Attorney General, Office of the Iowa Attorney General
In November 2022, Brenna Bird was elected as Iowa Attorney General – the first Republican to hold the office since 1979.
Before taking office as Iowa Attorney General, Brenna served as a prosecutor for six years, first as the Fremont County Attorney and then since 2018 as the Guthrie County Attorney. She was elected by her fellow county attorneys to leadership roles with the Iowa County Attorney Association, and served as the Association's President.
Brenna has also engaged in the private practice of law, worked in the Iowa Governor’s Office and the U.S. House of Representatives, and taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Iowa College of Law.
Born and raised on an Iowa farm, where she was homeschooled. Brenna graduated from Drake University and went on to receive her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, where she served as symposium editor of the school’s law journal. In addition to her law studies, Brenna also helped entrepreneurs on Chicago’s South Side start their own businesses.
Executive Vice President of Global Governance, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, Walmart Inc.
Rachel Brand is Walmart’s executive vice president of global governance, chief legal officer, and corporate secretary. She oversees the company’s global legal, compliance, ethics, corporate governance, digital citizenship, aviation, investigative, and corporate security functions, including Walmart’s Emergency Operations Center.
Immediately before joining Walmart, Rachel served as the United States Associate Attorney General and holds the distinction of being the first woman to serve in this role. She had previously served in the U.S. Department of Justice as the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy during President George W. Bush’s administration. Her other government service includes an appointment by President Obama to serve as a Member of the U.S. Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, service as an Associate Counsel to the President at the White House, and judicial clerkships with Justice Charles Fried of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts and Justice Anthony Kennedy at the Supreme Court of the United States. In the private sector, Rachel was a lawyer in private practice at two law firms in Washington, D.C. and served as the Vice President and Chief Counsel for Regulatory Litigation at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Litigation Center.
Rachel serves on the board of directors for the Walmart Foundation and is the executive sponsor for Walmart’s Tribal Voices Associate Resource Group. Outside of Walmart, she serves on the board of directors for the International Justice Mission and is a member of The American Law Institute.
Rachel earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota-Morris and her J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Martine focuses her practice on high-profile litigation and government investigations matters, particularly those brought by state attorneys general. With experience in both the public and private sectors, she provides clients with comprehensive, strategic advice to guide them through state attorney general investigations and enforcement actions.
Martine is ranked by Chambers USA, where clients describe her as “a very talented lawyer” who is “extremely smart with impressive depth of experience,” who provides “excellent client service” and who has “an incredible body of substantive knowledge and commercial awareness.” As noted by Chambers, she is “an intelligent and complex thinker, able to take thorny legal issues and see a path through. She is extraordinarily analytical and works through complex legal problems.”
Martine served as a Special Assistant to the President and Senior Counsel in the Office of the White House Counsel. In this role, she provided legal advice on sensitive, complex matters to senior Executive Branch officials, led the White House response on matters of congressional oversight and investigations by inspectors general, and advised on litigation implicating executive privilege and related issues. Martine also served as Associate Counsel in the same office during the Obama administration.
Prior to joining the Biden White House, Martine served as Deputy Solicitor General in the Office of the Virginia Attorney General, where she was an appellate and trial litigator. She argued major cases in federal and state courts, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit and the Virginia Supreme Court, and was the lead drafter for numerous multistate amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court. Martine also served in the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel as an Attorney Advisor, where she provided advice to Executive Branch agencies on constitutional and statutory issues, specializing in matters related to congressional oversight and executive privilege.
Martine spent several years as a counsel in Akin’s Supreme Court and Appellate and congressional investigations practices. She briefed and argued cases in the federal courts of appeal and U.S. Supreme Court and advised clients on matters related to congressional and other high-visibility investigations.
Martine served as a law clerk for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court and Chief Judge Merrick B. Garland on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Partner, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP
Jesse, the former third-ranking official at the U.S. Department of Justice, helps clients with their most difficult litigation and regulatory issues─whether that means defending against an enforcement action, pursuing high-stakes litigation and appeals, navigating regulatory thickets at federal and state agencies, or crafting a comprehensive strategy to manage a crisis. He approaches these problems with the knowledge gained both from his broad private-practice experience and from having served at the highest levels of federal and state government.
Jesse has experience across a range of substantive and regulatory areas. He has sued the federal government and has also been one of its top law-enforcement officials; he has represented states and has also navigated their regulatory agencies on behalf of clients; and he has represented companies in business disputes, both as defendants and plaintiffs.
Before joining the firm, Jesse was the Acting Associate Attorney General at the United States Department of Justice. In that role, he oversaw the civil and criminal work of the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment and Natural Resources, and Tax Divisions. During Jesse’s tenure, the Associate’s office closely managed the Department’s most significant litigation, including matters involving large financial institutions, healthcare companies, automakers, energy companies, and state and local governments. In addition, Jesse served as Chair of DOJ’s Regulatory Reform Task Force and Vice Chair of DOJ’s Task Force on Market Integrity and Consumer Fraud. Jesse regularly provided legal and strategic advice to the highest-level decision makers in the federal government, including the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, general counsels across the spectrum of federal agencies, and White House officials.
Jesse served for three years as the secretary of Florida’s labor, economic-development, and land-use agency, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. Before that, he served as Governor (now Senator) Rick Scott’s general counsel.
