Partner, Eimer Stahl LLP
Ryan is a partner at Eimer Stahl LLP and is based in the firm’s Madison office. He focuses his practice on appellate and complex litigation in a wide variety of areas, including antitrust, constitutional law, corporate law, environmental, ERISA, products liability, and white collar. As part of his practice, Ryan devotes significant time to matters of legal strategy and the art of written and oral advocacy.
Ryan previously served as Chief Deputy Solicitor General of Wisconsin, securing numerous wins in the Supreme Court of the United States, in three federal courts of appeal, and in the state supreme court. Ryan built national, bipartisan coalitions of attorneys general and agencies in support of several lawsuits and briefing efforts, including a Wisconsin-led, 12-state coalition whose suit against the Federal Communications Commission prompted that agency to reverse a major new rule. When he left government, Ryan had a perfect win record in all of his cases to have reached final judgment.
Earlier in his career, Ryan worked in Washington D.C. as an associate in the appellate group of one of the world’s largest law firms.
Ryan also served as a law clerk on the U.S. Supreme Court for the Honorable Antonin Scalia and on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for the Honorable Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain.
Ryan was named to Forbes’ “30 Under 30: Law and Policy” list in 2017. His briefing has won awards from the National Association of Attorneys General and the International Municipal Lawyers Association. He has also won a “best brief” accolade from the State Bar of Wisconsin in the civil category for his written work defending Wisconsin’s right-to-work law.
Associate Professor of Law, Marquette University Law School
Professor Fallone is an associate professor at Marquette University Law School where he teaches Constitutional Law, Immigration Law, Corporate Criminal Liability, and Securities Regulation. Prof. Fallone earned his undergraduate degree from Boston University,summa cum laude, in Spanish Language and Literature. He also earned his law degree from Boston University,magna cum laude. Prof. Fallone has founded and grown three nonprofit organizations serving the underprivileged in southeastern Wisconsin. Prof. Fallone is a regular contributor to the Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog, and has written extensively on the lawsuit challenging Act 10.
President, Center for American Rights
Daniel Suhr serves as president of the Center for American Rights, where he spends every day on the front lines of the fight to preserve our rights and liberties. The Center's mission is to advance free speech, free enterprise, and parental freedom in education through strategic, precedent-setting litigation.
Daniel formerly worked as policy director for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, as chief of staff for Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, and as a law clerk for Judge Diane Sykes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He holds a B.A. and J.D. from Marquette University, and master’s degrees from Georgetown and the University of Missouri.
Deputy Counsel, Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty
Lucas Vebber is deputy counsel at the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty ("WILL") in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At WILL he litigates cases in state and federal courts where he focuses on separation of powers and regulatory issues. His litigation efforts have won several national awards, and he has been named a Legal All Star by the Wisconsin Law Journal.
Before joining WILL Lucas worked in a variety of roles in Madison, most recently serving as General Counsel and Director of the Litigation Center at Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the state’s chamber of commerce and manufacturers’ association. Prior to that Lucas worked for the state in both the legislature and executive branch.
Lucas has a bachelor’s degree from Marquette University in Milwaukee and a law degree from the University of Saint Thomas in Minneapolis.
Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
Michael B. Brennan was confirmed and sworn in as a Circuit Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in May 2018.
He previously worked as a partner in the Milwaukee law firm of Gass Weber Mullins LLC, where he tried cases and handled appeals in federal and state courts, as a judge on the Milwaukee County Circuit, where he presided over a variety of criminal and civil calendars, and as an assistant district attorney in the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office.
Brennan’s undergraduate degree is from the University of Notre Dame, and his law degree from Northwestern University School of Law, where he was an editor on the law review and the moot court champion. He served as a law clerk on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Lecturer in Law, University of Chicago Law School
Madeline Lansky is Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago Law School. She received her B.A. in Political Science from the University of Southern California and her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. Since graduation, she has served as a law clerk to Judge William H. Pryor Jr. on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and Justices Clarence Thomas and Amy Coney Barrett on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Partner and Business Lawyer, Foley & Lardner LLP
Eric Nelson is a partner and business lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP, where he focuses his practice on contractual and distribution issues, including those involving manufacturers, service providers, utilities and energy marketers. Mr. Nelson received his bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1989 from the University of Wisconsin – Madison (where he received the School of Business Distinguished Student Award), and his J.D. degree in 1992 from Yale Law School. A member of the State Bar of Wisconsin, he served judicial clerkships with both the Hon. Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1993-1994), and the Hon. J. Michael Luttig, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (1992-1993), before joining the firm.
