Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
On March 20, 2018, Judge Elizabeth L. Branch (Lisa) was sworn in as a United States Circuit Judge for the Eleventh Circuit.
Judge Branch attended and graduated from Davidson College in North Carolina (B.A., cum laude, 1990), and Emory University School of Law (J.D., with distinction, 1994).
After graduating from law school, Judge Branch served as a federal law clerk to The Honorable J. Owen Forrester of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia from 1994 to 1996. Following her clerkship, Judge Branch joined the litigation department of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP in Atlanta as an associate and then a partner.
From 2004 to 2008, Judge Branch was a senior official in the Administration of President George W. Bush in Washington, D.C. She served first as the Associate General Counsel for Rules and Legislation at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and then as the Counselor to the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the U. S. Office of Management and Budget.
She returned to Smith Gambrell in 2008 as a litigation partner. Judge Branch then was appointed to the Court of Appeals of Georgia by Governor Nathan Deal, taking office on September 4, 2012, where she served until March 19, 2018.
Judge Branch is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Atlanta Lawyers Chapter for the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies.
Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
Britt C. Grant is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Judge Grant was appointed to the federal bench in August 2018 after serving as a Justice on the Supreme Court of Georgia. Prior to her judicial appointment, she served as the Solicitor General of Georgia and practiced in the Washington, D.C. office of Kirkland & Ellis. Upon graduation from law school, Judge Grant served as a law clerk to then-Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She earned her J.D., with distinction, from Stanford Law School, where she was the Co-Founder of the Stanford National Security and the Law Society, and the President of the Stanford Law chapter of the Federalist Society. Before enrolling in law school, Judge Grant served in The White House in a variety of domestic policy roles as well as on the staff of Congressman Nathan Deal. Judge Grant earned her B.A., summa cum laude, from Wake Forest University, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. She now lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and three children.
Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
The Honorable Joan L. Larsen is a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She was nominated by the President on May 8, 2017 and confirmed by the Senate on November 1, 2017. Before her appointment to the federal bench, Judge Larsen served two terms as a Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, where she was the court’s liaison to Michigan’s drug, sobriety, mental health and veteran’s courts.
Before becoming a judge, Judge Larsen was a faculty member at the University of Michigan Law School, where she was also Special Counsel to the Dean and received the L. Hart Wright Award for Excellence in Teaching. Judge Larsen's research and teaching interests included constitutional law, criminal procedure, statutory interpretation, and presidential power. Judge Larsen continues to assist the law school as the adviser to the Henry M. Campbell Moot Court Competition.
Judge Larsen began her legal career as a law clerk to the Hon. David B. Sentelle of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and to Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court of the United States. Following her clerkships, she joined the law firm of Sidley Austin, where she was a member of the Constitutional, Criminal, and Civil Litigation Section. She later served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the United States Department of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel.
Judge Larsen graduated first in her class from Northwestern University School of Law, where she served as articles editor of the Northwestern University Law Review and earned the John Paul Stevens Award for Academic Excellence. She received her B.A., with highest honors, from the University of Northern Iowa.
President and General Counsel, New Civil Liberties Alliance
NCLA’s President and General Counsel, Mark Chenoweth, has observed the administrative state up close and personal from perches in all four branches of the federal government. Mark served as the first chief of staff to Congressman Mike Pompeo, as legal counsel to Commissioner Anne Northup at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, as an attorney advisor in the Office of Legal Policy at the U.S. Department of Justice, and as a law clerk to the Hon. Danny J. Boggs on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Mark has worked in several different roles in the private sector as well. He began his legal career in D.C. as a regulatory associate at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. He then returned to his home state of Kansas to serve as in-house counsel for Koch Industries. Most recently he spent over four years as general counsel of the Washington Legal Foundation.
Mark is a graduate of Yale College and the University of Chicago Law School, where he co-founded the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship and became a Tony Patiño Fellow. Mark has been widely quoted and/or published in newspapers and websites including the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, New Hampshire Union Leader, and Metropolitan Corporate Counsel. He has also had recurring op-eds in the Los Angeles Daily Journal, and at Forbes.com.
Partner, Arnold & Porter
John Elwood is the head of Arnold & Porter’s Appellate and Supreme Court practice. He has argued before the Supreme Court nine times, and appeared before most of the federal courts of appeals. He has successfully argued cases across a broad cross-section of subjects, with particular experience in environmental law, the False Claims Act, government contracting, and federal criminal law
Mr. Elwood’s work has earned him recognition as one of Washington’s top Supreme Court lawyers (Washingtonian, 2013), as one of “a small group of lawyers” with an “outsized influence at the U.S. Supreme Court” (Reuters, 2014), and as one of the country’s most innovative lawyers (Financial Times, 2014). Chambers USA reports that “[t]he much-admired John Elwood is praised for his advocacy skills” (2013), and describes Mr. Elwood as “phenomenal” (2014), “incredibly talented” (2012), and “a much-loved and widely respected lawyer who is quick on his feet” (2010).
