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.
Manatt/Ahn Professor of International Law, The George Washington University Law School
Sean D. Murphy teaches, writes, and practices in the fields of public international law and U.S. foreign relations law.
Before joining The George Washington University Law School faculty in 1998, Professor Murphy served as legal counselor at the U.S. Embassy in The Hague, arguing several cases before the International Court of Justice and representing the U.S. government in matters before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. He also served as U.S. agent to the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal, arguing cases on behalf of the U.S. government and providing advice to U.S. nationals appearing before that tribunal. Between 1987 and 1995, he served in the U.S. Department of State Office of the Legal Adviser, primarily advising on matters relating to oceans and international environmental law, international claims, and international humanitarian law. Since leaving the U.S. Government, Professor Murphy has represented several countries in international courts and tribunals, including Ethiopia, Jordan, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Suriname, and the United States, has served as an arbitrator in inter-State and investor-State arbitrations, and is currently an ad hoc judge on the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
Professor Murphy has published numerous articles on international law; his article on international environmental liability won the American Journal of International Law (AJIL) 1994 Deak Prize for best scholarship by a younger author. His book Humanitarian Intervention: The United Nations in an Evolving World Order won the 1997 American Society of International Law 1997 certificate for preeminent contribution to creative scholarship. His most recent books are Principles of International Law (3d ed. 2018); International Law: Cases and Materials (7th ed. 2018) (with Damrosch); International Law relating to Islands (2017); Foreign Relations and National Security Law: Cases, Materials and Simulations (5th ed. 2017) (with Swaine and Wuerth); and Litigating War: Arbitration of Civil Injury by the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission (2013) (with Kidane and Snider).
Professor Murphy is a Member of the U.N. International Law Commission, and was appointed its special rapporteur for crimes against humanity. Professor Murphy served for ten years on the AJIL Board of Editors and, during 2018-20, as President of the American Society of International Law.
Senior Of Counsel, Covington & Burling LLP
With wide-ranging experience working on national security issues in the White House, the State Department, and the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, Stephen Rademaker helps clients navigate international policy, sanctions, and CFIUS challenges.
Among his accomplishments in public service, Mr. Rademaker had lead responsibility, as a U.S. House staffer, for drafting the legislation that created the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Serving as an Assistant Secretary of State from 2002 through 2006, he headed at various times three bureaus of the State Department, including the Bureau of Arms Control and the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation. He directed the Proliferation Security Initiative, as well as nonproliferation policy toward Iran and North Korea, and led strategic dialogues with Russia, China, India, and Pakistan. He also headed U.S. delegations to numerous international conferences, including the 2005 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
Mr. Rademaker concluded his government career on Capitol Hill in 2007, serving as Senior Counsel and Policy Director for National Security Affairs for then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN). In this role, he helped manage all aspects of the legislative process relating to foreign policy, defense, intelligence and national security. He earlier served as Chief Counsel for the House Select Committee on Homeland Security of the U.S. House of Representatives and as Deputy Staff Director and Chief Counsel of the House Committee on International Relations.
During President George H. W. Bush’s administration, Mr. Rademaker served as General Counsel of the Peace Corps, Associate Counsel to the President in the Office of White House Counsel, and as Deputy Legal Adviser to the National Security Council. After leaving government in 2007, he continued to serve as the U.S. representative on the United Nations Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters, and he was subsequently appointed by House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) to the U.S. Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism.
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.
Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission
Paul S. Atkins was sworn into office as the 34th Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 21, 2025, after being nominated by President Donald J. Trump on January 20, 2025, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 9, 2025.
Prior to returning to the SEC, Chairman Atkins was most recently chief executive of Patomak Global Partners, a company he founded in 2009. Chairman Atkins helped lead efforts to develop best practices for the digital asset sector. He served as an independent director and non-executive chairman of the board of BATS Global Markets, Inc. from 2012 to 2015.
Chairman Atkins was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as a Commissioner of the SEC from 2002 to 2008. During his tenure, he advocated for transparency, consistency, and the use of cost-benefit analysis at the agency. Chairman Atkins also represented the SEC at meetings of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets and the U.S.-EU Transatlantic Economic Council. From 2009 to 2010, he was appointed a member of the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Before serving as an SEC Commissioner, Chairman Atkins was a consultant on securities and investment management industry matters, especially regarding issues of strategy, regulatory compliance, risk management, new product development, and organizational control.
From 1990 to 1994, Chairman Atkins served on the staff of two chairmen of the SEC, Richard C. Breeden and Arthur Levitt, ultimately as chief of staff and counselor, respectively. He received the SEC’s 1992 Law and Policy Award for work regarding corporate governance matters.
