General Partner, Trust Ventures
Salen is a leading expert on navigating the collision points of innovation and regulation. A former law professor at the University of Chicago and founder of its Innovation Clinic, he has advised startups on regulatory strategy across industries. Previously, Salen practiced law at the international law firms of Kirkland & Ellis and Sidley Austin, and advised low-income entrepreneurs in overcoming barriers at the Institute for Justice.
Head of Policy & General Counsel, Crypto, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)
Miles Jennings joined the a16z Crypto team as General Counsel in August 2021.
Miles was most recently a partner at Latham & Watkins, where he focused on working with startups and investors in heavily regulated sectors including life sciences and, most importantly, crypto. He has been the go-to, trusted advisor for countless startups and crypto projects, guiding them from incorporation through financings, acquisitions, token offerings, and governance matters.
Miles’ experience within the sector stretches back to 2017, when he first began working with ConsenSys, a firm client, and he quickly became one of the most sought-after legal minds working in crypto. During his time at Latham, he co-chaired its global blockchain and cryptocurrency task force, which was composed of over 80 lawyers around the globe. In addition, he worked regularly with almost every venture firm operating in crypto, designing several of the investment structures they use today, and he was counsel to dozens of startups in the sector, including Aave, Bitwise, Avalanche, Element, Idle, Connext, 3Box, and Aztec. Miles was also an editor of Latham’s Global Fintech & Payments blog and has published several articles relating to legal matters relevant to crypto startups.
Former President & CEO, The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies
Eugene B. Meyer, former President and CEO of the Federalist Society, has served as Executive Director, CEO, and/or President of the organization for more than 40 years. He is responsible for shepherding the organization from a small group of law students to a community of 90,000 lawyers, law students, academics, judges, and others interested in the rule of law. The Society now includes a Student Chapter at nearly every ABA-accredited law school in the country and Lawyers Chapters in 220 major cities across the nation. Gene earned his B.A. in history at Yale in 1975 and his M.A. in political science from the London School of Economics in 1976. Gene currently serves on the boards of the U.S. Chess Center, the Holman Foundation, the Sarah Scaife Foundation, and the advisory board of the Adam Smith Society. He holds the title of International Chess Master.
United States Senator, Utah
Elected in 2010 as Utah's 16th Senator, Mike Lee has spent his career defending the basic liberties of Americans and Utahns as a tireless advocate for our founding constitutional principles.
Senator Lee acquired a deep respect for the Constitution early on. His father, Rex Lee, who served as the Solicitor General under President Ronald Reagan, would often discuss varied aspects of judicial and constitutional doctrine around the kitchen table, from Due Process to the uses of Executive Plenary Power. He attended most of his father's arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court, giving him a unique, hands-on experience and understanding of government up close.
Lee graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science, and served as BYU's Student Body President in his senior year. He graduated from BYU's Law School in 1997 and went on to serve as law clerk to Judge Dee Benson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, and then with future Supreme Court Justice Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Lee spent several years as an attorney with the law firm Sidley & Austin specializing in appellate and Supreme Court litigation, and then served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Salt Lake City arguing cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
Lee served the state of Utah as Governor Jon Huntsman's General Counsel and was later honored to reunite with Justice Alito, now on the Supreme Court, for a one-year clerkship. He returned to private practice in 2007.
Throughout his career, Lee earned a reputation as an outstanding practitioner of the law based on his sound judgment, abilities in the courtroom, and thorough understanding of the Constitution.
Today, Lee fights to preserve America's proud founding document in the United States Senate. He advocates efforts to support constitutionally limited government, fiscal responsibility, individual liberty, and economic prosperity.
Lee is a member of the Judiciary Committee, and serves as Chairman of the Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights Subcommittee protecting business competition and personal freedom.
He also oversees issues critical to Utah as the Chairman of the Water and Power Subcommittee of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He serves on the Commerce Committee and the Joint Economic Committee, as well.
In the 114th Congress, Lee also began his tenure as Chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, where he works with his Republican colleagues in the Senate to introduce bold and innovative solutions to issues facing the American people.
Lee and his wife Sharon live in Alpine, Utah, with their three children. He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served a two-year mission for the Church in the Texas Rio Grande Valley.
Earl Warren Professor of Public Law (Emeritus), UC Berkeley School of Law
Jesse Choper served as law clerk to Chief Justice Earl Warren of the U.S. Supreme Court following graduation from law school. He taught at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania from 1957 to 1960, and at the University of Minnesota Law School from 1961 to 1965. He joined the Berkeley Law faculty in 1965. Choper has been a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, Fordham Law School, University of Milan, Free University in Amsterdam, Autonoma University in Barcelona, University of New South Wales in Sydney, University of Lucerne in Switzerland, and Catholic University of Portugal in Lisbon and Porto. He served as Berkeley Law’s dean from 1982 to 1992.
From 1979 to 1998, Choper was one of the three major lecturers at U.S. Law Week’s Annual Constitutional Law Conference in Washington, D.C. He has delivered 20 titled lectures at major universities throughout the country, including the Cooley Lectures at Michigan, the Stevens Lecture at Cornell, the Baum Lecture at Illinois, and the Lockhart Lecture at Minnesota. He has served on the executive committee of the Association of American Law Schools, and on the executive council of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (of which he was vice president for more than ten years). He was national president of the Order of the Coif and is a member of the American Law Institute. In 1998 he received the UC Berkeley Distinguished Teaching Award and the Rutter Award for Teaching Distinction at Berkeley Law in 2006. In 2005 the Berkeley Law Alumni Association presented Choper with the Faculty Lifetime Achievement Award and the University of Pennsylvania Law School gave him the James Wilson Award, its highest award for alumni.
