Legal Fellow and Manager, Supreme Court and Appellate Advocacy Program, The Heritage Foundation
Zack is a Legal Fellow and Manager of the Supreme Court and Appellate Advocacy Program in the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation.
He previously served for several years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Florida. Prior to that, he spent two years as an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, which he joined after clerking for the Hon. Emmett R. Cox on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Smith received his undergraduate, master’s, and law degrees from the University of Florida. During law school, Smith served as the Editor in Chief of the Florida Law Review and served on the executive boards of several student organizations, including the UF Chapter of the Federalist Society.
Deputy Counsel, Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty
Dan Lennington serves as Deputy Counsel at the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), where he directs the Equality Under the Law Project. Started in early 2021, the EUL Project has represented dozens of individuals and businesses nationwide, successfully advocating for race neutrality in both public and private programs.
Before joining WILL, Dan served as Assistant Deputy Attorney General in Wisconsin and Assistant U.S. Attorney in Oklahoma. He is a graduate of Hillsdale College.
Dan can be reached at dan@will-law.org. More information about the EUL Project can be found at www.defendequality.org.
Attorney, Center for American Future
Christian Townsend is an attorney with the Center for the American Future. Prior to joining the Foundation, Christian was a legal associate with the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies.
During law school, Christian interned in Washington, DC at the New Civil Liberties Alliance and the Cato Institute and in Cambodia at the law offices of Tilleke & Gibbins.
Christian received his JD from Indiana University Maurer School of Law, where he was the President of IU’s chapter of the Federalist Society and Executive Online Editor of the Indiana Law Journal. Christian attended undergrad at Cedarville University where he received BAs in political science and history. He is licensed to practice law in Texas and Maryland.
President and CEO, The Buckeye Institute
Robert Alt is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Buckeye Institute where he has catalyzed exponential growth since he took the organization’s helm in 2012. He has since founded Buckeye’s renowned Economic Research Center and established its impactful Legal Center.
Alt is a distinguished scholar and attorney with particular expertise in legal policy, criminal justice, national security, and constitutional law. He previously worked for former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese III, regularly provides commentary on television and radio programs, and his writings have appeared in countless outlets.
In 2004, Alt spent five months in Iraq as an embedded war correspondent.
Alt has testified before Congress multiple times—including at the confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan—the Federal Election Commission regarding matters of constitutional and administrative law, and numerous state legislatures.
Alt serves as an officer on the boards of The Philadelphia Society and the Federalist Society’s Columbus Lawyers Chapter. He taught national security law, criminal law, and legislation at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, as well as constitutional law and political parties and interest groups at Ashland University.
Alt earned his Doctor of Law degree from The University of Chicago Law School, where he was Symposium Editor and the winner of the Mulroy Prize for Excellence in Appellate Advocacy as well as research assistant to Professor Richard Epstein. Following law school, he clerked for Judge Alice Batchelder on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Alt graduated with his Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and political science magna cum laude from Azusa Pacific University where he also won the Outstanding Senior Award in Political Science.
Alt is an accomplished high-altitude alpinist and endurance athlete who has successfully climbed 6.75 of the famed Seven Summits of the World including Mount Everest. He is the creator of PROFOUND CLIMBING™ and a frequent speaker across the country and around the world on legal and public policy topics as well as effective leadership, management, decision-making, and teamwork in contexts ranging from extraordinary life/death situations to ordinary professional/business settings.
Mike Jayne is an attorney for the U.S. Department of Education. Previously, he worked for the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.
Managing Partner, Bigley Ranish, LLP
Sean M. Bigley is a national security attorney and managing partner of Bigley Ranish, LLP. Mr. Bigley’s practice primarily encompasses defending federal employees and contractors in security clearance denial cases. He also provides personnel security consulting to major international defense and aerospace corporations, and prosecutes intelligence community whistle-blower retaliation cases.