Chairman Atkins began his career as a lawyer in New York, focusing on a wide range of corporate transactions for U.S. and foreign clients, including public and private securities offerings and mergers and acquisitions. He was resident for 2½ years in his firm's Paris office and admitted as conseil juridique in France.
A member of the New York and Florida bars, Chairman Atkins received his J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1983 and was Senior Student Writing Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review. He received his A.B., Phi Beta Kappa, from Wofford College in 1980.
Originally from Lillington, North Carolina, Chairman Atkins grew up in Tampa, Florida. He and his wife Sarah have three sons.
Commissioner, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Elad L. Roisman was appointed by President Donald J. Trump to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and was sworn into office on September 11, 2018. Mr. Roisman was designated Acting Chairman of the Commission by President Trump on December 23, 2020, effective December 24, 2020.
Commissioner Roisman joined the SEC from the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, where he served as Chief Counsel. In that role, and as Securities Counsel on the Committee, he advised multiple Committee Chairmen as well as members of the Committee, on securities, financial regulation, and international financial matters. Commissioner Roisman worked on drafting several pieces of legislation that became law and played an integral role in the drafting and negotiation of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act.
Before working in the Senate, he served as Counsel to SEC Commissioner Daniel M. Gallagher, focusing on enforcement and policy relating to the U.S. equity and fixed income markets, the asset management industry, and international regulation of capital markets. Prior to joining the SEC, he held positions as a Chief Counsel at NYSE Euronext and as an associate at the law firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP in New York.
Commissioner Roisman earned his bachelor’s degree in History at Cornell University and his juris doctorate at the Boston University School of Law.
Former Chief Justice, Delaware Supreme Court; Of Counsel, Potter Anderson
Myron T. Steele is of counsel in the firm's Corporate Litigation Group. He is the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Delaware.
Previously, he served as a Judge of the Superior Court and a Vice Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery after eighteen years in private litigation practice. He has presided over major corporate litigation and LLC and limited partner governance disputes, and writes frequently on issues of corporate document interpretation and corporate governance.
Chief Justice Steele has published over 400 opinions resolving disputes among members of limited liability companies, and limited partnerships, and between shareholders and management of both publicly traded and close corporations. He speaks and writes frequently on issues of corporate document interpretation and corporate governance. His thesis for the LL.M. degree, Judicial Scrutiny of Fiduciary Duties in Delaware Limited Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies, focused on the application of common law fiduciary duties within the contractual framework of alternative business organizations. It was published in the Delaware Journal of Corporate Law (32 Del. J. Corp. L. 1 (2007)). The November 2005 issue of The Business Lawyer included an article he co-authored with Sean J. Griffith entitled On Corporate Law Federalism: Threatening the Thaumatrope (61 Bus. Law. 1 (2005)). He co-authored an article with J.W. Verret entitled Delaware’s Guidance: Ensuring Equity for the Modern Witenagemot published in the Fall 2007 issue of the Virginia Law & Business Review (2 Va. L. & Bus. Rev. 188 (2007)). That article formed the basis for a keynote speech to the Business Law Section at the 2007 ABA Annual Meeting.
For the last ten years he served as judicial advisor to the Mergers and Acquisitions Committee of the ABA Business Law Section. He also co-authored an article entitled “Freedom of Contract and Default Contractual Duties in Delaware Limited Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies” (46 Am. Bus. L.J. 221 (Summer 2009)) and an essay entitled “The Moral Underpinning of Delaware’s Modern Corporate Fiduciary Duties” (26 Notre Dame J.L. Ethics & Pub. Pol’y 3 (2012)).
Chief Justice Steele served as Adjunct Professor of Law at University of Pennsylvania Law School from 2009–2013; University of Virginia Law School 2010–2017; and Pepperdine University Law School 2010–2014.
Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law
Aditya Bamzai is a professor of law at the University of Virginia. He teaches administrative law, civil procedure, computer crime and conflicts of law, and he has written about these and related subjects. He has argued cases relating to the separation of powers and national security in the U.S. Supreme Court, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, D.C. Circuit and other federal courts of appeals. From 2019 to 2021, he served as a Member of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, a federal agency charged with ensuring that the government’s national security efforts are balanced with the need to protect privacy and civil liberties. Before entering the academy, Bamzai was an attorney-adviser in the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice, and an appellate attorney in both private practice and for the National Security Division of the Department of Justice. Earlier in his career, he was a law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court of the United States and to Judge Jeffrey Sutton of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Supreme Court & Appellate Litigation Chair, Lex Politica; Of Counsel, Alliance Defending Freedom
Erin Morrow Hawley serves as Chair of Lex Politica's Supreme Court and Appellate Practice overseeing the firm’s strategic appellate litigation and critical motions practice in the trial courts. Erin is an experienced litigator who represents clients in constitutional, regulatory, and appellate matters in federal and state courts throughout the country.