Choper’s major publications include the books, Judicial Review and the National Political Process: A Functional Reconsideration of the Role of the Supreme Court, which received the Order of the Coif Triennial Book Award in 1982, and Securing Religious Liberty: Principles for Judicial Interpretation of the Religion Clauses. His recent publications include the thirteenth edition of his Constitutional Law casebooks; the eighth edition of his Corporations casebook; the second edition of The Supreme Court and Its Justices; “The Political Question Doctrine: Suggested Criteria,” in Duke Law Journal (2005); “Wartime Process: A Dialogue on Congressional Power to Remove Issues From the Federal Courts,” in California Law Review (2007) (co-author); and “Who’s Afraid of the Eleventh Amendment? The Limited Impact of the Court’s Sovereign Immunity Rulings,” in Columbia Law Review (2006) (co-author).
U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
Frank H. Easterbrook is a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and a Senior Lecturer at the Law School of the University of Chicago. He was Chief Judge from 2006–2013. Before joining the court in 1985, he was the Lee andBrena Freeman Professor of Law at the University of Chicago, where he taught and wrote in antitrust, securities, corporate law, jurisprudence, and criminal procedure. He has published The Economic Structure of Corporate Law (with Daniel R. Fischel) and about 100 scholarly articles. He served as Co-Editor of the Journal of Law and Economics from 1982 to 1991 and as a member of the Judicial Conference’s Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure from 1991 to 1997. Before joining the faculty of the Law School in 1979, Judge Easterbrook was Deputy Solicitor General of the United States. He holds degrees from Swarthmore College (B.A. with high honors, 1970) and the University of Chicago (J.D. cum laude, 1973), and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Law Institute, the Mont Pelerin Society, Phi Beta Kappa, and the Order of the Coif.
Author
David F. Epstein is the author of The Political Theory of The Federalist.
Sam Harris Professor of Corporate Law, Corporate Finance, and Securities Law, Yale Law School
Jonathan R. Macey is Sam Harris Professor of Corporate Law, Corporate Finance, and Securities Law at Yale University, and Professor in the Yale School of Management. From 1991 – 2004, Professor Macey was J. DuPratt White Professor of Law, Director of the John M. Olin Program in Law and Economics at Cornell Law School, and Professor of Law and Business at the Cornell University Johnson Graduate School of Business. Professor Macey earned his B.A. cum laude from Harvard in 1977, and his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1982, where he was Article and Book Review editor of The Yale Law Journal. In 1996, Professor Macey received a Ph.D. honoris causa from the Stockholm School of Economics.  Following law school, Professor Macey was law clerk to Judge Henry J. Friendly on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Professor Macey is the author of several books including the two-volume treatise, Macey on Corporation Laws, published in 1998 (Aspen Law & Business), and co-author of two leading casebooks, Corporations: Including Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies (2003 Thomson West), which is in its eighth edition, and Banking Law and Regulation (2002 Aspen Law & Business), which is now in its third edition. He also is the author of over 100 scholarly articles. His recent articles have appeared in the Banking Law Journal, the University of Chicago Law Review, the Stanford Law Review, The Yale Law Journal, the Cornell Law Review, the Journal of Law and Economics, and the Brookings Wharton Papers on Financial Institutions. He has published numerous editorials in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Los Angeles Times, and The National Law Journal.
Professor Macey has taught at major universities throughout the world, including Bocconi University (Milan), the University of Tokyo; the University of Toronto; the University of Turin, the University of Amsterdam Department of Finance, and the Stockholm School of Economics, Department of Law. He also has been Professor of Law at the University of Chicago (1990) and Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School (1999). Professor Macey is a Senior Research Fellow at the International Centre for Economic Research (ICER) in Turin, Italy. Professor Macey also serves on the Academic Advisory Board (Comitato Scientifico) of the Associazione Disiano Preite for the study of corporate law (per lo studio del diritto dell’impresa). In 1995, Professor Macey was awarded the Paul M. Bator prize for excellence in Teaching, Scholarship and Public Service by the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy. In 1996, he received a Ph.D., honoris causa from the Stockholm School of Economics. And in 1998, he received the D.P. Jacobs prize for the most significant paper in volume 6 of the Journal of Financial Intermediation for his paper (co-authored with Maureen O’Hara), “The Law & Economics of Best Execution.”
In 1999 Professor Macey was made an honorary Fellow of the Society For Advanced Legal Studies. In 2000, Professor Macey became a member of the Legal Advisory Committee to the Board of Directors of the New York Stock Exchange. In 2001 Professor Macey was appointed a Bertil Daniellson Distinguished Visiting Professor in Banking and Finance at the Stockholm School of Economics. In 2002 Professor Macey was appointed to the Economic Advisory Board of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD). In 2004 Professor Macey was awarded a Teaching Award by the Yale Law Women in recognition of his “commitment to excellence in teaching, mentoring and inspiring.” In 2005 Professor Macey became a member of the Board of Editors of Thomson West Publishing Company.
