Senior Attorney, Institute for Justice
Paul Avelar is the Managing Attorney of the Institute for Justice Arizona Office. He joined the Institute in March 2010 and litigates free speech, property rights, economic liberty, school choice and other constitutional cases in federal and state courts.
As the head of IJ’s national Braiding Freedom Initiative, Paul represents natural hair braiders across the country to protect their right to earn an honest living. The Initiative uses lawsuits, activism and research to remove laws that require potential braiders to undergo hundreds of costly training hours just to braid hair. Since IJ launched the Braiding Freedom Initiative in 2014, 12 additional states have freed braiders from unnecessary licensing burdens. Paul drafted the model Natural Hair Braiding Protection Act, which has been adopted in Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Texas and South Dakota. He is currently representing braiders in Missouri, where state laws infringe upon their right to earn an honest living.
In his free speech work, Paul has challenged numerous laws that trample First Amendment rights. In Arizona Freedom Club PAC v. Bennett, he represented candidates and independent groups in a successful U.S. Supreme Court challenge to the “matching funds” provision of Arizona’s publicly financed elections system. He represented grassroots groups and individuals in Arizona, Mississippi and Washington, where state laws burdened their political speech by requiring them to register with the government, to navigate complex regulations and to face fines and possible criminal penalties merely because they talked about political issues. In Washington, Paul protected a lawyer’s right to defend, pro-bono, the First Amendment rights of political speakers. Through litigation and legislation, Paul leads the fight against abusive civil forfeiture laws in Arizona and elsewhere.
Paul also co-authored the most comprehensive published study of economic liberty protections in the Arizona Constitution. The Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court appointed Paul to the Task Force on the Review of the Role and Governance Structure of the State Bar of Arizona, where he dissented from the majority report and called on leaders to substantially reform the Bar and state regulation of the practice of law. He often speaks at law schools across the country about constitutional issues and his work at IJ.
Prior to joining IJ-AZ, Paul worked as an attorney in Philadelphia. He clerked for Judge Roger Miner on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Justice Andrew Hurwitz on the Arizona Supreme Court, and Judge Daniel Barker on the Arizona Court of Appeals.
Paul graduated manga cum laude from the Arizona State University College of Law in 2004 and was elected to the Order of the Coif. He received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 2000.
Mr. Pekron’s practice is primarily devoted to complex business, tort, and class action litigation. Mr. Pekron is listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of Commercial Litigation, recognized as a Rising Star in the area of Business Litigation by Mid-South Super Lawyers, and a Future Star in Litigation by Benchmark Litigation. He has represented companies and individuals in cases throughout the nation involving breach of contract, professional liability, consumer fraud, products liability, and ERISA issues. He has significant experience in representing accounting firms, publicly-traded companies, and corporate officers and directors in securities litigation, regulatory matters, professional malpractice actions, and internal investigations.
Mr. Pekron also has an active appellate practice and has appeared in numerous state and federal appellate courts, including the Supreme Court of Illinois, the New York Court of Appeals, and the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Circuits. He has argued cases before the Arkansas Supreme Court, the Arkansas Court of Appeals, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He has also been responsible for petitions for certiorari and amicus briefs in the United States Supreme Court.
Mr. Pekron received his law degree from Yale Law School, where he served as Book Reviews Editor of the Yale Law Journal. His work has been published in the Hamline Law Review.
After graduating from law school, Mr. Pekron clerked for Judge Morris Sheppard Arnold of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. During his clerkship, he served as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law. He then worked as an associate at the Chicago law firm of Sidley Austin LLP.
Senior Attorney, Institute for Justice
Paul Avelar is the Managing Attorney of the Institute for Justice Arizona Office. He joined the Institute in March 2010 and litigates free speech, property rights, economic liberty, school choice and other constitutional cases in federal and state courts.