Before joining the firm, Mr. Elwood served in senior-level positions in the U.S. Department of Justice. Beginning as an Assistant to the Solicitor General, and continuing with the firm, he has briefed more than 20 merits cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, and has briefed approximately 135 cases at the certiorari stage. As the senior Deputy in the Office of Legal Counsel, he advised the White House and federal agencies on a range of constitutional, statutory, and regulatory issues.
Partner, BakerHostetler, Adjunct Fellow, The Manhattan Institute
Andrew Grossman leads BakerHostetler’s Appellate and Major Motion team. He has appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court, nearly all the federal courts of appeals, as well as some state appellate courts, litigating high-profile and complex commercial, administrative and constitutional issues.
Andrew works with practice groups across BakerHostetler to identify and tackle complex issues, advise on administrative law and strategy, tee up issues for appeal and tackle appeals. He has developed and implemented litigation and administrative strategies for clients in several fields and industries.
In addition to his practice, Andrew advises members of Congress on matters of constitutional and administrative law, having testified more than a dozen times before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. He has been a frequent legal commentator on radio and television, having appeared on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, NPR and its affiliates, CBN and elsewhere. His legal commentary has also appeared in dozens of magazines and newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Washington Times and many others.
Andrew is a Senior Legal Fellow at the Buckeye Institute, an Adjunct Fellow the Manhattan Institute and a member of the leadership of the Federalist Society. He previously served as an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies and a legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. He clerked for Judge Edith H. Jones on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Associate, Baker Hostetler
Sean Sandoloski is a member of BakerHostetler’s Appellate and Major Motions Team. Sean has represented clients at every level of the federal judiciary, as well as in multiple federal agencies and state courts. He has extensive experience in constitutional, administrative, and antitrust law and litigation.
Sean has developed and implemented litigation, administrative, legislative, and communications strategies for clients—presenting holistic solutions for complex problems. He regularly works across groups and offices to tackle high-stakes, fast-moving issues, and advise clients on strategic and regulatory matters. Throughout his career, Sean has worked to cultivate and foster relationships at all levels from the highest offices in government to corporate executives to benefit his clients.
Prior to joining BakerHostetler, Sean served as Special Assistant and Associate Counsel to the President in the Office of White House Counsel, where his primary responsibilities included the selection and confirmation of judicial nominees. There, Sean worked closely with the Department of Justice, a number of federal agencies, and various congressional committees. He also previously served in the Appellate Section of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, representing the United States in the courts of appeals and advising Division leadership on complex issues of federal law. Additionally, he clerked for Judge Steven M. Colloton of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
President and General Counsel, New Civil Liberties Alliance
NCLA’s President and General Counsel, Mark Chenoweth, has observed the administrative state up close and personal from perches in all four branches of the federal government. Mark served as the first chief of staff to Congressman Mike Pompeo, as legal counsel to Commissioner Anne Northup at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, as an attorney advisor in the Office of Legal Policy at the U.S. Department of Justice, and as a law clerk to the Hon. Danny J. Boggs on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Mark has worked in several different roles in the private sector as well. He began his legal career in D.C. as a regulatory associate at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. He then returned to his home state of Kansas to serve as in-house counsel for Koch Industries. Most recently he spent over four years as general counsel of the Washington Legal Foundation.
Mark is a graduate of Yale College and the University of Chicago Law School, where he co-founded the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship and became a Tony Patiño Fellow. Mark has been widely quoted and/or published in newspapers and websites including the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, New Hampshire Union Leader, and Metropolitan Corporate Counsel. He has also had recurring op-eds in the Los Angeles Daily Journal, and at Forbes.com.
Partner, Arnold & Porter
John Elwood is the head of Arnold & Porter’s Appellate and Supreme Court practice. He has argued before the Supreme Court nine times, and appeared before most of the federal courts of appeals. He has successfully argued cases across a broad cross-section of subjects, with particular experience in environmental law, the False Claims Act, government contracting, and federal criminal law
Mr. Elwood’s work has earned him recognition as one of Washington’s top Supreme Court lawyers (Washingtonian, 2013), as one of “a small group of lawyers” with an “outsized influence at the U.S. Supreme Court” (Reuters, 2014), and as one of the country’s most innovative lawyers (Financial Times, 2014). Chambers USA reports that “[t]he much-admired John Elwood is praised for his advocacy skills” (2013), and describes Mr. Elwood as “phenomenal” (2014), “incredibly talented” (2012), and “a much-loved and widely respected lawyer who is quick on his feet” (2010).
