Legal Director, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
Will began defending student and faculty rights for FIRE in 2006 after graduating from New York University School of Law, where he served as an associate executive editor for the New York University Law Review. Will has appeared on national cable television and radio on behalf of FIRE and has spoken to students, faculty, administrators, and attorneys at events across the country. Will’s writing has been published by The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, the Chronicle of Higher Education, Jurist, Inside Higher Ed, Daily Journal, the Charleston Law Review, and many other outlets. Will edited the second edition of FIRE’s Guide to Due Process and Campus Justice, co-edited the second edition of FIRE’s Guide to Free Speech on Campus, and has coauthored amicus curiae briefs submitted to a number of courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States and the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits. Will has taught FIRE’s Continuing Legal Education programs in New York, Pennsylvania, and online. A member of the New York State Bar and the First Amendment Lawyers Association, Will serves as Co-Chair of the Education Subcommittee of the American Bar Association’s Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice.
Will graduated magna cum laude from New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study in 2003. A proud native of Buffalo, New York, Will now lives in New Jersey with his wife and two children.
Special Counsel, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
Aharon Friedman is Special Counsel at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. He is also a Visiting Scholar at the Hoover Institution. He formerly served as senior counsel to the House Ways and Means Committee, senior adviser to the U.S. Treasury Department and as a law clerk for Israel’s Supreme Court.
Professor of Law and Director, Center for the Middle East and International Law, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
Professor of Law Eugene Kontorovich is one of the world’s preeminent experts on universal jurisdiction and maritime piracy, as well as international law and the Israel-Arab conflict. He is also the Director of Scalia Law School's Center for the Middle East and International Law. Professor Kontorovich joined the Scalia Law School from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law where he was a Professor of Law from 2011 to 2018 and an Associate Professor from 2007 to 2011. Previously, he was a Visiting Professor at the University of Chicago from 2005 to 2007 and an Assistant Professor at George Mason School of Law from 2003 to 2007.
Professor Kontorovich has published over thirty major scholarly articles and book chapters in leading law reviews and peer-reviewed journals in the United States and Europe, including the American Journal of International Law, International Review of Law & Economics, Stanford Law Review, California Law Review, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and Virginia Law Review. His scholarship has been cited in leading foreign relations and international law
His expertise is often sought out and quoted by major news organizations such the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR News, The New Yorker, Los Angeles Times, and numerous television and radio programs. Prof. Kontorovich’s popular writings have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, POLITICO, Commentary, Haaretz, and numerous other leading publications. He is also a regular contributor to the Washington Post’s Volokh Conspiracy legal blog.
He attended the University of Chicago for college and law school. After law school, he clerked for Judge Richard Posner on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He has been honored with a fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, in 2011-12, and with the Federalist Society’s prestigious Bator Award, given annually to a young scholar (under 40), for outstanding scholarship and teaching.
CEO and Director, National Jewish Advocacy Center
Rabbi Dr. Mark Goldfeder, Esq. is the CEO and Director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, Inc. He has served as the founding Editor of the Cambridge University Press Series on Law and Judaism, a Trustee of the Center for Israel Education, and, by Presidential appointment, as a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Council.
Goldfeder has taught law across the country and around the world as Senior Lecturer at Emory University School of Law, Spruill Family Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, Director of the Restoring Religious Freedom Project, and as a visiting professor at Georgia State University School of Law, Florida Southern College, University of Padua (Italy), Scuola Galileana (Italy), IDC’s Radzyner Law School (Israel) and Bar Ilan Law School (Israel).
Goldfeder holds two rabbinic ordinations (yoreh yoreh; Yeshiva University and Rivavot Ephraim) and two judicial ordinations (yadin yadin; Rav Gedaliah Dov Schwartz, Av Beth Din, Rabbinical Council of America and Chicago Rabbinical Council, and Rav Dovid Schochet, President, Toronto Rabbinical Council).
Goldfeder’s work focuses on law and religion, constitutional law, and international law. He publishes widely in those areas, including both academically and in popular publications like CNN, The Wall Street Journal, The Hill, Forbes, and other major media outlets. He is also co-author of the five-volume treatise Religious Organizations and the Law (Westlaw). Goldfeder handles cases involving antisemitism issues around the country, and lectures and writes widely on those topics. He has worked with local, state, and federal legislators on measures to support the Jewish community, and has defended students, professors, businesses, and nonprofits targeted for their support of the Jewish State. He has worked on cases at the International Criminal Court in the Hague, and has successfully represented clients including American and Israeli nonprofits in federal litigation.
