Legal Fellow, Center for Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute
Brent Skorup is a legal fellow in the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies.
Before joining Cato, he was a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at the George Mason University. His research areas include free speech, technology law, Fourth Amendment protections, regulation, and property law. Skorup has published pieces in economics and law journals and in popular media, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg Law, Reuters, and Wired. He’s appeared as a TV and radio interview guest for news outlets like C‑SPAN, NPR, CBS News, ABC News, and CNBC Asia.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, a dissenting opinion at the Illinois Supreme Court, and the ALI's Restatement of the Law of Property have cited his legal research and he has testified as a technology and legal expert in legislative hearings in several states. Skorup has been appointed to several federal and state advisory bodies and he is currently a member of the Texas Advanced Air Mobility Advisory Committee.
Skorup has a BA in economics from Wheaton College and a law degree from the George Mason University School of Law, where he was articles editor for the Civil Rights Law Journal. He was a legal clerk at the FCC’s wireless bureau and Office of General Counsel and at the Energy and Commerce Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Aviation & Aerospace Team Co-Leader, Adams & Reese
Marc Warren is ranked Band 1 Nationwide in Transportation: Aviation: Regulatory by Chambers USA
Marc is a respected leader in the international aviation bar, and advises many of the world’s leading aviation and aerospace operators and manufacturers. Marc is the co-leader of the Adams & Reese Aviation and Aerospace Practice Team and resident in the firm’s DC and Jacksonville offices.
Marc has deep connections to industry regulators, associations, and leaders, based on decades of providing dependable, authoritative service, with a well-recognized commitment to air safety and the public interest. He has built an unparalleled reputation for wisdom in aviation matters.
Marc’s clients include major airlines, defense, transportation, logistics and infrastructure companies, trade associations, and public venues. Marc steers clients through FAA and Department of Transportation regulatory compliance, government investigations, and enforcement matters.
Marc has deep and extensive experience in aviation matters including those involving U.S. and foreign airlines, aerospace manufacturing, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), commercial space transportation, advanced air mobility, airports and infrastructure, business aviation, certification and licensing, safety management systems, hazardous materials transport, government contracts, rulemaking and policy, litigation, and government investigations.
Marc’s wide-ranging experience also includes mergers, acquisitions, national security and military law, and international legal and policy issues. His practice also provides full-service, multi-disciplinary capabilities in areas such as antitrust and competition, investigations, crisis response environmental, international, regulatory, government contracts, administrative compliance and enforcement, business transactions and litigation matters, including arbitrations.
A former FAA acting chief counsel and deputy chief counsel, and a senior legal officer for the Army, Marc has technical aviation and senior leader advisory experience.
Marc is helping to shape the future of aviation by developing innovative solutions for drone delivery and urban air mobility systems, and for more effective and efficient use of airspace and airports. He employs novel funding strategies and guides clients in finding proper ways to implement new technologies. Clients turn to Marc to secure and protect government-issued certificates and licenses, relying on him to ensure that their core authorities are maintained.
Before his FAA appointment, Marc served in the US Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, from which he retired in 2007 after having been selected for promotion to brigadier general.
Partner; Co-Chair, Transportation Practice, DLA Piper
Marc Nichols is co-chair of the DLA Piper Transportation Practice. His practice is primarily focused on a broad range of aviation and aerospace issues, including overseeing litigation responsibilities, enforcement, safety and security matters, regulatory and legislative affairs, employment and labor matters, data and emerging technology, and ethics and compliance issues. Marc was previously Chief Counsel of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), appointed by Former President Biden and the US Secretary of Transportation in 2022. In his role as the Chief Legal Officer of the FAA, Marc provided comprehensive legal guidance across all operational facets of the FAA on matters of importance to the national aviation and aerospace sector.
As Chief Counsel, Marc led a team of more than 300 legal professionals located across 13 offices nationwide and oversaw an annual budget exceeding US$65 million. His responsibilities encompassed representing and advising the FAA's various lines of business and staff offices on a broad range of aviation and aerospace issues. Additionally, Marc offered direct counsel to the FAA Administrator, the Deputy Administrator, and the Office of the General Counsel of the US Department of Transportation to ensure the safest and most efficient aerospace system in the world.