Erin has represented dozens of clients before the Supreme Court of the United States, served as lead counsel in high-profile cases raising novel constitutional and statutory issues, and authored numerous successful petitions for certiorari and briefs in opposition. She has argued in state and federal appellate and trial courts throughout the country, including the Supreme Court of the United States. Erin represents diverse clients in high-stakes litigation from state governments to faith-based nonprofits to Fortune 100 companies. She possesses expertise on a wide range of subject matters including administrative law, the First Amendment, religious liberty, federal jurisdiction, federal preemption, equitable jurisdiction, tax law, the Affordable Care Act, and Title IX.
Erin represents clients in cases where public communications strategy is paramount. She is a sought-after speaker and writer, has testified multiple times before Congress, and is a frequent presenter on constitutional and administrative law issues, including at the Oxford Union, the National Federalist Society Convention, and university campuses across the country. She is a frequent commentator to media outlets, including Fox News, MSNBC, the Wall Street Journal, WORLD, USA Today, the Federalist, and the Hill.
Erin previously oversaw Alliance Defending Freedom’s--where she still serves as Of Counsel--litigation strategies to empower women and protect the dignity of life, defend pregnancy centers’ First Amendment rights from government overreach, and safeguard Americans’ freedoms from the ever-encroaching administrative state.
Professor of Law, University of Chicago Law School
Jennifer Nou is Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School. Nou’s main research interests are in administrative law, executive branch dynamics, regulatory policy, and constitutional separation-of-powers. Prior to joining the faculty, she was a Public Law Fellow at the Law School and also worked as a policy analyst and special assistant at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Nou is a graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School, and received an MPhil in Politics from Oxford University as a Marshall Scholar. After law school, she was a law clerk to Judge Richard Posner of the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and then to Justice Stephen Breyer of the US Supreme Court. She is currently a public member of the Administrative Conference of the United States.
Former Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, DC Circuit
Robert Heron Bork served as Solicitor General, acting Attorney General, and judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Judge Bork passed away in December 2012.
Tribute to Judge Robert Bork by John McGinnis - Event Audio/Video
Celebration of the Life of Robert Heron Bork 1927-2012
Judge Robert H. Bork: His Life and Legacy - Practice Group Podcast
A Conference Discussing the Contributions of Judge Robert H. Bork - June 26, 2007
President, The Free Press
Erwin A. Glikes was a leading publisher of nonfiction books for a quarter-century, whose authors included some of the most prestigious figures in American intellectual life.
Former Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, DC Circuit
Robert Heron Bork served as Solicitor General, acting Attorney General, and judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Judge Bork passed away in December 2012.
Tribute to Judge Robert Bork by John McGinnis - Event Audio/Video
Celebration of the Life of Robert Heron Bork 1927-2012
Judge Robert H. Bork: His Life and Legacy - Practice Group Podcast
A Conference Discussing the Contributions of Judge Robert H. Bork - June 26, 2007
President, The Free Press
Erwin A. Glikes was a leading publisher of nonfiction books for a quarter-century, whose authors included some of the most prestigious figures in American intellectual life.
Partner, Arnold & Porter LLP
John Bellinger heads the firm's Global Law and Public Policy practice. He joined the firm in 2009, after holding several senior Presidential appointments in the US government, including as the Senate-confirmed Legal Adviser to the Department of State and Senior Associate Counsel to the President and Legal Adviser to the National Security Council (NSC) at the White House in the George W. Bush Administration.
Mr. Bellinger represents individuals, corporations, and sovereign governments in litigation in US courts and before international institutions. He has extensive experience in US foreign relations litigation involving the Alien Tort Statute, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, the Anti-Terrorism Act, and the diplomatic and official immunities of foreign governments and government officials. He advises clients on other public international law matters, including treaties and international agreements as well as international humanitarian law and human rights law. He also counsels US and foreign clients on national security legal and policy issues, including US and multilateral financial sanctions and asset controls, the extraterritorial application of US criminal and civil laws, and transactions reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
Chambers Global ranks Mr. Bellinger among the best international lawyers in the world, reporting that he has "second-to-none experience in public international law, international litigation and foreign sovereign immunity" and that his "experience at the highest levels of the Executive branch...gives him a distinct and important vantage point on legal issues." Chambers adds: "For any cross border work he's just extraordinary, he knows the area inside-out."
Mr. Bellinger was the State Department Legal Adviser–the most senior international lawyer in the US Government–from 2005 to 2009, serving under Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He directed more than 170 lawyers on domestic and international law matters affecting US foreign relations. Before joining the State Department, Mr. Bellinger managed Secretary Rice's Senate confirmation process and co-directed her State Department transition team. In 2009, Mr. Bellinger received the Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award.
