Counsel to Commissioner Hester M. Peirce, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Thaya Brook Knight was associate director of financial regulation studies at the Cato Institute. She is an attorney with extensive experience in securities regulation, small business capital access, and capital markets. Before joining Cato, she co-founded and served as general counsel of CrowdCheck, a company providing due diligence and disclosure services in the online investing market. Following the recent financial crisis, she served as investigative counsel for the congressional oversight panel charged with overseeing the expenditure of Troubled Asset Relief Program funds. She also spent several years with the Washington office of the law firm WilmerHale, where her practice focused on securities litigation, securities enforcement defense, and corporate investigations.
She holds a BA from Middlebury College and a JD from the University of Michigan Law School.
Partner, Kirkland & Ellis
Chris Michel is a litigation partner in the Washington, D.C., office and the leader of the Firm’s Supreme Court and appellate practice. He has argued 11 cases before the Supreme Court and dozens of appeals in federal and state courts. He is widely recognized for his command of issues facing clients in complex litigation, including in the areas of securities, antitrust, technology, administrative law, healthcare and foreign affairs. He has particular experience with constitutional and other appellate issues arising from public nuisance and mass tort cases, including in multidistrict litigation. In 2026 alone, The American Lawyer has recognized Chris five times for appellate victories, including a win before the Delaware Supreme Court in the largest compensation dispute in corporate history. He has also received national recognition from Law360, Chambers USA, Lawdragon and The Legal 500.
Chris has distinctive insight into the Supreme Court, having served over five years in the Office of the Solicitor General at the Department of Justice and clerked for both Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh. He has also served in the Office of the Attorney General, the White House Counsel’s Office and the White House Speechwriting Office, where he drafted more than 500 speeches (including five State of the Union addresses) for President George W. Bush. A native of the San Francisco Bay Area and a graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School, Chris has taught at Georgetown University Law Center and speaks regularly on the Supreme Court and appellate law.
Former United States Attorney General
Jeff Sessions served as the 84th Attorney General of the United States from February 9, 2017 until November 7, 2018.
Prior to becoming Attorney General, Mr. Sessions served as a United States Senator for Alabama since 1996. As a United States Senator, he focused his energies on maintaining a strong military, upholding the rule of law, limiting the role of government, and providing tax relief to stimulate economic growth and to empower Americans to keep more of their hard-earned money.
Mr. Sessions was born in Selma, Alabama on December 24, 1946, and grew up in Hybart, the son of a country store owner. Growing up in the country, Sessions was instilled with certain core values – honesty, hard work, belief in God and parental respect – that define him today. In 1964, he became an Eagle Scout and thereafter received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. After attending school in nearby Camden, Sessions attended Huntingdon College in Montgomery, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1969. He received a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Alabama in 1973. Sessions served in the United States Army Reserve from 1973 to 1986, ultimately attaining the rank of Captain. He still considers that period to be one of the most rewarding chapters of his life.
Sessions’ interest in the law led to a distinguished legal career, first as a practicing attorney in Russellville, Alabama, and then in Mobile. Following a two-year stint as Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama (1975-1977), Sessions was nominated by President Reagan in 1981 and confirmed by the Senate to serve as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama, a position he held for 12 years. Sessions was elected Alabama Attorney General in 1995, serving as the State’s chief legal officer until 1996, when he entered the United States Senate.
Sessions and his wife, Mary Blackshear Sessions, originally of Gadsden, Alabama, have three children, Mary Abigail Reinhardt, Ruth Sessions Walk, and Sam. They have seven granddaughters, Jane Ritchie, Alexa, Gracie, Sophia, Hannah, Joanna, and Phoebe, and three grandsons, Jim Beau, Lewis, and Nicholas.
Counsel to Commissioner Hester M. Peirce, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Thaya Brook Knight was associate director of financial regulation studies at the Cato Institute. She is an attorney with extensive experience in securities regulation, small business capital access, and capital markets. Before joining Cato, she co-founded and served as general counsel of CrowdCheck, a company providing due diligence and disclosure services in the online investing market. Following the recent financial crisis, she served as investigative counsel for the congressional oversight panel charged with overseeing the expenditure of Troubled Asset Relief Program funds. She also spent several years with the Washington office of the law firm WilmerHale, where her practice focused on securities litigation, securities enforcement defense, and corporate investigations.
She holds a BA from Middlebury College and a JD from the University of Michigan Law School.
Partner, Kirkland & Ellis
Chris Michel is a litigation partner in the Washington, D.C., office and the leader of the Firm’s Supreme Court and appellate practice. He has argued 11 cases before the Supreme Court and dozens of appeals in federal and state courts. He is widely recognized for his command of issues facing clients in complex litigation, including in the areas of securities, antitrust, technology, administrative law, healthcare and foreign affairs. He has particular experience with constitutional and other appellate issues arising from public nuisance and mass tort cases, including in multidistrict litigation. In 2026 alone, The American Lawyer has recognized Chris five times for appellate victories, including a win before the Delaware Supreme Court in the largest compensation dispute in corporate history. He has also received national recognition from Law360, Chambers USA, Lawdragon and The Legal 500.
Chris has distinctive insight into the Supreme Court, having served over five years in the Office of the Solicitor General at the Department of Justice and clerked for both Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh. He has also served in the Office of the Attorney General, the White House Counsel’s Office and the White House Speechwriting Office, where he drafted more than 500 speeches (including five State of the Union addresses) for President George W. Bush. A native of the San Francisco Bay Area and a graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School, Chris has taught at Georgetown University Law Center and speaks regularly on the Supreme Court and appellate law.
Courthouse Steps: D.C. Circuit En Banc Argument - Podcast
Thaya Brook Knight, Christopher G. Michel
The D.C. Circuit heard a rare doubleheader of en banc arguments on major structural separation...
Courthouse Steps: D.C. Circuit En Banc Argument
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Setback for the CFPB in the DC Circuit
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Before I address judicial independence, I want to recognize the tremendous contribution that the Federalist...