Before joining the firm, Mr. Elwood served in senior-level positions in the U.S. Department of Justice. Beginning as an Assistant to the Solicitor General, and continuing with the firm, he has briefed more than 20 merits cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, and has briefed approximately 135 cases at the certiorari stage. As the senior Deputy in the Office of Legal Counsel, he advised the White House and federal agencies on a range of constitutional, statutory, and regulatory issues.
President and General Counsel, New Civil Liberties Alliance
NCLA’s President and General Counsel, Mark Chenoweth, has observed the administrative state up close and personal from perches in all four branches of the federal government. Mark served as the first chief of staff to Congressman Mike Pompeo, as legal counsel to Commissioner Anne Northup at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, as an attorney advisor in the Office of Legal Policy at the U.S. Department of Justice, and as a law clerk to the Hon. Danny J. Boggs on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Mark has worked in several different roles in the private sector as well. He began his legal career in D.C. as a regulatory associate at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. He then returned to his home state of Kansas to serve as in-house counsel for Koch Industries. Most recently he spent over four years as general counsel of the Washington Legal Foundation.
Mark is a graduate of Yale College and the University of Chicago Law School, where he co-founded the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship and became a Tony Patiño Fellow. Mark has been widely quoted and/or published in newspapers and websites including the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, New Hampshire Union Leader, and Metropolitan Corporate Counsel. He has also had recurring op-eds in the Los Angeles Daily Journal, and at Forbes.com.
Partner, Arnold & Porter
John Elwood is the head of Arnold & Porter’s Appellate and Supreme Court practice. He has argued before the Supreme Court nine times, and appeared before most of the federal courts of appeals. He has successfully argued cases across a broad cross-section of subjects, with particular experience in environmental law, the False Claims Act, government contracting, and federal criminal law
Mr. Elwood’s work has earned him recognition as one of Washington’s top Supreme Court lawyers (Washingtonian, 2013), as one of “a small group of lawyers” with an “outsized influence at the U.S. Supreme Court” (Reuters, 2014), and as one of the country’s most innovative lawyers (Financial Times, 2014). Chambers USA reports that “[t]he much-admired John Elwood is praised for his advocacy skills” (2013), and describes Mr. Elwood as “phenomenal” (2014), “incredibly talented” (2012), and “a much-loved and widely respected lawyer who is quick on his feet” (2010).
Before joining the firm, Mr. Elwood served in senior-level positions in the U.S. Department of Justice. Beginning as an Assistant to the Solicitor General, and continuing with the firm, he has briefed more than 20 merits cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, and has briefed approximately 135 cases at the certiorari stage. As the senior Deputy in the Office of Legal Counsel, he advised the White House and federal agencies on a range of constitutional, statutory, and regulatory issues.
Sterling Professor Emeritus of Law, Yale Law School
Mirjan Damaška is Sterling Professor Emeritus of Law at Yale Law School. He teaches and writes in the fields of comparative and foreign law, procedural law, evidence, international criminal law, and continental legal history.
He is the author of six books, among which The Faces of Justice and Evidence Law Adrift were translated into several languages. He has published more than 100 articles in professional journals of numerous countries.
He received his basic law degree at the University of Zagreb in his native Croatia. He then studied at the Academy of International Law at The Hague, and the Comparative Law Faculty in Luxembourg. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia). Following time spent practicing in the courts of former Yugoslavia, he began his teaching career at the University of Zagreb Law School, rising quickly to the rank of full professor, and briefly serving as Acting Dean. In 1971, he left his native land, and accepted a tenured position at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Since 1976, he has been on the faculty of Yale Law School.
Damaška is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the International Academy of Comparative Law, the Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Society of Comparative Law. In 1978-79, he was fellow of the National Endowment for the Humanities. He is also holder of several honorary degrees.
He was keynote speaker and general reporter at many international congresses. Five symposia were organized about his work: Bielefeld (Germany) in 1987; Siena (Italy) in 1988; San Francisco in 1998; Zagreb (Croatia) in 2006; and New Haven in 2008. From 1990 to 1995, he served on the Advisory Board of the Central and East European Legal Initiative of ABA. Since 1995, he has periodically advised the Croatian government in its relations with the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
In 2005, he was appointed Amicus Curiae of the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in the matter of transferring cases to domestic courts. In 2009, he was presented the lifetime achievement award by the American Society of Comparative Law. In 2014, he was awarded the Life Achievement award by Jadranko Crnic Foundation, Croatia. He does counseling work on foreign law problems for law firms in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington.
