First Assistant District Attorney, Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, Conroe Texas
Mike Holley is the First Assistant District Attorney at the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office in Conroe, Texas. Mike a graduate of Abilene Christian University where he graduated summa cum laude. Mike received his J.D. from Texas Tech University School of Law where he also graduated summa cum laude, and he received his L.L.M. from the Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School in Charlottesville, Virginia.
As First Assistant, Mike is responsible for the day-to-day management of the office, supervision, and training of employees, trying cases, and the preparation of the annual office budget.
Before joining the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, Mike served in the United States Army. Mike’s Army career began as a Military Police Officer before The Army sent him to law school. Mike would go on to serve as both a prosecutor and a defense attorney in the Army and, in 2004, would serve as the Chief Prosecutor in the Abu Ghraib Detainee Abuse cases in Baghdad, Iraq.
Mike left the Army as a Major after 13 years of service and spent the next six years in private practice with the Lanier Law Firm. After joining the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office in 2012, Mike served as a felony prosecutor and Chief of the Misdemeanor Division. Mike assisted in creating the Montgomery County Veterans Court and has prosecuted a wide variety of cases. Mike spends a substantial amount of his time training attorneys in his offices as well as speaking to prospective attorneys about the profession of prosecution. He has also made professional presentations at various conferences across the state and the country.
Mike was promoted to his current position as First Assistant in 2016. Mike is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He has been married for 33 years and has four children.
Chief Policy Counsel, Council on Criminal Justice and Senior Advisor, Right on Crime
Marc A. Levin is the Chief Policy Counsel for the Council on Criminal Justice (counciloncj.org) and Senior Advisor for Right on Crime.
An attorney and accomplished author on legal and public policy issues, Marc began the Foundation’s criminal justice program in 2005. This work contributed to nationally praised policy changes that have been followed by dramatic declines in crime and incarceration in Texas. Building on this success, in 2010, Levin developed the concept for the Right on Crime initiative, a TPPF project in partnership with Prison Fellowship and the American Conservative Union Foundation. Right on Crime has become the national clearinghouse for conservative criminal justice reforms and has contributed to the adoption of policies in dozens of states that fight crime, support victims, and protect taxpayers.
In 2014, Levin was named one of the “Politico 50” in the magazine’s annual “list of thinkers, doers, and dreamers who really matter in this age of gridlock and dysfunction.”
Marc has testified on criminal justice policy on four occasions before Congress and has testified before legislatures in states including Texas, Nevada, Kansas, Wisconsin, and California. He also has met personally with leaders such as U.S. Presidents, Speakers of the House, and the Justice Commtitee of the United Kingdom Parliament to share his ideas on criminal justice reform. In 2007, he was honored in a resolution unanimously passed by the Texas House of Representatives that stated, “Mr. Levin’s intellect is unparalleled and his research is impeccable.”
Since 2005, Marc has published dozens of policy papers on topics such as sentencing, probation, parole, reentry, and overcriminalization which are available on the TPPF website. Levin’s articles on law and public policy have been featured in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Texas Review of Law & Politics, National Law Journal, New York Daily News, Jerusalem Post, Toronto Star, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Philadelphia Inquirer, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Times, Los Angeles Daily Journal, Charlotte Observer, Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, Austin American-Statesman, San Antonio Express-News and Reason Magazine.
In 1999, Marc graduated with honors from the University of Texas with a B.A. in Plan II Honors and Government. In 2002, Marc received his J.D. with honors from the University of Texas School of Law. Marc was a Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow in 1996. He served as a law clerk to Judge Will Garwood on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and Staff Attorney at the Texas Supreme Court.
Owner, VSV Leadership
Patrick Robinson is the owner of VSV Leadership and president of the board of Kid C.A.T.. Before starting VSV Leadership, Mr. Robinson worked at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative as both a member of the strategic initiatives team and as a Transforming Prosecution Lead.
He is a graduate of Stanford University, where he got his Masters of Business Administration, and he received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Senior Fellow, Council on Criminal Justice
Rothman has worked as a researcher, educator, communications specialist, policy analyst, and funder across the criminal justice system and emerging technology landscape. Throughout his career, he has focused on supporting and implementing programs that aim to enable public policy that is effective, safe, and dependable for all. Rothman holds an M.T.S from Harvard University in religion, ethics, and politics and a B.A. in political science from Carleton College.