Judge, Illinois 18th Judicial Circuit
Judge Kenton Skarin serves on the Illinois 18th Judicial Circuit, a trial court of general jurisdiction that serves almost one million people in the western suburbs of Chicago.
Judge Skarin graduated first in his class from Northwestern University School of Law and summa cum laude from North Central College in Naperville, Illinois.
Earlier in his career, Judge Skarin clerked for Associate Justice Clarence Thomas at the United States Supreme Court and for Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Judge Skarin also practiced appellate law in the Chicago office of Jones Day and served as Deputy General Counsel to the Governor of Illinois.
Judge Skarin is a lifelong native of Wheaton, Illinois, where he lives with his wife and children.
Dean Emeritus and Harvey R. Miller Professor of Law & Economics, Columbia Law School
David Schizer is Dean Emeritus and Harvey R. Miller Professor of Law & Economics at Columbia Law School. He served as Dean from 2004 to 2014, and as CEO of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, a global Jewish humanitarian organization, from 2017 to 2019. He is the author of How to Save the World in Six (Not So Easy) Steps: Bringing Out the Best in Nonprofits. Schizer serves on the Board of Visitors of the Federalist Society. He is Second Vice Chair of the Tax Section of the New York State Bar Association, a co-founder and co-chair of the Richman Center for Law, Business, and Public Policy at Columbia University, and a co-founder and co-chair of the Center for Israeli Legal Studies at Columbia Law School. Schizer served as a law clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Alex Kozinski on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
Judge Carlos Bea serves as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He received his Bachelor's Degree from Stanford University in 1956 and his J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1958. Judge Bea was born in San Sebastian, Spain, and immigrated with his family to Cuba in 1939. In 1952, he represented Cuba on the Cuban National basketball team in the Helsinki Olympics. Judge Bea became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1958. He engaged in private practice in San Francisco, principally in the area of civil trials (jury and non-jury), from 1959-75 at Dunne, Phelps & Mills and from 1975-90 at Carlos Bea, A Law Corporation. He taught courses in civil litigation advocacy at Hastings College of Law and Stanford Law School. From 1990 to 2003, Judge Bea served as a judge of the San Francisco Superior Court. He was nominated by President George W. Bush to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and was confirmed in 2003.
Judge Bea and his wife Louise reside in San Francisco, where they raised their four sons, Sebastian, Alexander, Nicholas, and Dominic.
Justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
Justice Rebecca Grassl Bradley, a Milwaukee native, was elected to the Supreme Court in 2016 after being appointed by Gov. Scott Walker in 2015. She is the first Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice to have served as an intermediate appellate court judge as well as a circuit court judge. Before joining the Supreme Court, Justice Bradley served as a District I Court of Appeals judge (appointed 2015), a Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge (appointed 2012, elected 2013) and worked as an attorney in private practice (1996-2012), including serving as vice president of legal operations for a global software company.
Justice Bradley graduated from Marquette University in 1993 with an honors B.S. in Business Administration and Business Economics and received her juris doctor from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1996.
Justice Bradley is a member of the Supreme Court Finance Committee and chairs the Supreme Court Legislative Committee as the Chief Justice's designee. She is a member of the Board of Advisors and past president of the Milwaukee Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society; serves on the Wisconsin State Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights; and is a member of the Bench and Bar Committee of the Wisconsin State Bar. She previously served on the Board of Governors of the St. Thomas More Lawyers Society; the Wisconsin Juvenile Jury Instructions Committee; the Wisconsin Juvenile Benchbook Committee; and as a member of the Milwaukee Trial Judges Association and the Wisconsin Trial Judges Association. While in private practice, Justice Bradley served as an American Arbitration Association Arbitrator and Chairman of the State Bar Business Law Section.
Justice Bradley's current term expires July 31, 2026.
Justice, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
David N. Wecht is a Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice. Wecht is one of three Democrats elected to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in November 2015. He was sworn in to office on January 7, 2016, for a term that expires on January 4, 2026.
Justice, Texas Supreme Court
Evan Young is a Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas. Governor Greg Abbott, who appointed Young to fill an unexpired term, swore him into office on November 10, 2021. Justice Young was elected to a full term in November 2022.