As the head of IJ’s national Braiding Freedom Initiative, Paul represents natural hair braiders across the country to protect their right to earn an honest living. The Initiative uses lawsuits, activism and research to remove laws that require potential braiders to undergo hundreds of costly training hours just to braid hair. Since IJ launched the Braiding Freedom Initiative in 2014, 12 additional states have freed braiders from unnecessary licensing burdens. Paul drafted the model Natural Hair Braiding Protection Act, which has been adopted in Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Texas and South Dakota. He is currently representing braiders in Missouri, where state laws infringe upon their right to earn an honest living.
In his free speech work, Paul has challenged numerous laws that trample First Amendment rights. In Arizona Freedom Club PAC v. Bennett, he represented candidates and independent groups in a successful U.S. Supreme Court challenge to the “matching funds” provision of Arizona’s publicly financed elections system. He represented grassroots groups and individuals in Arizona, Mississippi and Washington, where state laws burdened their political speech by requiring them to register with the government, to navigate complex regulations and to face fines and possible criminal penalties merely because they talked about political issues. In Washington, Paul protected a lawyer’s right to defend, pro-bono, the First Amendment rights of political speakers. Through litigation and legislation, Paul leads the fight against abusive civil forfeiture laws in Arizona and elsewhere.
Paul also co-authored the most comprehensive published study of economic liberty protections in the Arizona Constitution. The Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court appointed Paul to the Task Force on the Review of the Role and Governance Structure of the State Bar of Arizona, where he dissented from the majority report and called on leaders to substantially reform the Bar and state regulation of the practice of law. He often speaks at law schools across the country about constitutional issues and his work at IJ.
Prior to joining IJ-AZ, Paul worked as an attorney in Philadelphia. He clerked for Judge Roger Miner on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Justice Andrew Hurwitz on the Arizona Supreme Court, and Judge Daniel Barker on the Arizona Court of Appeals.
Paul graduated manga cum laude from the Arizona State University College of Law in 2004 and was elected to the Order of the Coif. He received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 2000.
Mr. Pekron’s practice is primarily devoted to complex business, tort, and class action litigation. Mr. Pekron is listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of Commercial Litigation, recognized as a Rising Star in the area of Business Litigation by Mid-South Super Lawyers, and a Future Star in Litigation by Benchmark Litigation. He has represented companies and individuals in cases throughout the nation involving breach of contract, professional liability, consumer fraud, products liability, and ERISA issues. He has significant experience in representing accounting firms, publicly-traded companies, and corporate officers and directors in securities litigation, regulatory matters, professional malpractice actions, and internal investigations.
Mr. Pekron also has an active appellate practice and has appeared in numerous state and federal appellate courts, including the Supreme Court of Illinois, the New York Court of Appeals, and the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Circuits. He has argued cases before the Arkansas Supreme Court, the Arkansas Court of Appeals, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He has also been responsible for petitions for certiorari and amicus briefs in the United States Supreme Court.
Mr. Pekron received his law degree from Yale Law School, where he served as Book Reviews Editor of the Yale Law Journal. His work has been published in the Hamline Law Review.
After graduating from law school, Mr. Pekron clerked for Judge Morris Sheppard Arnold of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. During his clerkship, he served as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law. He then worked as an associate at the Chicago law firm of Sidley Austin LLP.
Partner, Robbins Ross Alloy Belinfante Littlefield LLC
Josh Belinfante represents clients in commercial and administrative disputes, and he is one of Georgia’s most knowledgeable attorneys on appellate matters and questions of governmental law and policy. He represents governmental and non-governmental clients, and those in the highly regulated fields of healthcare, gaming, land use, and energy.
Josh brings to bear his experience in all three branches of government, having served as the Executive Counsel or Chief Legal Advisor to Governor Sonny Perdue, Georgia’s 81st Governor (2007-2009), Legal Counsel to the Georgia House Judiciary Committee (2006), and Law Clerk to Judge J.L. Edmondson of the Eleventh Circuit (2004-2005).
