Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
Amul R. Thapar serves as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. His judicial career began in 2007 when President George W. Bush nominated him to serve on the Eastern District of Kentucky, making him the first South Asian Article III judge in American history. In 2017, he became President Donald J. Trump’s first appellate court nominee.
Before joining the bench, Judge Thapar served as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. While United States Attorney, Judge Thapar worked on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (“AGAC”) and chaired the AGAC’s Controlled Substances and Asset Forfeiture subcommittee. He also served on the Terrorism and National Security subcommittee, the Violent Crime subcommittee, and the Child Exploitation working group.
Judge Thapar has worked in private practice, at Williams & Connolly in Washington, D.C., and Squire, Sanders & Dempsey in Cincinnati, Ohio. He also served as an Assistant United States Attorney in both the Southern District of Ohio and the District of Columbia.
Judge Thapar received his undergraduate degree from Boston College and his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley. After graduating, Judge Thapar worked as a law clerk to the Honorable S. Arthur Spiegel of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, and the Honorable Nathaniel R. Jones of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Judge Thapar has also published in the Yale Law Journal, Michigan Law Review, and Catholic University Law Review. He teaches courses on originalism, the Federalists and Anti-Federalists, and legal writing at Notre Dame Law School, the University of Virginia School of Law, and Vanderbilt Law School.
Vice President for Legal Strategy, Stand Together
Casey Mattox is Vice President for Legal Strategy at Stand Together and Senior Advisor at
Americans for Prosperity. In these roles he advocates for and creates strategies and
partnerships to ensure a constitutionally limited government that protects the civil liberties of all
Americans. Prior to joining Stand Together and AFP Casey’s legal career focused on defending
the First Amendment rights of students, faculty, healthcare workers and religious organizations.
Casey has a J.D. from Boston College School of Law and an undergraduate degree from the
University of Virginia. You can find him on Twitter at @CaseyMattox_ and on LinkedIn at
@Casey-Mattox-ST.
John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law Emerita, New York Law School; Former President, American Civil Liberties Union
Nadine Strossen, New York Law School Professor Emerita and Senior Fellow at FIRE (the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression), was national President of the American Civil Liberties Union from 1991 to 2008. An internationally acclaimed free speech scholar and advocate, who regularly addresses diverse audiences and provides media commentary around the world, Strossen is also the Host and Project Consultant for Free To Speak, a 3-hour documentary film series distributed on public television in 2023. Her books about free speech include: Free Speech: What Everyone Needs to Know® (Oxford University Press 2023); HATE: Why We Should Resist It with Free Speech, Not Censorship (Oxford University Press 2018); and Defending Pornography: Free Speech, Sex, and the Fight for Women’s Rights (Scribner 1995), which was republished with a new Preface in 2024 as part of the NYU Classics Series. Her many honors and awards include the National Coalition Against Censorship’s Judy Blume Lifetime Achievement Award for Free Speech. She serves on the Advisory Boards of several organizations that do free speech work, including: ACLU, Academic Freedom Alliance, Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR), Heterodox Academy, National Coalition Against Censorship, and the University of Austin.
Professor of Law and Executive Director, Law and Economics Center, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
Donald Kochan is Professor of Law and Executive Director of the Law & Economics Center (LEC). Professor Kochan is an elected member of the American Law Institute (ALI) and serves as an Adviser to ALI's Restatement of the Law Fourth, Property project. Professor Kochan is a Nonresident Scholar at the Center for the Constitution at Georgetown University Law Center, where he was a Visiting Scholar in residence during Fall 2018. Before joining the Antonin Scalia Law School faculty, he was the Parker S. Kennedy Professor in Law at Chapman University’s Dale E. Fowler School of Law from 2004 to 2020. From 2003 to 2004, Professor Kochan was an Olin Fellow at the University of Virginia School of Law. During 2002-2003, he was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at George Mason’s Scalia Law School.
Professor Kochan’s scholarship focuses on areas of property law, constitutional law, administrative law, local government law, natural resources and environmental law, and law & economics. He has published several books and more than 50 scholarly articles and essays in well-regarded law journals. His work has been cited in more than a dozen state and federal court opinions, in more than 75 briefs filed in state and federal courts including more than 25 filed in the U.S. Supreme Court, in dozens of books and treatises, and in more than 800 scholarly articles.