Judge (ret.), United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
James Leo Ryan is a federal judge on senior status with the United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. He joined the court in 1985 after being nominated by President Ronald Reagan.
Earl Warren Professor of Public Law (Emeritus), UC Berkeley School of Law
Jesse Choper served as law clerk to Chief Justice Earl Warren of the U.S. Supreme Court following graduation from law school. He taught at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania from 1957 to 1960, and at the University of Minnesota Law School from 1961 to 1965. He joined the Berkeley Law faculty in 1965. Choper has been a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, Fordham Law School, University of Milan, Free University in Amsterdam, Autonoma University in Barcelona, University of New South Wales in Sydney, University of Lucerne in Switzerland, and Catholic University of Portugal in Lisbon and Porto. He served as Berkeley Law’s dean from 1982 to 1992.
From 1979 to 1998, Choper was one of the three major lecturers at U.S. Law Week’s Annual Constitutional Law Conference in Washington, D.C. He has delivered 20 titled lectures at major universities throughout the country, including the Cooley Lectures at Michigan, the Stevens Lecture at Cornell, the Baum Lecture at Illinois, and the Lockhart Lecture at Minnesota. He has served on the executive committee of the Association of American Law Schools, and on the executive council of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (of which he was vice president for more than ten years). He was national president of the Order of the Coif and is a member of the American Law Institute. In 1998 he received the UC Berkeley Distinguished Teaching Award and the Rutter Award for Teaching Distinction at Berkeley Law in 2006. In 2005 the Berkeley Law Alumni Association presented Choper with the Faculty Lifetime Achievement Award and the University of Pennsylvania Law School gave him the James Wilson Award, its highest award for alumni.
Choper’s major publications include the books, Judicial Review and the National Political Process: A Functional Reconsideration of the Role of the Supreme Court, which received the Order of the Coif Triennial Book Award in 1982, and Securing Religious Liberty: Principles for Judicial Interpretation of the Religion Clauses. His recent publications include the thirteenth edition of his Constitutional Law casebooks; the eighth edition of his Corporations casebook; the second edition of The Supreme Court and Its Justices; “The Political Question Doctrine: Suggested Criteria,” in Duke Law Journal (2005); “Wartime Process: A Dialogue on Congressional Power to Remove Issues From the Federal Courts,” in California Law Review (2007) (co-author); and “Who’s Afraid of the Eleventh Amendment? The Limited Impact of the Court’s Sovereign Immunity Rulings,” in Columbia Law Review (2006) (co-author).
U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
Frank H. Easterbrook is a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and a Senior Lecturer at the Law School of the University of Chicago. He was Chief Judge from 2006–2013. Before joining the court in 1985, he was the Lee andBrena Freeman Professor of Law at the University of Chicago, where he taught and wrote in antitrust, securities, corporate law, jurisprudence, and criminal procedure. He has published The Economic Structure of Corporate Law (with Daniel R. Fischel) and about 100 scholarly articles. He served as Co-Editor of the Journal of Law and Economics from 1982 to 1991 and as a member of the Judicial Conference’s Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure from 1991 to 1997. Before joining the faculty of the Law School in 1979, Judge Easterbrook was Deputy Solicitor General of the United States. He holds degrees from Swarthmore College (B.A. with high honors, 1970) and the University of Chicago (J.D. cum laude, 1973), and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Law Institute, the Mont Pelerin Society, Phi Beta Kappa, and the Order of the Coif.
Author
David F. Epstein is the author of The Political Theory of The Federalist.
Sam Harris Professor of Corporate Law, Corporate Finance, and Securities Law, Yale Law School
Jonathan R. Macey is Sam Harris Professor of Corporate Law, Corporate Finance, and Securities Law at Yale University, and Professor in the Yale School of Management. From 1991 – 2004, Professor Macey was J. DuPratt White Professor of Law, Director of the John M. Olin Program in Law and Economics at Cornell Law School, and Professor of Law and Business at the Cornell University Johnson Graduate School of Business. Professor Macey earned his B.A. cum laude from Harvard in 1977, and his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1982, where he was Article and Book Review editor of The Yale Law Journal. In 1996, Professor Macey received a Ph.D. honoris causa from the Stockholm School of Economics.  Following law school, Professor Macey was law clerk to Judge Henry J. Friendly on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Professor Macey is the author of several books including the two-volume treatise, Macey on Corporation Laws, published in 1998 (Aspen Law & Business), and co-author of two leading casebooks, Corporations: Including Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies (2003 Thomson West), which is in its eighth edition, and Banking Law and Regulation (2002 Aspen Law & Business), which is now in its third edition. He also is the author of over 100 scholarly articles. His recent articles have appeared in the Banking Law Journal, the University of Chicago Law Review, the Stanford Law Review, The Yale Law Journal, the Cornell Law Review, the Journal of Law and Economics, and the Brookings Wharton Papers on Financial Institutions. He has published numerous editorials in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Los Angeles Times, and The National Law Journal.
