Founder, Original Jurisdiction
David Lat is a lawyer turned writer. He publishes Original Jurisdiction, a newsletter on Substack about law and legal affairs, and he writes for newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal. Prior to launching Original Jurisdiction, David founded Above the Law, one of the nation's most widely read legal news websites, and Underneath Their Robes, a popular blog about federal judges that he wrote under a pseudonym. He is also the author of a novel set in the world of the federal courts, Supreme Ambitions. Before entering the media world, David worked as a federal prosecutor in Newark, New Jersey; a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, in New York; and a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. David graduated from Harvard College and Yale Law School, where he served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal.
Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
William H. Pryor Jr. serves as Chief Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
In 2013–18, he served on the United States Sentencing Commission and, in 2017–18, served as Acting Chair.
He has taught as a visiting professor at the University of Alabama School of Law and previously taught as an adjunct professor at the Cumberland School of Law of Samford University.
He served as the 45th Attorney General of Alabama from 1997 to 2004. When he took office, he was the youngest attorney general in the nation. In his reelection, he received the highest percentage of votes of any statewide candidate.
He graduated magna cum laude from Tulane Law School where he finished first in the common-law curriculum and was editor in chief of the Tulane Law Review. He then served as a law clerk for Judge John Minor Wisdom of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
He is a member of The American Law Institute and an Adviser for the RESTATEMENT OF THE LAW THIRD, CONFLICT OF LAWS. He is a coauthor with Bryan Garner, Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, and several other judges of a treatise, THE LAW OF JUDICIAL PRECEDENT. He has published in the Yale Law Journal, Columbia Law Review, Virginia Law Review, Notre Dame Law Review, Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, Yale Law & Policy Review, George Mason Law Review, Florida Law Review, Alabama Law Review, Case Western Reserve Law Review, and Tulane Law Review. He has published op-eds in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, National Review, and USA Today. He has debated at National Lawyers’ Conventions of the Federalist Society (including on National Public Radio) and at the Oxford Union in the United Kingdom. And he is listed among several “widely admired judicial writers” in Bryan Garner’s The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style.
He is a member of the Tulane Law School Hall of Fame and has received the Defender of the Constitution Award from the Heritage Foundation, the Jurist of the Year Award from the Texas Review of Law & Politics, and the St. Thomas More Award from the St. Thomas More Society of Atlanta. Judge Pryor is also a proud member of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.
Attorney, Institute for Justice
Keith Neely is an attorney with the Institute for Justice. He joined IJ in 2019 and works on cases involving each of IJ’s Four Pillars.
Before joining IJ, Keith worked as an associate in the Tax Controversy practice of the D.C. office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. While employed at Skadden, he also spent six months seconded to the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia, where he specialized in eviction defense. Prior to joining Skadden, Keith clerked for Judge Danny Boggs of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Keith received his law degree in 2016 from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he also served as an editorial board member of the Virginia Law Review. He has an undergraduate degree in History from Vanderbilt University.
Milton R. Underwood Chair in Free Enterprise, Vanderbilt University Law School
Brian Fitzpatrick is the Milton R. Underwood Chair in Free Enterprise and Professor of Law at Vanderbilt Law School, where his research focuses on class action litigation, federal courts, judicial selection, and constitutional law. He is best known for his empirical studies of class action settlements as well as his book The Conservative Case for Class Actions (University of Chicago Press, 2019). Professor Fitzpatrick joined Vanderbilt's law faculty in 2007 after serving as the John M. Olin Fellow at New York University School of Law. He graduated first in his class from Harvard Law School and went on to clerk for Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Justice Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court. After his clerkships, Professor Fitzpatrick practiced commercial and appellate litigation for several years at Sidley Austin in Washington, D.C., and served as Special Counsel for Supreme Court Nominations to U.S. Senator John Cornyn. Before earning his law degree, Fitzpatrick graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's of science in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame. He has received the Hall-Hartman Outstanding Professor Award, which recognizes excellence in classroom teaching, for his Civil Procedure and Federal Courts courses.
Senior Attorney, Institute for Justice
Robert Frommer serves as a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice. He joined the Institute in August 2008 and is currently litigating on behalf of SpeechNow.org, a group challenging the federal campaign finance laws regarding free speech.
Before joining IJ, Robert was an attorney with the Washington, D.C., office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, where he litigated both complex litigation and public-interest matters. He is a former law clerk to Judge Morris Sheppard Arnold of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Robert received his law degree magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School in 2004, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and served as both a book review editor for the Michigan Law Review and president of the Federalist Society student chapter. Before going to law school, Robert earned a master's degree in economics from George Mason University.
Trial Attorney, Civil Rights Division, United States Department of Justice (incoming)
Adam Griffin is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law. During law school, he served as a research assistant to Professor Stephen E. Sachs and UNC Law Dean Martin Brinkley. After law school, he spent two years litigating for liberty at the Institute for Justice as an inaugural Law and Liberty Fellow. He served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Richard E. Myers in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, and is now a separation-of-powers attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation.
Senior Attorney, Institute for Justice
Robert Frommer serves as a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice. He joined the Institute in August 2008 and is currently litigating on behalf of SpeechNow.org, a group challenging the federal campaign finance laws regarding free speech.
Before joining IJ, Robert was an attorney with the Washington, D.C., office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, where he litigated both complex litigation and public-interest matters. He is a former law clerk to Judge Morris Sheppard Arnold of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Robert received his law degree magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School in 2004, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and served as both a book review editor for the Michigan Law Review and president of the Federalist Society student chapter. Before going to law school, Robert earned a master's degree in economics from George Mason University.
Trial Attorney, Civil Rights Division, United States Department of Justice (incoming)
Adam Griffin is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law. During law school, he served as a research assistant to Professor Stephen E. Sachs and UNC Law Dean Martin Brinkley. After law school, he spent two years litigating for liberty at the Institute for Justice as an inaugural Law and Liberty Fellow. He served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Richard E. Myers in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, and is now a separation-of-powers attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation.
Tavern Debate
co-sponsored by the Institute for Justice and the Los Angeles Lawyers Chapter
Westlake Village, CA2023 Annual Western Chapters Conference
Simi Valley, CAPost-Holiday Happy Hour
New York City Young Lawyers Chapter
New York, NYLitigation Update: United States v. Moore-Bush
Robert Frommer, Adam F. Griffin
In 2017, ATF agents placed a surveillance camera on a pole across the street from...
Litigation Update: United States v. Moore-Bush
Robert Frommer, Adam F. Griffin
In 2017, ATF agents placed a surveillance camera on a pole across the street from...
Becoming a Revolutionary | Son of Liberty, Man of Law: John Adams & the Boston Massacre Trial
To kick off the all new season of the FedSoc Films Podcast, we spoke with...
Against Living Common Goodism
Tampa Bay Lawyers Chapter
Tampa, FLTennessee’s Equal Privileges and Immunities Clause
Nashville Lawyers Chapter
Nashville, TNTopics
The Largest Ever Federal Infusion of Broadband Funding: Necessary Investment or Waste of Taxpayer Money?
If you’re reading this blog, you have accessed the internet to get here. But for...
The Conservative Case for Class Actions
Milwaukee Lawyers Chapter
Milwaukee, WI