Member, Foster Pepper PLLC
Tom Ahearne has over 30 years of litigation experience. His practice focuses on two distinct areas: (1) representing policyholders in insurance coverage disputes, and (2) representing litigants in suits based on constitutional law, statutory rights, and election disputes.
Insurance Coverage: Tom has been successfully representing insureds and claimants in a wide array of state and federal court coverage litigation since the 1980s. He’s a frequent speaker on insurance coverage at trade association and legal industry seminars, and was named the Best Lawyers® 2011 Insurance Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Seattle.
Constitutional Law, Statutory Rights, & Elections: Tom’s experience over the past three decades includes major constitutional suits such as the McCleary education funding litigation, election disputes such as the Rossi-Gregoire Governor’s election lawsuits, numerous ballot title challenges including I-933, I-895, I-892, I-885, I-884, I-864, & I-860, and cases resolving the enforcement or validity of statutes and initiatives such as Washington’s Top-Two primary system and various Tim Eyman measures. Tom’s related work has been recognized in publications such as Washington Super Lawyers (2012 “Paramount Duty” article) and Seattle Magazine (“2010 Most Influential Lawyer of the Year”).
Joel focuses his litigation practice on the defense of patent infringement claims and challenges to patent validity as well as disputes over trademarks, copyrights and other intellectual property. A registered patent attorney, he has deep experience in post-grant practice before the Patent Office, particularly contested review conducted in parallel with patent infringement litigation. Joel works closely with trial teams preparing patent portfolios for assertive litigation through rigorous “pre-examination” claim validity review and owner-directed re-examination and correction. He has also represented clients in copyright matters and related questions involving the rights surrounding various methods of copying, storing, reproducing and streaming digital media.
Joel litigates and advises candidates, election officials and members of the public on election law, including ballot access and integrity provisions of federal law. He has extensive experience in voter roll integrity and language minority ballot access provisions of federal election statutes. Joel has investigated and enforced statewide violations of Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act, and implemented election day polling place observers in primary and general elections in numerous jurisdictions.
Senior Attorney, Institute for Justice
Paul Avelar is the Managing Attorney of the Institute for Justice Arizona Office. He joined the Institute in March 2010 and litigates free speech, property rights, economic liberty, school choice and other constitutional cases in federal and state courts.
As the head of IJ’s national Braiding Freedom Initiative, Paul represents natural hair braiders across the country to protect their right to earn an honest living. The Initiative uses lawsuits, activism and research to remove laws that require potential braiders to undergo hundreds of costly training hours just to braid hair. Since IJ launched the Braiding Freedom Initiative in 2014, 12 additional states have freed braiders from unnecessary licensing burdens. Paul drafted the model Natural Hair Braiding Protection Act, which has been adopted in Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Texas and South Dakota. He is currently representing braiders in Missouri, where state laws infringe upon their right to earn an honest living.
In his free speech work, Paul has challenged numerous laws that trample First Amendment rights. In Arizona Freedom Club PAC v. Bennett, he represented candidates and independent groups in a successful U.S. Supreme Court challenge to the “matching funds” provision of Arizona’s publicly financed elections system. He represented grassroots groups and individuals in Arizona, Mississippi and Washington, where state laws burdened their political speech by requiring them to register with the government, to navigate complex regulations and to face fines and possible criminal penalties merely because they talked about political issues. In Washington, Paul protected a lawyer’s right to defend, pro-bono, the First Amendment rights of political speakers. Through litigation and legislation, Paul leads the fight against abusive civil forfeiture laws in Arizona and elsewhere.
Paul also co-authored the most comprehensive published study of economic liberty protections in the Arizona Constitution. The Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court appointed Paul to the Task Force on the Review of the Role and Governance Structure of the State Bar of Arizona, where he dissented from the majority report and called on leaders to substantially reform the Bar and state regulation of the practice of law. He often speaks at law schools across the country about constitutional issues and his work at IJ.
Prior to joining IJ-AZ, Paul worked as an attorney in Philadelphia. He clerked for Judge Roger Miner on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Justice Andrew Hurwitz on the Arizona Supreme Court, and Judge Daniel Barker on the Arizona Court of Appeals.
Paul graduated manga cum laude from the Arizona State University College of Law in 2004 and was elected to the Order of the Coif. He received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 2000.
Director, Sitren Legal
Carrie Ann Donnell joined Arizona’s legal community after graduating law school from Wake Forest University. While clerking at a civil liberties firm in Phoenix (the Institute for Justice), Carrie Ann undertook two milestone voyages – to the courthouse to file her first legal brief, and to the wilderness to spend her first night in a tent. True to character, Carrie Ann spent months diligently preparing for both, and set her sights high. Her brief went to the Arizona Supreme Court, and her camping trip spanned four nights in the Grand Canyon. Carrie Ann soon made her home in the valley, where she enjoys rafting, hiking, and camping with her children.
Carrie Ann began her professional career at the Goldwater Institute, filling three roles simultaneously. As litigation attorney, paralegal, and administrative support for the brand new two-person legal team, Carrie Ann quickly became familiar with all aspects of representing clients. Her first lawsuit went to the Arizona Supreme Court to vindicate the Gift Clause of the Arizona Constitution on behalf of taxpayers in a $100 million subsidy challenge. Carrie Ann later launched the American Freedom Network for pro bono service at the Goldwater Institute.