Jesse maintains offices in both Washington D.C. and Florida. From Washington, he focuses on federal litigation and crisis management. In Florida, in addition to federal litigation, Jesse employs his knowledge of state government and regulation to help clients in courts across the state, from trial through the Florida Supreme Court.
Jesse currently serves on the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, the body that provides the governor with nominees for appointment to the Florida Supreme Court. Jesse is also a fellow at the Center for the Study of the Administrative State at the Scalia Law School at George Mason University, where he writes and speaks about administrative law.
Donald M. Ephraim Professor of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Law School
Tony Casey is an expert on business law, finance, and corporate bankruptcy. His research—which has been published in the Yale Law Journal, the Columbia Law Review, the Supreme Court Review, and the University of Chicago Law Review—examines the intersection of finance and law. He has also written about the role of intellectual property law in the organization and financing of creative projects and about how technological innovation is changing the foundations of our legal system more generally.
Before entering academics, Professor Casey was a partner at Kirkland and Ellis, LLP. Before joining Kirkland & Ellis, he was an associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. His legal practice focused on corporate bankruptcy, merger litigation, white-collar investigations, securities litigation, and complex class actions. Casey also served as a law clerk for Chief Judge Joel M. Flaum of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Professor Casey received his JD with High Honors in 2002 from the University of Chicago Law School. He received the John M. Olin Prize for the outstanding student of law and economics.
Professor Casey teaches courses and seminars in corporate governance, business law, bankruptcy and reorganization, finance, litigation strategy, civil procedure, and law and technology.
Partner, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP
Jesse, the former third-ranking official at the U.S. Department of Justice, helps clients with their most difficult litigation and regulatory issues─whether that means defending against an enforcement action, pursuing high-stakes litigation and appeals, navigating regulatory thickets at federal and state agencies, or crafting a comprehensive strategy to manage a crisis. He approaches these problems with the knowledge gained both from his broad private-practice experience and from having served at the highest levels of federal and state government.
Jesse has experience across a range of substantive and regulatory areas. He has sued the federal government and has also been one of its top law-enforcement officials; he has represented states and has also navigated their regulatory agencies on behalf of clients; and he has represented companies in business disputes, both as defendants and plaintiffs.
Before joining the firm, Jesse was the Acting Associate Attorney General at the United States Department of Justice. In that role, he oversaw the civil and criminal work of the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment and Natural Resources, and Tax Divisions. During Jesse’s tenure, the Associate’s office closely managed the Department’s most significant litigation, including matters involving large financial institutions, healthcare companies, automakers, energy companies, and state and local governments. In addition, Jesse served as Chair of DOJ’s Regulatory Reform Task Force and Vice Chair of DOJ’s Task Force on Market Integrity and Consumer Fraud. Jesse regularly provided legal and strategic advice to the highest-level decision makers in the federal government, including the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, general counsels across the spectrum of federal agencies, and White House officials.
Jesse served for three years as the secretary of Florida’s labor, economic-development, and land-use agency, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. Before that, he served as Governor (now Senator) Rick Scott’s general counsel.
Jesse maintains offices in both Washington D.C. and Florida. From Washington, he focuses on federal litigation and crisis management. In Florida, in addition to federal litigation, Jesse employs his knowledge of state government and regulation to help clients in courts across the state, from trial through the Florida Supreme Court.
Jesse currently serves on the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, the body that provides the governor with nominees for appointment to the Florida Supreme Court. Jesse is also a fellow at the Center for the Study of the Administrative State at the Scalia Law School at George Mason University, where he writes and speaks about administrative law.
Executive Vice President for Bankruptcy Compliance, AIS
Cliff assists clients in effectively administering their portfolios of default loans and implementing systems that meet the highest standards of excellence and legal compliance. For 17 years, White led the United States Trustee Program (USTP), the Department of Justice's "watchdog" of the bankruptcy system. He retired March 2022, after 42 years of federal service. He is the recipient of two Presidential Rank Awards - the highest recognition accorded to senior career executives - by President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama. As Director of the USTP, his accomplishments include the implementation of key provisions of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 and the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019.
Legislative and Policy Director, FIRE
Joe Cohn serves as director of FIRE’s Legislative and Policy department, overseeing a team of attorneys and staff tasked with monitoring and engaging on legislation and regulatory matters. Under his leadership, FIRE has secured numerous victories for free speech and due process at the state and federal level.
Joe is a 2004 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the Fels Institute of Government Administration, where he earned his Juris Doctor and master’s degree in Government Administration. In 2000, he graduated with distinction from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, where he co-founded the student chapter of the ACLU. A former staff attorney for the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and law clerk in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, Joe joined FIRE in 2012 with a career-long dedication to advancing the cause of civil liberties, including through his service as a staff attorney at the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania where he provided legal services to underserved communities. His awards include accolades from The Legal Intelligencer and Pennsylvania Law Weekly, who named him a 2007 “Lawyer on the Fast Track,” and from Super Lawyers magazine, who named him a “Rising Star” in 2008.
Joe’s career also includes teaching at University of Pennsylvania Law School’s Gittis Civil Practice Clinic in 2010, where he lectured on good trial practices and supervised law students as they represented real clients in both state and federal courts. Just prior to joining FIRE, Joe served as the interim legal director for ACLU affiliates in Nevada and Utah.
As legislative and policy director, Joe spearheads FIRE’s advocacy at all levels of government. He has testified before Congress and in state legislatures across the country and has drafted numerous bills that have been enacted into state law. He regularly comments on FIRE’s issues in the media.