CEO, Republic Airways
David Grizzle has been serving as Chief Executive Officer since July 2, 2025 and has served as the Chairman of our Board of Directors since May 2017. Since 2013, Mr. Grizzle has engaged as an aviation consultant through his firm, Dazzle Partners. Mr. Grizzle previously served as Chief Operating Officer of the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization from 2011 to 2013 and as Chief Counsel of the FAA from 2009 to 2011. Prior to his time with the FAA, Mr. Grizzle was with Continental Airlines, Inc. and its affiliates for 22 years, retiring as the Senior Vice President of Customer Experience. In 2004, Mr. Grizzle served for 14 months with the U.S. Department of State in Kabul, Afghanistan as Attaché, Senior Advisor and Coordinator for Transportation and Infrastructure.
Shareholder, Mrachek, Fitzgerald, Konopka, Thomas & Weiss, P.A.
Manuel Farach is a shareholder of Mrachek, Fitzgerald, Konopka, Thomas & Weiss, P.A. where he practices real estate, business, appellate law, and alternative dispute resolution. Manny is triple board-certified by The Florida Bar in Real Estate Law, Business Litigation and Appellate Law. Manny has served as HUD Foreclosure Commissioner, and as Chair of both the Fourth District and Nineteenth Judicial Circuit Judicial Nominating Commissions. He has served as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association since 1990 and as a Florida Supreme Court Circuit Civil mediator since 1991. He presently serves as President of the Society’s Palm Beach Chapter.
Among his areas of expertise, Manny has represented clients in sophisticated business entity matters, Debtor/Creditor law (including bankruptcy and complex mortgage foreclosure litigation), real estate and construction litigation, Landlord-Tenant law, has been court appointed as a receiver (including special mater and special magistrates for partition actions), Alternative Dispute Resolution (including mediation and arbitration as an A.A.A. and FINRA arbitrator), title insurance litigation, U.C.C. Articles II, III, IV and IX (transactional and litigation for all areas); Internet and Computer law, and as an expert witness and consultant in these areas.
Manny is a past Chair of the Real Property Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association and an elected Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Attorneys, where he serves on its Board of Governors and as Chair of its Bankruptcy and Litigation Committee. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute, and past Chair of the Florida Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions for Contract Cases and the ABA’s Real Property Litigation Group. He sits on the Executive Councils of the Business Law, Real Property, and Alternative Dispute Resolution Sections of the Florida Bar.
Manny has been honored as “Board Certified Lawyer of the Year” by The Florida Bar and serves as Chair of the Real Property Certification Review Seminar Committee, a member of the Appellate Certification Examination Committee, and an exam tester for the Business Litigation Certification Exam Committee. Manny serves on the Executive Councils of the Real Property and Trust Law, Business Law, and ADR Sections of the Florida Bar, including chairing or serving on many of its committees.
He is the author of Florida Real Estate Law, the real estate treatise in West’s Florida Practice Series, publishes the Case Law Update, a weekly compilation of Florida real estate and business cases. He is listed in Chambers and Partners, Best Lawyers in America, U.S. News Best Lawyers, Florida Trend “Legal Elite” (including its “Hall of Fame), Martindale-Hubbell’s "Judicial Edition AV-Preeminent Rated,” and “Florida Super Lawyer,” including selection as one of Florida’s “Top 100 Lawyers.” Manny teaches as an Adjunct Professor of Real Estate Law at the Florida State University College of Law and previously taught as an Adjunct Professor of Business Law at the Rinker School of Business at Palm Beach Atlantic University.
Among other honors and awards, Manny is a graduate of Leadership Florida’s Executive Class 11 and was awarded both the Sidney Stubbs Professionalism Award and the Judge Edward Rodgers Diversity Award by the Palm Beach County Bar Association. He is a recipient of the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach Pro Bono Award, the Florida Bar Board Certified Lawyer of the Year Award, and the Hispanic Bar Association Chief Justice Leadership Award. He was also awarded the Florida Bar Business Law Section “Member of the Year” Award, the Florida State University College of Law “Distinguished Alumnus” Award, and listed as one of the Florida State Hispanic Chamber’s Florida's 50 Most Influential Hispanic Business Leaders.
Of Counsel, DLA Piper LLP (US)
Harout J. Samra – a Board Certified Specialist in International Law – focuses his practice on international dispute resolution and arbitration matters, including international civil litigation in US courts.
Harout has represented clients from both the public and private sectors, including foreign governments, public officials and clients from a variety of industries. He has experience in international arbitrations administered under the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), Bogota Chamber of Commerce, Madrid Court of Arbitration and International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitration rules.
Harout currently serves as a member of the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, by appointment of Governor Ron DeSantis. He previously served, by appointment of Governor Rick Scott, as a member of the Florida Third District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission, and was elected as Chair of the Commission from 2018-2019.
