of Litigation - Patent and Patent Law. In 2025, Ryan was selected by the Law Bulletin Publishing Company’s Leading Lawyer Network as a “Leading Lawyer.”
Senior Research Fellow, Border Security and Immigration Center, The Heritage Foundation
Simon Hankinson is a Senior Research Fellow in the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation.
From 1999–2022, he was a Foreign Service Officer serving in India, Fiji, Ghana, Slovakia, Togo, Washington, D.C., Marseille, and Nairobi. Prior to entering the State Department, Hankinson worked as a lawyer in London, and then taught history, English, and drama at a private school in Miami.
Hankinson holds a master’s degree in modern history from St. Andrews, Scotland, a degree from the College of Law in London, and a master’s degree in international security affairs from the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.
Immigration Law and Policy Fellow, Cornell Law School
Randel Johnson has worked on employment and immigration law and policy issues for over twenty-five years, bringing a broad perspective from working in the executive agencies, on Capitol Hill, and in the private sector. Deeply involved in past efforts on comprehensive immigration reform, including testifying in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, his experience includes working as the senior vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, labor counsel to the House Education and Labor Committee, and special assistant to the solicitor of labor at the U.S. Department of Labor. He was also a partner at the law firm of Seyfarth Shaw and most recently a judge on the Administrative Review Board at the Labor Department.
Senior Counsel, America First Legal Foundation
James Rogers is Senior Counsel at America First Legal Foundation, where he litigates in a number of areas, including border security, election integrity, parental rights, and administrative and constitutional law. Before joining America First Legal, from 2021 to 2022, he was Senior Litigation Counsel at the Solicitor General’s Office of the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. While there, he spearheaded lawsuits against the Biden Administration’s destructive open borders policies and its COVID19 vaccine mandates. From 2015 to 2021, James was a Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. Department of State, where he worked in the Office of the Assistant Legal Advisor for Consular Affairs, at the U.S. Consulate in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and at the U.S. Embassy in Windhoek, Namibia.
Prior to joining the Department of State, he was a commercial litigation partner at Osborn Maledon, a Phoenix-based firm with a #1 litigation ranking from Chambers and Partners. James earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2009, an L.L.M. in International Law from the University of Cambridge in 2008, and a B.A., with honors, in International Studies from Brigham Young University in 2005. He is a sixth-generation Arizonan and lives in Mesa, Arizona, with his four children.
Vice President, Immigration Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Patrick Shen is vice president for Immigration Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He helps Chamber member companies develop sensible, pro-growth immigration policies and advocates for such policies on our members’ behalf before Congress and the executive branch.
Before joining the Chamber, Shen was an immigration lawyer for over 30 years in the government and private sector. Most recently, he was a partner at a leading global business immigration law firm where he advised multinational companies on worksite compliance and represented employers from all sectors in government enforcement actions.
Earlier in his career, Shen was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate as Special Counsel for Immigration-related Unfair Employment Practices in the Justice Department. He previously served as the policy and planning director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the chief immigration counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Shen began his government career as a trial attorney for the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, and the Justice Department’s Civil Division in Washington, D.C.
Shen received his undergraduate and law degrees from Brigham Young University. He was an adjunct professor at American University’s Washington College of Law and a sports reporter in Taiwan before attending law school. He became a certified emergency medical technician (EMT) shortly after September 11, 2001, and still volunteers with his local fire department in Maryland.
Partner, Holland & Hart
Chris provides strategic counsel when companies and individuals face government audits or investigations of their immigration practices. With nearly three decades of experience, he brings extensive experience and government relationships to help clients prepare for such audits and investigations and to defend them when regulators show up.
Often working with clients in times of crisis, Chris’s goal is to alleviate anxiety and put them at ease. Whether counseling a company about responding to a subpoena or defending it in a government investigation or raid, clients appreciate his pragmatic, straight forward counsel and clear plans of action.
Chris and his team work closely with in house legal and human resources departments to provide training and to help them develop effective compliance policies and internal audit and remediation plans. When significant legal concerns arise, he helps teams conduct internal investigations and formulate the best path forward to protect the interests of the company.