Counsel, Clare Locke
Jered is an experienced litigator relied upon by his clients to deliver practical and exacting legal advice guided by sound business judgment. He has spent his career representing clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to controversial high-profile figures in sensitive and sometimes existential crises requiring extraordinary discretion.
Prior to joining Clare Locke, Jered was the chief legal officer of media non-profit Project Veritas, through which he managed a team of lawyers working on reputational risk. During his time at Veritas, Jered and his team obtained over five dozen corrections and retractions and avoided countless more inaccurate articles. Jered also oversaw a portfolio of defamation lawsuits, including Project Veritas’ lawsuit against The New York Times in which Clare Locke defeated The Times’ motion to dismiss – the first defamation case to survive New York’s newly-expanded anti-SLAPP law.
Jered has successfully represented clients in litigation and appeals in federal and state courts across the country. Throughout his career, Jered has handled a variety of matters, including media liability, fraud and deceptive trade practices, financial services, construction and real estate, bankruptcy, and harassment. Jered served as lead trial counsel in securing one of 2019’s top 50 highest bench awards in the United States in a real estate dispute, and in obtaining a first-of-its-kind national injunction and receivership over a fraudster leading to federal incarceration and a permanent restraining order.
Political Science, Professor and Department Chair, University of Nebraska Omaha
Carson Holloway is Department Chair and Professor of Political Science at the University of Nebraska, Omaha and a Washington Fellow in the Claremont Institute’s Center for the American Way of Life. He is the author most recently of No Liberty to Libel: The Constitutional Case Against New York Times v. Sullivan (Encounter Books, 2026). He is co-editor, with Bradford P. Wilson, of The Political Writings of Alexander Hamilton (Cambridge University Press, 2017) and The Political Writings of George Washington (Cambridge University Press, 2023). He has held visiting fellowships in Princeton University’s James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions and at the Heritage Foundation. His scholarly articles have appeared in the Review of Politics, Interpretation, and Perspectives on Political Science, and he has written public commentary for The New Criterion, First Things, National Affairs, Public Discourse, National Review, Law and Liberty, The Federalist, the American Spectator, and the American Conservative.
Partner, Thomas & LoCicero PL
Carol is the managing partner in TLo's Tampa office. She practices at the trial and appellate levels, handling litigation concerning defamation and privacy, the Public Records Act, the Government in the Sunshine Law, court access and cameras in the courtroom. She leads advocacy efforts on media issues, including cameras in the courtroom, and sealed court records.
Carol is a nationally-recognized media lawyer routinely sought after as a speaker on media issues at national and statewide conferences. She often leads statewide advocacy efforts on media issues, most recently involving access to Florida courts and Florida’s anti-SLAPP law. Carol regularly renders pre-and post-publication advice on investigative news stories. She handles issues concerning newsgathering and technology – including smartphones, social media and drones. Carol has litigated many cases resulting in published opinions. In addition to media law, Carol is experienced in marketing law, web law and intellectual property matters. She manages trademark portfolios, policing programs and litigation for sophisticated corporations.
Carol is the Immediate Past Chair for the First Amendment Foundation's Board of Trustees. She is a former board member of the Junior League of Tampa, former vice-chair of the Media Law Committee of The Florida Bar, and is a governing committee member of the ABA Forum on Communications Law. She has litigated capital habeas cases with other lawyers in the firm. Carol also serves as the Program Coordinator for End 68 Hours of Hunger – Tampa, a charity dedicated to eradicating hunger among school children. She is an active member of Hyde Park Presbyterian Church.
Partner, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP
Jesse, the former third-ranking official at the U.S. Department of Justice, helps clients with their most difficult litigation and regulatory issues─whether that means defending against an enforcement action, pursuing high-stakes litigation and appeals, navigating regulatory thickets at federal and state agencies, or crafting a comprehensive strategy to manage a crisis. He approaches these problems with the knowledge gained both from his broad private-practice experience and from having served at the highest levels of federal and state government.
Jesse has experience across a range of substantive and regulatory areas. He has sued the federal government and has also been one of its top law-enforcement officials; he has represented states and has also navigated their regulatory agencies on behalf of clients; and he has represented companies in business disputes, both as defendants and plaintiffs.
Before joining the firm, Jesse was the Acting Associate Attorney General at the United States Department of Justice. In that role, he oversaw the civil and criminal work of the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment and Natural Resources, and Tax Divisions. During Jesse’s tenure, the Associate’s office closely managed the Department’s most significant litigation, including matters involving large financial institutions, healthcare companies, automakers, energy companies, and state and local governments. In addition, Jesse served as Chair of DOJ’s Regulatory Reform Task Force and Vice Chair of DOJ’s Task Force on Market Integrity and Consumer Fraud. Jesse regularly provided legal and strategic advice to the highest-level decision makers in the federal government, including the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, general counsels across the spectrum of federal agencies, and White House officials.
Jesse served for three years as the secretary of Florida’s labor, economic-development, and land-use agency, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. Before that, he served as Governor (now Senator) Rick Scott’s general counsel.
Jesse maintains offices in both Washington D.C. and Florida. From Washington, he focuses on federal litigation and crisis management. In Florida, in addition to federal litigation, Jesse employs his knowledge of state government and regulation to help clients in courts across the state, from trial through the Florida Supreme Court.