Young graduated summa cum laude from Duke University in 1999, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He was a British Marshall Scholar at Oxford University, where he completed his studies in 2001 and earned a First Class Honours degree in Modern History, focusing on British constitutional history. He earned his law degree from Yale Law School in 2004.
Young then worked as a lawyer in the judicial and executive branches of the federal government. He first served as a law clerk to Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and then to Justice Antonin Scalia at the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2006, after his clerkship with Justice Scalia ended, Justice Young became Counsel to the Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, serving in the Office of the Attorney General under Attorneys General Alberto R. Gonzales and Michael B. Mukasey. While on the Attorney General’s staff, he accepted a detail to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, where he was the Deputy Rule of Law Coordinator. In that position he worked to assist the Iraqi government in its efforts to strengthen its legal regime, including, for example, its courts and prison system.
Young returned to Texas and joined the Austin office of Baker Botts L.L.P. in 2009. His practice focused on trial and appellate litigation. He argued cases before both the Supreme Court of the United States and the Supreme Court of Texas, as well as many federal and state appellate courts. He represented clients across the country before every level of the state and federal judiciary.
Before joining the Texas Supreme Court, Young was appointed in 2017 by Governor Abbott and confirmed by the Texas Senate to serve as a member of the Texas Judicial Council, which is the policy-making body for the Texas Judiciary. In 2015, the Texas Supreme Court appointed him to the Supreme Court Advisory Committee, which assists the Court in drafting the rules that govern litigation in Texas courts. He served on both until his elevation to the bench.
Justice Young is an elected member of the American Law Institute and a member of the Texas Philosophical Society. He has been an adjunct law professor for many years at the University of Texas School of Law, where he has frequently taught the Federal Courts and Religious Liberty courses. He also has been an adjunct professor at the Unversity of Austin (UATX) and at the University of Mississippi School of Law. He served as Chair of the State Bar of Texas Business Law Section, Chair of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's Texas Regional Office, and Trustee of the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society.
Justice Young and his wife, Tobi, live in Austin with their daughter.
Deputy Counsel, Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty
Luke joined WILL from the Wisconsin Department of Justice where he served for nearly four years as a Deputy Solicitor General and Assistant Attorney General.
Berg has argued nine cases before the Wisconsin Supreme Court and four before the Seventh Circuit, including one en banc argument. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Madison (B.S.) and New York University (J.D.) and served as a law clerk for Judge Diane Sykes of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Prior to joining the Wisconsin DOJ in 2015, Berg worked as an attorney for the Office of the Comptroller of Currency in Washington D.C.
Berg resides in Madison with his wife and three boys.
Executive Vice President and Director of Litigation, EdChoice Legal Advocates
Before founding a public interest law firm at EdChoice, Tom Fisher served as Indiana’s first Solicitor General from 2005-2023. Fisher has argued dozens of high-profile cases before both the Indiana Supreme Court and the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and five cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. A two-time recipient of the National Association of Attorneys General Best Brief Award, Fisher is a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and a Sagamore of the Wabash. Fisher is a graduate of Wabash College and Indiana University Maurer School of Law, where he serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law.
Senior Counsel, Vice President of Advocacy Strategy, Alliance Defending Freedom
Emilie Kao serves as senior counsel and vice president of advocacy strategy for Alliance Defending Freedom, where she is a member of the U.S. Legal Team. In this role, she supports ADF’s legal and legislative objectives through culture shaping initiatives.
Before joining ADF, Kao served as director of the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society at the Heritage Foundation. She led a team of experts who provided strategy, research, and policy recommendations on life, marriage, and religious freedom consistent with Constitutional principles. She convened coalitions of strategic partners to support the protection of religious freedom and launched the Promise to America’s Children, a movement dedicated to the protection of children and parental rights.
Kao also served as senior legal counsel at an international human rights law firm, East Asia team leader in the U.S. Department of State’s Office of International Human Rights, and director of international advocacy at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. She was an adjunct professor at Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University and is co-editor of the “First Principles on International Human Rights” essay series.
She has testified before the U.S. Congress and spoken at the United Nations in Geneva and New York. She has been interviewed and quoted extensively in the media, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, C-SPAN, and 60 Minutes+.
Kao earned her A.B. cum laude from Harvard University and her J.D. from Harvard Law School. She is a member of the state bars of California and the District of Columbia and is admitted to practice in the U.S. Supreme Court. She speaks Mandarin Chinese.