In litigation matters, Josh’s practice involves commercial disputes and representation of government and those challenging governmental acts. He has successfully argued cases that have shaped the Georgia healthcare and gaming industries. Josh also represents clients involved in procurement matters and bid protests, cases before the public service commission, and in precedent-setting challenges to annexations and local ordinances. He has long been a go-to lawyer of the State of Georgia in numerous high stakes cases against the United States Department of Justice, and private parties challenging Georgia’s Medicaid and special education programs.
Outside of litigation, Josh has significant experience in in campaign finance and election law matters. He represents entities governed by federal and state campaign finance laws, including campaigns and political action committees. He also has specific experience drafting laws governing Certificate of Need, gaming, the Georgia Lottery, restrictive covenants and non-compete agreements, and eminent domain.
The Atlanta Business Chronicle described Josh as the “go-to guy for Georgia healthcare policy and legislation.” In 2011, the Atlanta Business Chronicle named Josh one of the 40 Under 40 of Atlanta’s Rising and Business Leaders. In 2010, The Fulton County Daily Report named Josh one of 10 attorneys “On the Rise,” and Georgia Trend named him one of Georgia’s “Legal Elite.” Atlanta Magazine named Josh a “Super Lawyer” since 2015, and it frequently named him a Georgia “Rising Star Super Lawyer.” James Magazine has repeatedly identified Josh as one of the “Best Lawyers in Georgia.”
Josh serves on the University of Georgia Law School Alumni Council, the Board of Directors of the Atlanta Chapter of the Federalist Society, and he is a graduate of Leadership Atlanta (2012), Leadership Sandy Springs (2015), and the Coverdell Leadership Institute (2007).
Josh is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Georgia School of Law. He also taught high school at Pace Academy in Atlanta.
Senior Counsel, Alston & Bird, LLP
A former Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia, Keith Blackwell is senior counsel with Alston & Bird LLP in Atlanta. His practice is focused principally on the representation of clients in federal and state courts in appeals and litigation involving issues of first impression, the application of settled law to emerging industries and technologies, novel constitutional questions, conflicting precedents, and other complex legal issues. He also represents law firms and lawyers in professional liability matters, and he represents clients in connection with criminal and regulatory investigations and proceedings.
Justice Blackwell served for more than eight years on the Supreme Court, and he previously served as a Judge of the Court of Appeals of Georgia. In the course of his judicial service, he authored more than 400 published opinions and participated in the disposition of approximately 4,500 appeals, as well as 8,000 petitions for writs of certiorari and other applications for leave to appeal. In addition, Justice Blackwell served as the liaison between the Supreme Court and the State Bar of Georgia, the Office of Bar Admissions, the Board of Bar Examiners, and the Board to Determine the Fitness of Bar Applicants. Justice Blackwell retired from judicial service in November 2020 to return to the private practice of law.
Prior to his judicial service, Justice Blackwell practiced law with Parker, Hudson, Rainer & Dobbs LLP in Atlanta, where his practice was focused on complex business litigation. He also served for several years as an assistant district attorney in Cobb County, Georgia, where he was responsible for hundreds of felony prosecutions and appeared regularly as lead trial counsel. In addition, he served as a law clerk for Judge J.L. Edmondson at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Justice Blackwell graduated summa cum laude from the University of Georgia School of Law as first honor graduate in 1999. He also received a degree in political science from the University of Georgia in 1996.
Justice Blackwell is a member of the Board of Advisors and a former president of the Atlanta Lawyers’ Chapter of the Federalist Society.
Partner, Robbins Ross Alloy Belinfante Littlefield LLC
Josh Belinfante represents clients in commercial and administrative disputes, and he is one of Georgia’s most knowledgeable attorneys on appellate matters and questions of governmental law and policy. He represents governmental and non-governmental clients, and those in the highly regulated fields of healthcare, gaming, land use, and energy.