Carrie Ann is honored to have directed the Pro Bono Center at the Federalist Society, where she remains an active member.
Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles
Carolyn Barbara Kuhl is a judge on the Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles and a former nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. After receiving her law degree in 1977 from Duke Law School, she clerked for future Supreme Court Justice, Anthony M. Kennedy, from 1977–78. From 1981–86, she served in the United States Department of Justice. She worked as a partner in the Los Angeles law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson, focusing on civil business litigation with a specialty in appellate litigation, from 1986–95. She became a judge on the Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles in 1995 and was nominated to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on June 22, 2001 by President George W. Bush.
Partner, Horvitz & Levy LLP
Jeremy Rosen is nationally renowned for his proficiency in numerous issues arising under the First Amendment and California’s anti-SLAPP law. Using that knowledge, Jeremy has helped a wide variety of clients – including churches, private businesses, and individuals – defeat lawsuits that seek to impose liability on clients for exercising their rights of petition, free speech, and free exercise of religion. He has also handled hundreds of appeals in numerous appellate courts, including the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the California Supreme Court, and California’s intermediate appellate courts. In addition to First Amendment and anti-SLAPP cases, his cases have involved numerous important issues regarding anti-trust, class actions, wage and hour law, employment law, breach of contract, California’s Unfair Competition Law, CEQA, the enforceability of arbitration clauses, hospital peer review, the scope of public employee whistleblower protection, and the application of the primary assumption of risk doctrine.
Jeremy is a partner at the firm, which he joined in 2001. He is a California State Bar Certified Appellate Specialist and a member of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers.
Jeremy directed the Pepperdine University School of Law Ninth Circuit Appellate Advocacy Clinic for 6 years. The Clinic represents individuals in the Ninth Circuit who are identified by the court as needing pro bono counsel. Jeremy also previously served a three-year term where he was appointed by the Ninth Circuit to serve as one of 18 appellate lawyer representatives to the court.
Jeremy is a member of the National Chamber Litigation Center’s California Litigation Advisory Committee. Before joining the firm, Jeremy was a Litigation Associate with Munger, Tolles & Olson.
Member, Foster Pepper PLLC
Tom Ahearne has over 30 years of litigation experience. His practice focuses on two distinct areas: (1) representing policyholders in insurance coverage disputes, and (2) representing litigants in suits based on constitutional law, statutory rights, and election disputes.
Insurance Coverage: Tom has been successfully representing insureds and claimants in a wide array of state and federal court coverage litigation since the 1980s. He’s a frequent speaker on insurance coverage at trade association and legal industry seminars, and was named the Best Lawyers® 2011 Insurance Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Seattle.
Constitutional Law, Statutory Rights, & Elections: Tom’s experience over the past three decades includes major constitutional suits such as the McCleary education funding litigation, election disputes such as the Rossi-Gregoire Governor’s election lawsuits, numerous ballot title challenges including I-933, I-895, I-892, I-885, I-884, I-864, & I-860, and cases resolving the enforcement or validity of statutes and initiatives such as Washington’s Top-Two primary system and various Tim Eyman measures. Tom’s related work has been recognized in publications such as Washington Super Lawyers (2012 “Paramount Duty” article) and Seattle Magazine (“2010 Most Influential Lawyer of the Year”).
Joel focuses his litigation practice on the defense of patent infringement claims and challenges to patent validity as well as disputes over trademarks, copyrights and other intellectual property. A registered patent attorney, he has deep experience in post-grant practice before the Patent Office, particularly contested review conducted in parallel with patent infringement litigation. Joel works closely with trial teams preparing patent portfolios for assertive litigation through rigorous “pre-examination” claim validity review and owner-directed re-examination and correction. He has also represented clients in copyright matters and related questions involving the rights surrounding various methods of copying, storing, reproducing and streaming digital media.
Joel litigates and advises candidates, election officials and members of the public on election law, including ballot access and integrity provisions of federal law. He has extensive experience in voter roll integrity and language minority ballot access provisions of federal election statutes. Joel has investigated and enforced statewide violations of Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act, and implemented election day polling place observers in primary and general elections in numerous jurisdictions.
Senior Attorney, Institute for Justice
Paul Avelar is the Managing Attorney of the Institute for Justice Arizona Office. He joined the Institute in March 2010 and litigates free speech, property rights, economic liberty, school choice and other constitutional cases in federal and state courts.
As the head of IJ’s national Braiding Freedom Initiative, Paul represents natural hair braiders across the country to protect their right to earn an honest living. The Initiative uses lawsuits, activism and research to remove laws that require potential braiders to undergo hundreds of costly training hours just to braid hair. Since IJ launched the Braiding Freedom Initiative in 2014, 12 additional states have freed braiders from unnecessary licensing burdens. Paul drafted the model Natural Hair Braiding Protection Act, which has been adopted in Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Texas and South Dakota. He is currently representing braiders in Missouri, where state laws infringe upon their right to earn an honest living.