Professor Kochan received his JD from Cornell Law School, where he was a John M. Olin Scholar in Law and Economics and managing editor of the Cornell International Law Journal. During law school, he also served as editor and executive editor of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy symposium issues in 1997 and 1998. He received his BA from Western Michigan University, magna cum laude, with majors in both political science and philosophy, where he studied as the John W. Gill Medallion Scholar and was honored as the Presidential Scholar (awarded to the top graduate in the political science department).
After graduating from law school, Professor Kochan was a law clerk to The Honorable Richard F. Suhrheinrich of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Following his clerkship, Professor Kochan was an associate with the firm of Crowell & Moring LLP in Washington, D.C., where he specialized in natural resources & environmental law as well as tort, products, and consumer civil litigation & legislative affairs.
Judge, Florida Sixth District Court of Appeal
Judge Jared Smith joined the Sixth District Court of Appeal on January 1, 2023, following his appointment by Governor Ron DeSantis.
In 1996, Judge Smith graduated with his Bachelor of Business Administration with a degree in accounting, summa cum laude, from Fort Hays State University. In 2000, he graduated third in his class (tied with his wife) from Washburn University School of Law, magna cum laude. Immediately following law school, from 2000 to 2002, Judge Smith clerked for the Honorable Justice Edward J. Larson of the Kansas Supreme Court.
Judge Smith had the honor of serving from 2002 to 2006 in the U.S. Air Force as part of the Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG). Judge Smith joined the Air Force in response to a call to serve his country shortly after 9/11. While assigned to MacDill Air Force Base, Judge Smith was the Chief of Legal Assistance, helping manage the legal assistance needs of several thousand active duty and retired service members in the local area. Judge Smith also served as the Chief of Claims, and Chief of Adverse Actions. He obtained his certification under Article 27 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice as a U.S. Air Force Military Trial and Defense Counsel. During his military service, Judge Smith was appointed as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney to prosecute civilian crimes in the Middle District of Florida and the Western District of Texas.
After his service in the Air Force, Judge Smith practiced at a Florida state-wide law firm. There he represented contractors and homeowners involved in lien and contract disputes. He also handled product liability, retail hospitality and other construction cases involving significant personal injuries and/or property damage, as well as other commercial litigation and banking and finance matters. In 2014, Judge Smith obtained his board certification in construction law by the Florida Bar, a certification he held until assuming his position on the bench. Also in 2014, he received the Heroes at Work Award for community impact as a veteran by the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
In 2017, Judge Smith was appointed to the county bench by Governor Rick Scott, and he was elected in 2018 by Hillsborough voters in a contested election. Judge Smith served in county civil court, county criminal court, and domestic violence court. In 2019, Judge Smith was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis to the circuit bench where he served in the Unified Family Division. In 2022, he was appointed by Governor DeSantis to the 6th District Court of Appeal.
Judge Smith is a past president of the Stann Givens Family Law Inn of Court. He has presided over several middle school mock trials, and he appreciates the opportunity to mentor young students through the process.
Judge Smith is married with four children, and he enjoys spending time with his family.
Professor of Law, Notre Dame Law School
Professor Derek Muller is a nationally-recognized scholar in the field of election law. His research focuses on the role of states in the administration of federal elections, the constitutional contours of voting rights and election administration, the limits of judicial power in the domain of elections, and the Electoral College.
He has published more than two dozen academic works, and his op-eds have appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Wall Street Journal. He has testified before Congress, and he is a contributor at the Election Law Blog. He is a co-author on a Federal Courts casebook published by Carolina Academic Press. He is also the co-reporter on a new Restatement of the Law, Election Litigation, an effort led by the American Law Institute.
Professor Muller teaches Election Law, Civil Procedure, and Evidence.
General Counsel, WorkWhile
Paloma is General Counsel at WorkWhile. Previous to her role at WorkWhile, Paloma was Director and Associate General Counsel for employment at Brex Inc, a fully-remote fintech company reinventing the future of work by empowering the world's fastest-growing companies. She joined Brex from Haynes and Boone, where she counseled companies on labor and employment, including discrimination, harassment, wage and hour matters and compensation, and represented companies before the EEOC, NLRB, federal courts and state agencies. Paloma was previously was in-house counsel at Major League Baseball. Her role did not include setting the starting lineup of your favorite team, but did include labor relations, collective bargaining, regulatory compliance, international commercial issues and baseball development, and foreign government relations. Before going in-house at MLB, she was a litigator and white collar criminal defense attorney in Washington, D.C. Paloma is proud to be an appointed member of the Texas Workforce Investment Council, and to have served as the Chair of the Bexar County Citizens Advisory Committee on Elected Official Salaries. Paloma cares about her family, free markets, free people, the Constitution, and baseball. She once ruined her favorite pair of boots door knocking in snowy New Hampshire for Bush-Cheney '04, and went to Harvard twice (AB/JD), and promises never to do it again. Paloma and her husband Moses have three children. When not lawyering and mom-ing, Paloma is a Peloton enthusiast, and loves to cook for her family and friends.
