Immigration Policy Analyst, Cato Institute
David J. Bier is an immigration policy analyst at the Cato Institute’s Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity. He is an expert on visa reform, border security, and interior enforcement, and his work has been cited in the Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Politico, and many other print and online publications.
From 2013 to 2015, Mr. Bier drafted immigration legislation as senior policy advisor for Congressman Raúl Labrador, a member of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security. Previously, he worked as the immigration policy analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and most recently as the director of immigration policy at the Niskanen Center.
Mr. Bier has a B.A. in political science from Grove City College in Pennsylvania.
First Assistant Attorney General, Texas
Brent Webster was appointed by Ken Paxton to be First Assistant Attorney General in 2020. As second in command to Ken Paxton, Brent’s job is to implement Paxton’s policy and litigation initiatives and manage the day-to-day operation of the Office of the Attorney General, which employs approximately 4200 Texans.
Since his appointment in October 2020, Brent has led a multi-pronged initiative at Ken Paxton’s request to (1) serve as the primary check on the federal governments overreach, (2) ensure that Texas is deterring wrongful conduct in the state through civil enforcement mechanisms, and (3) instill a trial-focused, litigation-first mentality across the agency to foster better results for Texas when involved in litigation. Brent has led Ken Paxton’s litigation against the federal government in 106 lawsuits, with a staggering win rate above 75%, he has doubled the average annual recovery through civil enforcement, amounting to over $426 million dollars in his first fiscal year and $548 million in his second fiscal year, and he has led an agency-wide initiative to empower OAG lawyers to aggressively pursue the State’s interests in court, whether against liberal municipalities, rogue school districts, or anyone else who violates the law in Texas. Most recently, Brent was the lead negotiator at mediation for the historic 1.4-billion-dollar settlement against Meta for the State of Texas.
Prior to joining the Attorney General's Office, Webster served in a variety of leadership roles including First Assistant District Attorney in Williamson County, Texas, Chief Operations Officer and General Counsel at an Austin start-up, and Senior Counsel at a litigation law firm. While serving as a Criminal Prosecutor for 10 years in Williamson he was awarded the “Crime Victim Advocate Hall of Fame Award” for outstanding service to crime victims.
Webster received his undergraduate education at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas graduating in 2003, and received his legal education at University of Houston Law Center in 2005. He is licensed to practice law by the state of Texas and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, and the federal district courts in the Western, Southern, and Northern districts of Texas.
Partner, King & Spalding
John Richter is a trial and investigations partner in the Special Matters and Investigations Practice Group, and represents and defends companies, Boards of Directors, Board committees, and individuals facing a variety of white-collar criminal and regulatory enforcement matters, parallel civil litigation, and internal corporate investigations. John previously served as the Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice and as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, having been nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by unanimous consent of the U.S. Senate.
Partner, Husch Blackwell LLP
With three decades of experience as a prosecutor, Gregg counsels businesses and individuals in connection with a range of criminal, civil and regulatory matters, including government investigations, internal investigations, litigation, export control, sanctions, trade secrets and regulatory compliance.
Gregg’s extensive background in criminal and national security law, combined with his understanding of government practices and operations, allow him to pinpoint the risks and opportunities that arise in investigatory settings, to put together efficient and effective teams of legal professionals, and to mount a vigorous defense when necessary. Gregg has a strong track record as an accomplished trial lawyer, particularly in complex, high-profile jury trials.
Prior to entering private practice, Gregg served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas—one of the largest and busiest United States Attorney’s Offices in the country—where he supervised more than 300 employees handling a diverse caseload, including matters involving complex white-collar crime, contract fraud, national security, cyber crimes, public corruption, money laundering, export violations, trade secrets, tax, large-scale drug and human trafficking, immigration, child exploitation and violent crime. Gregg has also served as Counselor to the Attorney General of the United States, where he handled both criminal and national security matters, as well as crisis response. He was an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas for 14 years, where he developed a reputation as an aggressive litigator and indefatigable investigator while building an impressive record handling national security, fraud, violent crime and corruption cases. Before that, he served in various roles in both the Criminal and National Security Divisions of the Department of Justice in Washington, DC. Gregg was a state prosecutor as well, handling murder, gang and other complex cases in New York County for nearly 11 years.