Jesse currently serves on the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, the body that provides the governor with nominees for appointment to the Florida Supreme Court. Jesse is also a fellow at the Center for the Study of the Administrative State at the Scalia Law School at George Mason University, where he writes and speaks about administrative law.
Donald M. Ephraim Professor of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Law School
Tony Casey is an expert on business law, finance, and corporate bankruptcy. His research—which has been published in the Yale Law Journal, the Columbia Law Review, the Supreme Court Review, and the University of Chicago Law Review—examines the intersection of finance and law. He has also written about the role of intellectual property law in the organization and financing of creative projects and about how technological innovation is changing the foundations of our legal system more generally.
Before entering academics, Professor Casey was a partner at Kirkland and Ellis, LLP. Before joining Kirkland & Ellis, he was an associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. His legal practice focused on corporate bankruptcy, merger litigation, white-collar investigations, securities litigation, and complex class actions. Casey also served as a law clerk for Chief Judge Joel M. Flaum of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Professor Casey received his JD with High Honors in 2002 from the University of Chicago Law School. He received the John M. Olin Prize for the outstanding student of law and economics.
Professor Casey teaches courses and seminars in corporate governance, business law, bankruptcy and reorganization, finance, litigation strategy, civil procedure, and law and technology.
Partner, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP
Jesse, the former third-ranking official at the U.S. Department of Justice, helps clients with their most difficult litigation and regulatory issues─whether that means defending against an enforcement action, pursuing high-stakes litigation and appeals, navigating regulatory thickets at federal and state agencies, or crafting a comprehensive strategy to manage a crisis. He approaches these problems with the knowledge gained both from his broad private-practice experience and from having served at the highest levels of federal and state government.
Jesse has experience across a range of substantive and regulatory areas. He has sued the federal government and has also been one of its top law-enforcement officials; he has represented states and has also navigated their regulatory agencies on behalf of clients; and he has represented companies in business disputes, both as defendants and plaintiffs.
Before joining the firm, Jesse was the Acting Associate Attorney General at the United States Department of Justice. In that role, he oversaw the civil and criminal work of the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment and Natural Resources, and Tax Divisions. During Jesse’s tenure, the Associate’s office closely managed the Department’s most significant litigation, including matters involving large financial institutions, healthcare companies, automakers, energy companies, and state and local governments. In addition, Jesse served as Chair of DOJ’s Regulatory Reform Task Force and Vice Chair of DOJ’s Task Force on Market Integrity and Consumer Fraud. Jesse regularly provided legal and strategic advice to the highest-level decision makers in the federal government, including the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, general counsels across the spectrum of federal agencies, and White House officials.
Jesse served for three years as the secretary of Florida’s labor, economic-development, and land-use agency, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. Before that, he served as Governor (now Senator) Rick Scott’s general counsel.
Jesse maintains offices in both Washington D.C. and Florida. From Washington, he focuses on federal litigation and crisis management. In Florida, in addition to federal litigation, Jesse employs his knowledge of state government and regulation to help clients in courts across the state, from trial through the Florida Supreme Court.
Jesse currently serves on the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, the body that provides the governor with nominees for appointment to the Florida Supreme Court. Jesse is also a fellow at the Center for the Study of the Administrative State at the Scalia Law School at George Mason University, where he writes and speaks about administrative law.
Executive Vice President for Bankruptcy Compliance, AIS
Cliff assists clients in effectively administering their portfolios of default loans and implementing systems that meet the highest standards of excellence and legal compliance. For 17 years, White led the United States Trustee Program (USTP), the Department of Justice's "watchdog" of the bankruptcy system. He retired March 2022, after 42 years of federal service. He is the recipient of two Presidential Rank Awards - the highest recognition accorded to senior career executives - by President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama. As Director of the USTP, his accomplishments include the implementation of key provisions of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 and the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019.
Donald M. Ephraim Professor of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Law School
Tony Casey is an expert on business law, finance, and corporate bankruptcy. His research—which has been published in the Yale Law Journal, the Columbia Law Review, the Supreme Court Review, and the University of Chicago Law Review—examines the intersection of finance and law. He has also written about the role of intellectual property law in the organization and financing of creative projects and about how technological innovation is changing the foundations of our legal system more generally.
Before entering academics, Professor Casey was a partner at Kirkland and Ellis, LLP. Before joining Kirkland & Ellis, he was an associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. His legal practice focused on corporate bankruptcy, merger litigation, white-collar investigations, securities litigation, and complex class actions. Casey also served as a law clerk for Chief Judge Joel M. Flaum of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Professor Casey received his JD with High Honors in 2002 from the University of Chicago Law School. He received the John M. Olin Prize for the outstanding student of law and economics.
Professor Casey teaches courses and seminars in corporate governance, business law, bankruptcy and reorganization, finance, litigation strategy, civil procedure, and law and technology.
Partner, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP
Jesse, the former third-ranking official at the U.S. Department of Justice, helps clients with their most difficult litigation and regulatory issues─whether that means defending against an enforcement action, pursuing high-stakes litigation and appeals, navigating regulatory thickets at federal and state agencies, or crafting a comprehensive strategy to manage a crisis. He approaches these problems with the knowledge gained both from his broad private-practice experience and from having served at the highest levels of federal and state government.
