Interim President, New College of Florida
Richard Corcoran moved to Florida as a child in 1976. Both of his parents grew up during the Great Depression and fought in World War II. They instilled a great sense of pride in public service and duty in him at an early age.
From them, Mr. Corcoran developed the principles by which he and his wife of over 24 years, Anne, who is also an attorney, teach their six children today.
Mr. Corcoran grew up in Pasco County, Florida where he graduated from Hudson High School. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree from St. Leo College in 1989 and a Juris Doctorate from Regent University in 1996. While enrolled in college, Richard also served in the U.S. Naval Reserve (1987-1993).
Mr. Corcoran has been a practicing attorney in Florida for almost 20 years. He also served as the Speaker of the Florida House from 2016-2018. During his tenure in the state House, he pushed through over $10 billion in tax cuts, the elimination of over 5,000 regulations, the massive expansion of school choice, and the strongest ethics and transparency laws in state history.
Mr. Corcoran is a passionate advocate for improving the education system in Florida. He fully believes every child can learn and that all children deserve the opportunity to receive a world-class education.
Judge, Florida Third District Court of Appeal
Prior to her appointment to the Court, Judge Gordo served as a Circuit Court Judge for over 8 years presiding in the Criminal, Civil and Family trial court divisions. Judge Gordo also served as Associate Administrative Judge of the Circuit Court Appellate Division in Miami-Dade County.
Judge Gordo is a member of the Education Committee of the Florida Conference of Circuit Court Judges and has taught judicial education courses on criminal sentencing enhancements and mitigation, career criminal designation, Florida corporate business entities and injunctions, receiverships and family rules of procedure relating to default judgments.
Prior to her service on the bench, Judge Gordo served as an Assistant State Attorney for over 11 years where she was a Division Chief responsible for supervising a felony division and investigating, indicting and seeking justice in homicide cases. While at the State Attorney’s Office, she also served as a senior member of the Career Criminal Prosecution Unit and Gang Strike Force Unit. Judge Gordo served on the Board of Directors for the Cuban American Bar Association and the League of Prosecutors.
Judge Gordo is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Miami School of Law teaching trial skills. Throughout her career as an Assistant State Attorney and Judge she has been actively involved in mentoring students and has sat as a volunteer for moot court competitions and mock trials for both Florida International University and the University of Miami School of Law. For the past four years she has presided over the mock trial final for homeschooled students throughout Miami-Dade County to assist homeschooled children develop a basic understanding of our court system.
Judge Gordo received her Juris Doctorate Degree cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law and is a member of the University’s Iron Arrow Honor Society. She currently serves as a member of the Law School Alumni Board of Directors. Judge Gordo received her Bachelor of Business Administration and graduated with honors from the University of Miami School of Business.
Judge Gordo resides in Coral Gables with her husband, Albert, to whom she has been married for 19 years, and they have two sons—Jacob, 17, and Julian, 11.
Shareholder, GrayRobinson
Ashley is a shareholder in GrayRobinson’s Tallahassee office. Ashley practices general civil litigation in state and federal court, representing private clients as well as state and local government entities at the trial court and appellate court levels. Ashley also practices administrative law, including rulemaking and licensing disputes, and has represented both property owners and condemning authorities in eminent domain proceedings. Ashley also has experience in election law matters and litigation involving constitutional claims and defenses.
Chief Deputy Attorney General
Ryan Newman is currently Chief Deputy Attorney General for Florida Office of the Attorney General.
During the first Trump Administration, he served as Counselor to the United States Attorney General for national security and international affairs, Deputy General Counsel (Legal Counsel) for the Department of Defense, and Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy at the Department of Justice. Prior to serving in the Executive Branch, Ryan was Chief Counsel to United States Senator Ted Cruz during the 114th Congress.
Ryan served as a law clerk to the Honorable Samuel A. Alito, Jr. on the United States Supreme Court, the Honorable Richard J. Leon on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and the Honorable J.L. Edmondson on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Prior to law school, Ryan was an armor officer in the United States Army assigned to the 1st Squadron, 10th U.S. Cavalry Regiment (Buffalo Soldiers). He deployed to Iraq in 2003 for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Ryan graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1998. He earned his law degree with high honors from The University of Texas School of Law in 2007.
Partner, Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP
Peter focuses his legal practice on representing management in employment-related litigation and in contract negotiations, NLRB proceedings, EEO matters and arbitration.
Peter Kirsanow is a partner with Benesch’s Labor & Employment Practice Group. He returned to Benesch in January 2008 after serving as a presidential appointee to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington D.C. for two years. While serving on the NLRB, he was involved with significant decisions including Oakwood Healthcare, Inc., Dana/Metaldyne and Oil Capital Sheet Metal, Inc. In addition, Peter testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the nominations of John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. He also continues to testify before and advise members of the U.S. Congress on employment law matters, most recently on November 18 before the House Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight regarding disparate impact theory.
Peter was recently reappointed by the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives to his fourth consecutive six-year term on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. This is a part-time position which will expire in December 2025.