Throughout his career, Gregg has worked closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, Department of Commerce and other federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies. He led task forces in the Department of Justice and spearheaded the Department’s effort to improve its electronic litigation capabilities, focusing heavily on discovery. Gregg understands criminal law, national security law, the justice system, government investigations and the discovery process inside and out. His extensive and varied background means that he can provide clients with realistic and accurate expectations of how a government investigation or prosecution will proceed and where challenges may arise.
Partner, Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP
Mark Champoux helps clients resolve significant disputes arising in litigation, government enforcement, and regulatory actions in forums across the country. He rejoined Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP in July 2020 after serving as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy, where he was a primary policy advisor to the Attorney General and coordinated major initiatives relating to regulations, emerging technologies, data privacy, national security, and law enforcement. Mr. Champoux also supervised DOJ’s work in supporting federal judicial nominations, personally preparing over 100 nominees for confirmation by the Senate and overseeing DOJ’s work to secure the confirmation of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, an undertaking that earned him the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award.
Mr. Champoux has an extensive record of experience in private practice. He has successfully defended both Fortune 500 companies and small businesses, obtaining complete defense judgments through dispositive motions and trial and leveraging favorable settlements by winning key motions and defeating class certification. In recognition of his litigation work, Benchmark Litigation named Mr. Champoux to the nationwide 40 & Under Hot List in 2016-2017. Mr. Champoux was also named a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers magazine in 2014-2017 and a “Future Litigation Star” by Benchmark Litigation in 2015.
Mr. Champoux’s practice includes disputes involving emerging technologies, data privacy, natural resources, oil and gas, environmental liabilities, government enforcement, and regulations. He also has substantial experience in a broad range of other litigation areas, including contracts, business torts, real estate, securities fraud, shareholder actions, civil RICO, products liability, and special districts.
Mr. Champoux has also handled numerous pro bono criminal matters, including a successful petition for certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court with subsequent reversal of conviction for an indigent criminal defendant.
Mr. Champoux received his J.D. in 2007 from Harvard Law School, where he was deputy editor-in-chief of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, and his B.A. in 2004 from Brigham Young University, graduating magna cum laude and as valedictorian. Before first joining DGS in 2012, Mr. Champoux was a trial attorney at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Washington, D.C. and clerked for then-Judge Neil M. Gorsuch on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
Judge, U.S. District Court, Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri
Josh Divine was most recently the Solicitor General of Missouri, where he oversaw the office's appellate and special litigation divisions. As Solicitor General, Mr. Divine led Missouri's trial and appellate teams to some of its most significant victories. Mr. Divine was lead counsel in blocking $700 billion in student loan bailouts attempted by the federal government. He was lead counsel in obtaining a $25 billion judgment against China for antitrust violations. And he was lead counsel in successfully defending the Missouri law that prohibits gender transition interventions in minors, making Missouri the only state in the nation to prevail at trial against an equal protection challenge to one of these laws. In addition, Mr. Divine's work at the trial court in Missouri v. Biden (restyled Murthy v. Missouri) helped expose systemic violations of the First Amendment by the federal government, which the trial court found was unconstitutionally pressuring social media companies to suppress millions of free speech posts.
Before serving as Solicitor General, Mr. Divine was Chief Counsel to U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, where he oversaw all legal issues, managed matters related to the Judiciary Committee, and developed tech policy. Mr. Divine clerked on the Supreme Court for Justice Thomas and on the Eleventh Circuit for Judge William Pryor. He received a J.D. from Yale Law School and a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from the University of Northern Colorado. His recent legal scholarship has appeared in the Virginia Law Review and the Hastings Law Journal.