Shareholder, Mrachek, Fitzgerald, Konopka, Thomas & Weiss, P.A.
Manuel Farach is a shareholder of Mrachek, Fitzgerald, Konopka, Thomas & Weiss, P.A. where he practices real estate, business, appellate law, and alternative dispute resolution. Manny is triple board-certified by The Florida Bar in Real Estate Law, Business Litigation and Appellate Law. Manny has served as HUD Foreclosure Commissioner, and as Chair of both the Fourth District and Nineteenth Judicial Circuit Judicial Nominating Commissions. He has served as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association since 1990 and as a Florida Supreme Court Circuit Civil mediator since 1991. He presently serves as President of the Society’s Palm Beach Chapter.
Among his areas of expertise, Manny has represented clients in sophisticated business entity matters, Debtor/Creditor law (including bankruptcy and complex mortgage foreclosure litigation), real estate and construction litigation, Landlord-Tenant law, has been court appointed as a receiver (including special mater and special magistrates for partition actions), Alternative Dispute Resolution (including mediation and arbitration as an A.A.A. and FINRA arbitrator), title insurance litigation, U.C.C. Articles II, III, IV and IX (transactional and litigation for all areas); Internet and Computer law, and as an expert witness and consultant in these areas.
Manny is a past Chair of the Real Property Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association and an elected Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Attorneys, where he serves on its Board of Governors and as Chair of its Bankruptcy and Litigation Committee. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute, and past Chair of the Florida Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions for Contract Cases and the ABA’s Real Property Litigation Group. He sits on the Executive Councils of the Business Law, Real Property, and Alternative Dispute Resolution Sections of the Florida Bar.
Manny has been honored as “Board Certified Lawyer of the Year” by The Florida Bar and serves as Chair of the Real Property Certification Review Seminar Committee, a member of the Appellate Certification Examination Committee, and an exam tester for the Business Litigation Certification Exam Committee. Manny serves on the Executive Councils of the Real Property and Trust Law, Business Law, and ADR Sections of the Florida Bar, including chairing or serving on many of its committees.
He is the author of Florida Real Estate Law, the real estate treatise in West’s Florida Practice Series, publishes the Case Law Update, a weekly compilation of Florida real estate and business cases. He is listed in Chambers and Partners, Best Lawyers in America, U.S. News Best Lawyers, Florida Trend “Legal Elite” (including its “Hall of Fame), Martindale-Hubbell’s "Judicial Edition AV-Preeminent Rated,” and “Florida Super Lawyer,” including selection as one of Florida’s “Top 100 Lawyers.” Manny teaches as an Adjunct Professor of Real Estate Law at the Florida State University College of Law and previously taught as an Adjunct Professor of Business Law at the Rinker School of Business at Palm Beach Atlantic University.
Among other honors and awards, Manny is a graduate of Leadership Florida’s Executive Class 11 and was awarded both the Sidney Stubbs Professionalism Award and the Judge Edward Rodgers Diversity Award by the Palm Beach County Bar Association. He is a recipient of the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach Pro Bono Award, the Florida Bar Board Certified Lawyer of the Year Award, and the Hispanic Bar Association Chief Justice Leadership Award. He was also awarded the Florida Bar Business Law Section “Member of the Year” Award, the Florida State University College of Law “Distinguished Alumnus” Award, and listed as one of the Florida State Hispanic Chamber’s Florida's 50 Most Influential Hispanic Business Leaders.
Of Counsel, DLA Piper LLP (US)
Harout J. Samra – a Board Certified Specialist in International Law – focuses his practice on international dispute resolution and arbitration matters, including international civil litigation in US courts.
Harout has represented clients from both the public and private sectors, including foreign governments, public officials and clients from a variety of industries. He has experience in international arbitrations administered under the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), Bogota Chamber of Commerce, Madrid Court of Arbitration and International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitration rules.
Harout currently serves as a member of the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, by appointment of Governor Ron DeSantis. He previously served, by appointment of Governor Rick Scott, as a member of the Florida Third District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission, and was elected as Chair of the Commission from 2018-2019.
