Laurence H. Silberman Chair in Constitutional Governance and Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute; Co-Director, Antonin Scalia Law School’s C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State
Adam J. White is the Laurence H. Silberman Chair in Constitutional Governance and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on the Supreme Court and the administrative state. Concurrently, he codirects the Antonin Scalia Law School’s C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State.
Mr. White practiced constitutional and administrative law, particularly in the regulation of energy and financial markets. He started his legal career as a law clerk for Judge David B. Sentelle at the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.
Mr. White has written for the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, National Affairs, Commentary, Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, and Notre Dame Law Review, among other publications. He is a regular contributor to the Yale Journal on Regulation’s Notice and Comment blog, and for many years, he was one of the Weekly Standard’s lead writers on constitutional law and the Supreme Court.
Mr. White has testified often before Congress, including before the Senate’s Committees on the Judiciary; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and before the House’s Judiciary and Financial Services Committees. In 2018, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary called him to testify in Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings to advise senators on Kavanaugh’s approach to administrative law.
In 2021, he served on the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States, where he criticized “Court packing” and other efforts to restructure the Supreme Court. In 2017, he was appointed to serve on the Administrative Conference of the United States. He also serves on the leadership council for the American Bar Association’s Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Section, which he will chair in 2023–24. Before joining AEI, he was a research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
Mr. White has a JD from Harvard Law School and a bachelor of business administration from the College of Business at the University of Iowa.
District Court Judge, United States Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit
Bianco has served as a United States District Court judge for the Eastern District of New York since 2006. Most notably, he presided over several cases involving the MS-13 gang.
Prior to his confirmation to the bench, he spent portions of his career working in government, as both senior counsel/deputy assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice Criminal Division from 2004 to 2006, and as an assistant United States attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1994 to 2003. Bianco also worked in private practice as counsel at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP from 2003 to 2004, and as an associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP from 1991 to 1992 and 1993 to 1994.
Bianco clerked for Judge Peter K. Leisure on the District Court for the Southern District of New York from 1992 to 1993. He received his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law in 1991 and his B.A. from Georgetown University in 1988.
Bianco has been a member of the Federalist Society since 2004.
Professor of Law, Hofstra University School of Law
Professor Colombo joined the Hofstra University School of Law faculty in the Fall of 2006. He teaches courses in corporate, securities, and contract law. His research and scholarship focuses primarily on corporate and securities law and, more specifically, the application of non-economic principles and norms to these fields.
Before coming to Hofstra, Professor Colombo served in the Complex Global Litigation Group of Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc., as vice president and counsel. In this position, Professor Colombo supervised investigations, litigations, and regulatory inquiries affecting Morgan Stanley's investment banking franchise. Prior to that, Professor Colombo practiced as a litigation associate at the New York office of Sullivan & Cromwell, where, among other things, he represented corporate and banking clients in civil and criminal investigations conducted by the S.E.C., the U.S. Attorney's Office, and the Federal Reserve Bank; in matters before state courts, federal courts, and arbitration panels; and in appeals before the Third Circuit, the D.C. Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. From 2000-2003, Professor Colombo also served on the Committee on Professional and Judicial Ethics of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.
Executive General Counsel, First Liberty Institute
Hiram Sasser is Executive General Counsel for First Liberty Institute, where he oversees First Liberty’s litigation and media efforts. Sasser’s practice focuses on First Amendment and other constitutional and civil rights issues relating to religious liberty. Sasser served as co-counsel in seven victories before the United States Supreme Court, including Groff v. DeJoy (landmark case overturning the “de minimis cost” test for Title VII in place almost 50 years), Kennedy v. Bremerton (landmark case overturning 50 years of Establishment Clause precedent), Carson v. Makin (overturning 40 years of Maine’s discrimination against parents choosing faith-based schools), American Legion v. American Humanist Association (landmark case ending Establishment Clause attacks on veterans’ memorials with religious imagery), Klein v. Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (granted, vacated, and remanded (twice) in religious wedding service case), and Sause v. Bauer (summary reversal revoking qualified immunity for police who ordered a citizen not to pray in her own home).