In 2017, he received the Opher Aviran Stand with Israel Award from Hillel, and in 2018, the Jon Barkan Israel Advocacy Award from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in recognition of his work. He received his Doctorate and LLM degrees from Emory University and his Juris Doctor degree from NYU School of Law. He received his Bachelor of Arts at Yeshiva University in Journalism.
Co-Founder and President, Zachor Legal Institute
Marc Greendorfer, the co-founder of Zachor Legal Institute, is an experienced attorney with an extensive background in legal advocacy and scholarship. Marc graduated magna cum laude from Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 1996, where he was an editor of the Cardozo Law Review. Marc started his legal career at the prominent New York City law firm of Mudge Rose Guthrie Alexander & Ferdon and has practiced law at AmLaw 100 law firms in New York City and San Francisco.
Marc is active in constitutional law advocacy, writing and publishing a number of law review articles and participating in Supreme Court and lower federal court cases as amicus curiae. Marc is admitted to practice in the states of California, Montana and New York and is admitted to the Supreme Court bar as well as most Courts of Appeal in the United States.
Marc’s advocacy work has been cited and incorporated in the work of many other scholars, rights organizations, courts and state attorneys general. In recent years, Marc has also provided testimony and other expert advice to the United States Congress, state legislative bodies and prominent advocacy organizations on the topics of terror funding and the applicability of federal and state laws to antizionist activity.
Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law
Hon. Kenneth L. Marcus is an internationally recognized expert in civil and human rights, as well as a leader in the fight against anti-Semitism on and off university campuses. He is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, the leading civil rights legal organization fighting against anti-Semitism. The New York Times has called him “The Man Who Helped Redefine Campus Anti-Semitism.” He been described, in that paper, as “the single most effective and respected force” to combat anti-Semitism.
During his public service career, Marcus served as Assistant U.S. Secretary of Education for Civil Rights; Staff Director at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights; and General Deputy Assistant U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.
In academia, he serves as Professorial Lecturer in Law at George Washington University. He formerly held the Lillie and Nathan Ackerman Chair in Equality and Justice in America at the City University of New York’s Bernard M. Baruch College, served as Visiting Research Professor of Political Science at Yeshiva University, and was a Board of Visitors member George Mason University and Distinguished Senior Fellow at that university’s law school. He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Contemporary Antisemitism and previously served as Associate Editor of the Journal for the Study of Anti-Semitism.
Marcus is also author of The Definition of Anti-Semitism (Oxford University Press) and Jewish Identity and Civil Rights in America (Cambridge University Press). He has published widely in academic journals as well as in more popular venues such as The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Newsweek, USA Today, and Politico. He is a graduate of Williams College and the University of California at Berkeley School of Law.
Earlier in his career, he was a litigation partner in two major law firms, where he conducted complex commercial and constitutional litigation. He also serves as Chairman emeritus of the Executive Committee of the Federalist Society for Law & Public Policy Civil Rights Practice Group.
Special Counsel, Campus Advocacy, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)
One of FIRE’s longest-serving employees, Robert Shibley began at FIRE straight out of Duke Law School in 2003, with the intention of doing nonprofit work for a couple of years before finding a permanent job. This lasted 19 years, including six as FIRE’s executive director. During his time at FIRE, Robert launched FIRE’s first major litigation initiative, traveled to dozens of campuses to speak about the First Amendment and Title IX issues on campus, and oversaw FIRE’s expansion into off-campus issues before a stint representing students and faculty members in private practice at the firm of Allen Harris PLLC.
Having realized things on campus were even worse than he had believed, Robert returned to FIRE as Special Counsel for Campus Advocacy in order to finish the job he started: restoring free speech and due process to America’s college campuses. Robert is the author of Twisting Title IX, from Encounter Books. His writing has appeared everywhere from The Wall Street Journal to The Washington Post, USA Today, and TIME, and he has appeared on national and international broadcasts including the BBC and NPR, The O’Reilly Factor, CNN Tonight, Tucker Carlson Tonight, and (perhaps most famously) Dr. Phil.
Chief Legal Officer, American Jewish Committee
Marc Stern is an expert in legal advocacy on issues of concern to the Jewish community, including the new field of "lawfare"—pursuing war through the use of international legal procedures. He came to AJC after 33 years at the American Jewish Congress, where he was General Counsel since 1999 and acting Co-Executive Director since 2008. Stern has authored numerous legal briefs, published many scholarly articles, and has argued four cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. He earned a B.A. at Yeshiva University and a J.D. at the Columbia University School of Law.