Senior Litigation Attorney, EarthRights International
Rick Herz is a 1993 Order of the Coif graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served on the Virginia Law Review. In 1994, he clerked for the Hon. Raymond A. Jackson, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia. Rick was the 1997-1998 Natural Resources Law Institute Fellow at Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College, where he wrote”Litigating Environmental Abuses Under the Alien Tort Claims Act: A Practical Assessment” , an article about suing multinational corporations for environmental abuses under the Alien Tort Claims Act. He is a member of the New York State Bar. At ERI, Rick directs our work on cases against multinational corporations for international human rights and environmental abuses. As such he is co-counsel for the plaintiffs ERI’s past and ongoing litigation, including Doe v. Unocal, Bowoto v. Chevron, Sahu v. Union Carbide, Wiwa v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, Maynas v. Occidental Petroleum, Doe v. Chiquita, and API v. SEC. He has also filed amicus briefs in the United States Supreme Court and various U.S. Circuit and District courts on behalf of NGOs and law professors in important human rights cases, and he advises human rights and environmental activists and lawyers on international law.
Partner, Jones Day
Eliot Pedrosa is a first chair litigator and trial lawyer with 20 years of experience representing businesses in complex and challenging litigation involving international disputes, financial institutions, securities, and products liability.
Eliot has served as first chair in more than a dozen jury trials and arbitrations and defended clients under investigation by federal and state regulators. Eliot, who is a native Spanish speaker, has in-depth knowledge of Latin American law and recently completed a term as the Senate-confirmed Executive Director of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the largest source of development finance for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Prior to joining Jones Day, Eliot successfully represented clients from around the world, including a German medical device manufacturer, an Israeli software company, the largest sugar producer in Nicaragua, a Spanish language radio station and media company regarding broadcast rights for Mexican soccer matches in the United States, a music company in litigation regarding the sale of a salsa music catalog, a financial services firm in an action alleging improper handling of credit card transactions, and a tobacco company in individual Florida Engle cases.
Eliot has been committed to providing pro bono legal services throughout his career, including representing human trafficking victims, an unaccompanied minor seeking asylum, and a First Amendment challenge to the Florida High School Athletic Association's decision to prohibit use of a stadium loudspeaker for a prayer at a high school football championship game between two private, Christian schools.
Of Counsel, DLA Piper LLP (US)
Harout J. Samra – a Board Certified Specialist in International Law – focuses his practice on international dispute resolution and arbitration matters, including international civil litigation in US courts.
Harout has represented clients from both the public and private sectors, including foreign governments, public officials and clients from a variety of industries. He has experience in international arbitrations administered under the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), Bogota Chamber of Commerce, Madrid Court of Arbitration and International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitration rules.
Harout currently serves as a member of the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, by appointment of Governor Ron DeSantis. He previously served, by appointment of Governor Rick Scott, as a member of the Florida Third District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission, and was elected as Chair of the Commission from 2018-2019.
Director, Americas Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Ryan C. Berg is director of the Americas Program and head of the Future of Venezuela Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is also an adjunct professor at the Catholic University of America and a course coordinator at the United States Foreign Service Institute. His research focuses on U.S.-Latin America relations, strategic competition and defense policy, authoritarian regimes, armed conflict and transnational organized crime, and trade and development issues. Previously, Dr. Berg was a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he helped lead its Latin America Studies Program, as well as visiting research fellow at the University of Oxford’s Changing Character of War Programme. Dr. Berg was a Fulbright scholar in Brazil and is a Council on Foreign Relations Term Member. He has been published in a variety of peer-reviewed academic and policy-oriented journals, including The Lancet, Migration and Development, the SAIS Review of International Affairs, and the Georgetown Security Studies Review. His articles have appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, CNN.com, Los Angeles Times, and World Politics Review, among other outlets. He routinely testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Dr. Berg obtained a PhD and an MPhil in political science and an MSc in global governance and diplomacy from the University of Oxford, where he was a Senior Hulme Fellow. Earlier, he obtained a BA in government and theology from Georgetown University. He is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and is conversational in Slovenian.
Partner, SFS Law
Michael Nadler counsels and defends corporations and individuals on a broad range of regulatory, criminal, and civil matters, including claims involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), money laundering, healthcare fraud, securities law violations, and white-collar criminal defense.
Prior to joining Stumphauzer, Foslid, Sloman, Ross & Kolaya, Michael was a federal prosecutor for almost ten years in the Southern District of Florida. Michael has extensive courtroom and trial experience. During his time at the United States Attorney’s Office, he successfully tried over twenty-five federal jury trials and argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
While at the United States Attorney’s Office, Michael specialized in prosecutions and investigations involving sophisticated international and domestic money laundering and FCPA cases. Michael was selected to be part of a newly-created group targeting money laundering and foreign corruption. His cases covered the world. ranging from cases involving corrupt officials in Venezuela, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. and extending to large scale financial investigations involving European banks and foreign nationals. He was lead prosecutor in some of the highest profile, largest money laundering and FCPA prosecutions in the history of South Florida. In one case alone, Michael’s prosecution of the former treasurer of Venezuela resulted in a one billion-dollar forfeiture, one of the largest forfeiture amounts ever ordered.