Jesse has experience across a range of substantive and regulatory areas. He has sued the federal government and has also been one of its top law-enforcement officials; he has represented states and has also navigated their regulatory agencies on behalf of clients; and he has represented companies in business disputes, both as defendants and plaintiffs.
Before joining the firm, Jesse was the Acting Associate Attorney General at the United States Department of Justice. In that role, he oversaw the civil and criminal work of the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment and Natural Resources, and Tax Divisions. During Jesse’s tenure, the Associate’s office closely managed the Department’s most significant litigation, including matters involving large financial institutions, healthcare companies, automakers, energy companies, and state and local governments. In addition, Jesse served as Chair of DOJ’s Regulatory Reform Task Force and Vice Chair of DOJ’s Task Force on Market Integrity and Consumer Fraud. Jesse regularly provided legal and strategic advice to the highest-level decision makers in the federal government, including the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, general counsels across the spectrum of federal agencies, and White House officials.
Jesse served for three years as the secretary of Florida’s labor, economic-development, and land-use agency, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. Before that, he served as Governor (now Senator) Rick Scott’s general counsel.
Jesse maintains offices in both Washington D.C. and Florida. From Washington, he focuses on federal litigation and crisis management. In Florida, in addition to federal litigation, Jesse employs his knowledge of state government and regulation to help clients in courts across the state, from trial through the Florida Supreme Court.
Jesse currently serves on the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, the body that provides the governor with nominees for appointment to the Florida Supreme Court. Jesse is also a fellow at the Center for the Study of the Administrative State at the Scalia Law School at George Mason University, where he writes and speaks about administrative law.
Executive Vice President for Bankruptcy Compliance, AIS
Cliff assists clients in effectively administering their portfolios of default loans and implementing systems that meet the highest standards of excellence and legal compliance. For 17 years, White led the United States Trustee Program (USTP), the Department of Justice's "watchdog" of the bankruptcy system. He retired March 2022, after 42 years of federal service. He is the recipient of two Presidential Rank Awards - the highest recognition accorded to senior career executives - by President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama. As Director of the USTP, his accomplishments include the implementation of key provisions of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 and the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019.
Legislative and Policy Director, FIRE
Joe Cohn serves as director of FIRE’s Legislative and Policy department, overseeing a team of attorneys and staff tasked with monitoring and engaging on legislation and regulatory matters. Under his leadership, FIRE has secured numerous victories for free speech and due process at the state and federal level.
Joe is a 2004 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the Fels Institute of Government Administration, where he earned his Juris Doctor and master’s degree in Government Administration. In 2000, he graduated with distinction from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, where he co-founded the student chapter of the ACLU. A former staff attorney for the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and law clerk in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, Joe joined FIRE in 2012 with a career-long dedication to advancing the cause of civil liberties, including through his service as a staff attorney at the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania where he provided legal services to underserved communities. His awards include accolades from The Legal Intelligencer and Pennsylvania Law Weekly, who named him a 2007 “Lawyer on the Fast Track,” and from Super Lawyers magazine, who named him a “Rising Star” in 2008.
Joe’s career also includes teaching at University of Pennsylvania Law School’s Gittis Civil Practice Clinic in 2010, where he lectured on good trial practices and supervised law students as they represented real clients in both state and federal courts. Just prior to joining FIRE, Joe served as the interim legal director for ACLU affiliates in Nevada and Utah.
As legislative and policy director, Joe spearheads FIRE’s advocacy at all levels of government. He has testified before Congress and in state legislatures across the country and has drafted numerous bills that have been enacted into state law. He regularly comments on FIRE’s issues in the media.
Political Science, Professor and Department Chair, University of Nebraska Omaha
Carson Holloway is Department Chair and Professor of Political Science at the University of Nebraska, Omaha and a Washington Fellow in the Claremont Institute’s Center for the American Way of Life. He is the author most recently of No Liberty to Libel: The Constitutional Case Against New York Times v. Sullivan (Encounter Books, 2026). He is co-editor, with Bradford P. Wilson, of The Political Writings of Alexander Hamilton (Cambridge University Press, 2017) and The Political Writings of George Washington (Cambridge University Press, 2023). He has held visiting fellowships in Princeton University’s James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions and at the Heritage Foundation. His scholarly articles have appeared in the Review of Politics, Interpretation, and Perspectives on Political Science, and he has written public commentary for The New Criterion, First Things, National Affairs, Public Discourse, National Review, Law and Liberty, The Federalist, the American Spectator, and the American Conservative.
Partner, Thomas & LoCicero PL
Carol is the managing partner in TLo's Tampa office. She practices at the trial and appellate levels, handling litigation concerning defamation and privacy, the Public Records Act, the Government in the Sunshine Law, court access and cameras in the courtroom. She leads advocacy efforts on media issues, including cameras in the courtroom, and sealed court records.
Carol is a nationally-recognized media lawyer routinely sought after as a speaker on media issues at national and statewide conferences. She often leads statewide advocacy efforts on media issues, most recently involving access to Florida courts and Florida’s anti-SLAPP law. Carol regularly renders pre-and post-publication advice on investigative news stories. She handles issues concerning newsgathering and technology – including smartphones, social media and drones. Carol has litigated many cases resulting in published opinions. In addition to media law, Carol is experienced in marketing law, web law and intellectual property matters. She manages trademark portfolios, policing programs and litigation for sophisticated corporations.