Senior Associate, Husch Blackwell
Caleb defends major companies in product liability and commercial lawsuits, taking a hands-on role in building their cases.
Caleb’s litigation experience focuses on consumer products, industrial machinery, and commercial disputes. He routinely works with sophisticated, multinational corporations and is an integral part of client service teams for many Fortune 50 and Fortune 500 companies. Caleb’s practice depends on methodical legal analysis and thorough fact investigation to build clients’ cases from the ground up. His experience includes second chairing a bench trial with a verdict in the client's favor, as well as several significant dispositive motion wins.
Before joining the firm, Caleb served more than a decade in the U.S. Army as a mechanic and helicopter crewmember. His background provides a solid mechanical competency, and he readily grasps how complex machinery and products operate.
Caleb completed two combat deployments, where he was responsible for anticipating contingencies and maintaining high-stakes, high-dollar technical precision levels under pressured circumstances. The work required discipline, organization, a proactive mindset, and excellent communication—all of which remain hallmarks of Caleb’s legal services. He’s known today as a highly dependable team member who is continually looking for ways to improve.
Hon. Anthony J. Powell serves as the Kansas Solicitor General.
Judge Powell received a Bachelor of Arts in political science from George Washington University. After completing his undergraduate work, Judge Powell obtained his Juris Doctor from Washburn University School of Law.
Upon receiving his law degree, Judge Powell practiced law at Martin & Churchill. He also served as Legislative Director to Congressman William Broomfield and as an intern on the staff of Senator Bob Dole.
Powell was a member of the Kansas House of Representatives for eight years where he served as Majority Whip, and as chairman of several committees including Federal and State Affairs, Ethics and Elections, and the Joint Committee on State-Tribal Relations. He also served as vice-chairman of the Taxation Committee.
Following his time at the Kansas House of Representatives, Judge Powell served as a judge for the Eighteenth Judicial District, serving Sedgwick County from 2002 until his appointment to the Kansas Court of Appeals in 2013.
Governor Sam Brownback appointed Judge Powell to the Kansas Court of Appeals in January of 2013. He served the court until his retirement in June of 2022.
Judge Powell was then named Kansas Solicitor General in December of 2022, by then Kansas Attorney General-elect Kris Kobach. Powell has been serving the Office of Solicitor General since.
Garwood Visiting Professor and Visiting Fellow, James Madison Pr, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law
David F. Forte is Professor of Law at Cleveland State University, where he was the inaugural holder of the Charles R. Emrick, Jr.- Calfee Halter & Griswold Endowed Chair. This fall, Professor Forte will be the Garwood Visiting Professor at Princeton University in the Department of Politics, and Visiting Fellow at the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. He holds degrees from Harvard College, Manchester University, England, the University of Toronto and Columbia University.
During the Reagan administration, Professor Forte served as chief counsel to the United States delegation to the United Nations and alternate delegate to the Security Council. He has authored a number of briefs before the United States Supreme Court, and has frequently testified before the United States Congress and consulted with the Department of State on human rights and international affairs issues. His advice was specifically sought on the approval of the Genocide Convention, on world-wide religious persecution, and Islamic extremism. He has appeared and spoken frequently on radio and television, both nationally and internationally. In 2002, the Department of State sponsored a speaking tour for Professor Forte in Amman, Jordan, and he was also a featured speaker to the Meeting of Peoples in Rimini, Italy, a meeting which gathers over 500,000 people from all over Europe. He has also been called to testify before the state legislatures of Ohio, Kansas, and Idaho as well as the New York City Council. He has assisted in drafting a number of pieces of legislation for the Ohio General Assembly dealing with abortion, international trade, and federalism. He has sat as acting judge on the municipal court of Lakewood Ohio and was chairman of Professional Ethics Committee of the Cleveland Bar Association. He has received a number of awards for his public service, including the Cleveland Bar Association’s President’s Award, the Cleveland State University Award for Distinguished Service, the Cleveland State University Distinguished Teaching Award, and the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Alumni Award for Faculty Excellence. He served as Consultor to the Pontifical Council for the Family under Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. In 2003, Dr. Forte was a Distinguished Fulbright Chair at the University of Trento and returned there in 2004 as a Visiting Professor. For the academic year, 2008-2009, Professor Forte was Senior Visiting Scholar at the Center for the Study of Religion and the Constitution in at the Witherspoon Institute in Princeton, New Jersey. He was the Robert E. Henderson Constitution Day Lecturer at the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University, and he has given over 300 invited addresses and papers at more than 100 academic institutions. His work has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Professor Forte was a Bradley Scholar at the Heritage Foundation, and Visiting Scholar at the Liberty Fund. He has been President of the Ohio Association of Scholars, was on the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Society, and is also adjunct Scholar at the Ashbrook Center. He has been appointed to the Ohio State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He has also been a Civil War re-enactor and a Merit Badge Counselor for the Boy Scouts.
