Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law and Director, Classical Liberal Institute, New York University School of Law; Director, Classical Liberal Institute, Civitas Institute University of Texas at Austin
Richard A. Epstein is the inaugural Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law at NYU School of Law. Prior to his joining the faculty, he was a visiting law professor at NYU from 2007 through 2009. He served as the Peter and Kirstin Bedford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution from 2000 to 2024. Since 2024 to the present he is a senior lecturer at the Civitas Institute at the University of Texas—Austin. Epstein is also the James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law Emeritus and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago. His initial law school appointment was at the University of Southern California from 1968 to 1972. Epstein received an LL.D., h.c. from the University of Ghent, 2003. He has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1985 and was a Senior Fellow of the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago Division of Biological Sciences, also from 1983. to 2022 He served as editor of the Journal of Legal Studies from 1981 to 1991, and of the Journal of Law and Economics from 1991-2001. From 2001 to 2010 he was a director of the John M. Olin Program in Law and Economics at the University of Chicago.
His newest book, The Myth of Birthright Citizenship: What the Fourteenth Amendment Really Says was published in 2026 (Encounter Books). Prior to that he has published many books including, The Dubious Morality of the Modern Administrative State (Roman & Littlefield 2020).Earlier he published th Classical Liberal Constitution: The Uncertain Quest for Limited Government (Harvard 2014) iHis previous books include Design for Liberty: Private Property, Public Administration and the Rule of Law (Harvard 2011); The Case Against the Employee Free Choice Act (Hoover 2009); Supreme Neglect: How to Revive the Constitutional Protection of Property Rights (Oxford 2008); Antitrust Decrees in Theory and Practice: Why Less is More (AEI 2007); Overdose: How Excessive Government Regulation Stifles Pharmaceutical Innovation (Yale University Press. 2006); How Progressives Rewrote the Constitution (Cato 2006); Cases and Materials on Torts (Aspen Law & Business; 8th ed. 2004); Skepticism and Freedom: A Modern Case for Classical Liberalism (University of Chicago, 2003); Torts (Aspen Law & Business 1999); Principles for a Free Society: Reconciling Individual Liberty with the Common Good (Perseus Books, 1998): Mortal Peril: Our Inalienable Rights to Health Care (Addison-Wesley, 1997); Simple Rules for a Complex World (Harvard, 1995); Bargaining With the State (Princeton, 1993); Forbidden Grounds: The Case Against Employment Discrimination Laws (Harvard , 1992); Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain (Harvard, 1985); and Modern Products Liability Law (Greenwood Press, 1980). He has also edited(with Catherine M. Sharkey) Cases and Materials on the Law of Torts (10th edition 2012).
Professor Epstein has written numerous articles on a wide range of legal and interdisciplinary subjects. He has taught courses in administrative law, antitrust law, civil procedure, communications, constitutional law, contracts, corporations, criminal law, employment discrimination law, environmental law, food and drug law health law and policy, legal history, labor law, property, real estate development and finance, jurisprudence, labor law; land use planning, patents, individual, estate and corporate taxation, Roman Law; torts, and workers' compensation.
Professor Epstein also writes a regular column for Civitas Institute, which also sponsors his podcast, The Libertarian with Charles C.W. Cooke, and Law Talk, with Cooke and John Yoo. He also does a podcast with John Batchelor. And appears regularly on the Freedom File with Judge Andrew Napolitano.
Partner, Goldberg, Godles, Wiener and Wright LLP
Mr. Goldberg has been practicing communications law since 1966 and is admitted to practice in New York and the District of Columbia. He is a 1961 graduate of Boston University and a 1964 graduate of the Columbia School of Law, where he served as an officer of the Columbia Law Review.
After practicing with the Washington law firm of Covington & Burling, Mr. Goldberg served as General Counsel of the Office of Telecommunications Policy, Executive Office of the President of the United States, from 1972 to 1975. Mr. Goldberg left this post to become the senior communications partner of the Washington law firm of Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard and McPherson, where he remained for eight years until forming his own firm in 1983.
In addition to serving as the Co-Chairman of the Engineering and Technical Committee of the Federal Communications Bar Association, Mr. Goldberg is the author of numerous articles and reports on communications issues, including studies of the First Amendment and the media and of emerging communications technologies.