Since first opening his firm in 2013, Mr. Bigley has grown it from a solo practice to a five-attorney partnership with employees in three states. Bigley Ranish, LLP attorneys regularly appear before administrative tribunals at agencies ranging from the CIA to the Department of State, representing in excess of 200 American intelligence officers, diplomats, armed forces personnel, and other security clearance holders each year around the world. In 2016 alone, Mr. Bigley and his colleagues represented clients in roughly forty states and a dozen countries.
The idea for this unique practice was borne out of Mr. Bigley’s prior service as a federal background investigator. Prior to and during law school, Mr. Bigley was an investigator for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, where he conducted some of that agency’s most sensitive security investigations in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Mr. Bigley has also served on the faculty of Chapman University, teaching national security and criminal justice courses with an emphasis in U.S.-European security cooperation. Earlier in his career, Mr. Bigley worked for several years in the White House and Department of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush.
A recognized expert in national security law, Mr. Bigley’s commentary on the topic is frequently sought by major media outlets such as Fox News, The New York Times, and CNN. He is a contributing writer for Clearancejobs.com and GovExec.com.
Mr. Bigley earned his Juris Doctorate from Chapman University School of Law. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Washington D.C.’s American University and a Master’s Degree from Boston University.
Founder, Nathan's Papers
Lynn is the Founder of Nathan's Papers, which provides business consulting services and publishes the Books for CONGRESS® Magazine.
Partner, HWG LLP
Patricia Paoletta is a partner with the law firm of HWG LLP, where she specializes in telecommunications, trade and technology policy. Ms. Paoletta provides advice on regulatory, trade and legislative policy to clients before the FCC, Congress and the Administration. Her clients include providers of content, cloud, mobile broadband, VoIP, international telecommunications, small cells, cognitive radio, public safety and homeland security solutions. She serves on Advisory Boards for several entities engaged in information services, communications and technology.
Ms. Paoletta has accrued considerable experience with telecommunications trade and policy in the public sector. From 1990 to 1995, she was senior advisor to the International Bureau Chief and Office Director at the Federal Communications Commission. In the mid 1990s, Ms. Paoletta served as Director of Telecommunications Trade Policy in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Executive Office of the President, where she worked on the WTO Information Technology Agreement (ITA) and the Basic Telecommunications Agreement. After USTR, Ms. Paoletta served as Majority Counsel to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. She then moved to Level 3 Communications, as Vice President, Government Relations.
Ms. Paoletta is on the Steering Committee of the Transatlantic Roundtable on Telecommunications and Information Technology of the European Institute. She is a member of the USTR Alumni Association, Washington International Trade Association, the Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA), and Women in Technology. Ms. Paoletta has served on the Board of Advisors for the Inter-American Dialogue's Latin America Telecom Advisor, Co-Chairman of the American Bar Association International Communications Committee, and as a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Technology Policy Committee.
Ms. Paoletta served as a delegate in 2012 to the ITU-R's Study Group 6 Working Party 6A Meeting and in 2009 and 2010 to the ITU-R's Study Group I Working Party IB Meetings; the 2009 meetings of CITEL (the Committee on International Telecommunications at the Organization of American States) PCC-II; the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Telecommunications Standards Assembly (2000); the ITU Internet Protocol Telephony Experts Group and the ITU World Telecommunications Policy Forum in 2001; as Chairman of the National Reliability and Interoperability Council (NRIC) Steering Committee (2000-2001); as Board Member for the Voice on the Net Coalition (2001); as Co-Chairman of the FCBA's Annual Seminar Committee (2009-2011); as a member of the FCBA's Ad Hoc Speakers Committee (2006-2007); as Co-Chairman for the FCBA International Practice Committee (2001-2002 and 2005-2006); and as a Co-Chairman of the FCBA Legislative Practice Committee (1999-2000).
Ella A. and Ernest H. Fisher Professor of Law, Ohio Northern University Claude W. Pettit College of Law
Professor Lewis joined the Ohio Northern faculty in August, 2006. Lewis flew F-14's for the United States Navy in Operation Desert Shield, conducted strike planning for Desert Storm and was deployed to the Persian Gulf to enforce the no-fly zone over Iraq. He was a Topgun graduate in 1992 and was featured in a NOVA documentary on Topgun and aircraft carriers.