As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Michael also led hundreds of complex investigations and prosecutions against individuals and corporations for violations of federal health care statutes, large scale narcotics trafficking, firearms offenses, murder for hire, tax fraud, aggravated identity theft, securities fraud and elder fraud.
Throughout his time at the U.S. Attorney’s office Michael travelled extensively throughout South America and Europe. He built partnerships and relationships with numerous law enforcement agencies both domestic and international, officials and foreign lawyers. Michael participated in several summits whose participants included officials from Lichtenstein, Italy, Bulgaria, Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Colombia, Panama, Mexico, Honduras, Equator and Guatemala on bilateral efforts to combat organized transnational crime involving money laundering, foreign corruption and narco- trafficking. Michael has also lectured federal law enforcement agencies on complex money laundering investigations and weapons of mass destruction.
Prior to his service with the federal government, Michael served as an Assistant Miami-Dade County Attorney at the Miami-Dade County Attorney’s Office. As an Assistant County Attorney, Michael was the trial attorney on a wide variety of civil cases and trials in federal and state court, including tort cases, medical malpractice, section 1983 civil rights cases and employment cases where he represented numerous County departments, including the Miami Dade Fire Department, Building Department, and the Port of Miami. Michael drafted appellate briefs and conducted several successful oral arguments before the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the Florida Third District Court of Appeal.
Earlier in his career, Michael worked in the financial and securities litigation group in Sidley Austin LLP’s Chicago office. As an associate there, he built a reputation for successfully representing clients on white collar investigations involving securities violations and accountant liability.
Of Counsel, DLA Piper LLP (US)
Harout J. Samra – a Board Certified Specialist in International Law – focuses his practice on international dispute resolution and arbitration matters, including international civil litigation in US courts.
Harout has represented clients from both the public and private sectors, including foreign governments, public officials and clients from a variety of industries. He has experience in international arbitrations administered under the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), Bogota Chamber of Commerce, Madrid Court of Arbitration and International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitration rules.
Harout currently serves as a member of the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, by appointment of Governor Ron DeSantis. He previously served, by appointment of Governor Rick Scott, as a member of the Florida Third District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission, and was elected as Chair of the Commission from 2018-2019.
Shareholder, Mrachek, Fitzgerald, Konopka, Thomas & Weiss, P.A.
Manuel Farach is a shareholder of Mrachek, Fitzgerald, Konopka, Thomas & Weiss, P.A. where he practices real estate, business, appellate law, and alternative dispute resolution. Manny is triple board-certified by The Florida Bar in Real Estate Law, Business Litigation and Appellate Law. Manny has served as HUD Foreclosure Commissioner, and as Chair of both the Fourth District and Nineteenth Judicial Circuit Judicial Nominating Commissions. He has served as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association since 1990 and as a Florida Supreme Court Circuit Civil mediator since 1991. He presently serves as President of the Society’s Palm Beach Chapter.
Among his areas of expertise, Manny has represented clients in sophisticated business entity matters, Debtor/Creditor law (including bankruptcy and complex mortgage foreclosure litigation), real estate and construction litigation, Landlord-Tenant law, has been court appointed as a receiver (including special mater and special magistrates for partition actions), Alternative Dispute Resolution (including mediation and arbitration as an A.A.A. and FINRA arbitrator), title insurance litigation, U.C.C. Articles II, III, IV and IX (transactional and litigation for all areas); Internet and Computer law, and as an expert witness and consultant in these areas.
Manny is a past Chair of the Real Property Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association and an elected Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Attorneys, where he serves on its Board of Governors and as Chair of its Bankruptcy and Litigation Committee. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute, and past Chair of the Florida Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions for Contract Cases and the ABA’s Real Property Litigation Group. He sits on the Executive Councils of the Business Law, Real Property, and Alternative Dispute Resolution Sections of the Florida Bar.
Manny has been honored as “Board Certified Lawyer of the Year” by The Florida Bar and serves as Chair of the Real Property Certification Review Seminar Committee, a member of the Appellate Certification Examination Committee, and an exam tester for the Business Litigation Certification Exam Committee. Manny serves on the Executive Councils of the Real Property and Trust Law, Business Law, and ADR Sections of the Florida Bar, including chairing or serving on many of its committees.