In 2010 he was appointed special adviser to the Prime Minister of Croatia, and agent of the Republic of Croatia before the International Court of Justice, heading a team of Croatian and English lawyers in the case of Croatia v. Serbia.
Two books of essays have been published in his honor: Jackson, Langer, & Tillers (eds.), "Crime, Procedure, and Evidence: Essays in honor of Mirjan Damaška (Oxford 2008), and Ackerman, Ambos, Sikiric (eds.), "Visions of Justice, Liber Amicorum Mirjan Damaška" (Berlin 2016).
Professor of Comparative Constitutional Law, European University Institute
Since September 2016 Gábor Halmai, professor of law, is the chair of Comparative Constitutional Law at the European University Institute in Florence. Since January 2018 he is the Director of Graduate Studies at the Law Department. His primary research interests are comparative constitutional law, and international human rights. He has published several books and articles, as well as edited volumes on these topics in English, German and Hungarian. He is joining the EUI after a teaching and research career (at the Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary, the Princeton University in the USA, the the European Masters Program in Human Rights and Democratization in Italy) as well as years of professional career as chief advisor to the President of the Hungarian Constitutional Court, member of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency’s Management Board and numerous other civic activities.
Prior to joining to EUI Professor Halmai has worked on various research projects at the IWM in Vienna and the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University: Backsliding of liberal democracies within the European Union, with special focus on the development of constitutionalism and human rights in Hungary since its democratic transition in 1989-1990 till now; Models of state-church relations and religious freedom; Constitutionalism and transitional justice in Central and Eastern Europe. His most recent book, „Perspectives on Global Constitutionalism” deals with the use of foreign and international law by domestic courts (published by Eleven International Publishing in 2014). In addition to research, Professor Halmai has also been teaching and supervising students in Budapest, Princeton and Florence on the subjects of comparative constitutional law and human rights, as well as on rule of law.
Besides his academic work he was member of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency’s Management Board based in Vienna, Austria (2007-2010), the national director of the European Masters Program in Human Rights and Democratization in Venice, Italy (2003-2013), vice-chair of the Hungarian National Election Commission (2006-2010; chief counsellor to the President of the Hungarian Constitutional Court (1990-1996).
Gábor Halmai is founder and editor-in-chief of Fundamentum, the Hungarian human right quarterly, and Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the European Yearbook on Human Rights, the Review of Constitutionalism and Constitutional Change (RC3), and the This Century’s Review.
Assistant Professor, University of Ústí nad Labem
Daniel Kroupa is a Czech politician and philosopher, dissident, signatory of Charter 77, President of the Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA) from 1998 to 2001, former MP, Euro MP and senator. After the Velvet Revolution, he taught political philosophy at several faculties of Charles University in Prague. From 2005 to 2015, he was the Head of the Department of Political Science and Philosophy of the Faculty of Arts, University of Ústí nad Labem. Since 2015 he has been an assistant professor at this department.
Philosopher, Journalist, Novelist, and Diplomat
Michael John Novak Jr. (1933–2017) was an American Roman Catholic philosopher, journalist, novelist, and diplomat. The author of more than forty books on the philosophy and theology of culture, Novak is most widely known for his book The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism (1982). In 1993 Novak was honored with an honorary doctorate at Universidad Francisco Marroquín due to his commitment to the idea of liberty. In 1994 he was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, which included a million-dollar purse awarded at Buckingham Palace. He wrote books and articles focused on capitalism, religion, and the politics of democratization.
Former Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
Alvin Benjamin Rubin's long and storied tenure as a federal judge began with a nomination by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966 and ended in 1991 at his death.
Judge Rubin was born in Alexandria, Louisiana, in 1920, and received a B.S. from Louisiana State University in 1941. He started at Louisiana State University Law School in 1940. When World War II broke out, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, was assigned to General Patton's "Big Red 1," and served in the European Theatre of Operations in England, France, Belgium, and Germany, rising to the rank of Captain and serving as an Assistant Judge Advocate. After the war ended, he married Janice Ginsberg, also from Alexandria, and returned to Baton Rouge for law school in an accelerated post-war program for returning war veterans. He graduated first in his law school class in 1942 and was Editor-in-Chief of the Louisiana Law Review.