Chairman Emeritus, Wiley Rein LLP
Dick, co-founder and name partner of the firm, has received numerous accolades throughout his storied career, including being named a Washington “Visionary” by The National Law Journal, the “most influential media and telecommunications lawyer in the United States” by the International Herald Tribune, one of the top “100 Men of the Century” by Broadcasting & Cable, and the “Father of High-Definition” television by The Globe and Mail. As Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), he fostered increased competition and lessened regulation in the communications field. Dick played a pivotal role in the development of HDTV in this country, serving for nine years as Chairman of the FCC’s Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service. He has represented a number of major communications-oriented organizations, including Verizon, AT&T, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, Newspaper Association of America, Motorola, CBS, Belo, Gannett, Sirius/XM, Emmis, Gray Television, and LG. Dick also is a frequent author and lecturer on telecommunications and information law.
Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
Don Willett serves on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Before joining the federal bench, he served 13 years on the Supreme Court of Texas. His career spans decades of public service, including roles as legal counsel to a Texas Attorney General, a Texas Governor, a U.S. Attorney General, and the President of the United States. Raised by a heroic, widowed mom in a town of 32 people, Judge Willett is his family’s first college graduate. He earned a triple-major B.B.A. from Baylor University (where he serves on the Board of Regents) and three degrees from Duke University (where he served on the Board of Visitors): a J.D. with honors, an M.A. in political science, and an LL.M. in judicial studies. After law school, he clerked on the Fifth Circuit and practiced at Haynes and Boone before entering public service. Judge Willett writes and speaks widely on law, judging, and civic life. He serves on the Advisory Board of the School of Civic Leadership at the University of Texas at Austin, was the longtime editor-in-chief of Judicature: The Scholarly Journal for Judges, teaches at various law schools, and publishes in leading law journals and the popular press. He has received more than a dozen Green Bag honors for “exemplary legal writing,” was named Distinguished Jurist of the Year by the Texas Review of Law & Politics and is a member of the American Law Institute and a Life Fellow of the American, Texas, and Austin Bar Foundations. A former rodeo bull rider and professional drummer, Judge Willett was named “Tweeter Laureate of Texas” in 2015. He is the namesake of Don R. Willett Elementary School—home of mighty Willett Wranglers—located barely a mile from where the Willett family doublewide once stood. He and his radiant wife, Tiffany have three children—Jacob, Shane-David, and Geneviève—plus the family pup, Amicus.
Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law and Director, Classical Liberal Institute, New York University School of Law; Director, Classical Liberal Institute, Civitas Institute University of Texas at Austin
Richard A. Epstein is the inaugural Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law at NYU School of Law. Prior to his joining the faculty, he was a visiting law professor at NYU from 2007 through 2009. He served as the Peter and Kirstin Bedford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution from 2000 to 2024. Since 2024 to the present he is a senior lecturer at the Civitas Institute at the University of Texas—Austin. Epstein is also the James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law Emeritus and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago. His initial law school appointment was at the University of Southern California from 1968 to 1972. Epstein received an LL.D., h.c. from the University of Ghent, 2003. He has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1985 and was a Senior Fellow of the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago Division of Biological Sciences, also from 1983. to 2022 He served as editor of the Journal of Legal Studies from 1981 to 1991, and of the Journal of Law and Economics from 1991-2001. From 2001 to 2010 he was a director of the John M. Olin Program in Law and Economics at the University of Chicago.