Judge, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal, State of Louisiana
Judge Schlegel, a recent inductee into the Louisiana Justice Hall of Fame, was elected to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal in 2023. During Judge Schlegel’s decade on the trial court, he “designed and managed what may be one of the most advanced courts in the country for delivering justice online,” according to one legal tech journalist.
Judge Schlegel currently serves on the ABA & LSBA Task Forces on the Law and Artificial Intelligence, among others. He is the immediate past Chair of the Louisiana Supreme Court Technology Commission and has served as President of the Louisiana District Judges Association. Judge Schlegel has received numerous awards including the National Center for State Courts’ 26th Annual William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence, one of the highest judicial honors in the country. Judge Schlegel was also featured on the cover of the American Bar Association Journal and is a nationally recognized speaker on legal tech and the modernization of the justice system.
Judge Schlegel has been equally innovative in the criminal justice system. While on the trial court, Judge Schlegel established the Reentry Court and Swift & Certain Probation programs in Jefferson Parish, aimed at reducing recidivism and enhancing community safety.
Prior to his election to the bench, Judge Schlegel was one of the top felony prosecutors in the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office. He practiced civil law with an emphasis in products liability before becoming a prosecutor. Judge Schlegel graduated with honors from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, where he served as the President of the Student Bar Association. He has been married to his high school sweetheart, Representative Laurie Schlegel, for 25 years and has one son in college.
Executive Director & Secretary, American Civil Rights Project
Dan Morenoff is the executive director at the American Civil Rights Project and an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
His work focuses on protecting and, where necessary, restoring the primacy of all Americans' shared civil rights against the identitarian alternative.
Before practicing law, Morenoff served on the legislative staff of Sen. Phil Gramm (R-TX). Morenoff holds a B.A. from Columbia College of Columbia University in the City of New York and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. He has also served as an officer or director of several community organizations in Dallas, Texas.
Justice, Michigan Supreme Court
Stephen Markman was appointed Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court on October 1, 1999. He served as the Chief Justice from 2017-2019. Before his appointment, he served as Judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals from 1995-1999. Prior to this, he practiced law with the firm of Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone in Detroit.
From 1989-1993, Justice Markman served as United States Attorney, or federal prosecutor, in Michigan, after having been nominated by President George H. W. Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate. From 1985-1989, he served as Assistant Attorney General of the United States, after having been nominated by President Ronald Reagan and confirmed by the United States Senate. In that position, he headed the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy, which served as the principal policy development office within the Department, and which coordinated the federal judicial selection process. Prior to this, he served for seven years as Chief Counsel of the United States Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, and as Deputy Chief Counsel of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee.
Justice Markman has authored articles for such publications as the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, the Detroit College of Law Review, the Stanford Law Review, the University of Chicago Law Review, the American Criminal Justice Law Review, the Barrister’s Law Journal, the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, and the American University Law Review. He has also served as a contributing editor of National Review magazine, and has authored chapters in such books as “In the Name of Justice: The Aims of the Criminal Law,” “Still the Law of the Land,” and “Originalism: A Quarter Century of Debate.”
Justice Markman has taught constitutional law at Hillsdale College since 1993. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School. He traveled to Ukraine on two occasions on behalf of the State Department, to provide assistance in the development of that nation’s post-Soviet constitution. He is a Fellow of the Michigan Bar Foundation, a Master of the Bench of the Inns of Court, and a member of the One Hundred Club. He has spoken before hundreds of youth, civic, charitable, and legal groups throughout Michigan and nationally, and has coached Little League baseball and basketball. He lives with his wife Mary Kathleen in Mason, and has two sons, James and Charles.
Justice Markman was re-elected to the Supreme Court in 2000, 2004, and 2012. His present term expires January 1, 2021.
Professor of Law, Belmont University College of Law
Don Cochran teaches Evidence, Trial Advocacy and Criminal Law courses. Prior to joining Belmont’s faculty, he served as the Presidentially appointed, Senate confirmed United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee from September 2017 to February 2021. Prior to becoming U.S. Attorney, he was a law professor at Belmont University College of Law and the Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama where he taught courses in criminal procedure, evidence, criminal law, and trial advocacy. From 1998 to 2002 Professor Cochran was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Alabama. During that time, Professor Cochran prosecuted criminal cases involving white collar crimes, public corruption, and violent crimes, including successful prosecution of the final defendant charged with the historic 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama that killed four girls. Professor Cochran began his prosecutorial career in the District Attorney’s Office in Birmingham where he prosecuted homicides, sexual assaults, and other violent crimes. Professor Cochran clerked for Judge Julie E. Carnes of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt Law School.