In his free speech work, Paul has challenged numerous laws that trample First Amendment rights. In Arizona Freedom Club PAC v. Bennett, he represented candidates and independent groups in a successful U.S. Supreme Court challenge to the “matching funds” provision of Arizona’s publicly financed elections system. He represented grassroots groups and individuals in Arizona, Mississippi and Washington, where state laws burdened their political speech by requiring them to register with the government, to navigate complex regulations and to face fines and possible criminal penalties merely because they talked about political issues. In Washington, Paul protected a lawyer’s right to defend, pro-bono, the First Amendment rights of political speakers. Through litigation and legislation, Paul leads the fight against abusive civil forfeiture laws in Arizona and elsewhere.
Paul also co-authored the most comprehensive published study of economic liberty protections in the Arizona Constitution. The Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court appointed Paul to the Task Force on the Review of the Role and Governance Structure of the State Bar of Arizona, where he dissented from the majority report and called on leaders to substantially reform the Bar and state regulation of the practice of law. He often speaks at law schools across the country about constitutional issues and his work at IJ.
Prior to joining IJ-AZ, Paul worked as an attorney in Philadelphia. He clerked for Judge Roger Miner on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Justice Andrew Hurwitz on the Arizona Supreme Court, and Judge Daniel Barker on the Arizona Court of Appeals.
Paul graduated manga cum laude from the Arizona State University College of Law in 2004 and was elected to the Order of the Coif. He received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 2000.
Director, Sitren Legal
Carrie Ann Donnell joined Arizona’s legal community after graduating law school from Wake Forest University. While clerking at a civil liberties firm in Phoenix (the Institute for Justice), Carrie Ann undertook two milestone voyages – to the courthouse to file her first legal brief, and to the wilderness to spend her first night in a tent. True to character, Carrie Ann spent months diligently preparing for both, and set her sights high. Her brief went to the Arizona Supreme Court, and her camping trip spanned four nights in the Grand Canyon. Carrie Ann soon made her home in the valley, where she enjoys rafting, hiking, and camping with her children.
Carrie Ann began her professional career at the Goldwater Institute, filling three roles simultaneously. As litigation attorney, paralegal, and administrative support for the brand new two-person legal team, Carrie Ann quickly became familiar with all aspects of representing clients. Her first lawsuit went to the Arizona Supreme Court to vindicate the Gift Clause of the Arizona Constitution on behalf of taxpayers in a $100 million subsidy challenge. Carrie Ann later launched the American Freedom Network for pro bono service at the Goldwater Institute.
Carrie Ann is honored to have directed the Pro Bono Center at the Federalist Society, where she remains an active member.
Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles
Carolyn Barbara Kuhl is a judge on the Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles and a former nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. After receiving her law degree in 1977 from Duke Law School, she clerked for future Supreme Court Justice, Anthony M. Kennedy, from 1977–78. From 1981–86, she served in the United States Department of Justice. She worked as a partner in the Los Angeles law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson, focusing on civil business litigation with a specialty in appellate litigation, from 1986–95. She became a judge on the Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles in 1995 and was nominated to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on June 22, 2001 by President George W. Bush.
Partner, Horvitz & Levy LLP
Jeremy Rosen is nationally renowned for his proficiency in numerous issues arising under the First Amendment and California’s anti-SLAPP law. Using that knowledge, Jeremy has helped a wide variety of clients – including churches, private businesses, and individuals – defeat lawsuits that seek to impose liability on clients for exercising their rights of petition, free speech, and free exercise of religion. He has also handled hundreds of appeals in numerous appellate courts, including the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the California Supreme Court, and California’s intermediate appellate courts. In addition to First Amendment and anti-SLAPP cases, his cases have involved numerous important issues regarding anti-trust, class actions, wage and hour law, employment law, breach of contract, California’s Unfair Competition Law, CEQA, the enforceability of arbitration clauses, hospital peer review, the scope of public employee whistleblower protection, and the application of the primary assumption of risk doctrine.
Jeremy is a partner at the firm, which he joined in 2001. He is a California State Bar Certified Appellate Specialist and a member of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers.
Jeremy directed the Pepperdine University School of Law Ninth Circuit Appellate Advocacy Clinic for 6 years. The Clinic represents individuals in the Ninth Circuit who are identified by the court as needing pro bono counsel. Jeremy also previously served a three-year term where he was appointed by the Ninth Circuit to serve as one of 18 appellate lawyer representatives to the court.
Jeremy is a member of the National Chamber Litigation Center’s California Litigation Advisory Committee. Before joining the firm, Jeremy was a Litigation Associate with Munger, Tolles & Olson.
Former Assistant United States Attorney at United States Attorney's Office
In February 2015, I entered private practice, concentrating on criminal law, forfeiture, and mediation services.
From 1985 until November 2013, I was an assistant United States attorney in the Northern District of Texas. I litigated civil and criminal forfeiture cases involving violations of federal laws on behalf of federal agencies (including the Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security, Internal Revenue Service Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Secret Service, and Fish and Wildlife Service.
From July 2009 until January 2012, however, I served as the Asset Forfeiture/Money Laundering Coordinator on a detail to the Executive Office of United States Attorneys (EOUSA), United States Department of Justice, in Washington, D.C. In this capacity, I provided advice and assistance to EOUSA and 93 United States Attorney’s offices, on legal, logistical, and programmatic issues arising as part of the Department’s Asset Forfeiture/Money Laundering Program. I also served as a liaison between EOUSA and the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, components of the Department of Justice (e.g., DEA, FBI, ATF) and Department of Treasury (e.g., IRS, SS, DHS) Asset Forfeiture Programs, and other agencies.