Professor Macey has taught at major universities throughout the world, including Bocconi University (Milan), the University of Tokyo; the University of Toronto; the University of Turin, the University of Amsterdam Department of Finance, and the Stockholm School of Economics, Department of Law. He also has been Professor of Law at the University of Chicago (1990) and Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School (1999). Professor Macey is a Senior Research Fellow at the International Centre for Economic Research (ICER) in Turin, Italy. Professor Macey also serves on the Academic Advisory Board (Comitato Scientifico) of the Associazione Disiano Preite for the study of corporate law (per lo studio del diritto dell’impresa). In 1995, Professor Macey was awarded the Paul M. Bator prize for excellence in Teaching, Scholarship and Public Service by the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy. In 1996, he received a Ph.D., honoris causa from the Stockholm School of Economics. And in 1998, he received the D.P. Jacobs prize for the most significant paper in volume 6 of the Journal of Financial Intermediation for his paper (co-authored with Maureen O’Hara), “The Law & Economics of Best Execution.”
In 1999 Professor Macey was made an honorary Fellow of the Society For Advanced Legal Studies. In 2000, Professor Macey became a member of the Legal Advisory Committee to the Board of Directors of the New York Stock Exchange. In 2001 Professor Macey was appointed a Bertil Daniellson Distinguished Visiting Professor in Banking and Finance at the Stockholm School of Economics. In 2002 Professor Macey was appointed to the Economic Advisory Board of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD). In 2004 Professor Macey was awarded a Teaching Award by the Yale Law Women in recognition of his “commitment to excellence in teaching, mentoring and inspiring.” In 2005 Professor Macey became a member of the Board of Editors of Thomson West Publishing Company.
Judge (ret.), United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
James Leo Ryan is a federal judge on senior status with the United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. He joined the court in 1985 after being nominated by President Ronald Reagan.
President and CEO, Liberty Strategies LLC
Bob Barr represented the 7th District of Georgia in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003, and now practices law in Atlanta, Georgia, where he serves as chairman of the state’s Judicial Qualifications Commission. Bob also chairs Liberty Guard, Inc. a non-profit and non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting individual liberty. He also heads a consulting firm, Liberty Strategies, Inc., and is a registered Mediator and Arbitrator. Bob has taught constitutional law at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School and government at Kennesaw State University.
Bob is a member of the Board of Directors for the National Rifle Association, and serves on the Board of the Interactive College of Technology. He is a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity.
From 2003 to 2008, Bob occupied the 21st Century Liberties Chair for Freedom and Privacy at the American Conservative Union. He served as a member of The Constitution Project’s Initiative on Liberty and Security, and from 2003 to 2005 was a member of a project at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government addressing matters of privacy and security. Barr has served as an advisory board member for Privacy International, headquartered in London, and was labeled “Mr. Privacy” by former New York Times columnist William Safire. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for President in 2008.
Bob has appeared on virtually every major cable and network television program dealing with public policy matters. He writes regularly for Townhall.com, The Daily Caller, and The Marietta Daily Journal, and has been a columnist and blogger for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He writes occasional pieces for other publications and hosts a regular podcast, “Bob Barr’s Laws of the Universe.” He is the author of three books: “The Meaning of Is: The Squandered Impeachment and Wasted Legacy of William Jefferson Clinton,” “Patriot Nation: Bob Barr’s Laws of the Universe Volume One,” and “Lessons in Liberty.”
Bob was appointed by President Reagan as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia (1986-90), served as President of Southeastern Legal Foundation from 1990-91, and was an official with the CIA from 1971-78. Additionally, he has served as a member of U.S. delegations at several United Nations conferences on firearms.
Bob Barr was awarded his law degree from Georgetown University, his master’s degree from The George Washington University, and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California. He and his wife Jeri live in Smyrna, Georgia just outside Atlanta.
President and CEO, Liberty Strategies LLC
Bob Barr represented the 7th District of Georgia in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003, and now practices law in Atlanta, Georgia, where he serves as chairman of the state’s Judicial Qualifications Commission. Bob also chairs Liberty Guard, Inc. a non-profit and non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting individual liberty. He also heads a consulting firm, Liberty Strategies, Inc., and is a registered Mediator and Arbitrator. Bob has taught constitutional law at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School and government at Kennesaw State University.
Bob is a member of the Board of Directors for the National Rifle Association, and serves on the Board of the Interactive College of Technology. He is a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity.
From 2003 to 2008, Bob occupied the 21st Century Liberties Chair for Freedom and Privacy at the American Conservative Union. He served as a member of The Constitution Project’s Initiative on Liberty and Security, and from 2003 to 2005 was a member of a project at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government addressing matters of privacy and security. Barr has served as an advisory board member for Privacy International, headquartered in London, and was labeled “Mr. Privacy” by former New York Times columnist William Safire. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for President in 2008.
Bob has appeared on virtually every major cable and network television program dealing with public policy matters. He writes regularly for Townhall.com, The Daily Caller, and The Marietta Daily Journal, and has been a columnist and blogger for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He writes occasional pieces for other publications and hosts a regular podcast, “Bob Barr’s Laws of the Universe.” He is the author of three books: “The Meaning of Is: The Squandered Impeachment and Wasted Legacy of William Jefferson Clinton,” “Patriot Nation: Bob Barr’s Laws of the Universe Volume One,” and “Lessons in Liberty.”
Bob was appointed by President Reagan as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia (1986-90), served as President of Southeastern Legal Foundation from 1990-91, and was an official with the CIA from 1971-78. Additionally, he has served as a member of U.S. delegations at several United Nations conferences on firearms.