In addition to his legal duties, Sasser develops, coordinates, and implements successful media strategies on behalf of his clients. This includes numerous appearances on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, CNN, and the BBC as well as being heard on various radio stations throughout the United States, Asia, Africa, and Europe.
In 2016, Sasser took a leave of absence to serve a temporary assignment as the Chief of Staff for the Attorney General of Texas. He currently serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at both The University of Texas at Austin School of Law (teaching Religious Liberty) and Oklahoma City University School of Law (teaching Civil Rights Procedure).
Co-Chairman, The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies
Leonard is Co-Chairman and former Executive Vice President of the Federalist Society, joining the organization over 25 years ago. Since that time he has been instrumental in helping the organization top 70,000, focusing on the growth of lawyers membership, operations and activities advancing limited, constitutional government. In addition to his work at the Society, Leonard has advised President Trump on judicial selection, assisted with the Gorsuch and Kavanaugh Supreme Court selection and confirmation process, and served as a member of the transition team. He also organized the outside coalition efforts in support of the Roberts and Alito U.S. Supreme Court confirmations. Leonard was appointed by President George W. Bush to three terms to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom as chairman. He was also a U.S. Delegate to the UN Council and UN Commission on Human Rights during the Bush Administration. Leonard was the recipient of the 2009 Bradley Prize, along with the other founders and directors of the Federalist Society, for his work in advancing freedom and the rule of law. He is the coeditor of Presidential Leadership: Rating the Best and the Worst in the White House, as well as the author of opinion editorials in the New York Times,The Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. Leonard holds degrees from Cornell University and Cornell Law School. He presently resides in Northern Virginia, where he and his wife Sally have raised their seven children.
David McIntosh is a leader for the principles of limited constitutional government and individual freedom. He is president of the Club for Growth, the leading advocate for economic liberty.
Former Congressman David McIntosh represented Indiana's 2nd Congressional District in the United States Congress from 1995-2001. As a Freshman, David chaired the Subcommittee on Regulatory Relief. He passed the Congressional Review Act and held extensive oversight and field hearings to build a record of public support for regulatory relief initiatives in energy, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, healthcare, transportation and technology sectors. Another issue that he championed was the elimination of the marriage penalty in the Federal Tax Code.
David served during the Reagan administration as special assistant to Attorney General Edwin Meese III, and as special assistant to President Reagan for Domestic Affairs. During the first Bush administration, he served as executive director of the President's Council on Competitiveness and assistant to the Vice President. The Competitiveness Council coordinated the cost/benefit review of major regulations and promoted legal reform measures.
David is a co-founder of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy and serves on the Board of Directors. He remains active with several free market and conservative think tanks and grassroots organizations. David has also had stints at the Hudson Institute and as a Professor of Economics at Ball State School of Business.
Prior to the Club for Growth, David was a partner at Mayer Brown, LLP in Washington, DC.
David graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 1983, and Yale University, BA, cum laude, in 1980. He and his wife, Ruthie, are the proud parents of Ellie age 17 and Davey age 13.
Co-Chair, Actum LLC; Former Director, Office of Management and Budget
Mick Mulvaney is a co-chair at Actum LLC, a global consultancy designed to solve diverse public and private sector challenges. Mulvaney previously served as Acting White House Chief of Staff from January 2019 until March 2020.
Mulvaney also served as director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). He was nominated to the post by President Donald J. Trump in December 2016 and confirmed by the Senate on February 16, 2017. Prior to his time as the director of OMB, he served the people of the 5th District of South Carolina as their Congressman where he was first elected in 2010, he is the first Republican member to hold the seat in 128 years.
A lifelong Carolinas resident, he attended Georgetown University, graduating with honors in International Economics, Commerce, and Finance and graduated as an Honor Scholar – the highest award given to students of the Georgetown School of Foreign Service.
After college, Mick received his law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on a full academic scholarship. He completed his formal education at Harvard Business School's OPM program in 2006.