In both of these positions, I became familiar with federal forfeiture statutes, regulations, and cases, and agency forfeiture policies and procedures, as well as standard practices of agencies . Each year, I attended conferences on various substantive and procedural subjects related to forfeiture, including the annual Asset Forfeiture Chiefs and Experts Conference sponsored by the Department of Justice’s Asset Forfeiture/Money Laundering Section. Each month, I reviewed a summary of federal forfeiture case decisions prepared by renowned forfeiture expert Stefan Cassella. In addition, I regularly made presentations locally to various federal agencies on forfeiture topics.
Managing Attorney, Institute for Justice
Arif Panju serves as a managing attorney with the Institute for Justice. He leads IJ’s Texas office and litigates cases involving free speech, property rights, economic liberty, and educational choice.
Arif is co-counsel in the case of Carson v. Makin in the U.S. Supreme Court. Carson is a challenge to Maine’s exclusion of religious educational options from the state’s school choice program.
Arif’s work has resulted in court victories in both federal and state court. He vindicated the free speech rights of tour guides in Billups v. City of Charleston. He secured a victory for economic liberty in Brantley v. Kuntz, freeing hairbraiding schools in Texas from onerous restrictions and paving the way for the abolishment of the state’s braiding license at the Texas Legislature. In Patel v. Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, Arif helped secure a landmark victory in the Texas Supreme Court, establishing a new test for reviewing the constitutionality of economic regulations.
Arif’s work at IJ has been featured by outlets including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, Texas Tribune, and dozens more nationwide. His opinions and views on legal issues have been published in several outlets, including the Dallas Morning News, Austin American-Statesman, and USA Today. Arif sits on the board for the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.
Arif graduated law school with honors from Southern Methodist University. During law school he clerked on the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Arif lives in Austin, Texas.
Vice President for Legal Affairs, Goldwater Institute
Of Counsel, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Prerak Shah is Of Counsel at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. He was most recently the Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, leading a team of approximately 120 Assistant U.S. Attorneys handling a wide range of cases, including securities fraud, health care fraud, the False Claims Act, computer crime, national security, tax fraud, money laundering, public corruption, and terrorism. Mr. Shah previously held several leadership positions at the Department of Justice, including Deputy Associate Attorney General in the office overseeing the work of the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment & Natural Resources, and Tax Divisions. Before joining the Justice Department, Mr. Shah served as Chief of Staff to Senator Ted Cruz and as a Chief Counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He graduated from the University of Chicago Law School and clerked for the Honorable Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
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, Judge Willett 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 doublewide trailer in a town of 32, 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 serves on the Board of Visitors: a J.D. with honors, an A.M. 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 publishes widely in both leading law reviews and national media, including
The Yale Law Journal, The University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and The Wall Street
Journal. The longtime editor-in-chief of Judicature—the Scholarly Journal for Judges, he
holds academic appointments at various law schools and has received more than a
dozen Green Bag honors for “exemplary legal writing.” He was named Distinguished
Jurist of the Year by the Texas Review of Law & Politics, and he is a member of the
American Law Institute and a Life Fellow of the American, Texas, and Austin Bar
Foundations.
A onetime 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 just a mile from where he grew up.
He and his radiant wife, Tiffany have three children—Jacob, Shane-David, and
Geneviève—plus the family pup, Amicus.
Director of Policy & General Counsel, Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute
Russell Withers is Director of Policy & General Counsel at the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute. He holds an undergraduate degree in Government and English from the University of Texas at Austin and a J.D. from Tulane University School of Law in New Orleans. Russell helped litigate constitutional claims as a clerk at the Institute for Justice, served as a policy consultant for the Greg Abbott campaign for Governor in 2014, and regularly assists members of the Texas Legislature on questions of public policy. He has testified before several committees in the Texas Legislature and authored numerous opinion editorials on Texas politics and public policy. His works have appeared in the Austin American Statesman, the Houston Chronicle, the Texas Tribune’s Trib Talk, and others. He has served as a moderator for panels at TCCRI Policy Summits covering issues such as health care, energy, and economic freedom. Russell is an active member in the Austin Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society and has organized events as well as presented and participated in them.
Former Assistant United States Attorney at United States Attorney's Office
In February 2015, I entered private practice, concentrating on criminal law, forfeiture, and mediation services.
From 1985 until November 2013, I was an assistant United States attorney in the Northern District of Texas. I litigated civil and criminal forfeiture cases involving violations of federal laws on behalf of federal agencies (including the Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security, Internal Revenue Service Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Secret Service, and Fish and Wildlife Service.
From July 2009 until January 2012, however, I served as the Asset Forfeiture/Money Laundering Coordinator on a detail to the Executive Office of United States Attorneys (EOUSA), United States Department of Justice, in Washington, D.C. In this capacity, I provided advice and assistance to EOUSA and 93 United States Attorney’s offices, on legal, logistical, and programmatic issues arising as part of the Department’s Asset Forfeiture/Money Laundering Program. I also served as a liaison between EOUSA and the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, components of the Department of Justice (e.g., DEA, FBI, ATF) and Department of Treasury (e.g., IRS, SS, DHS) Asset Forfeiture Programs, and other agencies.