Carol is the Immediate Past Chair for the First Amendment Foundation's Board of Trustees. She is a former board member of the Junior League of Tampa, former vice-chair of the Media Law Committee of The Florida Bar, and is a governing committee member of the ABA Forum on Communications Law. She has litigated capital habeas cases with other lawyers in the firm. Carol also serves as the Program Coordinator for End 68 Hours of Hunger – Tampa, a charity dedicated to eradicating hunger among school children. She is an active member of Hyde Park Presbyterian Church.
Partner, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP
Jesse, the former third-ranking official at the U.S. Department of Justice, helps clients with their most difficult litigation and regulatory issues─whether that means defending against an enforcement action, pursuing high-stakes litigation and appeals, navigating regulatory thickets at federal and state agencies, or crafting a comprehensive strategy to manage a crisis. He approaches these problems with the knowledge gained both from his broad private-practice experience and from having served at the highest levels of federal and state government.
Jesse has experience across a range of substantive and regulatory areas. He has sued the federal government and has also been one of its top law-enforcement officials; he has represented states and has also navigated their regulatory agencies on behalf of clients; and he has represented companies in business disputes, both as defendants and plaintiffs.
Before joining the firm, Jesse was the Acting Associate Attorney General at the United States Department of Justice. In that role, he oversaw the civil and criminal work of the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment and Natural Resources, and Tax Divisions. During Jesse’s tenure, the Associate’s office closely managed the Department’s most significant litigation, including matters involving large financial institutions, healthcare companies, automakers, energy companies, and state and local governments. In addition, Jesse served as Chair of DOJ’s Regulatory Reform Task Force and Vice Chair of DOJ’s Task Force on Market Integrity and Consumer Fraud. Jesse regularly provided legal and strategic advice to the highest-level decision makers in the federal government, including the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, general counsels across the spectrum of federal agencies, and White House officials.
Jesse served for three years as the secretary of Florida’s labor, economic-development, and land-use agency, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. Before that, he served as Governor (now Senator) Rick Scott’s general counsel.
Jesse maintains offices in both Washington D.C. and Florida. From Washington, he focuses on federal litigation and crisis management. In Florida, in addition to federal litigation, Jesse employs his knowledge of state government and regulation to help clients in courts across the state, from trial through the Florida Supreme Court.
Jesse currently serves on the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, the body that provides the governor with nominees for appointment to the Florida Supreme Court. Jesse is also a fellow at the Center for the Study of the Administrative State at the Scalia Law School at George Mason University, where he writes and speaks about administrative law.
Counsel, Clare Locke
Jered is an experienced litigator relied upon by his clients to deliver practical and exacting legal advice guided by sound business judgment. He has spent his career representing clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to controversial high-profile figures in sensitive and sometimes existential crises requiring extraordinary discretion.
Prior to joining Clare Locke, Jered was the chief legal officer of media non-profit Project Veritas, through which he managed a team of lawyers working on reputational risk. During his time at Veritas, Jered and his team obtained over five dozen corrections and retractions and avoided countless more inaccurate articles. Jered also oversaw a portfolio of defamation lawsuits, including Project Veritas’ lawsuit against The New York Times in which Clare Locke defeated The Times’ motion to dismiss – the first defamation case to survive New York’s newly-expanded anti-SLAPP law.
Jered has successfully represented clients in litigation and appeals in federal and state courts across the country. Throughout his career, Jered has handled a variety of matters, including media liability, fraud and deceptive trade practices, financial services, construction and real estate, bankruptcy, and harassment. Jered served as lead trial counsel in securing one of 2019’s top 50 highest bench awards in the United States in a real estate dispute, and in obtaining a first-of-its-kind national injunction and receivership over a fraudster leading to federal incarceration and a permanent restraining order.
Legislative and Policy Director, FIRE
Joe Cohn serves as director of FIRE’s Legislative and Policy department, overseeing a team of attorneys and staff tasked with monitoring and engaging on legislation and regulatory matters. Under his leadership, FIRE has secured numerous victories for free speech and due process at the state and federal level.
Joe is a 2004 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the Fels Institute of Government Administration, where he earned his Juris Doctor and master’s degree in Government Administration. In 2000, he graduated with distinction from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, where he co-founded the student chapter of the ACLU. A former staff attorney for the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and law clerk in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, Joe joined FIRE in 2012 with a career-long dedication to advancing the cause of civil liberties, including through his service as a staff attorney at the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania where he provided legal services to underserved communities. His awards include accolades from The Legal Intelligencer and Pennsylvania Law Weekly, who named him a 2007 “Lawyer on the Fast Track,” and from Super Lawyers magazine, who named him a “Rising Star” in 2008.
Joe’s career also includes teaching at University of Pennsylvania Law School’s Gittis Civil Practice Clinic in 2010, where he lectured on good trial practices and supervised law students as they represented real clients in both state and federal courts. Just prior to joining FIRE, Joe served as the interim legal director for ACLU affiliates in Nevada and Utah.
As legislative and policy director, Joe spearheads FIRE’s advocacy at all levels of government. He has testified before Congress and in state legislatures across the country and has drafted numerous bills that have been enacted into state law. He regularly comments on FIRE’s issues in the media.