Chris also works with executives, operational leaders, and talent management teams to help position a company for success with effective, compliant global mobility programs. With expertise maneuvering within the complex US immigration process, he helps a wide range of companies secure employment-based non-immigrant (e.g., E, H, L, O, P, TN, etc.) and immigrant (first, second, and third preference categories) visas.
Chris also works with organizations seeking to do business outside of the United States, working closely with in-house and outside counsel to assess legal risks and develop solutions to overcome challenges with doing business abroad.
Chris’s fluency in Spanish is a value-add to clients.
Chris rejoins Holland & Hart from Ogletree Deakins where he was an equity shareholder and managed the firm’s Denver immigration practice.
In his 35 years at the Justice Department and in private practice, Mike Carvin was one of the leading appellate and trial lawyers challenging state and federal regulations on constitutional and statutory grounds, with 10 Supreme Court arguments and numerous high-profile victories. In addition to his numerous cases in the United States Supreme Court, he argued in virtually every federal appeals court. His major cases include the recent constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care Act and the decisions invalidating Sarbanes-Oxley's accounting board, preventing the Justice Department from obtaining monetary relief against the tobacco industry under RICO, overturning the federal government's plan to statistically adjust the census, limiting the Justice Department's ability to create "majority-minority" districts, and upholding Proposition 209's ban on racial preferences in California.
Mike was one of the lead lawyers, and argued before the Florida Supreme Court, on behalf of George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential election Florida recount controversy. He also has represented state governments, financial institutions, telecommunications, and energy companies in "takings," First Amendment, civil rights, and statutory challenges to federal government actions.
Chairman, Center for Equal Opportunity
Linda Chavez is Chairman of the Center for Equal Opportunity. She has published opinions and columns in newspapers across the country and appears regularly on cable news. Chavez is the author of the three books: Out of the Barrio: Toward a New Politics of Hispanic Assimilation, An Unlikely Conservative: The Transformation of an Ex-Liberal, and Betrayal: How Union Bosses Shake Down Their Members and Corrupt American Politics. She has been honored by the Library of Congress as a "Living Legend" and as nominee for Secretary of Labor by President George W. Bush.
Chavez has held many appointed positions and has served on numerous corporate and nonprofit boards. Among her appointed positions has been Chairman, National Commission on Migrant Education (1988-1992); White House Director of Public Liaison (1985); Staff Director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (1983-1985); and member of the Administrative Conference of the United States (1984-1986). Chavez was also the Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Maryland in 1986 and was elected by the United Nations' Human Rights Commission to serve a four-year term as U.S. Expert to the U.N. Sub-commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities.
Chavez earned her BA from the University of Colorado.
Adjunct Professor of Law; Director, N.Y. Census and Redistricting Institute, New York Law School
Jeff Wice is a Distinguished Adjunct Professor and Senior Fellow at New York Law School where he directs the New York Elections, Census & Redistricting Institute and teaches classes on redistricting, election law, and the census. He is now working on his sixth redistricting cycle. In past years, he served as a redistricting counsel to New York State Legislativbe Leaders and as counsel to three New York City Districting Commissions and to numerous counties and localities across New York and the nation.
During the 2000 census cycle, Professor Wice served as counsel to President Bill Clinton’s members of the U.S. Census Monitoring Board. He is the co-editor/author of the National Conference of State Legislatures' 2020 Redistricting Redbook, a comprehensive handbook on the census and redistricting.
‘’City & State NY’ recognized Professor Wice as one of New York’s “Top 50 Over 50” in 2022 and just last month as a "New York legal trailblazer" for his efforts promoting fair representation and the census. He is a graduate of the George Washington University and Antioch School of Law.
Executive Director, Colorado Lawyers Committee
Kristin M. Bronson is a civic leader, community advocate and civil litigator with over twenty-five years of experience. She joined the Colorado Lawyers Committee in May 2023 after serving as Denver’s City Attorney for six years. As the City’s Chief Legal Officer, she provided legal and policy advice to elected officials, appointees, and senior managers while managing a large legal department. Ms. Bronson also led a number of key initiatives including the formation of the Denver Immigrant Legal Services Fund, the development of a comprehensive citywide youth violence prevention plan, and two national non-partisan convenings of legal experts on voting rights and election integrity. Ms. Bronson practiced law at Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP for nearly twenty years and is a trained mediator and arbitrator.