Professor Cochran teaches Evidence Law, Trial Advocacy, and Criminal Law at Belmont Law.
Partner, Phelps Dunbar LLP
Mike Hurst is a partner with Phelps Dunbar LLP where he optimizes his in-depth knowledge of the court system, investigative and prosecutorial agencies, the regulatory arena, and the public policy realm to help clients facing government investigations, enforcement actions, regulatory matters, general litigation and policy issues. Mike currently serves as the General Counsel of the Republican National Committee and as Chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party. He previously served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi from 2017-2021, and with over 20 years of experience before judges, juries and policy makers, handling some of the largest and most high-profile cases in Mississippi, he's known for untangling the most complex legal issues.
As U.S. Attorney, Mike was described as a “hard charger,” leading efforts to combat violent crime, human trafficking and public corruption, among many other issues, throughout Mississippi. He almost tripled prosecutions in the U.S. Attorney’s Office over a three-year period, resulting in the most indictments and federal defendants indicted in a one-year period in Mississippi history. He created innovative and national award-winning crime-fighting solutions, like “Project EJECT,” and he established the first statewide, multilevel and multidisciplinary human trafficking body, the Mississippi Human Trafficking Council, to comprehensively and holistically address this criminal scourge.
During his tenure as U.S. Attorney, Mike oversaw some of the biggest cases in Mississippi history: the largest health care fraud scheme (Wade Walters, et. al.), the largest Ponzi scheme (Lamar Adams), the largest False Claims Act health care fraud settlement (Region 8), and the largest nursing home False Claim Act settlement (Hyperion). In addition, as Chief Federal Law Enforcement Officer for the Southern District, Mike coordinated the largest single-state immigration worksite enforcement operation in our nation’s history, involving hundreds of federal law enforcement agents covering seven different locations operated by multiple companies.
Mike’s no show pony – he’s a work horse. Before his tenure as U.S. Attorney, Mike was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi for more than eight years. He handled some of the most difficult and complex cases in that office, dealing with white collar crimes, public corruption and financial fraud, including numerous jury trials before almost every federal judge in the Southern District.
He also has experience in the private sector. He has practiced law in Washington, D.C., and has served as a litigator and general counsel for a conservative nonprofit. He also has extensive experience in public policy, having served as the Legislative Director to a U.S. Congressman and as Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee.
Mike has also testified before both the United States Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives on issues ranging from crime to Presidential pardons. He has worked on all sides of the legal, regulatory, investigative, prosecutorial and policy spectrum. The incredible insight gained from this varied experience enables him to find a path forward for clients, no matter how complicated the case.
United States District Court Judge, Western District of Louisiana
Partner, King & Spalding
John Richter is a trial and investigations partner in the Special Matters and Investigations Practice Group, and represents and defends companies, Boards of Directors, Board committees, and individuals facing a variety of white-collar criminal and regulatory enforcement matters, parallel civil litigation, and internal corporate investigations. John previously served as the Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice and as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, having been nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by unanimous consent of the U.S. Senate.
Professor of Law, Belmont University College of Law
Don Cochran teaches Evidence, Trial Advocacy and Criminal Law courses. Prior to joining Belmont’s faculty, he served as the Presidentially appointed, Senate confirmed United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee from September 2017 to February 2021. Prior to becoming U.S. Attorney, he was a law professor at Belmont University College of Law and the Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama where he taught courses in criminal procedure, evidence, criminal law, and trial advocacy. From 1998 to 2002 Professor Cochran was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Alabama. During that time, Professor Cochran prosecuted criminal cases involving white collar crimes, public corruption, and violent crimes, including successful prosecution of the final defendant charged with the historic 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama that killed four girls. Professor Cochran began his prosecutorial career in the District Attorney’s Office in Birmingham where he prosecuted homicides, sexual assaults, and other violent crimes. Professor Cochran clerked for Judge Julie E. Carnes of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt Law School.
Professor Cochran teaches Evidence Law, Trial Advocacy, and Criminal Law at Belmont Law.