He is the author of Florida Real Estate Law, the real estate treatise in West’s Florida Practice Series, publishes the Case Law Update, a weekly compilation of Florida real estate and business cases. He is listed in Chambers and Partners, Best Lawyers in America, U.S. News Best Lawyers, Florida Trend “Legal Elite” (including its “Hall of Fame), Martindale-Hubbell’s "Judicial Edition AV-Preeminent Rated,” and “Florida Super Lawyer,” including selection as one of Florida’s “Top 100 Lawyers.” Manny teaches as an Adjunct Professor of Real Estate Law at the Florida State University College of Law and previously taught as an Adjunct Professor of Business Law at the Rinker School of Business at Palm Beach Atlantic University.
Among other honors and awards, Manny is a graduate of Leadership Florida’s Executive Class 11 and was awarded both the Sidney Stubbs Professionalism Award and the Judge Edward Rodgers Diversity Award by the Palm Beach County Bar Association. He is a recipient of the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach Pro Bono Award, the Florida Bar Board Certified Lawyer of the Year Award, and the Hispanic Bar Association Chief Justice Leadership Award. He was also awarded the Florida Bar Business Law Section “Member of the Year” Award, the Florida State University College of Law “Distinguished Alumnus” Award, and listed as one of the Florida State Hispanic Chamber’s Florida's 50 Most Influential Hispanic Business Leaders.
Of Counsel, DLA Piper LLP (US)
Harout J. Samra – a Board Certified Specialist in International Law – focuses his practice on international dispute resolution and arbitration matters, including international civil litigation in US courts.
Harout has represented clients from both the public and private sectors, including foreign governments, public officials and clients from a variety of industries. He has experience in international arbitrations administered under the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), Bogota Chamber of Commerce, Madrid Court of Arbitration and International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitration rules.
Harout currently serves as a member of the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, by appointment of Governor Ron DeSantis. He previously served, by appointment of Governor Rick Scott, as a member of the Florida Third District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission, and was elected as Chair of the Commission from 2018-2019.
Senior Litigation Attorney, EarthRights International
Rick Herz is a 1993 Order of the Coif graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served on the Virginia Law Review. In 1994, he clerked for the Hon. Raymond A. Jackson, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia. Rick was the 1997-1998 Natural Resources Law Institute Fellow at Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College, where he wrote”Litigating Environmental Abuses Under the Alien Tort Claims Act: A Practical Assessment” , an article about suing multinational corporations for environmental abuses under the Alien Tort Claims Act. He is a member of the New York State Bar. At ERI, Rick directs our work on cases against multinational corporations for international human rights and environmental abuses. As such he is co-counsel for the plaintiffs ERI’s past and ongoing litigation, including Doe v. Unocal, Bowoto v. Chevron, Sahu v. Union Carbide, Wiwa v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, Maynas v. Occidental Petroleum, Doe v. Chiquita, and API v. SEC. He has also filed amicus briefs in the United States Supreme Court and various U.S. Circuit and District courts on behalf of NGOs and law professors in important human rights cases, and he advises human rights and environmental activists and lawyers on international law.
Partner, Jones Day
Eliot Pedrosa is a first chair litigator and trial lawyer with 20 years of experience representing businesses in complex and challenging litigation involving international disputes, financial institutions, securities, and products liability.
Eliot has served as first chair in more than a dozen jury trials and arbitrations and defended clients under investigation by federal and state regulators. Eliot, who is a native Spanish speaker, has in-depth knowledge of Latin American law and recently completed a term as the Senate-confirmed Executive Director of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the largest source of development finance for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Prior to joining Jones Day, Eliot successfully represented clients from around the world, including a German medical device manufacturer, an Israeli software company, the largest sugar producer in Nicaragua, a Spanish language radio station and media company regarding broadcast rights for Mexican soccer matches in the United States, a music company in litigation regarding the sale of a salsa music catalog, a financial services firm in an action alleging improper handling of credit card transactions, and a tobacco company in individual Florida Engle cases.
Eliot has been committed to providing pro bono legal services throughout his career, including representing human trafficking victims, an unaccompanied minor seeking asylum, and a First Amendment challenge to the Florida High School Athletic Association's decision to prohibit use of a stadium loudspeaker for a prayer at a high school football championship game between two private, Christian schools.
Of Counsel, DLA Piper LLP (US)
Harout J. Samra – a Board Certified Specialist in International Law – focuses his practice on international dispute resolution and arbitration matters, including international civil litigation in US courts.