She has been the recipient of a number of awards including the Colorado Women’s Bar Association Foundation’s Raising the Bar award, Girl Scouts of Colorado’s Women of Distinction award, Law Week’s Woman Lawyer of the Year, Law Week’s Young Lawyer of the Year, the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce’s 25 Most Powerful Women award, the University of Colorado Law School Dean’s Choice Making a Difference award, the Denver Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 award, the Denver Bar Association and Davis Family Foundation’s Richard Marden Davis award, and others. Ms. Bronson has served dozens of community and civic organizations as a board member or volunteer.
Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig LLP
Troy A. Eid focuses his litigation, mediation and transactional practice on government enforcement, investigations and compliance, environmental law, energy and natural resource development, and Federal Indian law and Native American and Alaska Native tribal law. Troy is a trusted advocate and mediator in the Rocky Mountain West and in federal, state and tribal trial and appellate courtrooms across the country.
Director, Political Law Center, Independent Institute
Shayne M. Madsen, is the Director of the Political Law Center. Madsen most previously lead the Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs Practice Group in the Denver office of law firm Jackson Kelly PLLC. She practiced in the public policy and government affairs area, in election and campaign finance law, and in real estate development law. Madsen is a peer review rated attorney by Martindale- Hubbell (AV Preeminent).
Ms. Madsen has represented clients before the Colorado Legislature and before various local governments for over twenty years. She has extensive experience representing large and small business entities and related national and local trade associations in connection with legislative and public affairs issues, as well as state and local initiatives and referenda. Ms. Madsen is widely recognized as an effective on-the-ground strategist and lobbyist with a track record of success.
Ms. Madsen has worked with a number of political organizations in Colorado, and she is a regular participant in electronic and print media programs on public policy issues, including the establishment of political committees and other advocacy entities, and related litigation. She was a member of the legal team representing the Colorado Secretary of State before the Colorado Supreme Court in connection with the 2003 Congressional redistricting challenge. She is also local counsel for the Institute for Justice in connection with campaign finance litigation in the Colorado courts. Ms. Madsen is a graduate of the University of Colorado (Bachelor of Arts) and Washington University in St. Louis (Juris Doctor).
Partner, First & Foremost PLLC
Andrew is one of the leading young litigators in the state of Colorado and the West. His practice focuses on the representation of religious institutions, public figures and political organizations, and small and large businesses. He regularly appears in state and federal courts across the country on behalf of clients in a range of complex commercial, constitutional, and civil-rights disputes. His advocacy has been described by commentators as “excellent,” “nothing short of brilliant,” and “compelling.”
Andrew’s approach was formed by his service as a law clerk to Chief Judge William H. Pryor Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and Judge Daniel Domenico of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Andrew’s clerkships exposed him to nearly every area of law, from election issues, to trade-secret and contract protections, copyright, and First Amendment disputes. His practice is similarly broad. He represents clients at all levels of the judiciary on an array of substantive legal issues, including defamation and reputational torts; religious freedom, and the rights to freedom of speech and association; TABOR; trade secrets; legal ethics; the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act; and contractual rights. His clients run the gamut and include large religious institutions; colleges and universities; corporations of all sizes; and public figures.
Andrew graduated first in his class from Tulane University Law School. Before joining First and Fourteenth, he worked for one of the largest law firms in the world, where he litigated large commercial disputes throughout the country.
Andrew is a fourth-generation Coloradan, an adjunct professor of constitutional law at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, a husband to his college sweetheart, a lover of the theology of the Desert Fathers, a board member of Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, a mediocre trout fisherman of the small streams of Colorado’s Greenhorn Valley, an officer of the Colorado Lawyer’s Chapter of the Federalist Society, and a former teacher of ancient Greek philosophy and early Christian theology at a private school in the Twin Cities.