Partner, Phelps Dunbar LLP
Mike Hurst is a partner with Phelps Dunbar LLP where he optimizes his in-depth knowledge of the court system, investigative and prosecutorial agencies, the regulatory arena, and the public policy realm to help clients facing government investigations, enforcement actions, regulatory matters, general litigation and policy issues. Mike currently serves as the General Counsel of the Republican National Committee and as Chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party. He previously served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi from 2017-2021, and with over 20 years of experience before judges, juries and policy makers, handling some of the largest and most high-profile cases in Mississippi, he's known for untangling the most complex legal issues.
As U.S. Attorney, Mike was described as a “hard charger,” leading efforts to combat violent crime, human trafficking and public corruption, among many other issues, throughout Mississippi. He almost tripled prosecutions in the U.S. Attorney’s Office over a three-year period, resulting in the most indictments and federal defendants indicted in a one-year period in Mississippi history. He created innovative and national award-winning crime-fighting solutions, like “Project EJECT,” and he established the first statewide, multilevel and multidisciplinary human trafficking body, the Mississippi Human Trafficking Council, to comprehensively and holistically address this criminal scourge.
During his tenure as U.S. Attorney, Mike oversaw some of the biggest cases in Mississippi history: the largest health care fraud scheme (Wade Walters, et. al.), the largest Ponzi scheme (Lamar Adams), the largest False Claims Act health care fraud settlement (Region 8), and the largest nursing home False Claim Act settlement (Hyperion). In addition, as Chief Federal Law Enforcement Officer for the Southern District, Mike coordinated the largest single-state immigration worksite enforcement operation in our nation’s history, involving hundreds of federal law enforcement agents covering seven different locations operated by multiple companies.
Mike’s no show pony – he’s a work horse. Before his tenure as U.S. Attorney, Mike was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi for more than eight years. He handled some of the most difficult and complex cases in that office, dealing with white collar crimes, public corruption and financial fraud, including numerous jury trials before almost every federal judge in the Southern District.
He also has experience in the private sector. He has practiced law in Washington, D.C., and has served as a litigator and general counsel for a conservative nonprofit. He also has extensive experience in public policy, having served as the Legislative Director to a U.S. Congressman and as Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee.
Mike has also testified before both the United States Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives on issues ranging from crime to Presidential pardons. He has worked on all sides of the legal, regulatory, investigative, prosecutorial and policy spectrum. The incredible insight gained from this varied experience enables him to find a path forward for clients, no matter how complicated the case.
United States District Court Judge, Western District of Louisiana
Partner, King & Spalding
John Richter is a trial and investigations partner in the Special Matters and Investigations Practice Group, and represents and defends companies, Boards of Directors, Board committees, and individuals facing a variety of white-collar criminal and regulatory enforcement matters, parallel civil litigation, and internal corporate investigations. John previously served as the Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice and as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, having been nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by unanimous consent of the U.S. Senate.
First Assistant District Attorney, Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, Conroe Texas
Mike Holley is the First Assistant District Attorney at the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office in Conroe, Texas. Mike a graduate of Abilene Christian University where he graduated summa cum laude. Mike received his J.D. from Texas Tech University School of Law where he also graduated summa cum laude, and he received his L.L.M. from the Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School in Charlottesville, Virginia.
As First Assistant, Mike is responsible for the day-to-day management of the office, supervision, and training of employees, trying cases, and the preparation of the annual office budget.
Before joining the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, Mike served in the United States Army. Mike’s Army career began as a Military Police Officer before The Army sent him to law school. Mike would go on to serve as both a prosecutor and a defense attorney in the Army and, in 2004, would serve as the Chief Prosecutor in the Abu Ghraib Detainee Abuse cases in Baghdad, Iraq.
Mike left the Army as a Major after 13 years of service and spent the next six years in private practice with the Lanier Law Firm. After joining the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office in 2012, Mike served as a felony prosecutor and Chief of the Misdemeanor Division. Mike assisted in creating the Montgomery County Veterans Court and has prosecuted a wide variety of cases. Mike spends a substantial amount of his time training attorneys in his offices as well as speaking to prospective attorneys about the profession of prosecution. He has also made professional presentations at various conferences across the state and the country.
Mike was promoted to his current position as First Assistant in 2016. Mike is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He has been married for 33 years and has four children.
Chief Policy Counsel, Council on Criminal Justice and Senior Advisor, Right on Crime
Marc A. Levin is the Chief Policy Counsel for the Council on Criminal Justice (counciloncj.org) and Senior Advisor for Right on Crime.