Harout has represented clients from both the public and private sectors, including foreign governments, public officials and clients from a variety of industries. He has experience in international arbitrations administered under the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), Bogota Chamber of Commerce, Madrid Court of Arbitration and International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitration rules.
Harout currently serves as a member of the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, by appointment of Governor Ron DeSantis. He previously served, by appointment of Governor Rick Scott, as a member of the Florida Third District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission, and was elected as Chair of the Commission from 2018-2019.
Director, Americas Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Ryan C. Berg is director of the Americas Program and head of the Future of Venezuela Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is also an adjunct professor at the Catholic University of America and a course coordinator at the United States Foreign Service Institute. His research focuses on U.S.-Latin America relations, strategic competition and defense policy, authoritarian regimes, armed conflict and transnational organized crime, and trade and development issues. Previously, Dr. Berg was a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he helped lead its Latin America Studies Program, as well as visiting research fellow at the University of Oxford’s Changing Character of War Programme. Dr. Berg was a Fulbright scholar in Brazil and is a Council on Foreign Relations Term Member. He has been published in a variety of peer-reviewed academic and policy-oriented journals, including The Lancet, Migration and Development, the SAIS Review of International Affairs, and the Georgetown Security Studies Review. His articles have appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, CNN.com, Los Angeles Times, and World Politics Review, among other outlets. He routinely testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Dr. Berg obtained a PhD and an MPhil in political science and an MSc in global governance and diplomacy from the University of Oxford, where he was a Senior Hulme Fellow. Earlier, he obtained a BA in government and theology from Georgetown University. He is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and is conversational in Slovenian.
Partner, SFS Law
Michael Nadler counsels and defends corporations and individuals on a broad range of regulatory, criminal, and civil matters, including claims involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), money laundering, healthcare fraud, securities law violations, and white-collar criminal defense.
Prior to joining Stumphauzer, Foslid, Sloman, Ross & Kolaya, Michael was a federal prosecutor for almost ten years in the Southern District of Florida. Michael has extensive courtroom and trial experience. During his time at the United States Attorney’s Office, he successfully tried over twenty-five federal jury trials and argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
While at the United States Attorney’s Office, Michael specialized in prosecutions and investigations involving sophisticated international and domestic money laundering and FCPA cases. Michael was selected to be part of a newly-created group targeting money laundering and foreign corruption. His cases covered the world. ranging from cases involving corrupt officials in Venezuela, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. and extending to large scale financial investigations involving European banks and foreign nationals. He was lead prosecutor in some of the highest profile, largest money laundering and FCPA prosecutions in the history of South Florida. In one case alone, Michael’s prosecution of the former treasurer of Venezuela resulted in a one billion-dollar forfeiture, one of the largest forfeiture amounts ever ordered.
As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Michael also led hundreds of complex investigations and prosecutions against individuals and corporations for violations of federal health care statutes, large scale narcotics trafficking, firearms offenses, murder for hire, tax fraud, aggravated identity theft, securities fraud and elder fraud.
Throughout his time at the U.S. Attorney’s office Michael travelled extensively throughout South America and Europe. He built partnerships and relationships with numerous law enforcement agencies both domestic and international, officials and foreign lawyers. Michael participated in several summits whose participants included officials from Lichtenstein, Italy, Bulgaria, Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Colombia, Panama, Mexico, Honduras, Equator and Guatemala on bilateral efforts to combat organized transnational crime involving money laundering, foreign corruption and narco- trafficking. Michael has also lectured federal law enforcement agencies on complex money laundering investigations and weapons of mass destruction.
Prior to his service with the federal government, Michael served as an Assistant Miami-Dade County Attorney at the Miami-Dade County Attorney’s Office. As an Assistant County Attorney, Michael was the trial attorney on a wide variety of civil cases and trials in federal and state court, including tort cases, medical malpractice, section 1983 civil rights cases and employment cases where he represented numerous County departments, including the Miami Dade Fire Department, Building Department, and the Port of Miami. Michael drafted appellate briefs and conducted several successful oral arguments before the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the Florida Third District Court of Appeal.
Earlier in his career, Michael worked in the financial and securities litigation group in Sidley Austin LLP’s Chicago office. As an associate there, he built a reputation for successfully representing clients on white collar investigations involving securities violations and accountant liability.
Of Counsel, DLA Piper LLP (US)
Harout J. Samra – a Board Certified Specialist in International Law – focuses his practice on international dispute resolution and arbitration matters, including international civil litigation in US courts.