His newest book, The Myth of Birthright Citizenship: What the Fourteenth Amendment Really Says was published in 2026 (Encounter Books). Prior to that he has published many books including, The Dubious Morality of the Modern Administrative State (Roman & Littlefield 2020).Earlier he published th Classical Liberal Constitution: The Uncertain Quest for Limited Government (Harvard 2014) iHis previous books include Design for Liberty: Private Property, Public Administration and the Rule of Law (Harvard 2011); The Case Against the Employee Free Choice Act (Hoover 2009); Supreme Neglect: How to Revive the Constitutional Protection of Property Rights (Oxford 2008); Antitrust Decrees in Theory and Practice: Why Less is More (AEI 2007); Overdose: How Excessive Government Regulation Stifles Pharmaceutical Innovation (Yale University Press. 2006); How Progressives Rewrote the Constitution (Cato 2006); Cases and Materials on Torts (Aspen Law & Business; 8th ed. 2004); Skepticism and Freedom: A Modern Case for Classical Liberalism (University of Chicago, 2003); Torts (Aspen Law & Business 1999); Principles for a Free Society: Reconciling Individual Liberty with the Common Good (Perseus Books, 1998): Mortal Peril: Our Inalienable Rights to Health Care (Addison-Wesley, 1997); Simple Rules for a Complex World (Harvard, 1995); Bargaining With the State (Princeton, 1993); Forbidden Grounds: The Case Against Employment Discrimination Laws (Harvard , 1992); Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain (Harvard, 1985); and Modern Products Liability Law (Greenwood Press, 1980). He has also edited(with Catherine M. Sharkey) Cases and Materials on the Law of Torts (10th edition 2012).
Professor Epstein has written numerous articles on a wide range of legal and interdisciplinary subjects. He has taught courses in administrative law, antitrust law, civil procedure, communications, constitutional law, contracts, corporations, criminal law, employment discrimination law, environmental law, food and drug law health law and policy, legal history, labor law, property, real estate development and finance, jurisprudence, labor law; land use planning, patents, individual, estate and corporate taxation, Roman Law; torts, and workers' compensation.
Professor Epstein also writes a regular column for Civitas Institute, which also sponsors his podcast, The Libertarian with Charles C.W. Cooke, and Law Talk, with Cooke and John Yoo. He also does a podcast with John Batchelor. And appears regularly on the Freedom File with Judge Andrew Napolitano.
Partner, Goldberg, Godles, Wiener and Wright LLP
Mr. Goldberg has been practicing communications law since 1966 and is admitted to practice in New York and the District of Columbia. He is a 1961 graduate of Boston University and a 1964 graduate of the Columbia School of Law, where he served as an officer of the Columbia Law Review.
After practicing with the Washington law firm of Covington & Burling, Mr. Goldberg served as General Counsel of the Office of Telecommunications Policy, Executive Office of the President of the United States, from 1972 to 1975. Mr. Goldberg left this post to become the senior communications partner of the Washington law firm of Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard and McPherson, where he remained for eight years until forming his own firm in 1983.
In addition to serving as the Co-Chairman of the Engineering and Technical Committee of the Federal Communications Bar Association, Mr. Goldberg is the author of numerous articles and reports on communications issues, including studies of the First Amendment and the media and of emerging communications technologies.
Chairman Emeritus, Wiley Rein LLP
Dick, co-founder and name partner of the firm, has received numerous accolades throughout his storied career, including being named a Washington “Visionary” by The National Law Journal, the “most influential media and telecommunications lawyer in the United States” by the International Herald Tribune, one of the top “100 Men of the Century” by Broadcasting & Cable, and the “Father of High-Definition” television by The Globe and Mail. As Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), he fostered increased competition and lessened regulation in the communications field. Dick played a pivotal role in the development of HDTV in this country, serving for nine years as Chairman of the FCC’s Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service. He has represented a number of major communications-oriented organizations, including Verizon, AT&T, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, Newspaper Association of America, Motorola, CBS, Belo, Gannett, Sirius/XM, Emmis, Gray Television, and LG. Dick also is a frequent author and lecturer on telecommunications and information law.
Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
Don Willett serves on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Before joining the federal bench, he served 13 years on the Supreme Court of Texas. His career spans decades of public service, including roles as legal counsel to a Texas Attorney General, a Texas Governor, a U.S. Attorney General, and the President of the United States. Raised by a heroic, widowed mom in a town of 32 people, Judge Willett is his family’s first college graduate. He earned a triple-major B.B.A. from Baylor University (where he serves on the Board of Regents) and three degrees from Duke University (where he served on the Board of Visitors): a J.D. with honors, an M.A. in political science, and an LL.M. in judicial studies. After law school, he clerked on the Fifth Circuit and practiced at Haynes and Boone before entering public service. Judge Willett writes and speaks widely on law, judging, and civic life. He serves on the Advisory Board of the School of Civic Leadership at the University of Texas at Austin, was the longtime editor-in-chief of Judicature: The Scholarly Journal for Judges, teaches at various law schools, and publishes in leading law journals and the popular press. He has received more than a dozen Green Bag honors for “exemplary legal writing,” was named Distinguished Jurist of the Year by the Texas Review of Law & Politics and is a member of the American Law Institute and a Life Fellow of the American, Texas, and Austin Bar Foundations. A former rodeo bull rider and professional drummer, Judge Willett was named “Tweeter Laureate of Texas” in 2015. He is the namesake of Don R. Willett Elementary School—home of mighty Willett Wranglers—located barely a mile from where the Willett family doublewide once stood. He and his radiant wife, Tiffany have three children—Jacob, Shane-David, and Geneviève—plus the family pup, Amicus.
Senior Executive Counsel, NFIB Small Business Legal Center
Elizabeth Milito serves as Senior Executive Counsel with the National Federation of Independent Business, a position she has held since March 2004. Ms. Milito came to NFIB from the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs where she defended the agency in employment and labor lawsuits and was responsible for training and counseling managers on fair employment and HR practices. She has an extensive background in tort, medical malpractice and employment law.
Prior to serving as an attorney at the Department of Veteran's Affairs, Ms. Milito worked as a trial attorney at Nationwide Insurance Company. At Nationwide, she completed over 100 trials to verdict. Ms. Milito was the editor of notes and comments for the Maryland Law Review at the University of Maryland School of Law where she earned her Juris Doctor degree in May of 1996. Following her education, she served as a clerk to the Honorable Alan M. Wilner on the Maryland Court of Appeals, the state's highest court.
Ms. Milito is responsible for managing litigation and amicus work for NFIB. She has testified before Congress, federal agencies, and state legislatures on the small business impact of labor and employment issues. She also comments and writes regularly on small business cases before federal and state courts. Ms. Milito frequently counsels businesses facing employment discrimination charges, wage and hour claims, wrongful termination lawsuits, and in most other areas of human resources law. She also provides and develops on-line and on-site training on a variety of employment law matters and is a frequent media spokesperson on employment and labor matters.
Shareholder, Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart P.C.
Mr. Chapman serves on the Firm’s five-member Board of Directors. He is Board Certified in labor and employment law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and represents employers in all areas of labor and employment law, including discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour, non-competition and non-disclosure covenants, leaves of absence, employment agreements and policies, union campaigns, collective bargaining, unfair labor practices, and workplace safety.
Mr. Chapman has defended clients in over 25 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands, including class and collective actions, and regularly provides counseling to help clients navigate both legal and practical considerations. Representative clients include Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, FedEx Office, Fossil, GameStop, Hertz, Omni Hotels, Raytheon, Texas Instruments, and Valero.
Special Counsel, Hunton & Williams
Mr. Meisburg is a former National Labor Relations Board Member and General Counsel.
Prior to joining Hunton & Williams LLP, Ronald co-chaired the labor-management relations practice at an international law firm. Over the course of his 40-year career, which began with the Office of the Solicitor of the US Department of Labor, Mr. Meisburg has handled matters arising under federal labor and employment law in complex business transactions before federal agencies and courts.
Mr. Meisburg joined the NLRB in 2004, following a recess appointment by President George W. Bush. Two years later, President Bush appointed him to a four-year term as NLRB General Counsel, a position independent from the Board. Serving under the Bush and Obama Administrations as the chief prosecutor under the National Labor Relations Act and chief administrator of the agency’s 32 regional offices, he oversaw a $280 million budget and 1,200 staff.
Ronald has been quoted as a labor law authority by numerous national publications and news organizations, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, SHRM Online, Associated Press, Corporate Counsel Magazine, Bloomberg, Reuters, Employment Law 360 and BNA. He is a frequent speaker at national conferences sponsored by trade associations, professional groups and educational institutions, including the US Chamber of Commerce, numerous elite law schools and universities around the world, the Council on Labor Law Equality, Committee for a Democratic Workplace, Labor and Employment Research Association, Equal Employment Advisory Council, Human Resources Policy Association, Labor Relations Advisory Committee, National Retail Federation, Retail Leaders Industry Association, Energy and Mineral Law Foundation, American Arbitration Association and numerous bar associations. Mr. Meisburg has also been recognized by Legal500 USA.