Mr. Bellinger has argued cases before the International Court of Justice (Mexico v. United States–(Medellin)) and the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in The Hague. He has appeared on numerous briefs in US federal courts, including the Supreme Court, in litigation involving international law issues.
As Legal Adviser to the NSC from 2001 to 2005, Mr. Bellinger advised President Bush, Cabinet officials, National Security Advisor Rice, and NSC staff on a wide range of national security and international law issues, including counterterrorism issues after the 9-11 attacks. He was one of the principal drafters of the legislation that created the Director of National Intelligence.
Prior to his service in the Bush Administration, Mr. Bellinger served as Counsel for National Security Matters in the Criminal Division at the US Department of Justice (1997-2001); Of Counsel to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (1996); General Counsel of the Commission on the Roles and Capabilities of the US Intelligence Community (1995-1996); and Special Assistant to Director of Central Intelligence William Webster (1988-1991). Mr. Bellinger is an Adjunct Senior Fellow in International and National Security Law at the Council on Foreign Relations. He has testified before Congress on numerous occasions, is quoted regularly in the media on international and national security law matters, and has lectured at numerous US and foreign universities and law schools. He is the author of many law review articles and op-eds on international law, including op-eds in The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Bellinger is a senior contributor to the Lawfare blog.
Mr. Bellinger is a member of the Secretary of State's Advisory Committee on International Law. He served from 2005-2019 as one of four US Members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague and a member of the US "National Group", which nominates judges to the International Court of Justice. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Society of International Law. He is a member of the Council of the American Law Institute; the boards of directors of the American Ditchley Foundation, the Salzburg Global Seminar, and the Stimson Center; and the advisory committee of Foreign Affairs magazine.
Mr. Bellinger is a graduate of Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and he holds an MA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia and a JD from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard International Law Journal.
US Department of State, Ambassador At-Large for Global Criminal Justice
Dr. Beth Van Schaack was sworn in as the Department’s sixth Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice (GCJ) on March 17, 2022. In this role, she advises the Secretary of State and other Department leadership on issues related to the prevention of and response to atrocity crimes, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
Ambassador Van Schaack served as Deputy to the Ambassador-at-Large in GCJ from 2012 to 2013. Prior to returning to public service in 2022, Ambassador Van Schaack was the Leah Kaplan Visiting Professor in Human Rights at Stanford Law School, where she taught international criminal law, human rights, human trafficking, and a policy lab on Legal & Policy Tools for Preventing Atrocities. In addition, she directed Stanford’s International Human Rights & Conflict Resolution Clinic. Ambassador Van Schaack began her academic career at Santa Clara University School of Law, where, in addition to teaching and writing on international human rights issues, she served as the Academic Adviser to the United States interagency delegation to the International Criminal Court Review Conference in Kampala, Uganda. Earlier in her career, she was a practicing lawyer at Morrison & Foerster, LLP; the Center for Justice & Accountability, a human rights law firm; and the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague.
Ambassador Van Schaack has published numerous articles and papers on international human rights and justice issues, including her 2020 thesis, Imagining Justice for Syria (Oxford University Press). From 2014 to 2022, she served as Executive Editor for Just Security, an online forum for the analysis of national security, foreign policy, and rights. She is a graduate of Stanford (BA), Yale (JD) and Leiden (PhD) Universities.
The Federalist Paper, Winter 2021
The 2020 National Lawyers Convention was unlike any we’ve ever had. It was a week...
The Right to Earn an Honest Living: Occupational Licensing Versus the American Dream
Little Rock Lawyers Chapter - Online Event
United States v. Arthrex Inc. [SCOTUSbrief]
Aditya Bamzai
Under the appointments clause of the Constitution, there are two types of executive officers: principal...
Necessary & Proper Episode 63: Kisor and Gundy – The Future of Administrative Law?
Erin M. Hawley, Jennifer Nou
On February 15, 2021, Erin M. Hawley and Jennifer Nou joined the Federalist Society's Chicago...
Peace Through States: Serbia/Kosovo Reconciliation and EU Membership
Address by Judge Robert H. Bork [Archive Collection]
Robert H. Bork, Erwin A. Glikes
On January 19-20, 1990, The Federalist Society hosted a conference at the Mayflower Hotel in...
Address by Judge Robert H. Bork [Archive Collection]
Robert H. Bork, Erwin A. Glikes
On January 19-20, 1990, The Federalist Society hosted a conference at the Mayflower Hotel in...
The Supreme Court of Georgia, A Retrospective
Atlanta Lawyers Chapter
Law and Corporate Social Responsibility
Practice Groups and In-House Counsel Working Group Teleforum
TeleforumChina's Treatment of Turkic Muslims
John B. Bellinger, Beth Van Schaack
The Federalist Society hosts Prof. Beth Van Schaack and Mr. John Bellinger for a discussion...