Judge, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas
Before joining the federal bench, Judge Brown served as a Judge on the Fifth Court of Appeals and on the Dallas County Criminal District Court in Dallas. Before joining the state bench, Judge Brown also served as an Assistant District Attorney for Dallas County, where she was a felony prosecutor for the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit. Judge Brown also practiced at McKool Smith in Dallas and was an adjunct professor of trial advocacy at SMU Dedman School of Law. She earned her BA, magna cum laude, from Spelman College, and her JD from Emory University School of Law.
Head of M&A, SPS Poolcare
Caitlin has 10 years of experience leading complex M&A deals, drafting and negotiating commercial contracts, and advising on a wide range of corporate legal matters. Prior to joining SPS PoolCare, Caitlin served as Associate General Counsel and corporate secretary and on the in-house legal counsel team at Hennessy Advisors, Inc., a public company mutual fund advisor. Before that, she spent five years in the Dallas office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, where she represented private-equity-backed, public, and start-up companies that were undertaking transformational bet-the-company acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures, and partnerships.
Caitlin has a JD from Duke Law School. She is admitted to the Texas bar.
Director of Litigation Counsel
Katie Jo Luningham is the Director of Litigation Counsel for Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc.
Prior to joining Sally Beauty, Katie Jo practiced civil and appellate litigation at Alston and
Bird for several years where she specialized in representing institutions of higher
education in litigation and arbitration and also defended corporate clients in data privacy
and cybersecurity litigation. Katie Jo was recognized for multiple years by The Best
Lawyers “Ones to Watch” for commercial litigation and has received recognition for her
commitment to pro bono legal service. She was also a member of the legal team that
won the Education Law Association’s award for “Best Brief” in 2017.
Katie Jo clerked for Judge Branch on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
from 2018-2019 and began her career as an attorney at Husch Blackwell in Kansas
City, where she specialized in higher education litigation and regulatory compliance.
Katie Jo earned her JD from Notre Dame Law School, where she served as the
Executive Notes Editor for the Notre Dame Law Review, won the NDLS First-Year Moot
Court Tournament, and received the Dean’s Award for Legal Writing and Law of
Education. In 2015, she won a Burton Distinguished Legal Writing Award, administered
by the U.S. Library of Congress, for her Law Review Note on Title IX, higher education,
and administrative law.
Katie Jo earned a BA with Honors from Baylor University. She attended Baylor on a full
academic scholarship and served as the undergraduate assistant to President Ken Starr
during her senior year. Since 2018, Katie Jo has served on the Baylor University Board
of Regents as an alumni-elected regent.
She is married to Dr. Justin Luningham, an assistant professor of psychology at Texas
Christian University, and is the proud mother of two little Luninghams.
NYC Young Lawyer Summer Happy Hour
NYC Young Lawyer Chapter
New York, NYDallas Summer Happy Hour
Dallas Young Lawyer Chapter & Dallas Lawyer Chapter
Dallas, TXSt. Louis Lawyer Chapter Student-Lawyer Social
St. Louis Lawyer Chapter
Maplewood, MOAmerica 250: A Conversation with Judge Thapar
Mobile Lawyer Chapter
Mobile, ALThe Future of the First Amendment (Dinner & CLE Program)
Maine Lawyer Chapter
Portland, MEDinner & Discussion with the Maine Wire's Steve Robinson
Maine Lawyer Chapter
Portland, MEClimate Change Litigation, the Constitution, and the Rule of Law (Networking & CLE Program)
Maine Lawyer Chapter
Portland, MECourage Under Fire: The Critical Role of Courage in our Constitution and as Judges and Lawyers
Southwest Florida Lawyer Chapter
Fort Myers, FLIdeology and Political Bias in Large Law Firms and Their Amicus Work
Portland Lawyer Chapter
Portland, ORYoung Lawyers Panel: In-House Counsel Careers
2025 Texas Chapters Conference
Austin, TX