Judge, United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky
Prior to joining the bench, Judge Beaton was a Partner at Squire Patton Boggs LLP, where he co-chaired the firm’s Appellate & Supreme Court practice group. Judge Beaton’s represented clients engaged in complex commercial litigation in Federal and State courts, and before administrative agencies. Judge Beaton also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, where he taught constitutional interpretation. Before joining Squire Patton Boggs, Judge Beaton practiced in the Washington, D.C. office of Sidley Austin, LLP, and also served as a legal fellow with the International Justice Mission in Kampala, Uganda. Upon graduation from law school, Judge Beaton served as a law clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the United States Supreme Court, and to Judge A. Raymond Randolph of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Judge Beaton earned his B.A., summa cum laude, from Centre College, and his J.D. from Columbia Law School, where he served as an Articles Editor on the Columbia Law Review.
Justice, Supreme Court of Tennessee
Justice Sarah Campbell was confirmed to the Tennessee Supreme Court in 2022. She previously served as an Associate Solicitor General in the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office and as an associate at the law firm of Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, DC. Justice Campbell earned her law degree from Duke University School of Law, a Master of Public Policy degree from Duke University, and her undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee, where she received the Torchbearer Award. She served as a law clerk for Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. on the United States Supreme Court and Judge William H. Pryor Jr. on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Judge, Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One
The Honorable Jennifer M. Perkins began service on the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One, on October 30, 2017. At the time of her appointment by Governor Douglas Ducey, Judge Perkins was Assistant Solicitor General for the State of Arizona.
Judge Perkins was born in Portales, New Mexico, and primarily raised in Albuquerque. She attended the prestigious Albuquerque Academy from 1988-1995, before moving to Washington D.C. to attend the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University as a National Merit Scholar. Therafter, she relocated again to Dallas, Texas, and earned her juris doctor from the SMU Dedman School of Law, graduating cum laude in 2002.
Judge Perkins started her career at the law firm of Browning & Peifer (now Peifer, Hanson, Mullins, and Baker) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. While there, she litigated complex commercial matters including class action plaintiff and defense work, and assisted with employment and contract litigation. In 2003, the judge accompanied the Honorable James O. Browning in transitioning to the federal district court bench, serving as his first law clerk.
After her clerkship, Judge Perkins moved to Arizona to work for the Institute for Justice, Arizona Chapter, a public interest law firm. She spent five years with IJ-AZ litigating civil rights cases in Arizona and across the country. In 2009, the judge became Disciplinary Counsel for the Arizona Commission on Judicial Conduct, where she reviewed and prosecuted ethics complaints against state court judges throughout Arizona. After five years serving the state in this capacity, Judge Perkins entered private practice by joining an appellate law firm in Phoenix. While there, she worked on state and federal appeals involving a wide range of legal subjects, including complex business disputes, property rights, judicial ethics, and personal injury matters.
In January 2015, Judge Perkins joined the Office of the Arizona Attorney General to serve as the first Assistant Solicitor General; in that capacity, she was responsible for oversight of Attorney General Opinions and served as ethics counsel to the entire office. In addition to these two primary roles, the judge assisted on a variety of matters including trial and appellate litigation of election-related matters; federal appellate litigation with the Federalism Unit; state criminal appeals; and drafting amicus briefs on behalf of Arizona in state and federal courts.
Associate Justice, New Jersey Supreme Court
Justice Rachel Wainer Apter was nominated by Gov. Phil Murphy and was sworn in as an associate justice on Oct. 21, 2022.
Born on July 22, 1980, Justice Wainer Apter grew up in Rockaway. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and received her law degree from Harvard Law School. After law school, she served as a law clerk for U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, U.S. Circuit Judge Robert Katzmann, and U.S Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
At the time of her appointment, Justice Wainer Apter was serving as director of the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights. She previously served as counsel to the New Jersey Attorney General and assistant attorney general.
Before joining the Attorney General’s Office, Justice Wainer Apter worked as a senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and in the Supreme Court and Appellate practice at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.
Justice Wainer Apter and her husband have three children.
Professor of Law, University of North Carolina School of Law
Andy Hessick joined the Carolina Law faculty in 2016 and serves Judge John J. Parker Distinguished Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Strategy. His teaching and research interests include federal courts, administrative law, remedies, and criminal sentencing. His work has appeared in, among other places, the California Law Review, the Cornell Law Review, the Northwestern University Law Review, the Notre Dame Law Review, and the William and Mary Law Review. His work has been cited by the Supreme Courts of Connecticut, Iowa, Missouri, Tennessee, and Utah; various federal district and circuit courts; and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Hessick received his J.D. from Yale Law School, at which he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal. After law school, he clerked for Judge Reena Raggi on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Judge A. Raymond Randolph on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He then served as a Bristow Fellow in the U.S. Solicitor General’s office and practiced litigation at Kellogg Huber Hansen Todd Evans & Figel PLLC in Washington, D.C. He previously taught at the University of Utah and Arizona State University and was a visiting assistant professor at Boston University.
Certification of State-Law Questions by Federal Courts
Benjamin Beaton, Sarah Keeton Campbell, Jennifer Perkins, Rachel Wainer Apter
In Lindenberg v. Jackson National Life Ins. Co., 912 F.3d 348 (2018), the Sixth Circuit declared...
Great Lakes Insurance SE v. Raiders Retreat Realty Co., LLC - Post-Decision SCOTUScast
F. Andrew Hessick
On February 21, 2024, the Supreme Court issued its ruling in Great Lakes Insurance SE...