Mr. Meisburg is admitted to practice in the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth and District of Columbia Circuits, and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Member, NLRB
Bill works with a broad range of clients, including trade associations, hospitals and other health care institutions, school districts, transportation and logistics companies and manufacturing companies.
He is a member of Littler Mendelson's Traditional Labor Practice Group and editor of the firm's traditional labor blog, Labor Relations Counsel. He also authored several amicus curiae briefs on behalf of trade associations in cases challenging state laws that allow labor unions to trespass on the private property of employers, including a landmark case now pending at the California Supreme Court.
Executive Vice President, The Federalist Society
Dean Reuter is Executive Vice President at the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies. He has served in two federal government agency Offices of the Inspector General, as Counsel to the Inspector General and Deputy Inspector General, responsible for policing the use of federal funds granted and contracted through those agencies. As such, he helped conduct and oversee criminal investigations across the country. He is the principal author of the non-fiction book, The Hidden Nazi: The Untold Story of America's Deal with the Devil, and editor of Liberty’s Nemesis: The Unchecked Expansion of the State and Confronting Terror: 9/11 and the Future of American National Security. He was appointed by the President and served as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service, and recently served as an appointee on the U.S. Commission on Presidential Scholars. He is a graduate of Hood College (BA with Honors) and the University of Maryland School of Law.
Vice President & Legal Director, National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation
Raymond J. LaJeunesse, Jr., is Vice President and Legal Director of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, a non-profit legal aid organization. He was the first Staff Attorney employed by the Foundation and has more than forty-five years of experience helping workers in litigation in federal and state courts and administrative agencies over the abuses of compulsory unionism.
Mr. LaJeunesse has argued four cases in the United States Supreme Court. Those cases include Lehnert v. Ferris Faculty Ass’n, 500 U.S. 507 (1991), which limited the purposes for which compulsory union fees collected from public employees may lawfully be spent; Air Line Pilots Ass’n v. Miller, 523 U.S. 866 (1998), which established that unions cannot compel nonmembers to exhaust union-established remedies before going to court to challenge compulsory union fees; and Marquez v. Screen Actors Guild, 525 U.S. 33 (1998), in which the Court recognized that unions must notify employees that they can satisfy the “membership” requirement of “union shop” agreements by just paying fees for union bargaining activities and need not join and pay full dues to keep their jobs. He also was lead attorney in Hohe v. Casey, 956 F.2d 399 (3d Cir. 1992), in which more than $8.3 million in compulsory agency fees was recovered from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees for a class of 57,000 nonmembers.
Mr. LaJeunesse is the author of several published articles about labor law, has testified before Congressional committees several times, and was an Advisor on the Transition Team for Labor- Related Agencies, Office of the President-Elect, in 1980-81 and a legislative aide to a member of the Virginia state legislature. He is a Vice Chairman of the Federalist Society’s Labor and Employment Law Practice Group and has spoken or debated at the Society’s National Lawyers Convention and at many Lawyers and Student Chapters on such topics as Right to Work laws, compulsory unionism arrangements, the misuse of union dues for politics, union organizing tactics (“card check” vs. secret-ballot elections), and the future of the union movement.
Stefan Marculewicz is a Shareholder in the Washington, DC office of Littler Mendelson, P.C., and focuses his legal practice on traditional labor law matters, international labor law and standards, and non-traditional worker representation.
Jennifer Thomas is an Associate in the Washington, DC office of Littler Mendelson, P.C. where she concentrates her practice in the areas of labor and employment law.
Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law and Director, Classical Liberal Institute, New York University School of Law; Director, Classical Liberal Institute, Civitas Institute University of Texas at Austin
Richard A. Epstein is the inaugural Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law at NYU School of Law. Prior to his joining the faculty, he was a visiting law professor at NYU from 2007 through 2009. He served as the Peter and Kirstin Bedford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution from 2000 to 2024. Since 2024 to the present he is a senior lecturer at the Civitas Institute at the University of Texas—Austin. Epstein is also the James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law Emeritus and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago. His initial law school appointment was at the University of Southern California from 1968 to 1972. Epstein received an LL.D., h.c. from the University of Ghent, 2003. He has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1985 and was a Senior Fellow of the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago Division of Biological Sciences, also from 1983. to 2022 He served as editor of the Journal of Legal Studies from 1981 to 1991, and of the Journal of Law and Economics from 1991-2001. From 2001 to 2010 he was a director of the John M. Olin Program in Law and Economics at the University of Chicago.
His newest book, The Myth of Birthright Citizenship: What the Fourteenth Amendment Really Says was published in 2026 (Encounter Books). Prior to that he has published many books including, The Dubious Morality of the Modern Administrative State (Roman & Littlefield 2020).Earlier he published th Classical Liberal Constitution: The Uncertain Quest for Limited Government (Harvard 2014) iHis previous books include Design for Liberty: Private Property, Public Administration and the Rule of Law (Harvard 2011); The Case Against the Employee Free Choice Act (Hoover 2009); Supreme Neglect: How to Revive the Constitutional Protection of Property Rights (Oxford 2008); Antitrust Decrees in Theory and Practice: Why Less is More (AEI 2007); Overdose: How Excessive Government Regulation Stifles Pharmaceutical Innovation (Yale University Press. 2006); How Progressives Rewrote the Constitution (Cato 2006); Cases and Materials on Torts (Aspen Law & Business; 8th ed. 2004); Skepticism and Freedom: A Modern Case for Classical Liberalism (University of Chicago, 2003); Torts (Aspen Law & Business 1999); Principles for a Free Society: Reconciling Individual Liberty with the Common Good (Perseus Books, 1998): Mortal Peril: Our Inalienable Rights to Health Care (Addison-Wesley, 1997); Simple Rules for a Complex World (Harvard, 1995); Bargaining With the State (Princeton, 1993); Forbidden Grounds: The Case Against Employment Discrimination Laws (Harvard , 1992); Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain (Harvard, 1985); and Modern Products Liability Law (Greenwood Press, 1980). He has also edited(with Catherine M. Sharkey) Cases and Materials on the Law of Torts (10th edition 2012).
Professor Epstein has written numerous articles on a wide range of legal and interdisciplinary subjects. He has taught courses in administrative law, antitrust law, civil procedure, communications, constitutional law, contracts, corporations, criminal law, employment discrimination law, environmental law, food and drug law health law and policy, legal history, labor law, property, real estate development and finance, jurisprudence, labor law; land use planning, patents, individual, estate and corporate taxation, Roman Law; torts, and workers' compensation.
Professor Epstein also writes a regular column for Civitas Institute, which also sponsors his podcast, The Libertarian with Charles C.W. Cooke, and Law Talk, with Cooke and John Yoo. He also does a podcast with John Batchelor. And appears regularly on the Freedom File with Judge Andrew Napolitano.
Partner, Goldberg, Godles, Wiener and Wright LLP
Mr. Goldberg has been practicing communications law since 1966 and is admitted to practice in New York and the District of Columbia. He is a 1961 graduate of Boston University and a 1964 graduate of the Columbia School of Law, where he served as an officer of the Columbia Law Review.
After practicing with the Washington law firm of Covington & Burling, Mr. Goldberg served as General Counsel of the Office of Telecommunications Policy, Executive Office of the President of the United States, from 1972 to 1975. Mr. Goldberg left this post to become the senior communications partner of the Washington law firm of Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard and McPherson, where he remained for eight years until forming his own firm in 1983.
In addition to serving as the Co-Chairman of the Engineering and Technical Committee of the Federal Communications Bar Association, Mr. Goldberg is the author of numerous articles and reports on communications issues, including studies of the First Amendment and the media and of emerging communications technologies.