In addition to practicing law and opening his own firm, he also ran the family real estate business, started a small homebuilding company, and became a minority shareholder in a local family restaurant franchise.
While in Congress, he served on the Budget Committee, Joint Economic Committee, Small Business Committee, Financial Services Committee, and the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
He was a founding member of the Indian Land Rotary, a member of St. Philip Neri Catholic Church, and founding member of Our Lady of Grace Catholic Mission.
Mick and Pam were married in 1998, and are the proud parents of triplets: James, Caroline, and Finnegan, and two great danes: Guiness and Harper.
Kathleen Q. Abernathy recently returned to Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP as special counsel. She was previously elected to the Board of Directors of Frontier Communications as an independent director in 2006 following her term as a Commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission from 2001 to 2005. In 2010 she joined the company as Chief Legal Officer and Executive Vice President, Regulatory and Governmental Affairs. Prior to her term as an FCC Commissioner, Ms. Abernathy worked for a number of different telecommunications companies and law firms. She has received numerous awards in recognition of her professional accomplishments and has taught as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center and Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law. She received her B.S. from Marquette University and her J.D. from Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law.
Senior Vice President, Federal Government Relations, Verizon
Joining Verizon in 2005, Mr. Fisher currently serves as Senior Vice President of Federal Government Relations. He manages Verizon's advocacy and relations in the United States Congress, the Administration and the company's interaction with over two dozen state and local groups such as the National Governors Association, National Conference of Mayors, and the National Council of State Legislators. He is also responsible for overseeing Verizon’s federal, state and local tax policy advocacy. In this position, he coordinates Verizon's overall legislative and Administration strategy, implementation and policy development relating to a wide range of telecommunications and business issues that impact the company. Mr. Fisher is also Vice-Chairman of Verizon’s Political Action Committee.
Before joining Verizon, Mr. Fisher was Director of Government Affairs for Clear Channel Communications (now iHeart Media). Joining Clear Channel in 2003, Mr. Fisher assisted with the opening of Clear Channel’s Washington, DC office and helped establish the company’s public policy positions on a number of broadcasting related issues before Congress.
From 1997-2003, Mr. Fisher served on the staff of United States Senator John McCain. He served as a Professional Staff Member on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee where he worked on the Subcommittee on Communications. In this role, Mr. Fisher advised then Chairman McCain on a wide-range of telecommunications issues that included: wireline, wireless, cable, satellite, broadcasting, and high tech. He also advised the staff of other Members of the Committee and assisted with the drafting of major telecommunications legislation.
Prior to working on the Senate Commerce Committee, Mr. Fisher served on the personal staff of Senator McCain’s office in Phoenix, AZ. As Legislative Liaison, Mr. Fisher worked closely with city, county, and statewide elected officials on federal policy that affected Arizona and its localities. Before working in the Senator’s state office, Mr. Fisher worked on Senator McCain’s 1998 reelection campaign where he helped coordinate grassroots efforts, get out the vote program and fundraising.
Mr. Fisher is also a veteran of political campaigns having served as a campaign manager for a Republican Congressional candidate and as a consultant to various local and statewide campaigns in Arizona. He has also served as an informal policy advisor to three Republican Presidential campaigns.
Mr. Fisher is on the board of the National Association of Manufacturers, a member of the U.S. Chamber Public Affairs Council and an alumni of the American Council on Germany. Outside of the office, Mr. Fisher and his wife are co-founders of a Virginia 501(c)(3) non-profit called Operation Christmas Hope which serves underprivileged families in Alexandria. He also co-founded the Multiple Myeloma Charity Classic, a charity golf event that has raised over $1,000,000 in the last 7 years for Multiple Myeloma cancer research. Robert and his family attend Christ the King Church in Alexandria where he a member of the Finance Committee. Mr. Fisher, his wife Rebecca Fisher, and their two children, Savannah and Cole, reside in Alexandria, VA. Robert graduated from Arizona State University in 1997 with a B.A. in Political Science.