Harout has represented clients from both the public and private sectors, including foreign governments, public officials and clients from a variety of industries. He has experience in international arbitrations administered under the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), Bogota Chamber of Commerce, Madrid Court of Arbitration and International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitration rules.
Harout currently serves as a member of the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, by appointment of Governor Ron DeSantis. He previously served, by appointment of Governor Rick Scott, as a member of the Florida Third District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission, and was elected as Chair of the Commission from 2018-2019.
Newsweek Senior Editor-at-Large, Syndicated Columnist, Host of "The Josh Hammer Show," Article III Project Senior Counsel, Newsweek, Salem Media, Article III Project, David Horowitz Freedom Center
Josh Hammer is the senior editor-at-large of Newsweek and host of "The Josh Hammer Show," a podcast, a syndicated radio show, and TV program on Salem News Channel. A syndicated columnist through Creators Syndicate, Josh is a frequent pundit and essayist on political, legal, and cultural issues. He is also senior counsel for the Article III Project and Internet Accountability Project, as well as a Shillman Fellow with the David Horowitz Freedom Center and a fellow with the Palm Beach Freedom Institute.
An outspoken conservative, Josh opines on conservative intellectual trends, contemporary domestic and foreign policy debates, constitutional and legal issues, and the intersection of law, politics and culture. He has been published by many leading outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, the New York Post, Daily Mail, Newsweek, the Claremont Review of Books, National Affairs, American Affairs, The New Criterion, The National Interest, National Review, RealClearPolitics, First Things, City Journal, Public Discourse, Law & Liberty, Tablet Magazine, Deseret Magazine, Compact Magazine, Chronicles Magazine, The Spectator, The American Mind, The American Conservative, The European Conservative, American Greatness, American Compass, The Federalist, Blaze Media, TomKlingenstein.com, Townhall, The Daily Wire, The Daily Signal, The Daily Caller, The Epoch Times, Anchoring Truths, Fortune, Fox Business, The Jerusalem Post, The Times of Israel, The Forward, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and the Jewish Journal. He has also had legal scholarship published by the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy and the University of St. Thomas Law Journal.
Josh is a college campus speaker through Young America's Foundation and the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, and a law school campus speaker through the Federalist Society. Prior to Newsweek and The Daily Wire, where he was an editor, Josh worked at Kirkland & Ellis LLP and clerked for the Hon. James C. Ho on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Josh has also served as a John Marshall Fellow with the Claremont Institute and as a Fellow with the James Wilson Institute. He is the former host of "America on Trial with Josh Hammer," a one-season daily podcast with The First that covered the unique legal issues surrounding the 2024 presidential election.
Josh graduated from Duke University, where he majored in economics, and from the University of Chicago Law School. He lives in Florida, but remains an active member of the State Bar of Texas.
Senior Counsel, Compass Legal Group
Andrew Kloster is Senior Counsel at the nonprofit Compass Legal Group. He is a long-time fixture of the conservative movement, advising clients on the new right on a wide variety of matters criminal, civil, political / electoral, and administrative. Recently, he served as Chief of Staff to the Wisconsin Office of Special Counsel investigation into election administration. Prior to that, he served in the Trump administration, including concurrently as Associate Director in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel and as Deputy General Counsel (and later, Acting General Counsel) in the United States Office of Personnel Management. He has also served in senior positions in regulatory and legal positions at the United States Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency, and was appointed by President Trump to serve a three-year term on the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States. Previously, he worked at the Heritage Foundation, the Scalia Law School, and other movement groups. He is a graduate of the University of Miami and the New York University School of Law, and he served as a law clerk on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Of Counsel, DLA Piper LLP (US)
Harout J. Samra – a Board Certified Specialist in International Law – focuses his practice on international dispute resolution and arbitration matters, including international civil litigation in US courts.
Harout has represented clients from both the public and private sectors, including foreign governments, public officials and clients from a variety of industries. He has experience in international arbitrations administered under the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), Bogota Chamber of Commerce, Madrid Court of Arbitration and International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitration rules.
Harout currently serves as a member of the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, by appointment of Governor Ron DeSantis. He previously served, by appointment of Governor Rick Scott, as a member of the Florida Third District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission, and was elected as Chair of the Commission from 2018-2019.
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Tampa Lawyers Chapter Event
Tampa, FLThe Future of the Conservative/Libertarian Legal Movement
Tampa Lawyers Chapter Event
Tampa, FL