After his graduation, he began practicing law in Baton Rouge with J.Y. Sanders and Ben Miller, Sr., and after several years the firm of Sanders, Miller, Downing, Rubin and Kean was formed. Judge Rubin specialized in tax law, corporate transactions, and trust and estates law. He also was an arbitrator and mediator.
Soon after he started practice in 1942, the illness of a faculty member at the LSU Law School propelled Judge Rubin back into the classroom as a professor. Judge Rubin taught a variety of subjects continuously at the Law School until 1989, including Admiralty, Civil Code, Ethics, Negotiations, Constitutional Law, Federal Procedure, State and Local Tax Law, Federal Tax Law, Law Office Practice, and many others. Judge Rubin's love of teaching and of student interaction was particularly meaningful to him, and throughout his life Judge Rubin was invited to teach and lecture at schools around the world, including Harvard, Yale, Notre Dame, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, University of Miami, University of Georgia, University of Texas, Tulane, and Duke. He also traveled to give presentations throughout Europe. Because of his expertise in civil law, during the Vietnam War, Judge Rubin was asked by the State Department to travel to South Vietnam and assist in drafting the constitution for South Vietnam. He also served as a moderator for the Aspen Institute and for many programs for the American Bar Association.
In 1963, Judge Rubin and Dean Henry George McMahon co-authored Louisiana Pleadings and Judicial Forms Annotated. For over 20 years, Judge Rubin continued the annual updates for this vital resource used by Louisiana attorneys. Before 1960, Louisiana civil law prohibited the establishment of Trusts. Judge Rubin was instrumental in the creation of a Trust Code for Louisiana, which was adopted by the Louisiana Legislature in 1960. In 1966 he and his wife, Janice, co-authored the Louisiana Trust Handbook, and later, he wrote Louisiana Wills and Trust: A Drafting System (with Professor Gerald LeVan). Judge Rubin's list of law review and journal articles spans many pages. Two of his most prominent works are "A Causerie on Lawyer's Ethics" and "Hazards of a Civilian Venturer in Federal Court: Travel and Travail on the Erie Railroad" (both in the Louisiana Law Review).
He then practiced law until 1966 when President Johnson nominated him to a new seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana created by 80 Stat. 75. Judge Rubin served at an important time in the Court's history, hearing many of the desegregation and civil rights cases in the 1960s. He served as Chief Judge of the District and wrote and implemented the first comprehensive written pre-trial procedure rules for the District. He served on and chaired many committees for the Judicial Conference and co-wrote the first law clerk handbook for the federal system. Judge Rubin kept long hours and was often in his Chambers early. He always took home briefs to read and drafts of opinions to edit, keeping two secretaries busy at all times.
After eleven years as a judge on the federal district court, Judge Rubin was nominated in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter to fill a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated by John Minor Wisdom. Judge Rubin assumed senior status on July 1, 1989, and served in that capacity until his death in 1991 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In his memory, the Louisiana Law Review published a special edition (Vol. 52, 1992) dedicated solely to his life and work, including articles and remembrances by his wife, Justice Byron White, Judge John Minor Wisdom, Judge Charles Clark, Judge Fred Cassibry, Judge Henry Politz, and many others.
Judge Rubin wrote more than 700 important (and sometimes humorous) opinions during his time as a federal judge. His rulings included ones that ended Louisiana's exemption of women from juries, applied the Voting Rights Act to local elections, and upheld the rights of government employees to criticize their superiors and to organize unions. Judge Rubin's interests spanned poetry, drama, history, art, the classics, and music of all types. He enjoyed writing Gilbert-and-Sullivan-ish parodies concerning legal matters and performing them for students, clerks, lawyers, at judicial seminars, and even for United States Supreme Court Justices.
The judicial activity that Judge Rubin reportedly most enjoyed was conducting naturalization ceremonies in open court. Judge Rubin spoke not as a jurist but as the son of immigrants from Eastern Europe whose parents had lost many relatives to war and hatred. He spoke movingly of his parents, their courage, and their determination to give their children the education and opportunities they had never had. Judge Rubin always emphasized that those citizens, new though they were, had equal rights. They could vote. They could develop their own talents and those of their children. They were entitled to occupy as well as to stand before the bench of justice.
Judge Rubin also enjoyed the close friendship of his many law clerks (serving as officiant of at least one wedding) and was an avid tennis player and jogger, often enlisting law clerks and young lawyers as his tennis or running partner.
Judge Rubin was the first member of the LSU Law Center Hall of Alumni Distinction, and was the First Alumni Member of the LSU Phi Beta Kappa Chapter. He was awarded the Louisiana ACLU Award for his civil rights work and was active in the National Conference of Christians and Jews and his synagogue in Baton Rouge.