Recently, Peter and a team of Benesch attorneys served as lead counsel to the National Association of Manufacturers in litigation before the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia against the NLRB, challenging the Board’s Notice of Employer Rights Posting Rule. The court ruled in favor of Benesch’s client, striking down the NLRB’s Rule in its entirety. This ruling impacts over 6,000,000 employers nationwide which would have been subject to the posting requirement.
Additionally, Peter is past chair of the board of directors of the Center for New Black Leadership and is a member of Benesch’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee. This committee helps ensure that the firm promotes an environment in which differences are respected, employees are treated fairly, and individual skills and talents are valued.
Entrepreneur and Author of WOKE, INC.
Conservative leaders have called Vivek Ramaswamy one of “the most compelling conservative voices in the country” and “one of the towering intellects” in America.
Vivek Ramaswamy is a New York Times bestselling author and a successful entrepreneur who has founded multiple successful enterprises. A first-generation American, he is the founder and executive chairman of Roivant Sciences, a new type of biopharmaceutical company focused on the application of technology to drug development. He founded Roivant in 2014 and led the largest biotech IPOs of 2015 and 2016, eventually culminating in successful clinical trials in multiple disease areas that led to FDA-approved products.
Mr. Ramaswamy was born and raised in southwest Ohio. He graduated summa cum laude in Biology from Harvard in 2007 and began his career as a successful biotech investor at a prominent hedge fund. Mr. Ramaswamy continued to work as an investor while earning his law degree at Yale.
Mr. Ramaswamy was featured on the cover of Forbes magazine in 2015 for his work in drug development. In 2020 he emerged as a prominent commentator on stakeholder capitalism, free speech, and woke culture. He has authored numerous articles and op-eds, which have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, National Review, Newsweek, and Harvard Business Review.
Mr. Ramaswamy serves on the board of directors of the Philanthropy Roundtable, the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, and St. Xavier High School.
Partner, Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP
Peter focuses his legal practice on representing management in employment-related litigation and in contract negotiations, NLRB proceedings, EEO matters and arbitration.
Peter Kirsanow is a partner with Benesch’s Labor & Employment Practice Group. He returned to Benesch in January 2008 after serving as a presidential appointee to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington D.C. for two years. While serving on the NLRB, he was involved with significant decisions including Oakwood Healthcare, Inc., Dana/Metaldyne and Oil Capital Sheet Metal, Inc. In addition, Peter testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the nominations of John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. He also continues to testify before and advise members of the U.S. Congress on employment law matters, most recently on November 18 before the House Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight regarding disparate impact theory.
Peter was recently reappointed by the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives to his fourth consecutive six-year term on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. This is a part-time position which will expire in December 2025.
Recently, Peter and a team of Benesch attorneys served as lead counsel to the National Association of Manufacturers in litigation before the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia against the NLRB, challenging the Board’s Notice of Employer Rights Posting Rule. The court ruled in favor of Benesch’s client, striking down the NLRB’s Rule in its entirety. This ruling impacts over 6,000,000 employers nationwide which would have been subject to the posting requirement.
Additionally, Peter is past chair of the board of directors of the Center for New Black Leadership and is a member of Benesch’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee. This committee helps ensure that the firm promotes an environment in which differences are respected, employees are treated fairly, and individual skills and talents are valued.
Entrepreneur and Author of WOKE, INC.
Conservative leaders have called Vivek Ramaswamy one of “the most compelling conservative voices in the country” and “one of the towering intellects” in America.
Vivek Ramaswamy is a New York Times bestselling author and a successful entrepreneur who has founded multiple successful enterprises. A first-generation American, he is the founder and executive chairman of Roivant Sciences, a new type of biopharmaceutical company focused on the application of technology to drug development. He founded Roivant in 2014 and led the largest biotech IPOs of 2015 and 2016, eventually culminating in successful clinical trials in multiple disease areas that led to FDA-approved products.
Mr. Ramaswamy was born and raised in southwest Ohio. He graduated summa cum laude in Biology from Harvard in 2007 and began his career as a successful biotech investor at a prominent hedge fund. Mr. Ramaswamy continued to work as an investor while earning his law degree at Yale.
Mr. Ramaswamy was featured on the cover of Forbes magazine in 2015 for his work in drug development. In 2020 he emerged as a prominent commentator on stakeholder capitalism, free speech, and woke culture. He has authored numerous articles and op-eds, which have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, National Review, Newsweek, and Harvard Business Review.
Mr. Ramaswamy serves on the board of directors of the Philanthropy Roundtable, the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, and St. Xavier High School.
Partner, Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP
Peter focuses his legal practice on representing management in employment-related litigation and in contract negotiations, NLRB proceedings, EEO matters and arbitration.
Peter Kirsanow is a partner with Benesch’s Labor & Employment Practice Group. He returned to Benesch in January 2008 after serving as a presidential appointee to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington D.C. for two years. While serving on the NLRB, he was involved with significant decisions including Oakwood Healthcare, Inc., Dana/Metaldyne and Oil Capital Sheet Metal, Inc. In addition, Peter testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the nominations of John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. He also continues to testify before and advise members of the U.S. Congress on employment law matters, most recently on November 18 before the House Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight regarding disparate impact theory.