An attorney and accomplished author on legal and public policy issues, Marc began the Foundation’s criminal justice program in 2005. This work contributed to nationally praised policy changes that have been followed by dramatic declines in crime and incarceration in Texas. Building on this success, in 2010, Levin developed the concept for the Right on Crime initiative, a TPPF project in partnership with Prison Fellowship and the American Conservative Union Foundation. Right on Crime has become the national clearinghouse for conservative criminal justice reforms and has contributed to the adoption of policies in dozens of states that fight crime, support victims, and protect taxpayers.
In 2014, Levin was named one of the “Politico 50” in the magazine’s annual “list of thinkers, doers, and dreamers who really matter in this age of gridlock and dysfunction.”
Marc has testified on criminal justice policy on four occasions before Congress and has testified before legislatures in states including Texas, Nevada, Kansas, Wisconsin, and California. He also has met personally with leaders such as U.S. Presidents, Speakers of the House, and the Justice Commtitee of the United Kingdom Parliament to share his ideas on criminal justice reform. In 2007, he was honored in a resolution unanimously passed by the Texas House of Representatives that stated, “Mr. Levin’s intellect is unparalleled and his research is impeccable.”
Since 2005, Marc has published dozens of policy papers on topics such as sentencing, probation, parole, reentry, and overcriminalization which are available on the TPPF website. Levin’s articles on law and public policy have been featured in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Texas Review of Law & Politics, National Law Journal, New York Daily News, Jerusalem Post, Toronto Star, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Philadelphia Inquirer, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Times, Los Angeles Daily Journal, Charlotte Observer, Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, Austin American-Statesman, San Antonio Express-News and Reason Magazine.
In 1999, Marc graduated with honors from the University of Texas with a B.A. in Plan II Honors and Government. In 2002, Marc received his J.D. with honors from the University of Texas School of Law. Marc was a Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow in 1996. He served as a law clerk to Judge Will Garwood on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and Staff Attorney at the Texas Supreme Court.
Owner, VSV Leadership
Patrick Robinson is the owner of VSV Leadership and president of the board of Kid C.A.T.. Before starting VSV Leadership, Mr. Robinson worked at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative as both a member of the strategic initiatives team and as a Transforming Prosecution Lead.
He is a graduate of Stanford University, where he got his Masters of Business Administration, and he received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Senior Fellow, Council on Criminal Justice
Rothman has worked as a researcher, educator, communications specialist, policy analyst, and funder across the criminal justice system and emerging technology landscape. Throughout his career, he has focused on supporting and implementing programs that aim to enable public policy that is effective, safe, and dependable for all. Rothman holds an M.T.S from Harvard University in religion, ethics, and politics and a B.A. in political science from Carleton College.
Judge, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal, State of Louisiana
Judge Schlegel, a recent inductee into the Louisiana Justice Hall of Fame, was elected to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal in 2023. During Judge Schlegel’s decade on the trial court, he “designed and managed what may be one of the most advanced courts in the country for delivering justice online,” according to one legal tech journalist.
Judge Schlegel currently serves on the ABA & LSBA Task Forces on the Law and Artificial Intelligence, among others. He is the immediate past Chair of the Louisiana Supreme Court Technology Commission and has served as President of the Louisiana District Judges Association. Judge Schlegel has received numerous awards including the National Center for State Courts’ 26th Annual William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence, one of the highest judicial honors in the country. Judge Schlegel was also featured on the cover of the American Bar Association Journal and is a nationally recognized speaker on legal tech and the modernization of the justice system.
Judge Schlegel has been equally innovative in the criminal justice system. While on the trial court, Judge Schlegel established the Reentry Court and Swift & Certain Probation programs in Jefferson Parish, aimed at reducing recidivism and enhancing community safety.
Prior to his election to the bench, Judge Schlegel was one of the top felony prosecutors in the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office. He practiced civil law with an emphasis in products liability before becoming a prosecutor. Judge Schlegel graduated with honors from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, where he served as the President of the Student Bar Association. He has been married to his high school sweetheart, Representative Laurie Schlegel, for 25 years and has one son in college.