General Counsel, Center for Individual Rights
Darpana Sheth joined CIR as General Counsel in May 2025. She is a nationally recognized constitutional litigator with over two decades of experience serving in in leadership roles at other nonprofit organizations.
Before joining CIR, Darpana served for four years as Vice President of Litigation for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. Prior to that, Darpana was a Senior Attorney with the Institute for Justice, where she also served as Director of the Institute’s National Initiative to End Forfeiture Abuse.
Before finding her calling as a public-interest attorney, Darpana served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of New York and worked in private practice as a litigation associate at the Manhattan law firm of Chadbourne & Parke, LLP. She also served as law clerk to the Honorable Jerome A. Holmes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
A native of Philadelphia, Darpana graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History. She earned her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.
Partner, Graves Garrett Greim LLC
Edward “Eddie” Greim focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation, free speech and election law, and internal investigations and whistleblower claims. He has been recognized for his successful representation of businesses and individuals in commercial litigation while also being named a “go-to” lawyer on policy and constitutional issues.
Eddie was named a Constitutional and Election Law Trailblazer by the National Law Journal in 2020. His free speech and election law practice has included numerous constitutional challenges to election and campaign finance laws; representation of clients in state and federal ethics and campaign finance enforcement actions and investigations; initiative petition drafting and litigation; litigation and advice regarding First Amendment protections for petition circulation; representation of not-for-profit clients before state regulators; litigation of state and federal redistricting issues; and advice on campaign and election law compliance.
Eddie complements his trial work in complex, high-profile commercial and constitutional cases with oral advocacy and briefing in important appeals. Recognized as a Missouri Lawyers Media POWER 30 Appellate Attorney in 2021, he has argued before the Missouri and Kansas supreme courts multiple times, other state appellate courts across the country, and before the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Tenth U.S. Courts of Appeals.
Eddie’s notable work for clients includes:
Recovering substantial compensation and injunctive relief for plaintiffs, in complex multiyear litigation, as lead counsel in the first and only nationwide class action certified against the Internal Revenue Service for violating taxpayer protection statutes when it targeted hundreds of groups based on their political viewpoints.
Successful First Amendment challenge to Missouri’s 2016 campaign finance restrictions.
Successful challenge to a vast, multiyear, secret criminal investigation into Wisconsin political groups and nonprofits, and follow-up challenge to expose role of state ethics board which secretly aided the investigation and was later dissolved by the legislature.
U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief for the National Republican Redistricting Trust in the 2019 Rucho litigation, and federal and state redistricting litigation and advice since 2011.
Challenges under the First Amendment in federal court, and in briefing to the Michigan Supreme Court on state constitutional grounds, to unprecedented emergency powers claimed by Michigan Governor in 2020.
Representation of numerous public officials and private citizens who are subject to “lawfare” attacks based on their political viewpoints or policy objectives.
Oversight of multiple internal investigations.
Eddie received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 2002, where he taught on the Board of Student Advisers, received the Dean’s Award for Leadership, and served as President of the Harvard Catholic Law Students Association. He received two bachelor’s degrees, summa cum laude, in economics and political science from the University of Missouri.
A native of Excelsior Springs, Missouri, Eddie lives in Kansas City with his family. He enjoys Missouri and military history. On many weekends, he can be found with his wife and daughters exploring sites of local interest. He enjoys reading and debating and has given presentations or organized discussions at numerous gatherings, formal and informal, of professional and personal interest.
Senior Attorney, Institute for Free Speech
Brett Nolan is a Senior Attorney at the Institute for Free Speech, a public interest law firm that defends the First Amendment rights of those engaged in political speech and advocacy around the country.
Before joining the Institute, Brett served as the Principal Deputy Solicitor General of Kentucky, where he represented the Commonwealth in a wide variety of high-stakes litigation at every level of state and federal court. In that role, Brett led a successful challenge against the Department of Treasury over the constitutionality of a federal law limiting the ability of states to modify their tax codes, and he helped secure a U.S. Supreme Court victory that upheld a state’s constitutional right to defend its interests in federal court.
Prior to that, Brett served as the Deputy General Counsel to the former Governor of Kentucky, where he advised the governor and other executive branch officials on legal and policy issues and represented them in litigation. Brett clerked for Judge John Nalbandian of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and Judge Karen K. Caldwell of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Between clerkships, he worked in private practice. Brett received his law degree from the University of Chicago Law School, where he graduated with High Honors and was an editor of The University of Chicago Law Review.