Josh brings to bear his experience in all three branches of government, having served as the Executive Counsel or Chief Legal Advisor to Governor Sonny Perdue, Georgia’s 81st Governor (2007-2009), Legal Counsel to the Georgia House Judiciary Committee (2006), and Law Clerk to Judge J.L. Edmondson of the Eleventh Circuit (2004-2005).
In litigation matters, Josh’s practice involves commercial disputes and representation of government and those challenging governmental acts. He has successfully argued cases that have shaped the Georgia healthcare and gaming industries. Josh also represents clients involved in procurement matters and bid protests, cases before the public service commission, and in precedent-setting challenges to annexations and local ordinances. He has long been a go-to lawyer of the State of Georgia in numerous high stakes cases against the United States Department of Justice, and private parties challenging Georgia’s Medicaid and special education programs.
Outside of litigation, Josh has significant experience in in campaign finance and election law matters. He represents entities governed by federal and state campaign finance laws, including campaigns and political action committees. He also has specific experience drafting laws governing Certificate of Need, gaming, the Georgia Lottery, restrictive covenants and non-compete agreements, and eminent domain.
The Atlanta Business Chronicle described Josh as the “go-to guy for Georgia healthcare policy and legislation.” In 2011, the Atlanta Business Chronicle named Josh one of the 40 Under 40 of Atlanta’s Rising and Business Leaders. In 2010, The Fulton County Daily Report named Josh one of 10 attorneys “On the Rise,” and Georgia Trend named him one of Georgia’s “Legal Elite.” Atlanta Magazine named Josh a “Super Lawyer” since 2015, and it frequently named him a Georgia “Rising Star Super Lawyer.” James Magazine has repeatedly identified Josh as one of the “Best Lawyers in Georgia.”
Josh serves on the University of Georgia Law School Alumni Council, the Board of Directors of the Atlanta Chapter of the Federalist Society, and he is a graduate of Leadership Atlanta (2012), Leadership Sandy Springs (2015), and the Coverdell Leadership Institute (2007).
Josh is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Georgia School of Law. He also taught high school at Pace Academy in Atlanta.
Senior Counsel, Alston & Bird, LLP
A former Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia, Keith Blackwell is senior counsel with Alston & Bird LLP in Atlanta. His practice is focused principally on the representation of clients in federal and state courts in appeals and litigation involving issues of first impression, the application of settled law to emerging industries and technologies, novel constitutional questions, conflicting precedents, and other complex legal issues. He also represents law firms and lawyers in professional liability matters, and he represents clients in connection with criminal and regulatory investigations and proceedings.
Justice Blackwell served for more than eight years on the Supreme Court, and he previously served as a Judge of the Court of Appeals of Georgia. In the course of his judicial service, he authored more than 400 published opinions and participated in the disposition of approximately 4,500 appeals, as well as 8,000 petitions for writs of certiorari and other applications for leave to appeal. In addition, Justice Blackwell served as the liaison between the Supreme Court and the State Bar of Georgia, the Office of Bar Admissions, the Board of Bar Examiners, and the Board to Determine the Fitness of Bar Applicants. Justice Blackwell retired from judicial service in November 2020 to return to the private practice of law.
Prior to his judicial service, Justice Blackwell practiced law with Parker, Hudson, Rainer & Dobbs LLP in Atlanta, where his practice was focused on complex business litigation. He also served for several years as an assistant district attorney in Cobb County, Georgia, where he was responsible for hundreds of felony prosecutions and appeared regularly as lead trial counsel. In addition, he served as a law clerk for Judge J.L. Edmondson at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Justice Blackwell graduated summa cum laude from the University of Georgia School of Law as first honor graduate in 1999. He also received a degree in political science from the University of Georgia in 1996.
Justice Blackwell is a member of the Board of Advisors and a former president of the Atlanta Lawyers’ Chapter of the Federalist Society.