He writes and speaks nationally on topics such as constitutional law, religious liberty, Islamic law, the rights of families, and international affairs. He served as book review editor for the American Journal of Jurisprudence and has edited a volume entitled, Natural Law and Contemporary Public Policy, published by Georgetown University Press. His book, Islamic Law Studies: Classical and Contemporary Applications, has been published by Austin & Winfield. He is Senior Editor of The Heritage Guide to the Constitution (2006), 2d edition (2014), published by Regnery & Co, a clause by clause analysis of the Constitution of the United States.
His teaching competencies include Constitutional Law, the First Amendment, Islamic Law, Jurisprudence, Natural Law, International Law, International Human Rights, the Presidency, and Constitutional History.
Partner, King & Spalding
John Richter is a trial and investigations partner in the Special Matters and Investigations Practice Group, and represents and defends companies, Boards of Directors, Board committees, and individuals facing a variety of white-collar criminal and regulatory enforcement matters, parallel civil litigation, and internal corporate investigations. John previously served as the Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice and as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, having been nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by unanimous consent of the U.S. Senate.
Partner, Husch Blackwell LLP
With three decades of experience as a prosecutor, Gregg counsels businesses and individuals in connection with a range of criminal, civil and regulatory matters, including government investigations, internal investigations, litigation, export control, sanctions, trade secrets and regulatory compliance.
Gregg’s extensive background in criminal and national security law, combined with his understanding of government practices and operations, allow him to pinpoint the risks and opportunities that arise in investigatory settings, to put together efficient and effective teams of legal professionals, and to mount a vigorous defense when necessary. Gregg has a strong track record as an accomplished trial lawyer, particularly in complex, high-profile jury trials.
Prior to entering private practice, Gregg served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas—one of the largest and busiest United States Attorney’s Offices in the country—where he supervised more than 300 employees handling a diverse caseload, including matters involving complex white-collar crime, contract fraud, national security, cyber crimes, public corruption, money laundering, export violations, trade secrets, tax, large-scale drug and human trafficking, immigration, child exploitation and violent crime. Gregg has also served as Counselor to the Attorney General of the United States, where he handled both criminal and national security matters, as well as crisis response. He was an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas for 14 years, where he developed a reputation as an aggressive litigator and indefatigable investigator while building an impressive record handling national security, fraud, violent crime and corruption cases. Before that, he served in various roles in both the Criminal and National Security Divisions of the Department of Justice in Washington, DC. Gregg was a state prosecutor as well, handling murder, gang and other complex cases in New York County for nearly 11 years.
Throughout his career, Gregg has worked closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, Department of Commerce and other federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies. He led task forces in the Department of Justice and spearheaded the Department’s effort to improve its electronic litigation capabilities, focusing heavily on discovery. Gregg understands criminal law, national security law, the justice system, government investigations and the discovery process inside and out. His extensive and varied background means that he can provide clients with realistic and accurate expectations of how a government investigation or prosecution will proceed and where challenges may arise.