In both of these positions, I became familiar with federal forfeiture statutes, regulations, and cases, and agency forfeiture policies and procedures, as well as standard practices of agencies . Each year, I attended conferences on various substantive and procedural subjects related to forfeiture, including the annual Asset Forfeiture Chiefs and Experts Conference sponsored by the Department of Justice’s Asset Forfeiture/Money Laundering Section. Each month, I reviewed a summary of federal forfeiture case decisions prepared by renowned forfeiture expert Stefan Cassella. In addition, I regularly made presentations locally to various federal agencies on forfeiture topics.
Managing Attorney, Institute for Justice
Arif Panju serves as a managing attorney with the Institute for Justice. He leads IJ’s Texas office and litigates cases involving free speech, property rights, economic liberty, and educational choice.
Arif is co-counsel in the case of Carson v. Makin in the U.S. Supreme Court. Carson is a challenge to Maine’s exclusion of religious educational options from the state’s school choice program.
Arif’s work has resulted in court victories in both federal and state court. He vindicated the free speech rights of tour guides in Billups v. City of Charleston. He secured a victory for economic liberty in Brantley v. Kuntz, freeing hairbraiding schools in Texas from onerous restrictions and paving the way for the abolishment of the state’s braiding license at the Texas Legislature. In Patel v. Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, Arif helped secure a landmark victory in the Texas Supreme Court, establishing a new test for reviewing the constitutionality of economic regulations.
Arif’s work at IJ has been featured by outlets including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, Texas Tribune, and dozens more nationwide. His opinions and views on legal issues have been published in several outlets, including the Dallas Morning News, Austin American-Statesman, and USA Today. Arif sits on the board for the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.
Arif graduated law school with honors from Southern Methodist University. During law school he clerked on the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Arif lives in Austin, Texas.
Vice President for Legal Affairs, Goldwater Institute
Of Counsel, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Prerak Shah is Of Counsel at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. He was most recently the Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, leading a team of approximately 120 Assistant U.S. Attorneys handling a wide range of cases, including securities fraud, health care fraud, the False Claims Act, computer crime, national security, tax fraud, money laundering, public corruption, and terrorism. Mr. Shah previously held several leadership positions at the Department of Justice, including Deputy Associate Attorney General in the office overseeing the work of the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment & Natural Resources, and Tax Divisions. Before joining the Justice Department, Mr. Shah served as Chief of Staff to Senator Ted Cruz and as a Chief Counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He graduated from the University of Chicago Law School and clerked for the Honorable Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
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, Judge Willett 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 doublewide trailer in a town of 32, 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 serves on the Board of Visitors: a J.D. with honors, an A.M. 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 publishes widely in both leading law reviews and national media, including
The Yale Law Journal, The University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and The Wall Street
Journal. The longtime editor-in-chief of Judicature—the Scholarly Journal for Judges, he
holds academic appointments at various law schools and has received more than a
dozen Green Bag honors for “exemplary legal writing.” He was named Distinguished
Jurist of the Year by the Texas Review of Law & Politics, and he is a member of the
American Law Institute and a Life Fellow of the American, Texas, and Austin Bar
Foundations.
A onetime 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 just a mile from where he grew up.
He and his radiant wife, Tiffany have three children—Jacob, Shane-David, and
Geneviève—plus the family pup, Amicus.
Director of Policy & General Counsel, Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute
Russell Withers is Director of Policy & General Counsel at the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute. He holds an undergraduate degree in Government and English from the University of Texas at Austin and a J.D. from Tulane University School of Law in New Orleans. Russell helped litigate constitutional claims as a clerk at the Institute for Justice, served as a policy consultant for the Greg Abbott campaign for Governor in 2014, and regularly assists members of the Texas Legislature on questions of public policy. He has testified before several committees in the Texas Legislature and authored numerous opinion editorials on Texas politics and public policy. His works have appeared in the Austin American Statesman, the Houston Chronicle, the Texas Tribune’s Trib Talk, and others. He has served as a moderator for panels at TCCRI Policy Summits covering issues such as health care, energy, and economic freedom. Russell is an active member in the Austin Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society and has organized events as well as presented and participated in them.
Member, Foster Pepper PLLC
Tom Ahearne has over 30 years of litigation experience. His practice focuses on two distinct areas: (1) representing policyholders in insurance coverage disputes, and (2) representing litigants in suits based on constitutional law, statutory rights, and election disputes.
Insurance Coverage: Tom has been successfully representing insureds and claimants in a wide array of state and federal court coverage litigation since the 1980s. He’s a frequent speaker on insurance coverage at trade association and legal industry seminars, and was named the Best Lawyers® 2011 Insurance Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Seattle.
Constitutional Law, Statutory Rights, & Elections: Tom’s experience over the past three decades includes major constitutional suits such as the McCleary education funding litigation, election disputes such as the Rossi-Gregoire Governor’s election lawsuits, numerous ballot title challenges including I-933, I-895, I-892, I-885, I-884, I-864, & I-860, and cases resolving the enforcement or validity of statutes and initiatives such as Washington’s Top-Two primary system and various Tim Eyman measures. Tom’s related work has been recognized in publications such as Washington Super Lawyers (2012 “Paramount Duty” article) and Seattle Magazine (“2010 Most Influential Lawyer of the Year”).