Judge John Minor Wisdom wrote that "Alvin Rubin was born to be a judge, a great judge. His intellect, scholarship, and judicial leadership place him in a select group. In recent years, some of this small group graced the Supreme Court: Holmes, Brandeis, and Cardozo. These judges would have welcomed him on equal intellectual terms and as a kindred spirit."
The New Orleans Chapter of the Federal Bar Association hosts an annual symposium in Judge Rubin's honor. The symposium is an annual discussion on aspects of federal law or practice as a living memorial to Judge Rubin's contribution to federal jurisprudence and legal scholarship. The symposium is well attended by his family, friends, former clerks, and lawyers.
Judge Rubin's wife, Janice, best summed him up. "[His] friends spanned continents and age barriers . . . . [He] was the jurist he was because he was the man the boy became, a man who remembered Biblical injunctions about relationships and courage, about discipline and standards, about justice and mercy and integrity, a man whose goal on the bench was the oath taken by judges on the Isle of Man: 'You shall do justice between cause and cause as equally as the backbone of the herring doth lie midmost of the fish.' "
Sterling Professor Emeritus of Law, Yale Law School
Mirjan Damaška is Sterling Professor Emeritus of Law at Yale Law School. He teaches and writes in the fields of comparative and foreign law, procedural law, evidence, international criminal law, and continental legal history.
He is the author of six books, among which The Faces of Justice and Evidence Law Adrift were translated into several languages. He has published more than 100 articles in professional journals of numerous countries.
He received his basic law degree at the University of Zagreb in his native Croatia. He then studied at the Academy of International Law at The Hague, and the Comparative Law Faculty in Luxembourg. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia). Following time spent practicing in the courts of former Yugoslavia, he began his teaching career at the University of Zagreb Law School, rising quickly to the rank of full professor, and briefly serving as Acting Dean. In 1971, he left his native land, and accepted a tenured position at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Since 1976, he has been on the faculty of Yale Law School.
Damaška is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the International Academy of Comparative Law, the Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Society of Comparative Law. In 1978-79, he was fellow of the National Endowment for the Humanities. He is also holder of several honorary degrees.
He was keynote speaker and general reporter at many international congresses. Five symposia were organized about his work: Bielefeld (Germany) in 1987; Siena (Italy) in 1988; San Francisco in 1998; Zagreb (Croatia) in 2006; and New Haven in 2008. From 1990 to 1995, he served on the Advisory Board of the Central and East European Legal Initiative of ABA. Since 1995, he has periodically advised the Croatian government in its relations with the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
In 2005, he was appointed Amicus Curiae of the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in the matter of transferring cases to domestic courts. In 2009, he was presented the lifetime achievement award by the American Society of Comparative Law. In 2014, he was awarded the Life Achievement award by Jadranko Crnic Foundation, Croatia. He does counseling work on foreign law problems for law firms in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington.
In 2010 he was appointed special adviser to the Prime Minister of Croatia, and agent of the Republic of Croatia before the International Court of Justice, heading a team of Croatian and English lawyers in the case of Croatia v. Serbia.
Two books of essays have been published in his honor: Jackson, Langer, & Tillers (eds.), "Crime, Procedure, and Evidence: Essays in honor of Mirjan Damaška (Oxford 2008), and Ackerman, Ambos, Sikiric (eds.), "Visions of Justice, Liber Amicorum Mirjan Damaška" (Berlin 2016).
Professor of Comparative Constitutional Law, European University Institute
Since September 2016 Gábor Halmai, professor of law, is the chair of Comparative Constitutional Law at the European University Institute in Florence. Since January 2018 he is the Director of Graduate Studies at the Law Department. His primary research interests are comparative constitutional law, and international human rights. He has published several books and articles, as well as edited volumes on these topics in English, German and Hungarian. He is joining the EUI after a teaching and research career (at the Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary, the Princeton University in the USA, the the European Masters Program in Human Rights and Democratization in Italy) as well as years of professional career as chief advisor to the President of the Hungarian Constitutional Court, member of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency’s Management Board and numerous other civic activities.
Prior to joining to EUI Professor Halmai has worked on various research projects at the IWM in Vienna and the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University: Backsliding of liberal democracies within the European Union, with special focus on the development of constitutionalism and human rights in Hungary since its democratic transition in 1989-1990 till now; Models of state-church relations and religious freedom; Constitutionalism and transitional justice in Central and Eastern Europe. His most recent book, „Perspectives on Global Constitutionalism” deals with the use of foreign and international law by domestic courts (published by Eleven International Publishing in 2014). In addition to research, Professor Halmai has also been teaching and supervising students in Budapest, Princeton and Florence on the subjects of comparative constitutional law and human rights, as well as on rule of law.
