Senior Attorney, Institute for Justice
Robert Frommer serves as a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice. He joined the Institute in August 2008 and is currently litigating on behalf of SpeechNow.org, a group challenging the federal campaign finance laws regarding free speech.
Before joining IJ, Robert was an attorney with the Washington, D.C., office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, where he litigated both complex litigation and public-interest matters. He is a former law clerk to Judge Morris Sheppard Arnold of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Robert received his law degree magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School in 2004, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and served as both a book review editor for the Michigan Law Review and president of the Federalist Society student chapter. Before going to law school, Robert earned a master's degree in economics from George Mason University.
Law Clerk, U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire
Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
Kurt D. Engelhardt was nominated for a seat on the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals by President Donald J. Trump, confirmed by the Senate on May 9, 2018, and officially sworn in as a United States Circuit Judge on May 15, 2018. Judge Engelhardt is based in New Orleans, Louisiana, at the John Minor Wisdom U.S. Court of Appeals Building.
Judge Engelhardt was previously nominated for a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana by President George W. Bush, and upon confirmation, was officially sworn in as a United States District Judge on December 14, 2001. While a District Judge, Judge Engelhardt served by designation on nine different panels of the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. On October 1, 2015, he became Chief United States District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana, a position he held until joining the United States Fifth Circuit on May 15, 2018.
Judge Engelhardt attended Brother Martin High School in New Orleans, where he graduated with honors in 1978. He attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in history in 1982. In the Fall of 1982, Judge Engelhardt commenced his legal education at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University, graduating in May of 1985.
Judge Engelhardt served a two-year clerkship with Judge Charles Grisbaum, Jr. of the Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal, located in Gretna, Louisiana. From there, he became associated with the Metairie law firm of Little, Metzger and Lamz (APLC), and worked in the downtown New Orleans office of that firm in 1988-89. He then joined the law firm of Hailey, McNamara, Hall, Larmann & Papale, became a partner in July 1998, and practiced there until his confirmation to the federal bench in December 2001.
In 1995, Judge Engelhardt was nominated for a spot on the nine-member Louisiana Judiciary Commission, and was appointed by the Governor to serve a four-year term on that body. In 1998, he was elected by his fellow commission members to serve as Chairman, in which capacity he presided over the Commission’s trials of formal charges lodged against sitting state judges. His work on the Judiciary Commission has been cited for its excellence by the Louisiana Supreme Court.
Judge Engelhardt is a member of the Advisory Board of the New Orleans Chapter of The Federalist Society; a past member of the United States Judicial Conference Committee on Federal-State Jurisdiction; a member of the Board of Directors (and past president) of the New Orleans Chapter of the Federal Bar Association; a member of the American Judicature Society; and a member of the Federal Circuit Bar Association. He has served on the Fifth Circuit's Criminal Pattern Jury Instruction Committee, charged with updating and/or drafting pattern jury instructions for district judges within the jurisdiction of the United States Fifth Circuit. Recently, he was appointed by Fifth Circuit Chief Judge Carl Stewart to chair the Circuit's Judicial Impairment Protocol Committee, established to create a framework for the judiciary to internally address disabilities of all types which may impact a judge's ability to handle his/her docket.
Judge Engelhardt is also a member of the American Bar Association, Jefferson Bar Association, Louisiana State Bar Association, New Orleans Bar Association, and the Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity. Judge Engelhardt serves on the Board of Directors of the Cancer Association of Greater New Orleans.
Of Counsel, Fisher & Phillips, LLP
Greg Grisham has over 25 years of successful experience counseling and representing employers in all aspects of workplace law in Tennessee and across the United States.
He has helped employers avoid claims, charges and lawsuits with a focus on preventative practices. Preventative practices include counseling in situations involving discipline, termination, demotion, promotion and other workplace changes in the terms and conditions of employment, harassment investigations, wage and hour compliance, FMLA Compliance, Reasonable Accommodation assessment, supervisor training and the review of employment policies and procedures. In addition, Greg's practice includes the representation of business entities subject to Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act in Public Accommodation cases.
Greg has successfully litigated hundreds of administrative charges, employment lawsuits, and arbitration demands on behalf of employers, including federal and state law claims alleging discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, defamation, invasion of privacy, breach of contract, wage and hour violations and ERISA violations, among others. He also represents employers before the National Labor Relations Board in unfair labor practice proceedings. He represents employers in the enforcement of post-employment restrictive covenants such as non-compete, non-solicitation and non-disclosure agreements and related trade secret litigation. Greg's practice also includes the defense of property owners and property management companies in federal and state Housing Discrimination charges and litigation. He also advises Tennessee Public Charter Schools on education law and workplace compliance matters.
Greg has extensive experience working with insurance carriers and their insureds in the defense of EPLI claims. He is a regular speaker at public seminars on workplace law issues and has authored numerous articles on a variety of labor and employment law related topics.
Greg holds an AV Preeminent Peer Review rating from Martindale-Hubbell and has been selected for inclusion in Mid-South Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America for Employment Litigation-Management side. Greg was elected as a 2016 Fellow to the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and has been selected to the “Top 20 Lawyers in Traditional Labor & Employment Law” list in conjunction with Human Resource Executive Magazine and LawDragon’s 2017 and 2018 “Most Powerful Employment Attorneys” lists and specialty guides. Greg was also named a Fellow in the American Bar Foundation in 2017.
From Donuts to District Court: Conway's Sign Code on Trial
New Hampshire Lawyer Chapter
Concord, NHSOC! SIDEBAR: Mardi Gras
Kurt Damian Engelhardt
The Federalist Society's Student Division & Tulane Law School Chapterpresent SOC! SIDEBAR:Mardi Gras featuring Hon....
Website Inaccessibility: The New Wave of ADA Title III Litigation
J. Gregory Grisham
Note from the Editor: The Federalist Society takes no positions on particular legal and public...