Senior Counsel - Civil Rights Division, US Department of Justice
Andrew Darlington was appointed in 2025 to serve as Senior Counsel to the US Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. He graduated the US Naval Academy in May, 2010 and was commissioned into the United States Marine Corps. He deployed twice to Afghanistan as an infantry officer. For his actions, he was awarded the Purple Heart and other personal combat awards. He later graduated Fordham University School of Law, and has since served as a prosecutor and in private practice. He joined the Florida Department of State in 2022 and was appointed Director of the Office of Election Crimes and Security in March, 2023. He is a member of the Madison Club, the National Security and International Law Practice Group, and the Washington, DC, Chapter.
Professor of Law, Widener University Commonwealth Law School
Assistant Professor of Law, George Mason University, Antonin Scalia Law School
Robert Leider is an Assistant Professor of Law at Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University. His scholarly interests are in criminal law, criminal procedure, and constitutional law, especially concerning questions about the use of force and the rule of law. He has written on the law of self-defense, the constitutional allocation of military power, and gun control. Among other places, he has published in the Florida Law Review (forthcoming), the Indiana Law Journal, and the Wall Street Journal.
Before joining Antonin Scalia Law School, Professor Leider was at Arnold & Porter in Washington, DC. He was previously with Mayer Brown LLP and was an Olin-Searle-Smith Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He has clerked for Judge Diane S. Sykes, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and Justice Clarence Thomas. Professor Leider earned a BA, summa cum laude, from The George Washington University, a JD from Yale Law School, and a PhD in Philosophy (dissertation defended with distinction) from Georgetown University. While at Yale, he served as an articles editor for the Yale Law Journal.
Professor Leider teaches criminal law and torts.
Federal Special Master, US District Court For The District Of Columbia
Julian McCarthy has had a distinguished career in both military and civilian legal service. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1977 and served as a Surface Warfare Officer aboard the USS Dale (CG-19) from 1977 to 1980. Following his military service at sea, he pursued legal studies, earning his Juris Doctor with honors from Duke University School of Law in 1983.
McCarthy began his legal career as a Trial Counsel at the Naval Legal Service Office in Jacksonville, Florida, from 1983 to 1986. He then served as the Staff Judge Advocate at Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines, from 1986 to 1990. In 1991, he earned a Master of Laws degree with highest honors from The George Washington University Law School. He subsequently served as Executive Assistant to the Navy Judge Advocate General from 1991 to 1992 and as Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy from 1992 to 1998. He later commanded the Trial Service Office Southeast from 1998 to 2002, before retiring as a Captain in the United States Navy.
Following his military career, McCarthy continued his service in the legal profession and public sector. He practiced law at Holland & Knight before becoming the Director of Military Affairs, Veterans Services, and Disabled Services for the City of Jacksonville. He later served as the Chief Assistant State Attorney for Florida’s Fourth Judicial Circuit. McCarthy also worked as the Director of Special Programs for the Wounded Warrior Project and served as the Marshal of Florida’s First District Court of Appeal.
Currently, he serves as a Federal Special Master, where he continues his commitment to justice and public service.
General Counsel, Center for Individual Rights
Darpana Sheth joined CIR as General Counsel in May 2025. She is a nationally recognized constitutional litigator with over two decades of experience serving in in leadership roles at other nonprofit organizations.
Before joining CIR, Darpana served for four years as Vice President of Litigation for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. Prior to that, Darpana was a Senior Attorney with the Institute for Justice, where she also served as Director of the Institute’s National Initiative to End Forfeiture Abuse.
Before finding her calling as a public-interest attorney, Darpana served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of New York and worked in private practice as a litigation associate at the Manhattan law firm of Chadbourne & Parke, LLP. She also served as law clerk to the Honorable Jerome A. Holmes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
A native of Philadelphia, Darpana graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History. She earned her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.
Internet Policy Counsel and Director of Appellate Litigation, TechFreedom
Corbin Barthold is TechFreedom's Internet Policy Counsel and Director of Appellate Litigation.
Corbin clerked for the Hon. Steven D. Merryday (M.D. Fla.) and the Hon. Robert H. Cleland (E.D. Mich.). After his clerkships, he became an associate, and later a partner, in the Los Angeles office of Browne George Ross LLP, where he engaged in high-stakes complex litigation. He then served as Senior Litigation Counsel at Washington Legal Foundation, a D.C. public-interest firm, where his practice focused on appeals involving administrative law, the separation of powers, antitrust, and tech policy.