Besides his academic work he was member of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency’s Management Board based in Vienna, Austria (2007-2010), the national director of the European Masters Program in Human Rights and Democratization in Venice, Italy (2003-2013), vice-chair of the Hungarian National Election Commission (2006-2010; chief counsellor to the President of the Hungarian Constitutional Court (1990-1996).
Gábor Halmai is founder and editor-in-chief of Fundamentum, the Hungarian human right quarterly, and Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the European Yearbook on Human Rights, the Review of Constitutionalism and Constitutional Change (RC3), and the This Century’s Review.
Assistant Professor, University of Ústí nad Labem
Daniel Kroupa is a Czech politician and philosopher, dissident, signatory of Charter 77, President of the Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA) from 1998 to 2001, former MP, Euro MP and senator. After the Velvet Revolution, he taught political philosophy at several faculties of Charles University in Prague. From 2005 to 2015, he was the Head of the Department of Political Science and Philosophy of the Faculty of Arts, University of Ústí nad Labem. Since 2015 he has been an assistant professor at this department.
Philosopher, Journalist, Novelist, and Diplomat
Michael John Novak Jr. (1933–2017) was an American Roman Catholic philosopher, journalist, novelist, and diplomat. The author of more than forty books on the philosophy and theology of culture, Novak is most widely known for his book The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism (1982). In 1993 Novak was honored with an honorary doctorate at Universidad Francisco Marroquín due to his commitment to the idea of liberty. In 1994 he was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, which included a million-dollar purse awarded at Buckingham Palace. He wrote books and articles focused on capitalism, religion, and the politics of democratization.
Former Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
Alvin Benjamin Rubin's long and storied tenure as a federal judge began with a nomination by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966 and ended in 1991 at his death.
Judge Rubin was born in Alexandria, Louisiana, in 1920, and received a B.S. from Louisiana State University in 1941. He started at Louisiana State University Law School in 1940. When World War II broke out, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, was assigned to General Patton's "Big Red 1," and served in the European Theatre of Operations in England, France, Belgium, and Germany, rising to the rank of Captain and serving as an Assistant Judge Advocate. After the war ended, he married Janice Ginsberg, also from Alexandria, and returned to Baton Rouge for law school in an accelerated post-war program for returning war veterans. He graduated first in his law school class in 1942 and was Editor-in-Chief of the Louisiana Law Review.
After his graduation, he began practicing law in Baton Rouge with J.Y. Sanders and Ben Miller, Sr., and after several years the firm of Sanders, Miller, Downing, Rubin and Kean was formed. Judge Rubin specialized in tax law, corporate transactions, and trust and estates law. He also was an arbitrator and mediator.
Soon after he started practice in 1942, the illness of a faculty member at the LSU Law School propelled Judge Rubin back into the classroom as a professor. Judge Rubin taught a variety of subjects continuously at the Law School until 1989, including Admiralty, Civil Code, Ethics, Negotiations, Constitutional Law, Federal Procedure, State and Local Tax Law, Federal Tax Law, Law Office Practice, and many others. Judge Rubin's love of teaching and of student interaction was particularly meaningful to him, and throughout his life Judge Rubin was invited to teach and lecture at schools around the world, including Harvard, Yale, Notre Dame, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, University of Miami, University of Georgia, University of Texas, Tulane, and Duke. He also traveled to give presentations throughout Europe. Because of his expertise in civil law, during the Vietnam War, Judge Rubin was asked by the State Department to travel to South Vietnam and assist in drafting the constitution for South Vietnam. He also served as a moderator for the Aspen Institute and for many programs for the American Bar Association.
In 1963, Judge Rubin and Dean Henry George McMahon co-authored Louisiana Pleadings and Judicial Forms Annotated. For over 20 years, Judge Rubin continued the annual updates for this vital resource used by Louisiana attorneys. Before 1960, Louisiana civil law prohibited the establishment of Trusts. Judge Rubin was instrumental in the creation of a Trust Code for Louisiana, which was adopted by the Louisiana Legislature in 1960. In 1966 he and his wife, Janice, co-authored the Louisiana Trust Handbook, and later, he wrote Louisiana Wills and Trust: A Drafting System (with Professor Gerald LeVan). Judge Rubin's list of law review and journal articles spans many pages. Two of his most prominent works are "A Causerie on Lawyer's Ethics" and "Hazards of a Civilian Venturer in Federal Court: Travel and Travail on the Erie Railroad" (both in the Louisiana Law Review).