Senior Fellow, R Street Institute
Prior to R Street, Adam spent 12 years as a senior fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Before the Mercatus Center, he served as the president of the Progress and Freedom Foundation. Adam has also worked for the Adam Smith Institute, the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute.
Adam has published 10 books on a wide range of topics, including online child safety, internet governance, intellectual property, telecommunications policy, media regulation and federalism.
In 2008, Adam received the Family Online Safety Institute’s “Award for Outstanding Achievement.”
Partner, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP
Miles practices in the areas of appeals, business litigation, and First Amendment law. In addition to representing clients in complex civil and criminal litigation and appeals, Miles advises and represents public and private universities and serves as outside general counsel to several business and educational clients. He also represents and counsels private entities and government agencies and officials, including multiple current and former governors of South Carolina and members of Congress, on issues relating to the constitutional and statutory freedoms of speech, religion, and association. His First Amendment work has been cited by the United States Supreme Court.
Vice President for Legal Strategy, Stand Together
Casey Mattox is Vice President for Legal Strategy at Stand Together and Senior Advisor at
Americans for Prosperity. In these roles he advocates for and creates strategies and
partnerships to ensure a constitutionally limited government that protects the civil liberties of all
Americans. Prior to joining Stand Together and AFP Casey’s legal career focused on defending
the First Amendment rights of students, faculty, healthcare workers and religious organizations.
Casey has a J.D. from Boston College School of Law and an undergraduate degree from the
University of Virginia. You can find him on Twitter at @CaseyMattox_ and on LinkedIn at
@Casey-Mattox-ST.
Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow, The Hoover Institution, Stanford University; Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus, UCLA School of Law
Eugene Volokh is the Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution (Stanford), as well as the Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus and Distinguished Research Professor at UCLA School of Law. He recently retired from teaching at UCLA, after 30 years there, and is now focusing on research.
Volokh is the author of the textbooks The First Amendment and Related Statutes (8th ed. 2023), and Academic Legal Writing (5th ed. 2016), as well as over 100 academic law journal articles, mostly on First Amendment law. He is a member of The American Law Institute; the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Free Speech Law; and the creator and coauthor of The Volokh Conspiracy, a leading legal blog founded in 2002 (hosted at the Washington Post from 2014 to 2017 and now at Reason Magazine).
Partner, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP
Miles practices in the areas of appeals, business litigation, and First Amendment law. In addition to representing clients in complex civil and criminal litigation and appeals, Miles advises and represents public and private universities and serves as outside general counsel to several business and educational clients. He also represents and counsels private entities and government agencies and officials, including multiple current and former governors of South Carolina and members of Congress, on issues relating to the constitutional and statutory freedoms of speech, religion, and association. His First Amendment work has been cited by the United States Supreme Court.
Vice President for Legal Strategy, Stand Together
Casey Mattox is Vice President for Legal Strategy at Stand Together and Senior Advisor at
Americans for Prosperity. In these roles he advocates for and creates strategies and
partnerships to ensure a constitutionally limited government that protects the civil liberties of all
Americans. Prior to joining Stand Together and AFP Casey’s legal career focused on defending
the First Amendment rights of students, faculty, healthcare workers and religious organizations.
Casey has a J.D. from Boston College School of Law and an undergraduate degree from the
University of Virginia. You can find him on Twitter at @CaseyMattox_ and on LinkedIn at
@Casey-Mattox-ST.
Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow, The Hoover Institution, Stanford University; Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus, UCLA School of Law
Eugene Volokh is the Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution (Stanford), as well as the Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus and Distinguished Research Professor at UCLA School of Law. He recently retired from teaching at UCLA, after 30 years there, and is now focusing on research.