Chairman Emeritus, Wiley Rein LLP
Dick, co-founder and name partner of the firm, has received numerous accolades throughout his storied career, including being named a Washington “Visionary” by The National Law Journal, the “most influential media and telecommunications lawyer in the United States” by the International Herald Tribune, one of the top “100 Men of the Century” by Broadcasting & Cable, and the “Father of High-Definition” television by The Globe and Mail. As Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), he fostered increased competition and lessened regulation in the communications field. Dick played a pivotal role in the development of HDTV in this country, serving for nine years as Chairman of the FCC’s Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service. He has represented a number of major communications-oriented organizations, including Verizon, AT&T, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, Newspaper Association of America, Motorola, CBS, Belo, Gannett, Sirius/XM, Emmis, Gray Television, and LG. Dick also is a frequent author and lecturer on telecommunications and information law.
Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
Don Willett serves on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Before joining the federal bench, he served 13 years on the Supreme Court of Texas. His career spans decades of public service, including roles as legal counsel to a Texas Attorney General, a Texas Governor, a U.S. Attorney General, and the President of the United States. Raised by a heroic, widowed mom in a town of 32 people, Judge Willett is his family’s first college graduate. He earned a triple-major B.B.A. from Baylor University (where he serves on the Board of Regents) and three degrees from Duke University (where he served on the Board of Visitors): a J.D. with honors, an M.A. in political science, and an LL.M. in judicial studies. After law school, he clerked on the Fifth Circuit and practiced at Haynes and Boone before entering public service. Judge Willett writes and speaks widely on law, judging, and civic life. He serves on the Advisory Board of the School of Civic Leadership at the University of Texas at Austin, was the longtime editor-in-chief of Judicature: The Scholarly Journal for Judges, teaches at various law schools, and publishes in leading law journals and the popular press. He has received more than a dozen Green Bag honors for “exemplary legal writing,” was named Distinguished Jurist of the Year by the Texas Review of Law & Politics and is a member of the American Law Institute and a Life Fellow of the American, Texas, and Austin Bar Foundations. A former rodeo bull rider and professional drummer, Judge Willett was named “Tweeter Laureate of Texas” in 2015. He is the namesake of Don R. Willett Elementary School—home of mighty Willett Wranglers—located barely a mile from where the Willett family doublewide once stood. He and his radiant wife, Tiffany have three children—Jacob, Shane-David, and Geneviève—plus the family pup, Amicus.
Partner and Deputy Chair, Securities Department, WilmerHale
Daniel Gallagher advises corporate boards and management on the full range of legal and strategic issues they face, and counsels financial services and accounting firms in investigations, regulatory proceedings and policy matters. Mr. Gallagher brings to his practice an unparalleled breadth of experience from having served not only in senior positions at the Securities and Exchange Commission but also as the chief legal officer of a global, S&P 500 corporation and general counsel of a broker-dealer.
Mr. Gallagher has extensive experience in the public and private sectors, navigating regulatory matters, financial markets, corporate legal affairs and governance, and fintech issues, including the regulatory and policy issues arising from new technology.
Mr. Gallagher previously served as the chief legal officer at Mylan N.V., a leading global pharmaceutical company; as the president of a financial services consulting firm; and as an SEC Commissioner. As an SEC Commissioner, Mr. Gallagher championed corporate governance reform, advocated for a comprehensive holistic review of equity market structural issues, and encouraged greatly improving the commission’s fixed income market expertise.
Mr. Gallagher also served on SEC staff in various senior roles, including as the deputy director and co-acting director of the Division of Trading and Markets, where he was on the front lines of the agency’s response to the financial crisis, including representing the commission in the Lehman Brothers liquidation. He was also a counsel to former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins and to former Chairman Christopher Cox, working on matters involving the Division of Enforcement and the Division of Trading and Markets.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Gallagher was the senior vice president and general counsel of a global provider of financial services technology, where he managed all legal and regulatory matters. He first joined WilmerHale in 1993 as an associate in the firm’s Securities Department.
Shareholder, Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart P.C.
Mr. Chapman serves on the Firm’s five-member Board of Directors. He is Board Certified in labor and employment law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and represents employers in all areas of labor and employment law, including discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour, non-competition and non-disclosure covenants, leaves of absence, employment agreements and policies, union campaigns, collective bargaining, unfair labor practices, and workplace safety.