Political Science, Professor and Department Chair, University of Nebraska Omaha
Carson Holloway is Department Chair and Professor of Political Science at the University of Nebraska, Omaha and a Washington Fellow in the Claremont Institute’s Center for the American Way of Life. He is the author most recently of No Liberty to Libel: The Constitutional Case Against New York Times v. Sullivan (Encounter Books, 2026). He is co-editor, with Bradford P. Wilson, of The Political Writings of Alexander Hamilton (Cambridge University Press, 2017) and The Political Writings of George Washington (Cambridge University Press, 2023). He has held visiting fellowships in Princeton University’s James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions and at the Heritage Foundation. His scholarly articles have appeared in the Review of Politics, Interpretation, and Perspectives on Political Science, and he has written public commentary for The New Criterion, First Things, National Affairs, Public Discourse, National Review, Law and Liberty, The Federalist, the American Spectator, and the American Conservative.
Partner, Thomas & LoCicero PL
Carol is the managing partner in TLo's Tampa office. She practices at the trial and appellate levels, handling litigation concerning defamation and privacy, the Public Records Act, the Government in the Sunshine Law, court access and cameras in the courtroom. She leads advocacy efforts on media issues, including cameras in the courtroom, and sealed court records.
Carol is a nationally-recognized media lawyer routinely sought after as a speaker on media issues at national and statewide conferences. She often leads statewide advocacy efforts on media issues, most recently involving access to Florida courts and Florida’s anti-SLAPP law. Carol regularly renders pre-and post-publication advice on investigative news stories. She handles issues concerning newsgathering and technology – including smartphones, social media and drones. Carol has litigated many cases resulting in published opinions. In addition to media law, Carol is experienced in marketing law, web law and intellectual property matters. She manages trademark portfolios, policing programs and litigation for sophisticated corporations.
Carol is the Immediate Past Chair for the First Amendment Foundation's Board of Trustees. She is a former board member of the Junior League of Tampa, former vice-chair of the Media Law Committee of The Florida Bar, and is a governing committee member of the ABA Forum on Communications Law. She has litigated capital habeas cases with other lawyers in the firm. Carol also serves as the Program Coordinator for End 68 Hours of Hunger – Tampa, a charity dedicated to eradicating hunger among school children. She is an active member of Hyde Park Presbyterian Church.
Partner, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP
Jesse, the former third-ranking official at the U.S. Department of Justice, helps clients with their most difficult litigation and regulatory issues─whether that means defending against an enforcement action, pursuing high-stakes litigation and appeals, navigating regulatory thickets at federal and state agencies, or crafting a comprehensive strategy to manage a crisis. He approaches these problems with the knowledge gained both from his broad private-practice experience and from having served at the highest levels of federal and state government.
Jesse has experience across a range of substantive and regulatory areas. He has sued the federal government and has also been one of its top law-enforcement officials; he has represented states and has also navigated their regulatory agencies on behalf of clients; and he has represented companies in business disputes, both as defendants and plaintiffs.
Before joining the firm, Jesse was the Acting Associate Attorney General at the United States Department of Justice. In that role, he oversaw the civil and criminal work of the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment and Natural Resources, and Tax Divisions. During Jesse’s tenure, the Associate’s office closely managed the Department’s most significant litigation, including matters involving large financial institutions, healthcare companies, automakers, energy companies, and state and local governments. In addition, Jesse served as Chair of DOJ’s Regulatory Reform Task Force and Vice Chair of DOJ’s Task Force on Market Integrity and Consumer Fraud. Jesse regularly provided legal and strategic advice to the highest-level decision makers in the federal government, including the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, general counsels across the spectrum of federal agencies, and White House officials.
Jesse served for three years as the secretary of Florida’s labor, economic-development, and land-use agency, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. Before that, he served as Governor (now Senator) Rick Scott’s general counsel.
Jesse maintains offices in both Washington D.C. and Florida. From Washington, he focuses on federal litigation and crisis management. In Florida, in addition to federal litigation, Jesse employs his knowledge of state government and regulation to help clients in courts across the state, from trial through the Florida Supreme Court.
Jesse currently serves on the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, the body that provides the governor with nominees for appointment to the Florida Supreme Court. Jesse is also a fellow at the Center for the Study of the Administrative State at the Scalia Law School at George Mason University, where he writes and speaks about administrative law.
Counsel, Clare Locke
Jered is an experienced litigator relied upon by his clients to deliver practical and exacting legal advice guided by sound business judgment. He has spent his career representing clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to controversial high-profile figures in sensitive and sometimes existential crises requiring extraordinary discretion.
Prior to joining Clare Locke, Jered was the chief legal officer of media non-profit Project Veritas, through which he managed a team of lawyers working on reputational risk. During his time at Veritas, Jered and his team obtained over five dozen corrections and retractions and avoided countless more inaccurate articles. Jered also oversaw a portfolio of defamation lawsuits, including Project Veritas’ lawsuit against The New York Times in which Clare Locke defeated The Times’ motion to dismiss – the first defamation case to survive New York’s newly-expanded anti-SLAPP law.
Jered has successfully represented clients in litigation and appeals in federal and state courts across the country. Throughout his career, Jered has handled a variety of matters, including media liability, fraud and deceptive trade practices, financial services, construction and real estate, bankruptcy, and harassment. Jered served as lead trial counsel in securing one of 2019’s top 50 highest bench awards in the United States in a real estate dispute, and in obtaining a first-of-its-kind national injunction and receivership over a fraudster leading to federal incarceration and a permanent restraining order.