He then practiced law until 1966 when President Johnson nominated him to a new seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana created by 80 Stat. 75. Judge Rubin served at an important time in the Court's history, hearing many of the desegregation and civil rights cases in the 1960s. He served as Chief Judge of the District and wrote and implemented the first comprehensive written pre-trial procedure rules for the District. He served on and chaired many committees for the Judicial Conference and co-wrote the first law clerk handbook for the federal system. Judge Rubin kept long hours and was often in his Chambers early. He always took home briefs to read and drafts of opinions to edit, keeping two secretaries busy at all times.
After eleven years as a judge on the federal district court, Judge Rubin was nominated in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter to fill a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated by John Minor Wisdom. Judge Rubin assumed senior status on July 1, 1989, and served in that capacity until his death in 1991 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In his memory, the Louisiana Law Review published a special edition (Vol. 52, 1992) dedicated solely to his life and work, including articles and remembrances by his wife, Justice Byron White, Judge John Minor Wisdom, Judge Charles Clark, Judge Fred Cassibry, Judge Henry Politz, and many others.
Judge Rubin wrote more than 700 important (and sometimes humorous) opinions during his time as a federal judge. His rulings included ones that ended Louisiana's exemption of women from juries, applied the Voting Rights Act to local elections, and upheld the rights of government employees to criticize their superiors and to organize unions. Judge Rubin's interests spanned poetry, drama, history, art, the classics, and music of all types. He enjoyed writing Gilbert-and-Sullivan-ish parodies concerning legal matters and performing them for students, clerks, lawyers, at judicial seminars, and even for United States Supreme Court Justices.
The judicial activity that Judge Rubin reportedly most enjoyed was conducting naturalization ceremonies in open court. Judge Rubin spoke not as a jurist but as the son of immigrants from Eastern Europe whose parents had lost many relatives to war and hatred. He spoke movingly of his parents, their courage, and their determination to give their children the education and opportunities they had never had. Judge Rubin always emphasized that those citizens, new though they were, had equal rights. They could vote. They could develop their own talents and those of their children. They were entitled to occupy as well as to stand before the bench of justice.
Judge Rubin also enjoyed the close friendship of his many law clerks (serving as officiant of at least one wedding) and was an avid tennis player and jogger, often enlisting law clerks and young lawyers as his tennis or running partner.
Judge Rubin was the first member of the LSU Law Center Hall of Alumni Distinction, and was the First Alumni Member of the LSU Phi Beta Kappa Chapter. He was awarded the Louisiana ACLU Award for his civil rights work and was active in the National Conference of Christians and Jews and his synagogue in Baton Rouge.
Judge John Minor Wisdom wrote that "Alvin Rubin was born to be a judge, a great judge. His intellect, scholarship, and judicial leadership place him in a select group. In recent years, some of this small group graced the Supreme Court: Holmes, Brandeis, and Cardozo. These judges would have welcomed him on equal intellectual terms and as a kindred spirit."
The New Orleans Chapter of the Federal Bar Association hosts an annual symposium in Judge Rubin's honor. The symposium is an annual discussion on aspects of federal law or practice as a living memorial to Judge Rubin's contribution to federal jurisprudence and legal scholarship. The symposium is well attended by his family, friends, former clerks, and lawyers.
Judge Rubin's wife, Janice, best summed him up. "[His] friends spanned continents and age barriers . . . . [He] was the jurist he was because he was the man the boy became, a man who remembered Biblical injunctions about relationships and courage, about discipline and standards, about justice and mercy and integrity, a man whose goal on the bench was the oath taken by judges on the Isle of Man: 'You shall do justice between cause and cause as equally as the backbone of the herring doth lie midmost of the fish.' "
Roberto is a 2018 graduate of the University of Chicago Law School.
Senior Counsel, Litigation, Defense of Freedom Institute
Don Daugherty is Senior Counsel, Litigation, at the Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies. He previously served as a Senior Counsel at the Institute for Free Speech and the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty. Before that, he was a partner at three of Wisconsin’s largest firms, with nearly 30 years of trial and appellate litigation experience. He has been consistently recognized as among the “Best Lawyers in America,” as well as Wisconsin’s “Super Lawyers.” He received his B.A. from the University of Virginia and his J.D. from Northwestern University Law School. After law school, he served as a clerk to the Honorable Roger J. Miner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Don is on the Board of Advisors for the Milwaukee Lawyers’ Chapter of the Federalist Society, and on the Executive Committee of the Federalist Society’s Litigation Practice Group.
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