Bob Barr was awarded his law degree from Georgetown University, his master’s degree from The George Washington University, and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California. He and his wife Jeri live in Smyrna, Georgia just outside Atlanta.
Partner, Creed & Gowdy
Bryan Gowdy is a board-certified appellate lawyer. His practice is limited to handling appeals, post-conviction motions, and trial support for matters likely to be appealed. His practice encompasses all substantive areas of the law, including plaintiff's injury and products liability, commercial cases, criminal law, and family law. He has briefed and orally argued appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, the Supreme Court of Florida, and Florida's district courts of appeal.  He also has handled appeals in the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth Circuits. He is AV-rated by Martindale Hubbell and has been selected as a Top 100 in Florida Super Lawyer, Top 25 in Jacksonville Super Lawyer, and a "Legal Elite" by Florida Trend Magazine. In 2019, Mr. Gowdy began serving as the Chair for the Florida Justice Association Amicus Curiae Committee.
Before joining the firm, Mr. Gowdy was with the national law firm of McGuireWoods LLP, where he primarily handled commercial litigation at the trial and appellate level. Mr. Gowdy began his legal career as a law clerk for federal judges at the trial and appellate level. Mr. Gowdy attended the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he was first in his class, a member of the Order of the Coif, and the management editor of the Florida Law Review.Â
Before law school, Mr. Gowdy was an active-duty surface warfare officer in the United States Navy, and he graduated from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
Partner, Williams & Connolly
Sarah Harris is a partner in Williams & Connolly’s Supreme Court and Appellate practice, where she represents clients in high-stakes appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court and federal and state appellate courts across the country. She has argued five cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, and she has presented many arguments in federal courts of appeals and state appellate courts. Her cases have run the gamut of substantive areas, including constitutional law—especially First Amendment and separation-of-powers issues—as well as administrative law, arbitration, class actions, antitrust, False Claims Act litigation, commercial litigation, and federal civil procedure.Â
Sarah is widely recognized for her appellate advocacy. Chambers USA has recognized her as “Up and Coming” in Appellate Law. She has been named to Bloomberg Law’s 40 Under 40 list of top lawyers nationwide and to Benchmark Litigation’s “40 & Under Hot List,” as well as a an appellate “Rising Star” by The National Law Journal and Law360, a “Next Generation Lawyer” by The Legal 500, and as one of Bloomberg Law’s “Five Fresh Faces to Know in Appellate.”Â
Sarah clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court of the United States, Judge Laurence Silberman on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and Judge Sandra Lynch on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Before joining Williams & Connolly, she served as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel.
Sarah received her undergraduate degree summa cum laude from Princeton University, and her J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. She also holds a Ph.D. and M. Phil. from the University of Cambridge.
Co-chair, Appellate and Supreme Court Practice Group and Managing Partner, Morrison & Foerster LLP
Joe Palmore co-chairs Morrison & Foerster’s Appellate and Supreme Court practice and is the Managing Partner of the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. With 12 oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court and more than 45 in other appellate courts nationwide, Joe has handled complex appeals and critical motions on a wide range of issues important to businesses. Clients call him “an outstanding oral advocate,” praising his ability to remain “completely calm at all times and in complete command of the facts” (Chambers USA).
During a recent U.S. Supreme Court term, Joe successfully argued two cases: Law360 called one of them (Thole v. U.S. Bank) a “landmark ruling” that “made huge waves in the ERISA litigation arena” and named the other (Atlantic Richfield Co. v. Christian) one of the “biggest environmental law decisions” of the year. And Joe’s oral argument before the Supreme Court on the preemptive scope of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) in CTS Corp. v. Waldburger was described in the National Law Journal as “brilliant” and a “template for anyone arguing a statutory case before these nine justices in the future.”
Joe’s practice extends to federal and state appellate courts across the country, where he has handled appeals on issues as varied as antitrust, class actions, communications, false advertising, intellectual property, and securities. Joe’s victory in the Federal Circuit for Immersion Corporation in a patent appeal was described by another practitioner as having “saved from the fire tens of thousands of patents that would have gone up in smoke.” Joe has secured important victories in the Second Circuit (where he clerked), including for an online marketplace in a securities class action and for a technology company in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act suit. He also has a successful track record in the Ninth Circuit, including winning for a beverage company defending against an antitrust suit and for an equipment manufacturer embroiled in a dispute over U.S. discovery for foreign litigation.
Before joining Morrison & Foerster, Joe served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice. During his nearly five years in the Solicitor General’s Office, Joe had principal responsibility for briefing the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act’s minimum coverage provision, which was upheld in the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in NFIB v. Sebelius. For his work on that case, Joe received the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service (the Department of Justice’s highest honor for employee performance). He also received the Environmental Protection Agency General Counsel’s medal for his successful defense of the EPA’s interstate air pollution rules in EPA v. EME Homer City Generation.
Before working for the Justice Department, Joe spent three years as Deputy General Counsel at the Federal Communications Commission, where he oversaw all litigation involving constitutional, statutory, and administrative-law challenges to the agency’s actions and argued 10 cases in the federal courts of appeals. His FCC experience includes virtually all aspects of communications regulation, including broadcast, cable, wireless, wireline, and Internet. In addition, he provided counsel to FCC officials on matters likely to result in litigation.
Joe clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge John Gleeson of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and Judge Dennis Jacobs of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York. Joe earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, his M.A. in legal history from the University of Virginia, and his A.B. magna cum laude from Harvard University.