Mr. Chapman has defended clients in over 25 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands, including class and collective actions, and regularly provides counseling to help clients navigate both legal and practical considerations. Representative clients include Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, FedEx Office, Fossil, GameStop, Hertz, Omni Hotels, Raytheon, Texas Instruments, and Valero.
Member, NLRB
Bill works with a broad range of clients, including trade associations, hospitals and other health care institutions, school districts, transportation and logistics companies and manufacturing companies.
He is a member of Littler Mendelson's Traditional Labor Practice Group and editor of the firm's traditional labor blog, Labor Relations Counsel. He also authored several amicus curiae briefs on behalf of trade associations in cases challenging state laws that allow labor unions to trespass on the private property of employers, including a landmark case now pending at the California Supreme Court.
Special Counsel, Hunton & Williams
Mr. Meisburg is a former National Labor Relations Board Member and General Counsel.
Prior to joining Hunton & Williams LLP, Ronald co-chaired the labor-management relations practice at an international law firm. Over the course of his 40-year career, which began with the Office of the Solicitor of the US Department of Labor, Mr. Meisburg has handled matters arising under federal labor and employment law in complex business transactions before federal agencies and courts.
Mr. Meisburg joined the NLRB in 2004, following a recess appointment by President George W. Bush. Two years later, President Bush appointed him to a four-year term as NLRB General Counsel, a position independent from the Board. Serving under the Bush and Obama Administrations as the chief prosecutor under the National Labor Relations Act and chief administrator of the agency’s 32 regional offices, he oversaw a $280 million budget and 1,200 staff.
Ronald has been quoted as a labor law authority by numerous national publications and news organizations, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, SHRM Online, Associated Press, Corporate Counsel Magazine, Bloomberg, Reuters, Employment Law 360 and BNA. He is a frequent speaker at national conferences sponsored by trade associations, professional groups and educational institutions, including the US Chamber of Commerce, numerous elite law schools and universities around the world, the Council on Labor Law Equality, Committee for a Democratic Workplace, Labor and Employment Research Association, Equal Employment Advisory Council, Human Resources Policy Association, Labor Relations Advisory Committee, National Retail Federation, Retail Leaders Industry Association, Energy and Mineral Law Foundation, American Arbitration Association and numerous bar associations. Mr. Meisburg has also been recognized by Legal500 USA.
Mr. Meisburg is admitted to practice in the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth and District of Columbia Circuits, and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Telecommunications & Electronic Media: Justice Scalia's Telecommunications Legacy
Richard A. Epstein, Henry Goldberg, Richard E. Wiley, Don R. Willett
Justice Scalia first entered public service in 1971, when he was appointed by President Richard...
Telecommunications & Electronic Media: Justice Scalia's Telecommunications Legacy
Richard A. Epstein, Henry Goldberg, Richard E. Wiley, Don R. Willett
Justice Scalia first entered public service in 1971, when he was appointed by President Richard...
Telecommunications & Electronic Media: Justice Scalia's Telecommunications Legacy
2016 National Lawyers Convention
Washington, DCNLRB Uses FOIA to Hinder Employee Rights
For decades, National Labor Relations Board Regional offices have displayed in their waiting areas looseleaf notebooks...
Asserting Influence and Power in the 21st Century: The NLRB Focuses on Assisting Non-Union Employees
Elizabeth Milito
Note from the Editor: This article is a discussion about the National Labor Relations Board’s relationship...
Dinner with SEC Commissioner Dan Gallagher
Washington, District of ColumbiaThe NLRB and Class Action Waivers: D.R. Horton v. NLRB - Podcast
Ron Chapman, Ronald E. Meisburg, William J. Emanuel, Dean Reuter
This case involves an epic clash between two federal statutes enacted many decades ago. On...
The NLRB and Class Action Waivers: D.R. Horton v. NLRB
Union Organizing and the NLRB Under President Obama
Raymond J. LaJeunesse
Note from the Editor: This paper analyzes union organizing and the NLRB under the Obama...
Labor Organizations by Another Name: The Worker Center Movement and its Evolution into Coverage under the NLRA and LMRDA
Stefan J. Marculewicz, Jennifer Thomas
I. Introduction The labor union, the primary collective advocate for workers’ rights in the United...