Peter was recently reappointed by the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives to his fourth consecutive six-year term on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. This is a part-time position which will expire in December 2025.
Recently, Peter and a team of Benesch attorneys served as lead counsel to the National Association of Manufacturers in litigation before the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia against the NLRB, challenging the Board’s Notice of Employer Rights Posting Rule. The court ruled in favor of Benesch’s client, striking down the NLRB’s Rule in its entirety. This ruling impacts over 6,000,000 employers nationwide which would have been subject to the posting requirement.
Additionally, Peter is past chair of the board of directors of the Center for New Black Leadership and is a member of Benesch’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee. This committee helps ensure that the firm promotes an environment in which differences are respected, employees are treated fairly, and individual skills and talents are valued.
Entrepreneur and Author of WOKE, INC.
Conservative leaders have called Vivek Ramaswamy one of “the most compelling conservative voices in the country” and “one of the towering intellects” in America.
Vivek Ramaswamy is a New York Times bestselling author and a successful entrepreneur who has founded multiple successful enterprises. A first-generation American, he is the founder and executive chairman of Roivant Sciences, a new type of biopharmaceutical company focused on the application of technology to drug development. He founded Roivant in 2014 and led the largest biotech IPOs of 2015 and 2016, eventually culminating in successful clinical trials in multiple disease areas that led to FDA-approved products.
Mr. Ramaswamy was born and raised in southwest Ohio. He graduated summa cum laude in Biology from Harvard in 2007 and began his career as a successful biotech investor at a prominent hedge fund. Mr. Ramaswamy continued to work as an investor while earning his law degree at Yale.
Mr. Ramaswamy was featured on the cover of Forbes magazine in 2015 for his work in drug development. In 2020 he emerged as a prominent commentator on stakeholder capitalism, free speech, and woke culture. He has authored numerous articles and op-eds, which have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, National Review, Newsweek, and Harvard Business Review.
Mr. Ramaswamy serves on the board of directors of the Philanthropy Roundtable, the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, and St. Xavier High School.
Partner, King & Spalding PLLC
Will Barnette is a partner in the Atlanta office of King & Spalding, where he is a member of the firm’s business litigation practice and class action defense group. During his 30-year career, Will has consistently led clients to successful outcomes in their most sensitive and high exposure class action, MDL, and related regulatory matters. From litigating high-stakes tobacco class actions at the turn of the century, to defending massive data breach litigation in the last decade, and winning several lucrative antitrust opt-out settlements more recently, Will has played a key role in much of the leading complex litigation of the era and led clients to tremendous success on both sides of the “v.” In particular, he has deep experience in litigating consumer, products, and antitrust class actions, commercial disputes, and managing internal investigations.
Prior to rejoining King & Spalding, where he worked earlier in his career, Will served as Associate General Counsel for The Home Depot and was a member of the company’s Legal Senior Leadership Team. As leader of The Home Depot’s commercial litigation team for more than ten years, he was responsible for the company’s most significant commercial and business litigation, which frequently challenged core aspects of the company’s business. During his 21-year tenure with The Home Depot, Will led the successful defense of several hundred class actions, created and led the company’s recovery litigation program, and successfully managed multiple high-profile investigations and favorably resolved significant related regulatory matters, including with the United States Department of Justice, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and multi-state Attorney General groups.
A recognized thought leader in complex litigation, Will argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in the 2019 term—one of the few in-house counsel to do so. He received the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Corporate Counsel Award for Advocacy in 2016 and has authored seven law review articles. His recent works, Misunderstanding Original Jurisdiction and There Is No Conservative Case for Class Actions, ranked among the top SSRN downloads in Federal Courts and Jurisdiction. He frequently lectures on class actions, MDL litigation, and internal investigations, and teaches Complex Litigation at the University of Tennessee Winston College of Law, where he earned the Harold C. Warner Outstanding Adjunct Professor Award in 2025.
Will chairs the Board of Georgians for Lawsuit Reform, which was instrumental in passing Georgia’s 2025 tort reform legislation. He also serves as Chair of the Class Actions Section for the State Bar of Georgia and is a former President of the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. Will played varsity college basketball at Sewanee.
Vice President, Practice Groups, The Federalist Society
Clinical Professor of Law, Dale E. Fowler School of Law, Chapman University
Panel 1: Does DEI Contribute to Increased Antisemitism?
2024 Florida Young Lawyers Summit
Coral Gables, FLTalks with Authors: Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam
Peter Kirsanow, Vivek Ramaswamy
Join Mr. Peter Kirsanow and Mr. Vivek Ramaswamy in the latest installment of our Talks...
Talks with Authors: Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam
Peter Kirsanow, Vivek Ramaswamy
Join Mr. Peter Kirsanow and Mr. Vivek Ramaswamy in the latest installment of our Talks...
Talks with Authors: Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam
TeleforumThere Is No Conservative Case for Class Actions
William P. Barnette
A review of The Conservative Case for Class Actions, by Brian T. Fitzpatrick (Chicago), https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo43233299.html (Read...
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