Professor of Law, Belmont University College of Law
Don Cochran teaches Evidence, Trial Advocacy and Criminal Law courses. Prior to joining Belmont’s faculty, he served as the Presidentially appointed, Senate confirmed United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee from September 2017 to February 2021. Prior to becoming U.S. Attorney, he was a law professor at Belmont University College of Law and the Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama where he taught courses in criminal procedure, evidence, criminal law, and trial advocacy. From 1998 to 2002 Professor Cochran was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Alabama. During that time, Professor Cochran prosecuted criminal cases involving white collar crimes, public corruption, and violent crimes, including successful prosecution of the final defendant charged with the historic 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama that killed four girls. Professor Cochran began his prosecutorial career in the District Attorney’s Office in Birmingham where he prosecuted homicides, sexual assaults, and other violent crimes. Professor Cochran clerked for Judge Julie E. Carnes of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt Law School.
Professor Cochran teaches Evidence Law, Trial Advocacy, and Criminal Law at Belmont Law.
Partner, Phelps Dunbar LLP
Mike Hurst is a partner with Phelps Dunbar LLP where he optimizes his in-depth knowledge of the court system, investigative and prosecutorial agencies, the regulatory arena, and the public policy realm to help clients facing government investigations, enforcement actions, regulatory matters, general litigation and policy issues. Mike currently serves as the General Counsel of the Republican National Committee and as Chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party. He previously served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi from 2017-2021, and with over 20 years of experience before judges, juries and policy makers, handling some of the largest and most high-profile cases in Mississippi, he's known for untangling the most complex legal issues.
As U.S. Attorney, Mike was described as a “hard charger,” leading efforts to combat violent crime, human trafficking and public corruption, among many other issues, throughout Mississippi. He almost tripled prosecutions in the U.S. Attorney’s Office over a three-year period, resulting in the most indictments and federal defendants indicted in a one-year period in Mississippi history. He created innovative and national award-winning crime-fighting solutions, like “Project EJECT,” and he established the first statewide, multilevel and multidisciplinary human trafficking body, the Mississippi Human Trafficking Council, to comprehensively and holistically address this criminal scourge.
During his tenure as U.S. Attorney, Mike oversaw some of the biggest cases in Mississippi history: the largest health care fraud scheme (Wade Walters, et. al.), the largest Ponzi scheme (Lamar Adams), the largest False Claims Act health care fraud settlement (Region 8), and the largest nursing home False Claim Act settlement (Hyperion). In addition, as Chief Federal Law Enforcement Officer for the Southern District, Mike coordinated the largest single-state immigration worksite enforcement operation in our nation’s history, involving hundreds of federal law enforcement agents covering seven different locations operated by multiple companies.
Mike’s no show pony – he’s a work horse. Before his tenure as U.S. Attorney, Mike was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi for more than eight years. He handled some of the most difficult and complex cases in that office, dealing with white collar crimes, public corruption and financial fraud, including numerous jury trials before almost every federal judge in the Southern District.
He also has experience in the private sector. He has practiced law in Washington, D.C., and has served as a litigator and general counsel for a conservative nonprofit. He also has extensive experience in public policy, having served as the Legislative Director to a U.S. Congressman and as Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee.
Mike has also testified before both the United States Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives on issues ranging from crime to Presidential pardons. He has worked on all sides of the legal, regulatory, investigative, prosecutorial and policy spectrum. The incredible insight gained from this varied experience enables him to find a path forward for clients, no matter how complicated the case.
United States District Court Judge, Western District of Louisiana
Partner, King & Spalding
John Richter is a trial and investigations partner in the Special Matters and Investigations Practice Group, and represents and defends companies, Boards of Directors, Board committees, and individuals facing a variety of white-collar criminal and regulatory enforcement matters, parallel civil litigation, and internal corporate investigations. John previously served as the Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice and as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, having been nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by unanimous consent of the U.S. Senate.
The Perils and Promise of A.I. in Criminal Justice
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Racially Discriminatory Corporate Policies: Who's Liable?
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Second Circuit Rejects Preemption Challenge to New York’s Broadband Rate Regulation
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Cooperation Credit, Privileges, and Possible Landmines for Attorneys and Clients: Implications of US v. Coburn
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In February 2022, a District of New Jersey court in United States v. Coburn compelled...
Cooperation Credit, Privileges, and Possible Landmines for Attorneys and Clients: Implications of US v. Coburn
Don Cochran, Mike Hurst, David C. Joseph, John C. Richter
In February 2022, a District of New Jersey court in United States v. Coburn compelled...
Cooperation Credit, Privileges, and Possible Landmines for Attorneys and Clients: Implications of US v. Coburn