Senior Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation
Glenn Roper joined Pacific Legal Foundation in 2019. Based in Colorado, he litigates across the country on behalf of individuals and organizations to advance the principles of individual freedom, separation of powers, and the rule of law.
With experience in both private practice and government, Roper has seen the dangers posed to liberty when agencies, bureaucrats, and politicians ignore individual rights in favor of expediency or advancing a political agenda. His interest in combating those dangers spans PLF’s practice areas, including equal protection, separation of powers, environmental law, property rights, and the First Amendment.
Although he grew up in California’s Central Valley, Roper has spent most of his career in the Mountain West. Immediately prior to joining PLF, he served as Deputy Solicitor General in Colorado’s Office of the Attorney General, where he handled select appellate and constitutional litigation on behalf of the State and its agencies and officials. Before joining the Attorney General’s Office, Roper was a partner in a Denver law firm, where he focused on complex civil litigation, e-discovery, and appellate matters. He previously served as Deputy Associate Counsel in the White House Counsel’s Office for President George W. Bush and as a law clerk to Judge David M. Ebel of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. He graduated first in his class from Brigham Young University Law School.
General Counsel, Mountain States Legal Foundation
William E. Trachman is General Counsel for Mountain States Legal Foundation, where he protects the rights of individuals to live freely and securely under the U.S. Constitution. Previously, he was appointed to serve in the Department of Education as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office for Civil Rights. Prior to his appointment, he served as General Counsel to the Douglas County School District, where he helped litigate the fight for school choice in the school district. Presently, Mr. Trachman serves as Chair of the Colorado Federalist Society and the Vice Chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights’ Colorado Advisory Board. He previously taught as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law. He attended U.C. Berkeley for both undergraduate and law school, and then clerked for the Honorable Harris Hartz on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Trachman is licensed in Colorado, California, and Washington, D.C.
Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig
Jennifer Weddle is the Co-Chair of Greenberg Traurig's American Indian Law Practice and has wide-ranging experience in complex regulatory and jurisdictional issues, with a focus in Indian law, handling a variety of matters for tribal and non-tribal clients. She has a dynamic, inter-disciplinary practice that centers on providing strategies for resolving complex jurisdictional problems. Much of her practice focuses in the areas of tribal economic development and natural resources development. Jennifer also has U.S. Supreme Court experience, including serving as one of the attorneys for the respondent in Nevada v. Hicks (2001) and representing the petitioners in Ute Mountain Ute Tribe v. Padilla (2012) and Grand Canyon Skywalk Development, LLC v. Grand Canyon Resort Corporation (2013) and cert stage amici in Saginaw-Chippewa Tribe v. NLRB (2016) and United States v. Cooley (2020) and amici on the merits in Lewis v. Clarke (2017), U.S. v. Washington (2018), Carpenter v. Murphy (2018), McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020), and United States v. Cooley (2021).
Jennifer's work also includes negotiations for mineral leasing employment matters and representation before federal agencies. She has also been involved in civil litigation, working on numerous complex federal, state and tribal litigation matters, including class action tort litigation and large commercial disputes. Her transactional experience includes oil and gas renewables projects throughout the west, as well as Endangered Species Act work. Jennifer frequently assists tribes, banks and non-bank entities with financing and regulatory matters with Indian law components. Jennifer has wide-ranging project siting experience, including the application of NEPA, NHPA, and other environmental laws on tribal and public lands, including with respect to large linear multi-state energy and infrastructure projects. Jennifer has deep transactional, regulatory and litigation experience involving very complex matters with both legal and policy components.
Jennifer is past President of the National Native American Bar Association and past two-term Chair of the Federal Bar Association Indian Law Section. She currently serves as the Tenth Circuit Representative on the American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, a role she has held since 2018, spanning the evaluations for more than two dozen federal judicial nominees at every level of the federal courts. She is a ’00 graduate of Harvard Law School and a ’97 graduate of the University of Michigan (Classical Languages and Literature).
Commercial Litigation/Transaction Attorney, Campbell Killin Brittan & Ray LLC
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