Executive Director, National Consumers League
Sally Greenberg joined the National Consumers League as Executive Director on October 1, 2007. The League’s focus is on five key priority areas: fraud, child labor, LifeSmarts, health care, especially the safe use of medications and medication adherence, and food safety and nutrition. Ms. Greenberg has testified numerous times before Congress on consumer protection issues, including on product safety, fraud, excessive fees on car rentals, consumer rip-offs in calling cards and in support of protections for farmworker children. Ms. Greenberg is our primary spokesperson on a variety of issues.
Ms. Greenberg came to NCL from Consumers Union, where she worked from 1997-2007 on product liability and food safety issues, along with auto and product safety. Previously, Ms. Greenberg worked at the U.S. Department of Justice Foreign Claims Settlement Commission and prior to that, she spent a decade serving as the Eastern States Civil Rights Counsel for the Anti-Defamation League, based in Boston.
Ms. Greenberg was president of the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts and the Women’s Bar Foundation, and served on several gubernatorial commissions in Massachusetts. Ms. Greenberg served for many years on the board of directors of the Alliance for Justice, and HALT, an organization whose mission is the protection of the rights of consumers in their interactions with lawyers and the legal system. Ms. Greenberg is a member of the Reagan-Udall Foundation Board, a nonprofit established by Congress to support the mission of the FDA and help equip the agency with the highest caliber regulatory science and technology. She also serves on the board of the Keystone Center, which helps leaders in health, energy, environment and education battle contentious issues with a consensus-based approach. Ms. Greenberg also served for over a decade on the board of directors of Trillium Asset Management, the oldest and largest investment management firm dedicated to socially responsible investing.
Visiting Fellow, Center for Internet, Communications, and Techno, American Enterprise Institute
Bret Swanson is a visiting fellow at AEI’s Center for Internet, Communications, and Technology Policy and president of Entropy Economics LLC, a strategic research firm specializing in technology, innovation, and the global economy. He advises investors and technology companies, focusing on the Internet ecosystem and the broadband networks and applications that drive it. Mr. Swanson is also a scholar at the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation, where, since 2005, his research has centered on economic growth and policies that encourage it. For eight years Mr. Swanson advised technology investors as executive editor of the Gilder Technology Report and later was a senior fellow at the Progress & Freedom Foundation, where he directed the Center for Global Innovation. Mr. Swanson began his career as an aide to former senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) and was then an economic analyst for former representative Jack Kemp (R-NY) at Empower America.
Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
Eric R. Claeys is Professor of Law at the Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University. He has written widely in the fields of property, private law, and constitutional law. Professor Claeys’s current research interests focus on flourishing- and labor-based natural rights justifications for property—in American property theory, in intellectual property, and in contemporary regulation of shale gas exploration and hydraulic fracturing. He is a member of the American Law Institute, he serves on the ALI’s Members’ Consultative Group for the first Restatement of Copyright, and he also serves as an adviser to the Restatement (Fourth) of the Law of Property.
Professor Claeys received his JD from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. He received his AB from Princeton University, and he is a former visiting fellow and current member of Princeton’s Politics Department’s James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. After law school, Professor Claeys clerked for the Hon. Melvin Brunetti, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the Hon. William H. Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the United States.
Professor Claeys’s main teaching interests include Property, Torts, Jurisprudence, and Intellectual Property. In recent years, he has also taught Water Law, Remedies, Estates and Trusts, Trade Secrecy, Constitutional Law, Torts, and Oil and Gas law. Spring 2018, he is teaching Torts and Jurisprudence as a Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School.
Reforming the Administrative State, in Congress and in the Supreme Court
Charlotte, NCMilwaukee 25th Anniversary Panel and Dinner
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Eric R. Claeys
How does the Takings Clause apply to regulations? Prof. Eric Claeys, Professor of Law at...
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Peter Valkenburgh
Where do Bitcoins come from, and what is Bitcoin "mining"? Peter van Valkenburgh, Director of...
Keynote Address by Mick Mulvaney
Fifth Annual Executive Branch Review Conference
Washington, DCThe Barriers to the American Innovation Economy
Fifth Annual Executive Branch Review Conference
Washington, DC