Joe is a Fellow in the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, selected for his distinction as an appellate lawyer. He also serves as a member of the Technology Litigation Advisory Committee of the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center and is a master in, and former officer of, the Coke Appellate Inn at Court. In 2016, he served as one of the 15 “nationally recognized lawyers with substantial trial and appellate practices” who advised the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary on the professional qualifications of the Honorable Merrick Garland to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He is recommended by Chambers USA and Legal 500 US for appellate law.
Solicitor General of Florida
Henry Whitaker became Florida’s Solicitor General in July 2021. He came to the position after four years of serving in the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice, including as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, where he advised the White House Counsel’s Office, the Attorney General, and cabinet secretaries on a range of important and complex legal issues. Before that, Solicitor General Whitaker worked on the Appellate Staff of the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice for almost nine years, arguing more than 40 appeals in the federal appellate courts. He clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas of the U.S. Supreme Court and for Judge David B. Sentelle of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit after graduating magna cum laude from both Harvard Law School and Yale College.
Partner, Creed & Gowdy
Bryan Gowdy is a board-certified appellate lawyer. His practice is limited to handling appeals, post-conviction motions, and trial support for matters likely to be appealed. His practice encompasses all substantive areas of the law, including plaintiff's injury and products liability, commercial cases, criminal law, and family law. He has briefed and orally argued appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, the Supreme Court of Florida, and Florida's district courts of appeal.  He also has handled appeals in the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth Circuits. He is AV-rated by Martindale Hubbell and has been selected as a Top 100 in Florida Super Lawyer, Top 25 in Jacksonville Super Lawyer, and a "Legal Elite" by Florida Trend Magazine. In 2019, Mr. Gowdy began serving as the Chair for the Florida Justice Association Amicus Curiae Committee.
Before joining the firm, Mr. Gowdy was with the national law firm of McGuireWoods LLP, where he primarily handled commercial litigation at the trial and appellate level. Mr. Gowdy began his legal career as a law clerk for federal judges at the trial and appellate level. Mr. Gowdy attended the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he was first in his class, a member of the Order of the Coif, and the management editor of the Florida Law Review.Â
Before law school, Mr. Gowdy was an active-duty surface warfare officer in the United States Navy, and he graduated from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
Partner, Williams & Connolly
Sarah Harris is a partner in Williams & Connolly’s Supreme Court and Appellate practice, where she represents clients in high-stakes appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court and federal and state appellate courts across the country. She has argued five cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, and she has presented many arguments in federal courts of appeals and state appellate courts. Her cases have run the gamut of substantive areas, including constitutional law—especially First Amendment and separation-of-powers issues—as well as administrative law, arbitration, class actions, antitrust, False Claims Act litigation, commercial litigation, and federal civil procedure.Â
Sarah is widely recognized for her appellate advocacy. Chambers USA has recognized her as “Up and Coming” in Appellate Law. She has been named to Bloomberg Law’s 40 Under 40 list of top lawyers nationwide and to Benchmark Litigation’s “40 & Under Hot List,” as well as a an appellate “Rising Star” by The National Law Journal and Law360, a “Next Generation Lawyer” by The Legal 500, and as one of Bloomberg Law’s “Five Fresh Faces to Know in Appellate.”Â
Sarah clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court of the United States, Judge Laurence Silberman on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and Judge Sandra Lynch on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Before joining Williams & Connolly, she served as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel.
Sarah received her undergraduate degree summa cum laude from Princeton University, and her J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. She also holds a Ph.D. and M. Phil. from the University of Cambridge.
Co-chair, Appellate and Supreme Court Practice Group and Managing Partner, Morrison & Foerster LLP
Joe Palmore co-chairs Morrison & Foerster’s Appellate and Supreme Court practice and is the Managing Partner of the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. With 12 oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court and more than 45 in other appellate courts nationwide, Joe has handled complex appeals and critical motions on a wide range of issues important to businesses. Clients call him “an outstanding oral advocate,” praising his ability to remain “completely calm at all times and in complete command of the facts” (Chambers USA).
During a recent U.S. Supreme Court term, Joe successfully argued two cases: Law360 called one of them (Thole v. U.S. Bank) a “landmark ruling” that “made huge waves in the ERISA litigation arena” and named the other (Atlantic Richfield Co. v. Christian) one of the “biggest environmental law decisions” of the year. And Joe’s oral argument before the Supreme Court on the preemptive scope of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) in CTS Corp. v. Waldburger was described in the National Law Journal as “brilliant” and a “template for anyone arguing a statutory case before these nine justices in the future.”
Joe’s practice extends to federal and state appellate courts across the country, where he has handled appeals on issues as varied as antitrust, class actions, communications, false advertising, intellectual property, and securities. Joe’s victory in the Federal Circuit for Immersion Corporation in a patent appeal was described by another practitioner as having “saved from the fire tens of thousands of patents that would have gone up in smoke.” Joe has secured important victories in the Second Circuit (where he clerked), including for an online marketplace in a securities class action and for a technology company in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act suit. He also has a successful track record in the Ninth Circuit, including winning for a beverage company defending against an antitrust suit and for an equipment manufacturer embroiled in a dispute over U.S. discovery for foreign litigation.