Joel focuses his litigation practice on the defense of patent infringement claims and challenges to patent validity as well as disputes over trademarks, copyrights and other intellectual property. A registered patent attorney, he has deep experience in post-grant practice before the Patent Office, particularly contested review conducted in parallel with patent infringement litigation. Joel works closely with trial teams preparing patent portfolios for assertive litigation through rigorous “pre-examination” claim validity review and owner-directed re-examination and correction. He has also represented clients in copyright matters and related questions involving the rights surrounding various methods of copying, storing, reproducing and streaming digital media.
Joel litigates and advises candidates, election officials and members of the public on election law, including ballot access and integrity provisions of federal law. He has extensive experience in voter roll integrity and language minority ballot access provisions of federal election statutes. Joel has investigated and enforced statewide violations of Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act, and implemented election day polling place observers in primary and general elections in numerous jurisdictions.
Senior Attorney, Institute for Justice
Paul Avelar is the Managing Attorney of the Institute for Justice Arizona Office. He joined the Institute in March 2010 and litigates free speech, property rights, economic liberty, school choice and other constitutional cases in federal and state courts.
As the head of IJ’s national Braiding Freedom Initiative, Paul represents natural hair braiders across the country to protect their right to earn an honest living. The Initiative uses lawsuits, activism and research to remove laws that require potential braiders to undergo hundreds of costly training hours just to braid hair. Since IJ launched the Braiding Freedom Initiative in 2014, 12 additional states have freed braiders from unnecessary licensing burdens. Paul drafted the model Natural Hair Braiding Protection Act, which has been adopted in Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Texas and South Dakota. He is currently representing braiders in Missouri, where state laws infringe upon their right to earn an honest living.
In his free speech work, Paul has challenged numerous laws that trample First Amendment rights. In Arizona Freedom Club PAC v. Bennett, he represented candidates and independent groups in a successful U.S. Supreme Court challenge to the “matching funds” provision of Arizona’s publicly financed elections system. He represented grassroots groups and individuals in Arizona, Mississippi and Washington, where state laws burdened their political speech by requiring them to register with the government, to navigate complex regulations and to face fines and possible criminal penalties merely because they talked about political issues. In Washington, Paul protected a lawyer’s right to defend, pro-bono, the First Amendment rights of political speakers. Through litigation and legislation, Paul leads the fight against abusive civil forfeiture laws in Arizona and elsewhere.
Paul also co-authored the most comprehensive published study of economic liberty protections in the Arizona Constitution. The Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court appointed Paul to the Task Force on the Review of the Role and Governance Structure of the State Bar of Arizona, where he dissented from the majority report and called on leaders to substantially reform the Bar and state regulation of the practice of law. He often speaks at law schools across the country about constitutional issues and his work at IJ.
Prior to joining IJ-AZ, Paul worked as an attorney in Philadelphia. He clerked for Judge Roger Miner on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Justice Andrew Hurwitz on the Arizona Supreme Court, and Judge Daniel Barker on the Arizona Court of Appeals.
Paul graduated manga cum laude from the Arizona State University College of Law in 2004 and was elected to the Order of the Coif. He received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 2000.
Director, Sitren Legal
Carrie Ann Donnell joined Arizona’s legal community after graduating law school from Wake Forest University. While clerking at a civil liberties firm in Phoenix (the Institute for Justice), Carrie Ann undertook two milestone voyages – to the courthouse to file her first legal brief, and to the wilderness to spend her first night in a tent. True to character, Carrie Ann spent months diligently preparing for both, and set her sights high. Her brief went to the Arizona Supreme Court, and her camping trip spanned four nights in the Grand Canyon. Carrie Ann soon made her home in the valley, where she enjoys rafting, hiking, and camping with her children.
Carrie Ann began her professional career at the Goldwater Institute, filling three roles simultaneously. As litigation attorney, paralegal, and administrative support for the brand new two-person legal team, Carrie Ann quickly became familiar with all aspects of representing clients. Her first lawsuit went to the Arizona Supreme Court to vindicate the Gift Clause of the Arizona Constitution on behalf of taxpayers in a $100 million subsidy challenge. Carrie Ann later launched the American Freedom Network for pro bono service at the Goldwater Institute.
Carrie Ann is honored to have directed the Pro Bono Center at the Federalist Society, where she remains an active member.
Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles
Carolyn Barbara Kuhl is a judge on the Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles and a former nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. After receiving her law degree in 1977 from Duke Law School, she clerked for future Supreme Court Justice, Anthony M. Kennedy, from 1977–78. From 1981–86, she served in the United States Department of Justice. She worked as a partner in the Los Angeles law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson, focusing on civil business litigation with a specialty in appellate litigation, from 1986–95. She became a judge on the Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles in 1995 and was nominated to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on June 22, 2001 by President George W. Bush.
Partner, Horvitz & Levy LLP
Jeremy Rosen is nationally renowned for his proficiency in numerous issues arising under the First Amendment and California’s anti-SLAPP law. Using that knowledge, Jeremy has helped a wide variety of clients – including churches, private businesses, and individuals – defeat lawsuits that seek to impose liability on clients for exercising their rights of petition, free speech, and free exercise of religion. He has also handled hundreds of appeals in numerous appellate courts, including the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the California Supreme Court, and California’s intermediate appellate courts. In addition to First Amendment and anti-SLAPP cases, his cases have involved numerous important issues regarding anti-trust, class actions, wage and hour law, employment law, breach of contract, California’s Unfair Competition Law, CEQA, the enforceability of arbitration clauses, hospital peer review, the scope of public employee whistleblower protection, and the application of the primary assumption of risk doctrine.