Volokh is the author of the textbooks The First Amendment and Related Statutes (8th ed. 2023), and Academic Legal Writing (5th ed. 2016), as well as over 100 academic law journal articles, mostly on First Amendment law. He is a member of The American Law Institute; the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Free Speech Law; and the creator and coauthor of The Volokh Conspiracy, a leading legal blog founded in 2002 (hosted at the Washington Post from 2014 to 2017 and now at Reason Magazine).
Professor of Political Science, Northeastern University
Professor of Law Emeritus, Brooklyn Law
Henry Mark Holzer received his B.A. degree from New York University where he studied Russian and political science. After graduation in 1954 he served in South Korea with United States Army intelligence, holding top secret clearance as chief order of battle analyst (Chinese Communist Forces) at Eighth Army Headquarters in Seoul. Following Professor Holzer’s military service he earned his Juris Doctor degree at New York University School of Law. After his admission to the New York bar in December 1959 he practiced constitutional and appellate law.
From 1972 to 1993 he taught full time at Brooklyn Law School, and for two years was an associate dean. His courses included Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Civil Liberties, First Amendment and Appellate Advocacy. In the fall of 1993, he taught as a visiting professor at the University of New Mexico School of Law in Albuquerque.
He is author of approximately 300 articles, essays, and reviews. He has published legal and political commentary on current issues in print and electronic media, and has often been interviewed on radio and television.
Several of his out-of-print books are The Gold Clause: Government’s Money Monopoly; Sweet Land of Liberty? The Supreme Court and Individual Rights; Speaking Freely: The Case Against Speech Codes; Why Not Call it Treason? Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Today. With his wife, Erika Holzer, he is co-author of “Aid and Comfort”: Jane Fonda in North Vietnam; and Fake Warriors: Identifying, Exposing, and Punishing Those Who Falsify Their Military Service.
His book The Supreme Court Opinions of Clarence Thomas, 1919-2006, was published in 2007. The second edition, covering the years 1991-2011 was published in 2012. Also published in 2012, in a print edition and eBook, was Professor Holzer’s book The American Constitution and Ayn Rand’s “Inner Contradiction.”
Richard and Frances Mallery Professor of Law and Faculty Director, Constitutional Law Center, Stanford Law School
Michael W. McConnell is the Richard and Frances Mallery Professor and Faculty Director of the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School, and a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. From 2002 to 2009, he served as a Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He was nominated by President George W. Bush, a Republican, and confirmed by a Democratic Senate by unanimous consent. McConnell has previously held chaired professorships at the University of Chicago and the University of Utah, and visiting professorships at Harvard and NYU. He teaches courses on constitutional law, constitutional history, First Amendment, and interpretive theory. He has published widely in the fields of constitutional law and theory, especially church and state, equal protection, and separation of powers. His book, “The President Who Would Not Be King: Executive Power Under the Constitution,” was published by Princeton University Press in 2020, based on the Tanner Lectures in Human Values, which he delivered at Princeton in 2019. His latest book, co-authored with Nathan Chapman, “Agreeing to Disagree: How the Establishment Clause Protects Religious Diversity and Freedom of Conscience,” was published by Oxford University Press in mid-2023. McConnell has argued sixteen cases in the United States Supreme Court, most recently Carney v. Adams (2020). defending a provision of the Delaware Constitution requiring political balance on that state’s courts. More recently, he was co-counsel in Gonzalez v. Google. He earned his B.A. from Michigan State University and his J.D. from the University of Chicago, and has received honorary degrees from Notre Dame University and Michigan State. He served as law clerk to Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. and D.C. Circuit Chief Judge J. Skelly Wright. He has been Assistant General Counsel of the Office of Management & Budget, Assistant to the Solicitor General of the Department of Justice, and a member of the President’s Intelligence Oversight Board. He is Senior of Counsel to the law firm Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, and is co-chair of Meta’s Oversight Review Board.
Senior Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
John T. Noonan, Jr. was a federal judge on senior status with the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. He joined the court in 1985 after being nominated by President Ronald Reagan. He assumed senior status on December 27, 1996, and served as a senior judge until his death on April 17, 2017.