After his naval service, Lewis graduated from Harvard Law School, cum laude, was a management consultant with McKinsey and Company, and served as a litigation associate with McGuireWoods, LLP, in Norfolk, Virginia.
Professor Lewis has published more than a dozen articles and essays on various aspects of the law of war and the conflict between the US and al Qaeda. His work has been cited by the Seventh, Ninth and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals. He has testified before Congress on the legality of drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen and on the civil liberties tradeoffs associated with trying some Al Qaeda members or terrorist suspects before military commissions. His op-eds have appeared in numerous media outlets including the LA Times and the New York Post and he has appeared on Public Radio International to discuss the increasing use of armed drones in warfare. He has delivered scores of presentations and panel presentations before military and law school audiences alike including presentations to the international Military Operations Law conference in Queensland, Australia, the US Army's JAG School in Charlottesville, VA and law school events at Stanford, Chicago, Columbia, Penn, Duke, Texas and Northwestern among others.
Professor Lewis received the Award for Excellence in Classroom Teaching for the 2007-08 academic year.
He currently teaches Commercial Law, International Law, a Law of War Seminar and Torts. He has also taught Corporate Finance and Accounting for Lawyers. His other teaching interests include Civil Procedure and Contracts.
Fellow, National Security Institute, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
Vince Vitkowsky chaired the Executive Committee of the Federalist Society’s International and National Security Law and Policy Practice Group for over a decade. He is also a Fellow at the National Security Institute of George Mason University Law School. Vince spent 45 years in private practice, primarily in AmLaw 100/200 firms and their spin-offs. His practice included domestic and international commercial arbitration and litigation, as well as cyber risks and liabilities. Vince's current focus is on national security policy, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and counterterrorism. He has often written and spoken on national security and other public policy issues. Among other affiliations, Vince has been an Adjunct Fellow at the Center for Law and Counterterrorism of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a member of the Executive Committee of the American Branch of the International Law Association, and Co-Chair of the Committee on Interventions and Trial Observations of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute. He received his B.A. from Northwestern University and his J.D. from Cornell Law School.
Florida Supreme Court Affirms Constitutional Power of Governor to Suspend Rogue Prosecutors
Zack Smith
Florida’s Governor, Ron DeSantis, suspended Monique Worrell from her position as the State Attorney for...
The Twin Commands: Streamlining Equality Litigation Based on Students for Fair Admissions
Daniel Lennington
Each year, government contracting programs dole out tens of billions of dollars to businesses that...
Supreme Court of Texas Holds Governor Can Preempt Local Mask Orders
Christian Townsend
The Covid-19 pandemic produced many interesting and important constitutional questions. From vaccine mandates[1] to student...
Criminal Law Update: A Survey of State Law Changes in 2019
Robert Alt
Note from the Editor: The Federalist Society takes no positions on particular legal and public...
As Far As Reasonably Practicable: Reimagining the Role of Congress in Agency Rulemaking
Mike Jayne
Note from the Editor: The Federalist Society takes no positions on particular legal and public...
Presidential Nominees and Foreign Influence: Mitigating National Security Risks
Sean M. Bigley
Note from the Editor: This article describes the procedures involved in determining whether to grant...
The OFCCP Continues to Add to Its Regulatory Arsenal
Lynn White
Note from the Editor: This article is about the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs’...
The Cybersecurity Overreach: A Few Harsh Words About the President’s Cybersecurity Executive Order, Along with a Better Solution
Patricia J. Paoletta
Note from the Editor: This article is a discussion about Executive Order 13636 on cybersecurity...
The Use of Drones and Targeted Killing in Counterterrorism
Michael W. Lewis, Vincent Vitkowsky
Brought to you by the International & National Security Law Practice GroupThe Federalist Society takes no position on...