Before joining Morrison & Foerster, Joe served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice. During his nearly five years in the Solicitor General’s Office, Joe had principal responsibility for briefing the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act’s minimum coverage provision, which was upheld in the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in NFIB v. Sebelius. For his work on that case, Joe received the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service (the Department of Justice’s highest honor for employee performance). He also received the Environmental Protection Agency General Counsel’s medal for his successful defense of the EPA’s interstate air pollution rules in EPA v. EME Homer City Generation.
Before working for the Justice Department, Joe spent three years as Deputy General Counsel at the Federal Communications Commission, where he oversaw all litigation involving constitutional, statutory, and administrative-law challenges to the agency’s actions and argued 10 cases in the federal courts of appeals. His FCC experience includes virtually all aspects of communications regulation, including broadcast, cable, wireless, wireline, and Internet. In addition, he provided counsel to FCC officials on matters likely to result in litigation.
Joe clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge John Gleeson of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and Judge Dennis Jacobs of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York. Joe earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, his M.A. in legal history from the University of Virginia, and his A.B. magna cum laude from Harvard University.
Joe is a Fellow in the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, selected for his distinction as an appellate lawyer. He also serves as a member of the Technology Litigation Advisory Committee of the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center and is a master in, and former officer of, the Coke Appellate Inn at Court. In 2016, he served as one of the 15 “nationally recognized lawyers with substantial trial and appellate practices” who advised the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary on the professional qualifications of the Honorable Merrick Garland to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He is recommended by Chambers USA and Legal 500 US for appellate law.
Solicitor General of Florida
Henry Whitaker became Florida’s Solicitor General in July 2021. He came to the position after four years of serving in the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice, including as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, where he advised the White House Counsel’s Office, the Attorney General, and cabinet secretaries on a range of important and complex legal issues. Before that, Solicitor General Whitaker worked on the Appellate Staff of the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice for almost nine years, arguing more than 40 appeals in the federal appellate courts. He clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas of the U.S. Supreme Court and for Judge David B. Sentelle of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit after graduating magna cum laude from both Harvard Law School and Yale College.
Chairman, The Ashcroft Law Firm LLC, and former United States Attorney General
Former U.S. Attorney General, Governor and U.S. Senator John Ashcroft serves as the firm’s founder and chairman. As Attorney General, and the U.S. Justice Department’s CEO, Mr. Ashcroft led the world’s largest and foremost international law firm and law enforcement agency—an organization larger than most Fortune 500 companies, with over 122,000 employees. Mr. Ashcroft integrated strategic planning, budgeting, and performance measures, which resulted in the DOJ earning a clean audit for the first time in its history.
Mr. Ashcroft boldly led the Department of Justice through the transformational period after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He subsequently reorganized the Department to focus on its number one priority: preventing terrorism. The tough antiterrorism campaign he directed helped keep America safe throughout his tenure and resulted in the dismantling of terrorist cells across America and the disruption of over 150 terrorist plots worldwide.
Within two months of the attacks, and with financial markets still reeling, the unprecedented corporate scandals at ENRON, WorldCom and dozens more unfolded, further destabilizing the weakened economy. John Ashcroft was called upon to restore America’s faith in the integrity of our marketplace. He marshaled the resources of the federal government to bring to justice those guilty of massive corporate fraud. At all times, he demanded that cases be brought swiftly, with appropriate serious penalties—always taking into account the best interests of the employees and shareholders whose lives were most directly affected.
From 1985 to 1993, as Governor of Missouri, Ashcroft balanced eight consecutive budgets, built a $120 million budget surplus and established a $190 million operating reserve. His management and fiscal integrity helped generate 338,000 new jobs state-wide, a triple-A bond rating from the three major Wall Street rating agencies, a per capita state and local tax burden ranked 49th in the United States and a 12 percent increase in personal income. His new education performance standards led Fortune magazine to name him as one of the nation’s top ten Education Governors. In 1991, the non-partisan National Governors Association voted him Chairman.
Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1994, he brought his management skills to Washington where he authored budget rules protecting Social Security and Medicare and helped balance the federal budget for the first time in decades. As a member of the Senate Judiciary, Foreign Relations and Commerce Committees, he worked to reform laws regulating the banking, telecommunications, aviation, transportation and information technology industries.
In 1973, Mr. Ashcroft served as Missouri Auditor, followed by two terms as Missouri Attorney General. He was raised in Springfield, Missouri, received his undergraduate degree from Yale University and his Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago.
Founding Partner, PNT Law Firm
Austin R. Nimocks has litigated in state and federal courts across the country. Mr. Nimocks focuses his practice on civil litigation (plaintiff and defense), commercial litigation, corporate matters, federal compliance, internal investigations, government relations, white-collar criminal defense, and religious freedom.
Litigating for over 25 years, including three as a public defender, Mr. Nimocks has practiced law within the private, government, and non-profit sectors, geographically spanning the United States and beyond.
Prior to starting the PNT Law Firm (www.pntlawfirm.com), Mr. Nimocks worked for former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft in the Ashcroft Law Firm in Austin, Texas. For General Ashcroft, Mr. Nimocks litigated cases against all levels of government (federal, state, and local).