Corbin received his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. He also holds a B.A., magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of California, San Diego, and an Msc., with distinction, from the London School of Economics.
Solicitor General, Montana Attorney General's Office
Christian is currently Solicitor General of Montana, where he serves as the chief litigator and principal legal advisor to Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen. In that capacity, he manages litigation before the federal district courts, courts of appeal, and the United States Supreme Court, as well as the Montana Supreme Court. He previously served in the Trump Administration as Senior Counsel to the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education. Prior to government service, he was a public interest constitutional litigator at Mountain States Legal Foundation and a fellow at the Institute for Justice. He clerked for Justice Caleb Stegall on the Kansas Supreme Court. He also served as Director of Publications for the Federalist Society's national headquarters.
Christian earned his B.A. in Political Science in 2009 from the University of Pennsylvania before attending the University of Kansas School of Law. Christian is admitted to practice law in Kansas and Montana. A Kansas native, he is a die-hard fan of the Kansas Jayhawks, Kansas City Chiefs, and Kansas City Royals.
Christian is a member of the Federalism & Separation of Powers Practice Group's Executive Committee.
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.
CEO and Director, National Jewish Advocacy Center
Rabbi Dr. Mark Goldfeder, Esq. is the CEO and Director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, Inc. He has served as the founding Editor of the Cambridge University Press Series on Law and Judaism, a Trustee of the Center for Israel Education, and, by Presidential appointment, as a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Council.
Goldfeder has taught law across the country and around the world as Senior Lecturer at Emory University School of Law, Spruill Family Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, Director of the Restoring Religious Freedom Project, and as a visiting professor at Georgia State University School of Law, Florida Southern College, University of Padua (Italy), Scuola Galileana (Italy), IDC’s Radzyner Law School (Israel) and Bar Ilan Law School (Israel).
Goldfeder holds two rabbinic ordinations (yoreh yoreh; Yeshiva University and Rivavot Ephraim) and two judicial ordinations (yadin yadin; Rav Gedaliah Dov Schwartz, Av Beth Din, Rabbinical Council of America and Chicago Rabbinical Council, and Rav Dovid Schochet, President, Toronto Rabbinical Council).
Goldfeder’s work focuses on law and religion, constitutional law, and international law. He publishes widely in those areas, including both academically and in popular publications like CNN, The Wall Street Journal, The Hill, Forbes, and other major media outlets. He is also co-author of the five-volume treatise Religious Organizations and the Law (Westlaw). Goldfeder handles cases involving antisemitism issues around the country, and lectures and writes widely on those topics. He has worked with local, state, and federal legislators on measures to support the Jewish community, and has defended students, professors, businesses, and nonprofits targeted for their support of the Jewish State. He has worked on cases at the International Criminal Court in the Hague, and has successfully represented clients including American and Israeli nonprofits in federal litigation.
In 2017, he received the Opher Aviran Stand with Israel Award from Hillel, and in 2018, the Jon Barkan Israel Advocacy Award from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in recognition of his work. He received his Doctorate and LLM degrees from Emory University and his Juris Doctor degree from NYU School of Law. He received his Bachelor of Arts at Yeshiva University in Journalism.
Senior Fellow and Director of Constitutional Studies, Manhattan Institute
Ilya Shapiro is a senior fellow and director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of City Journal. Previously he was executive director and senior lecturer at the Georgetown Center for the Constitution, and before that a vice president of the Cato Institute.
Shapiro is the author of Lawless: The Miseducation of America’s Elites (2025) and Supreme Disorder: Judicial Nominations and the Politics of America’s Highest Court (2020), coauthor of Religious Liberties for Corporations? (2014), and editor of 11 volumes of the Cato Supreme Court Review (2008-18). He has contributed to a variety of academic, popular, and professional publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, National Review, and Newsweek. He also regularly provides commentary for various media outlets, writes the Shapiro’s Gavel newsletter on Substack, and once appeared on the Colbert Report.
Shapiro has testified many times before Congress and state legislatures and has filed more than 500 amicus curiae “friend of the court” briefs in the Supreme Court. He lectures regularly on behalf of the Federalist Society, is a member of the board of fellows of the Jewish Policy Center, was an inaugural Washington Fellow at the National Review Institute, and has been an adjunct law professor at the George Washington University and University of Mississippi. He is also the chairman of the board of advisers of the Mississippi Justice Institute, a barrister in the Edward Coke Appellate Inn of Court, and a former member of the Virginia Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
Earlier in his career, Shapiro was a special assistant/adviser to the Multi-National Force in Iraq on rule-of-law issues and practiced at Patton Boggs and Cleary Gottlieb. Before entering private practice, he clerked for Judge E. Grady Jolly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He holds an AB from Princeton University, an MSc from the London School of Economics, and a JD from the University of Chicago Law School.