Jeremy is a partner at the firm, which he joined in 2001. He is a California State Bar Certified Appellate Specialist and a member of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers.
Jeremy directed the Pepperdine University School of Law Ninth Circuit Appellate Advocacy Clinic for 6 years. The Clinic represents individuals in the Ninth Circuit who are identified by the court as needing pro bono counsel. Jeremy also previously served a three-year term where he was appointed by the Ninth Circuit to serve as one of 18 appellate lawyer representatives to the court.
Jeremy is a member of the National Chamber Litigation Center’s California Litigation Advisory Committee. Before joining the firm, Jeremy was a Litigation Associate with Munger, Tolles & Olson.
Adjunct Professor, George Washington University Law School
Vice President for Legal Affairs, Cato Institute
Roger Pilon is the Cato’s Institute’s vice president for legal affairs, the founding director of Cato’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, the inaugural holder of Cato’s B. Kenneth Simon Chair in Constitutional Studies, and the founding publisher of the Cato Supreme Court Review.
Prior to joining Cato, Pilon held five senior posts in the Reagan administration, including at State and Justice, and was a national fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution. In 1989 the Bicentennial Commission presented him with its Benjamin Franklin Award for excellence in writing on the U.S. Constitution. In 2001 Columbia University’s School of General Studies awarded him its Alumni Medal of Distinction. Pilon lectures and debates at universities and law schools across the country and testifies often before Congress.
His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Legal Times, National Law Journal, Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, Stanford Law and Policy Review, and elsewhere. He has appeared on ABC’s Nightline, CBS’s 60 Minutes II, Fox News Channel, NPR, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, C-SPAN, and other media.
Pilon holds a BA from Columbia University, an MA and a PhD from the University of Chicago, and a JD from the George Washington University School of Law.
Vice President for Legal Affairs, Goldwater Institute
U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit
Judge Williams practiced law in New York City (at the firm of Debevoise Plimpton and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney) and then taught law at the University of Colorado Law School from 1969 to 1986, with visiting years at UCLA, SMU, and the University of Chicago (where he was also a fellow in law and economics). He was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in 1986. His most recent book is a biography of Vasily Maklakov, The Reformer: How One Liberal Fought to Preempt the Russian Revolution (Encounter Books, 2017).
Executive Vice President, Goldwater Institute
Christina Sandefur is the Executive Vice President at the Goldwater Institute. She develops policies and litigates cases advancing healthcare freedom, free enterprise, private property rights, free speech, and taxpayer rights.
Christina is a co-drafter of the Right to Try initiative, now federal law, which protects terminally ill patients' right to try safe investigational treatments that have been prescribed by their physician but are not yet FDA-approved. She has won important victories for property rights in Arizona and works nationally to promote the Institute's Private Property Rights Protection Act, a state-level reform that requires government to pay owners when regulations destroy property rights and reduce property values.
Christina is the co-author of the book Cornerstone of Liberty: Private Property Rights in 21st Century America (2016). She is a frequent guest on national television and radio programs, has provided expert legal testimony to various legislative committees, and is a frequent speaker at conferences. She is the recipient of the 2018 Buckley Award in recognition of her leadership in the freedom movement, and she is an Advisory Board Member of the Network of enlightened Women. Christina serves on the board of the Phoenix Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society and is a member of the executive committee for the Federalist Society's Regulatory Transparency Project: FDA & Health.
Christina is a graduate of Michigan State University College of Law and Hillsdale College.
Former Assistant United States Attorney at United States Attorney's Office
In February 2015, I entered private practice, concentrating on criminal law, forfeiture, and mediation services.
From 1985 until November 2013, I was an assistant United States attorney in the Northern District of Texas. I litigated civil and criminal forfeiture cases involving violations of federal laws on behalf of federal agencies (including the Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security, Internal Revenue Service Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Secret Service, and Fish and Wildlife Service.
From July 2009 until January 2012, however, I served as the Asset Forfeiture/Money Laundering Coordinator on a detail to the Executive Office of United States Attorneys (EOUSA), United States Department of Justice, in Washington, D.C. In this capacity, I provided advice and assistance to EOUSA and 93 United States Attorney’s offices, on legal, logistical, and programmatic issues arising as part of the Department’s Asset Forfeiture/Money Laundering Program. I also served as a liaison between EOUSA and the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, components of the Department of Justice (e.g., DEA, FBI, ATF) and Department of Treasury (e.g., IRS, SS, DHS) Asset Forfeiture Programs, and other agencies.
In both of these positions, I became familiar with federal forfeiture statutes, regulations, and cases, and agency forfeiture policies and procedures, as well as standard practices of agencies . Each year, I attended conferences on various substantive and procedural subjects related to forfeiture, including the annual Asset Forfeiture Chiefs and Experts Conference sponsored by the Department of Justice’s Asset Forfeiture/Money Laundering Section. Each month, I reviewed a summary of federal forfeiture case decisions prepared by renowned forfeiture expert Stefan Cassella. In addition, I regularly made presentations locally to various federal agencies on forfeiture topics.