Senior Counsel, American Civil Liberties Union
Arthur B. Spitzer was the Legal Director of the ACLU of the District of Columbia from April Fool’s Day, 1980 until April 2020, when he became Senior Counsel. His work has spanned the range of ACLU issues, including freedom of speech and religion, police misconduct, national security, due process, privacy, prisoners’ rights, the rights of government employees, freedom of information, discrimination based on race, sex, religion, sexual orientation and gender preference, and more.
He has represented such varied clients as Mohamedou Ould Slahi (a Guantánamo detainee held without charge for 14 years), Louis Farrakhan (when he was barred from attending then-D.C. Mayor Marion Barry’s criminal trial), the Ku Klux Klan (when it was denied a permit to march in D.C.), the National Black Police Association (challenging ultra-low D.C. election campaign contribution limits), the White House Vigil for the Equal Rights Amendment (challenging restrictive regulations for demonstrating near the White House), People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (when its design for an abused circus elephant was rejected from a public art display), Milo Yiannopoulos (whose advertisement for his new book was denied advertising by the D.C. transit authority), and both John and Jane Doe.
In Abbate v. Ramsey, Art represented some of the nearly 400 protestors arrested at an anti-World Bank demonstration in Pershing Park in 2002, challenging their illegal arrest and inhumane detention, and resulting in a settlement that included major changes in D.C. police practices in demonstration situations. He also had a major hand in crafting the legislation that created the D.C. police civilian review board (now known as the Office of Police Complaints) and the First Amendment Rights and Police Practices Act, a model statute governing D.C. police conduct during the peaceful exercise of free speech rights.
Other cases include Harmon v. Thornburgh (challenging random drug testing of Justice Department employees), Walsh v. Montrose Christian School (representing longtime school secretaries and a cafeteria worker at a Christian School who were fired because they were not members of the church), Schroer v. Billington (representing a trans woman who was fired by the Library of Congress when she disclosed her status), Center for National Security Studies v. U.S. Department of Justice (challenging the secret detention of immigrants after 9/11), Wimberly v. D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics (blocking a proposed ballot initiative to permit organized group prayer in D.C. public schools), and LaShawn A. v. Bowser (a still-ongoing class action filed in 1989 to reform D.C.’s dysfunctional foster care system).
In the Supreme Court, Art successfully argued Ake v. Oklahoma, which ruled that poor criminal defendants are entitled to free expert witnesses when needed for their defense, just as they’re entitled to free lawyers.
Art was born in Brooklyn (yay!), raised in Queens, and educated at Cornell University and Yale Law School. Before ascending to the ACLU, he practiced for several years at the law firm now known as WilmerHale. He has taught a course in “Demonstration Law” at the University of the District of Columbia School of Law.
His dog is Taxi; his cats are Tigris and Euphrates. He is not and has never been related to former New York governor Elliot Spitzer.
Shareholder, Boyle, Leonard & Anderson, PA
President, TechFreedom
Berin Szoka serves as President of TechFreedom. Previously, he was a Senior Fellow and the Director of the Center for Internet Freedom at The Progress & Freedom Foundation. Before joining PFF, he was an Associate in the Communications Practice Group at Latham & Watkins LLP, where he advised clients on regulations affecting the Internet and telecommunications industries. Before joining Latham's Communications Practice Group, Szoka practiced at Lawler Metzger Milkman & Keeney, LLC, a boutique telecommunications law firm in Washington, and clerked for the Hon. H. Dale Cook, Senior U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Oklahoma. Szoka received his Bachelor's degree in economics from Duke University and his juris doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served as Submissions Editor of the Virginia Journal of Law and Technology. He is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia and California (inactive).
Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow, The Hoover Institution, Stanford University; Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus, UCLA School of Law
Eugene Volokh is the Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution (Stanford), as well as the Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus and Distinguished Research Professor at UCLA School of Law. He recently retired from teaching at UCLA, after 30 years there, and is now focusing on research.
Volokh is the author of the textbooks The First Amendment and Related Statutes (8th ed. 2023), and Academic Legal Writing (5th ed. 2016), as well as over 100 academic law journal articles, mostly on First Amendment law. He is a member of The American Law Institute; the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Free Speech Law; and the creator and coauthor of The Volokh Conspiracy, a leading legal blog founded in 2002 (hosted at the Washington Post from 2014 to 2017 and now at Reason Magazine).
Founding Partner, Lodestar Law and Economics PLLC
Josh is the founder of Lodestar Law and Economics, PLLC. On January 1, 2013, the U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed Wright as a Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). He is a leading scholar in antitrust law, economics, intellectual property, regulation, and consumer protection, and has published more than 100 articles and book chapters, co-authored a leading antitrust casebook, and edited several book volumes focusing on these issues. Commentators have recognized Wright as “widely considered his generation’s greatest mind on antitrust law,” and his academic work ranks him as one of the most cited antitrust academics in the world. Wright was also awarded the Paul M. Bator Award by the Federalist Society in 2014 to “an academic who demonstrated excellence in legal scholarship, a commitment to teaching, a concern for students, and who has made a significant public impact.” Wright also served as the Executive Director of the Global Antitrust Institute, the world’s premiere academic institute focused upon antitrust education for judges and regulators and has taught hundreds of judges and thousands of regulators from dozens of countries.
Wright’s practice focuses upon helping clients solve complex competition, consumer protection, and regulatory problems by providing legal and economic analysis, strategic advice and counseling, and economic expert testimony.
The Right to Earn an Honest Living: Occupational Licensing Versus the American Dream
Paul Avelar, Chad W. Pekron
On March 1, 2021, the Federalist Society's Little Rock Lawyers Chapter hosted Paul Avelar to...
The Right to Earn an Honest Living: Occupational Licensing Versus the American Dream
Paul Avelar, Chad W. Pekron
On March 1, 2021, the Federalist Society's Little Rock Lawyers Chapter hosted Paul Avelar to...
The Supreme Court of Georgia, A Retrospective
Josh B. Belinfante, Keith R. Blackwell
On February 25, 2021, The Federalist Society's Atlanta Lawyers Chapter hosted Hon. Keith Blackwell, Former...
The Supreme Court of Georgia, A Retrospective
Josh B. Belinfante, Keith R. Blackwell
On February 25, 2021, The Federalist Society's Atlanta Lawyers Chapter hosted Hon. Keith Blackwell, Former...
Debate: Social Media, Free Speech, and Section 230
Southwest Florida Lawyers Chapter - Online Event
Regulating Big Tech: Lessons from the “Hall of Fallen Giants”
Adam Thierer
In recent years, concerns about "Big Tech" have sparked debate about competition and monopolies. Are...
Big Tech's Antitrust Moment
Minnesota Lawyers Chapter
Past is Prologue: A Discussion of the First Amendment and a Revised Proposal for Rule 8.4
Miles Coleman, Casey Mattox, Eugene Volokh
On February 19, 2021, the Charleston, Greenville, and Columbia Lawyers Chapters hosted Eugene Volokh and...
Past is Prologue: A Discussion of the First Amendment and a Revised Proposal for Rule 8.4
Miles Coleman, Casey Mattox, Eugene Volokh
On February 19, 2021, the Charleston, Greenville, and Columbia Lawyers Chapters hosted Eugene Volokh and...
Panel II: The Freedom of Religion [Archive Collection]
Robert L. Cord, Mitchell L. Edwards, Henry Mark Holzer, Michael W. McConnell, John T. Noonan, Arthur B. Spitzer
On March 7-8, 1986, The Federalist Society hosted its annual National Student Symposium at Stanford...