John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law Emerita, New York Law School; Former President, American Civil Liberties Union
Nadine Strossen, New York Law School Professor Emerita and Senior Fellow at FIRE (the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression), was national President of the American Civil Liberties Union from 1991 to 2008. An internationally acclaimed free speech scholar and advocate, who regularly addresses diverse audiences and provides media commentary around the world, Strossen is also the Host and Project Consultant for Free To Speak, a 3-hour documentary film series distributed on public television in 2023. Her books about free speech include: Free Speech: What Everyone Needs to Know® (Oxford University Press 2023); HATE: Why We Should Resist It with Free Speech, Not Censorship (Oxford University Press 2018); and Defending Pornography: Free Speech, Sex, and the Fight for Women’s Rights (Scribner 1995), which was republished with a new Preface in 2024 as part of the NYU Classics Series. Her many honors and awards include the National Coalition Against Censorship’s Judy Blume Lifetime Achievement Award for Free Speech. She serves on the Advisory Boards of several organizations that do free speech work, including: ACLU, Academic Freedom Alliance, Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR), Heterodox Academy, National Coalition Against Censorship, and the University of Austin.
Professor and D’Alemberte Chair in Constitutional Law, Florida State University College of Law
Alexander Tsesis is the D’Alemberte chair in constitutional law at the Florida State University College of Law. He is also the general editor of the Cambridge Studies on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and the Oxford Theoretical Foundations in Law. Tsesis’ scholarship and teaching focus on a breadth of subjects, including constitutional law, civil rights, constitutional reconstruction, interpretive methodology, free speech theory, and legal history.
Tsesis’ most recent book is Free Speech in the Balance (Cambridge University Press 2020). His previous books include Constitutional Ethos: Liberal Equality for the Common Good (Oxford University Press 2017) and For Liberty and Equality: The Life and Times of the Declaration of Independence (Oxford University Press 2012), We Shall Overcome: A History of Civil Rights and the Law (Yale University Press 2008), The Thirteenth Amendment and American Freedom (New York University Press 2004), and Destructive Messages: How Hate Speech Paved the Way for Harmful Social Movements (New York University Press 2002). He also edited a collection of essays in Promises of Liberty (Columbia University Press 2010). The subjects of his articles range from cyber speech, constitutional interpretation, civil rights law, and human rights. They have appeared or will appear in a variety of law reviews across the country, including the Boston University Law Review, Columbia Law Review, Cornell Law Review, Minnesota Law Review, Northwestern University Law Review, Southern California Law Review, Stanford Law Review, and Vanderbilt Law Review.
Defining Antisemitism: A Debate on Free Speech and Civil Rights
William Creeley, Aharon Jeffrey Friedman, Eugene Kontorovich
Congress is currently debating the Antisemitism Awareness Act. This proposed legislation aims to provide a...
New Tools in Civil Rights Cases
Mark Goldfeder, Marc Greendorfer, Kenneth L. Marcus, Robert Shibley, Marc Stern
In recent months, a number of new legal theories and tools have been proposed –...
Courthouse Steps Decision: Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton
Darpana Sheth Nunziata
Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton concerned Texas Law H.B. 1181, and what precedent should...
Litigation Update: Henderson and Parents Defending Education
Edward D. Greim, Brett Nolan
How much control can public schools exercise over the speech of their students and staff...
Political Speech of Retired Admirals & Generals
Andrew Darlington, Michael R. Dimino, Robert Leider, J. Daniel McCarthy
What constitutional protections exist for retired admirals and generals commenting on political candidates, campaigns, and sitting presidents?...
Courthouse Steps Decision: TikTok, Inc. v. Garland
Darpana Sheth Nunziata
In TikTok, Inc. v. Garland, the Court was asked to consider whether the Protecting Americans...
TikTok on the Clock: A Courthouse Steps Oral Argument on TikTok, Inc. v. Garland
Corbin K. Barthold, Christian Corrigan, Casey Mattox
In TikTok, Inc. v. Garland (consolidated with Firebaugh v. Garland) the Court is set to...
Addressing Antisemitism in Higher Education
Mark Goldfeder, Ilya Shapiro, Nadine Strossen, Alexander Tsesis
In the wake of the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack in Israel, there have been...