Partner, King & Spalding
John Richter is a trial and investigations partner in the Special Matters and Investigations Practice Group, and represents and defends companies, Boards of Directors, Board committees, and individuals facing a variety of white-collar criminal and regulatory enforcement matters, parallel civil litigation, and internal corporate investigations. John previously served as the Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice and as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, having been nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by unanimous consent of the U.S. Senate.
Partner, Husch Blackwell LLP
With three decades of experience as a prosecutor, Gregg counsels businesses and individuals in connection with a range of criminal, civil and regulatory matters, including government investigations, internal investigations, litigation, export control, sanctions, trade secrets and regulatory compliance.
Gregg’s extensive background in criminal and national security law, combined with his understanding of government practices and operations, allow him to pinpoint the risks and opportunities that arise in investigatory settings, to put together efficient and effective teams of legal professionals, and to mount a vigorous defense when necessary. Gregg has a strong track record as an accomplished trial lawyer, particularly in complex, high-profile jury trials.
Prior to entering private practice, Gregg served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas—one of the largest and busiest United States Attorney’s Offices in the country—where he supervised more than 300 employees handling a diverse caseload, including matters involving complex white-collar crime, contract fraud, national security, cyber crimes, public corruption, money laundering, export violations, trade secrets, tax, large-scale drug and human trafficking, immigration, child exploitation and violent crime. Gregg has also served as Counselor to the Attorney General of the United States, where he handled both criminal and national security matters, as well as crisis response. He was an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas for 14 years, where he developed a reputation as an aggressive litigator and indefatigable investigator while building an impressive record handling national security, fraud, violent crime and corruption cases. Before that, he served in various roles in both the Criminal and National Security Divisions of the Department of Justice in Washington, DC. Gregg was a state prosecutor as well, handling murder, gang and other complex cases in New York County for nearly 11 years.
Throughout his career, Gregg has worked closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, Department of Commerce and other federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies. He led task forces in the Department of Justice and spearheaded the Department’s effort to improve its electronic litigation capabilities, focusing heavily on discovery. Gregg understands criminal law, national security law, the justice system, government investigations and the discovery process inside and out. His extensive and varied background means that he can provide clients with realistic and accurate expectations of how a government investigation or prosecution will proceed and where challenges may arise.
AI Innovation and Law Fellow, University of Texas School of Law
Kevin Frazier is an AI Innovation and Law Fellow with University of Texas School of Law.
Associate Attorney - Investment Funds, Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Dhruva Krishna is an investment funds associate in the Los Angeles office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Dhruva's practice largely focuses on the formation, structuring, marketing, management and regulatory compliance of investment funds, including operational, legal and regulatory issues, with various sponsors ranging up to $15 billion. He also assists with related fund documentation and processes, including transfers, secondaries, co-investments and more. As an avid musician and writer, Dhruva is especially interested in the intersection of technology, regulation and innovation.
Research Fellow and Assistant Director, Stanford Program in Law, Science, and Technology and the Stanford Center for Legal Informatics (CodeX)
Dr. Megan Ma is a Research Fellow and the Associate Director of the Stanford Program in Law, Science, and Technology and the Stanford Center for Legal Informatics (CodeX). Her research focuses on the use and integration of generative AI in legal applications and the translation of legal knowledge to code, considering their implications in contexts of human-machine collaboration. She also teaches courses in computational law and insurance tech at the Law School.
Dr. Ma is also currently an Advisor to the PearX for AI program, Editor-in-Chief for the Cambridge Forum on AI, Law, and Governance, and the Managing Editor of the MIT Computational Law Report and a Research Affiliate at Singapore Management University in their Centre for Computational Law. Megan received her PhD in Law at Sciences Po and was a lecturer there, having taught courses in Artificial Intelligence and Legal Reasoning, Legal Semantics, and Public Health Law and Policy. She has previously been a Visiting PhD at the University of Cambridge and Harvard Law School respectively.
Trump's Deportations: Justice Served or Humanitarian Crisis?
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