Partner, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP
Jesse, the former third-ranking official at the U.S. Department of Justice, helps clients with their most difficult litigation and regulatory issues─whether that means defending against an enforcement action, pursuing high-stakes litigation and appeals, navigating regulatory thickets at federal and state agencies, or crafting a comprehensive strategy to manage a crisis. He approaches these problems with the knowledge gained both from his broad private-practice experience and from having served at the highest levels of federal and state government.
Jesse has experience across a range of substantive and regulatory areas. He has sued the federal government and has also been one of its top law-enforcement officials; he has represented states and has also navigated their regulatory agencies on behalf of clients; and he has represented companies in business disputes, both as defendants and plaintiffs.
Before joining the firm, Jesse was the Acting Associate Attorney General at the United States Department of Justice. In that role, he oversaw the civil and criminal work of the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment and Natural Resources, and Tax Divisions. During Jesse’s tenure, the Associate’s office closely managed the Department’s most significant litigation, including matters involving large financial institutions, healthcare companies, automakers, energy companies, and state and local governments. In addition, Jesse served as Chair of DOJ’s Regulatory Reform Task Force and Vice Chair of DOJ’s Task Force on Market Integrity and Consumer Fraud. Jesse regularly provided legal and strategic advice to the highest-level decision makers in the federal government, including the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, general counsels across the spectrum of federal agencies, and White House officials.
Jesse served for three years as the secretary of Florida’s labor, economic-development, and land-use agency, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. Before that, he served as Governor (now Senator) Rick Scott’s general counsel.
Jesse maintains offices in both Washington D.C. and Florida. From Washington, he focuses on federal litigation and crisis management. In Florida, in addition to federal litigation, Jesse employs his knowledge of state government and regulation to help clients in courts across the state, from trial through the Florida Supreme Court.
Jesse currently serves on the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, the body that provides the governor with nominees for appointment to the Florida Supreme Court. Jesse is also a fellow at the Center for the Study of the Administrative State at the Scalia Law School at George Mason University, where he writes and speaks about administrative law.
Partner, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP
Jesse, the former third-ranking official at the U.S. Department of Justice, helps clients with their most difficult litigation and regulatory issues─whether that means defending against an enforcement action, pursuing high-stakes litigation and appeals, navigating regulatory thickets at federal and state agencies, or crafting a comprehensive strategy to manage a crisis. He approaches these problems with the knowledge gained both from his broad private-practice experience and from having served at the highest levels of federal and state government.
Jesse has experience across a range of substantive and regulatory areas. He has sued the federal government and has also been one of its top law-enforcement officials; he has represented states and has also navigated their regulatory agencies on behalf of clients; and he has represented companies in business disputes, both as defendants and plaintiffs.
Before joining the firm, Jesse was the Acting Associate Attorney General at the United States Department of Justice. In that role, he oversaw the civil and criminal work of the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment and Natural Resources, and Tax Divisions. During Jesse’s tenure, the Associate’s office closely managed the Department’s most significant litigation, including matters involving large financial institutions, healthcare companies, automakers, energy companies, and state and local governments. In addition, Jesse served as Chair of DOJ’s Regulatory Reform Task Force and Vice Chair of DOJ’s Task Force on Market Integrity and Consumer Fraud. Jesse regularly provided legal and strategic advice to the highest-level decision makers in the federal government, including the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, general counsels across the spectrum of federal agencies, and White House officials.
Jesse served for three years as the secretary of Florida’s labor, economic-development, and land-use agency, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. Before that, he served as Governor (now Senator) Rick Scott’s general counsel.
Jesse maintains offices in both Washington D.C. and Florida. From Washington, he focuses on federal litigation and crisis management. In Florida, in addition to federal litigation, Jesse employs his knowledge of state government and regulation to help clients in courts across the state, from trial through the Florida Supreme Court.
Jesse currently serves on the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, the body that provides the governor with nominees for appointment to the Florida Supreme Court. Jesse is also a fellow at the Center for the Study of the Administrative State at the Scalia Law School at George Mason University, where he writes and speaks about administrative law.
In-House Counsel Network: What Does the Next Administration Mean For Business?
2024 National Lawyers Convention
Washington, DC[Construction] 2024 NLC
Courthouse Steps Preview: Harrington v. Purdue Pharma
Anthony J. Casey, Jesse Panuccio, Clifford J. White
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear Harrington v. Purdue Pharma in December 2023. The case...
Courthouse Steps Preview: Harrington v. Purdue Pharma
Anthony J. Casey, Jesse Panuccio, Clifford J. White
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear Harrington v. Purdue Pharma in December 2023. The case...
Courthouse Steps Preview: Harrington v. Purdue Pharma
Panel I: New York Times v. Sullivan
Joe Cohn, Carson Holloway, Carol Jean Locicero, Jesse Panuccio, Jered Ede
In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in New York Times v. Sullivan...
Panel I: New York Times v. Sullivan
Joe Cohn, Carson Holloway, Carol Jean Locicero, Jesse Panuccio, Jered Ede
In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in New York Times v. Sullivan...
Panel I: New York Times v. Sullivan
2023 Florida Young Lawyers Summit
Coral Gables, FLCourthouse Steps Decision: Biden v. Nebraska
Jesse Panuccio
On Friday, June 30, 2023, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Biden v. Nebraska....
Courthouse Steps Decision: Biden v. Nebraska
Jesse Panuccio
On Friday, June 30, 2023, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Biden v. Nebraska....