Managing Attorney, Institute for Justice
Arif Panju serves as a managing attorney with the Institute for Justice. He leads IJ’s Texas office and litigates cases involving free speech, property rights, economic liberty, and educational choice.
Arif is co-counsel in the case of Carson v. Makin in the U.S. Supreme Court. Carson is a challenge to Maine’s exclusion of religious educational options from the state’s school choice program.
Arif’s work has resulted in court victories in both federal and state court. He vindicated the free speech rights of tour guides in Billups v. City of Charleston. He secured a victory for economic liberty in Brantley v. Kuntz, freeing hairbraiding schools in Texas from onerous restrictions and paving the way for the abolishment of the state’s braiding license at the Texas Legislature. In Patel v. Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, Arif helped secure a landmark victory in the Texas Supreme Court, establishing a new test for reviewing the constitutionality of economic regulations.
Arif’s work at IJ has been featured by outlets including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, Texas Tribune, and dozens more nationwide. His opinions and views on legal issues have been published in several outlets, including the Dallas Morning News, Austin American-Statesman, and USA Today. Arif sits on the board for the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.
Arif graduated law school with honors from Southern Methodist University. During law school he clerked on the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Arif lives in Austin, Texas.
Vice President for Legal Affairs, Goldwater Institute
Of Counsel, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Prerak Shah is Of Counsel at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. He was most recently the Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, leading a team of approximately 120 Assistant U.S. Attorneys handling a wide range of cases, including securities fraud, health care fraud, the False Claims Act, computer crime, national security, tax fraud, money laundering, public corruption, and terrorism. Mr. Shah previously held several leadership positions at the Department of Justice, including Deputy Associate Attorney General in the office overseeing the work of the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment & Natural Resources, and Tax Divisions. Before joining the Justice Department, Mr. Shah served as Chief of Staff to Senator Ted Cruz and as a Chief Counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He graduated from the University of Chicago Law School and clerked for the Honorable Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
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, Judge Willett 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 doublewide trailer in a town of 32, 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 serves on the Board of Visitors: a J.D. with honors, an A.M. 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 publishes widely in both leading law reviews and national media, including
The Yale Law Journal, The University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and The Wall Street
Journal. The longtime editor-in-chief of Judicature—the Scholarly Journal for Judges, he
holds academic appointments at various law schools and has received more than a
dozen Green Bag honors for “exemplary legal writing.” He was named Distinguished
Jurist of the Year by the Texas Review of Law & Politics, and he is a member of the
American Law Institute and a Life Fellow of the American, Texas, and Austin Bar
Foundations.
A onetime 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 just a mile from where he grew up.
He and his radiant wife, Tiffany have three children—Jacob, Shane-David, and
Geneviève—plus the family pup, Amicus.
Director of Policy & General Counsel, Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute
Russell Withers is Director of Policy & General Counsel at the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute. He holds an undergraduate degree in Government and English from the University of Texas at Austin and a J.D. from Tulane University School of Law in New Orleans. Russell helped litigate constitutional claims as a clerk at the Institute for Justice, served as a policy consultant for the Greg Abbott campaign for Governor in 2014, and regularly assists members of the Texas Legislature on questions of public policy. He has testified before several committees in the Texas Legislature and authored numerous opinion editorials on Texas politics and public policy. His works have appeared in the Austin American Statesman, the Houston Chronicle, the Texas Tribune’s Trib Talk, and others. He has served as a moderator for panels at TCCRI Policy Summits covering issues such as health care, energy, and economic freedom. Russell is an active member in the Austin Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society and has organized events as well as presented and participated in them.
Litigating State Constitutional Issues
Thomas Ahearne, Joel Ard, Paul Avelar, Carrie Ann S. Donnell, Carolyn B. Kuhl, Jeremy B. Rosen
The past forty years have seen a surge in efforts to litigate under state constitutional provisions...
Litigating State Constitutional Issues
Thomas Ahearne, Joel Ard, Paul Avelar, Carrie Ann S. Donnell, Carolyn B. Kuhl, Jeremy B. Rosen
The past forty years have seen a surge in efforts to litigate under state constitutional provisions...
Litigating State Constitutional Issues
2017 Annual Western Chapters Conference
Simi Valley, CAThe Permission Society
How the Ruling Class Turns Our Freedoms into Privileges and What We Can Do about It
Washington, DCTopics
Texas Chapters Conference panels rundown
The Texas Chapter of the Federalist Society held its second annual chapter conference on September...
End-Of-Life Health Care Rationing
Texas and Regulation
Diane M. Kozub, Arif Panju, Timothy Sandefur, Prerak Shah, Don R. Willett, Russell Withers
The tension between economic liberty and the state’s power to regulate economic activity has long...
Texas and Regulation
Diane M. Kozub, Arif Panju, Timothy Sandefur, Prerak Shah, Don R. Willett, Russell Withers
The tension between economic liberty and the state’s power to regulate economic activity has long...
Texas and Regulation
Second Annual Texas Chapters Conference
Austin, TXLegislators should address the need for more quality educational options so judges don't have to
Last week’s Connecticut court ruling in a school finance case went far beyond calling for...