Prior to joining General Ashcroft, Mr. Nimocks served in the Executive Administration of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton as both Special Counsel and the Associate Deputy Attorney General for Special Litigation. During his time with General Paxton, Mr. Nimocks coordinated and led myriad multi-state lawsuits and strategic litigation against the federal government, other states, and local government entities. On behalf of Texas (and other states), Mr. Nimocks’ teams achieved many victories against the federal government, including the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and other federal agencies
Before joining the Texas Attorney General’s Office, Mr. Nimocks served as Senior Counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom (“ADF”) in Washington, D.C. While at ADF, Mr. Nimocks handled appeals and litigated constitutional cases in state and federal courts across the country, including matters regarding marriage, parental rights, voters’ rights, and religious freedom. Mr. Nimocks also authored several pieces of legislation and policy memoranda and testified before numerous state legislatures, as well as Congress. While with ADF, Mr. Nimocks made regular public appearances, speaking at numerous events and participating in hundreds of television, radio, and newspaper interviews with all major national media outlets.
Mr. Nimocks began practicing law on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. In addition to his time spent as a public defender, Mr. Nimocks’ law practice in Mississippi was extremely diverse, involving personal injury, commercial litigation, appellate, contracts, real estate, administrative law, bankruptcy, libel & defamation, insurance defense, general civil litigation, and other matters.
In addition to his state bar admissions (TX, DC, MI, AZ, AL, MS), Mr. Nimocks is admitted to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the D.C., First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits, as well as numerous federal district courts.
Mr. Nimocks is a native Texan, born and raised in the Fort Worth area. Mr. Nimocks resides and attends church in Dripping Springs, Texas, along with his wife and three daughters.
Partner, Troutman Pepper Locke
Lu is a former senior U.S. government official with a wealth of experience advising U.S. and international clients with complex regulatory and enforcement challenges. He has extensive experience representing clients facing state or federal government investigations and enforcement actions, conducting internal investigations, and advising corporate clients on regulatory compliance practices and in crisis response scenarios. As an accomplished legal strategist, Lu provides counsel to CEOs, CLO’s, and other executives, as well as boards of directors across various industries on a myriad of complex issues.
Lu’s clients benefit from his decades of experience providing strategic advice to top-tier government leaders, including the President of the United States and multiple United States Attorneys General. His career is marked by significant roles in federal and state government.
As Deputy Assistant to President George W. Bush, he was a chief advisor to the President and a member of the White House Senior Staff. In that role he provided strategic and human capital related policy advice directly to the President regarding all legal, national security, and international affairs, and presidential appointments administration-wide.
As Deputy Associate Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, he served as Chief of Staff to the Associate Attorney General and had oversight of litigation emanating from the Tax, Civil Rights, Civil, and Community Relations Service Divisions of the agency. At the Department, he also previously served as Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division, and as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, the division responsible for representing the U.S. in all constitutional challenges to U.S. law and defending the U.S. on all torts, federal programs, and immigration-related litigation.
Prior to joining private practice, Lu also served as the General Counsel for the federal law enforcement agency charged with rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse of the $50+ billion appropriated for the reconstruction of Iraq where he oversaw several federal fraud prosecutions in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Frauds Section.
Earlier in his career, Lu served as an Assistant Attorney General and Trial Attorney for the Office of the Texas Attorney General, where he handled a robust civil litigation practice at the trial and appellate levels in both state and federal court.
Opening and a Conversation on Regulation as Opportunity
A National Symposium on Law and Technology
Stanford, CAThe Constitution Line by Line with Senator Mike Lee: Article I, Section 7 [Part I]
Mike S. Lee
In this episode of the Constitution Line By Line, Senator Mike Lee explores Article I,...
Panel II: To Govern and Be Governed: The Federalist's Vision of Representative Democracy [Archive Collection]
Jesse H. Choper, Frank H. Easterbrook, David F. Epstein, Jonathan R. Macey, James L. Ryan
On February 28-29, 1992, the Federalist Society held its eleventh annual National Student Symposium at...
Panel II: To Govern and Be Governed: The Federalist's Vision of Representative Democracy [Archive Collection]
Jesse H. Choper, Frank H. Easterbrook, David F. Epstein, Jonathan R. Macey, James L. Ryan
On February 28-29, 1992, the Federalist Society held its eleventh annual National Student Symposium at...
The Two-Party System
Bob Barr
On September 29, 2021, former United States Representative Bob Barr joined the Federalist Society's Southern...
The Two-Party System
Bob Barr
On September 29, 2021, former United States Representative Bob Barr joined the Federalist Society's Southern...
U.S. Supreme Court -Major Case Preview, October 2021 term
Jefferson City Lawyers Chapters
Jefferson City, MO2021 Supreme Court Preview
Bryan Scott Gowdy, Sarah M. Harris, Joseph Palmore, Henry Charles Whitaker
On September 29, 2021, the Federalist Society's Jacksonville Lawyers Chapter hosted a virtual discussion giving...
2021 Supreme Court Preview
Bryan Scott Gowdy, Sarah M. Harris, Joseph Palmore, Henry Charles Whitaker
On September 29, 2021, the Federalist Society's Jacksonville Lawyers Chapter hosted a virtual discussion giving...
Fourth Annual Gregory S. Coleman Memorial Lecture & Luncheon
John Ashcroft, Austin R. Nimocks, Lu A. Reyes
On September 17-18, 2021, The Federalist Society's Texas chapters sponsored the seventh annual Texas Chapters...