United States District Judge, Southern District of Ohio
Judge Matthew W. McFarland was born in Portsmouth, Scioto County, Ohio, and raised in Wheelersburg. He graduated from Wheelersburg High School in 1985, from Capital University in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, and from the Capital University Law School in 1992, where he was inducted in the Order of the Barristers. He also served as a research assistant for Dean Rodney K. Smith. Judge McFarland first took the bench in 1999 as a Magistrate in the Scioto County Common Pleas Court. He was first elected to the Ohio Fourth District Court of Appeals in 2004 serving fourteen southeast Ohio counties. In 2010 and 2016 he was re-elected, and in 2016 by winning all fourteen counties. As an appellate judge, Judge McFarland authored over 1,000 opinions and made over 2,900 panel votes and served as the Presiding and Administrative Judge for multiple years. He has served as a visiting Judge on the Supreme Court of Ohio on four separate occasions allowing him to sit on each level of the Ohio Judiciary including the trial, appellate, and supreme court bench. The Ohio Chief Justice also appointed him to serve as a Commissioner on the Board of Grievances and Discipline and the Advisory Committee on Court Security and Emergency.
On October 10, 2018, President Donald J. Trump announced his intent to nominate Judge McFarland to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio after being recommended by the Portman/Brown Bipartisan Federal Judicial Search Commission. The United States Senate received Judge McFarland’s nomination on November 13, 2018. At the sine die adjournment of the 115th Congress on January 3, 2019, the Senate returned Judge McFarland’s nomination to President Trump. President Trump then re-nominated Judge McFarland on January 23, 2019. The Senate Judiciary Committee held Judge McFarland’s confirmation hearing on June 26, 2019, and favorably voted his nomination to the full United States Senate on July 18, 2019. The United States Senate then confirmed Judge McFarland on December 18, 2019, and President Trump signed Judge McFarland’s Commission on December 31, 2019. With Judge McFarland’s confirmation, he is now only the second federal judge to serve the Southern District of Ohio from Scioto County. The first being Judge Albert Thompson, who served from 1898-1910. Judge McFarland succeeded Judge Thomas M. Rose who took senior status on June 30, 2017.
Partner, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP
Andy excels at solving complex problems for his clients using a variety of effective strategies. As former Chief Deputy Attorney General for the State of Wisconsin, Andy Cook has extensive experience representing businesses before state Attorneys General involving investigations and lawsuits. His strong relationships with Attorneys General and their senior staff frequently facilitate the successful resolution of client issues through diplomacy and negotiations. When litigation becomes necessary, Andy effectively advocates for clients throughout the litigation process.
Andy combines his legal expertise in numerous areas of law covered by state Attorneys General, an understanding of how state AG offices operate, and vast knowledge of legal and regulatory issues facing his clients. This substantive and comprehensive legal approach is crucial to effectively representing clients before state Attorneys General. Andy also has substantial experience drafting and enacting complex civil liability reforms before state legislatures to successfully address client goals.
Andy’s main practice focuses on advising Fortune 500 companies before state Attorneys General in the areas of antitrust, consumer protection, False Claims Act, environmental law, and cybersecurity and data privacy. Andy, in collaboration with a team of attorneys, successfully navigated a client through antitrust regulatory review by state Attorneys General in one of the nation’s largest mergers of two major telecommunication companies. Andy also worked with a team of lawyers representing a large corporation involving the multistate opioids litigation brought by state Attorneys General.
Andy gained valuable experience serving as Deputy Attorney General for the State of Wisconsin where he was the second in command of the 700-plus state agency. In his role as Chief Deputy Attorney General, Andy oversaw the day-to-day operations at the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ); directed the State’s litigation strategy; negotiated, reviewed, and approved all settlements; drafted and reviewed attorney general opinions; managed the agency’s budget; oversaw civil and criminal investigations handled by DOJ; and managed DOJ’s legislative agenda.
Andy played college hockey and remains active by running, cross country skiing, and playing golf. On the weekends, Andy and his wife enjoy watching their kids’ sporting events, including soccer, baseball, gymnastics, and track. In his rare spare time, Andy reads history books.
Vice President and Senior Counsel, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
Eric Rassbach is Vice President and Senior Counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, where he has served since 2003. He has briefed over 90 cases at the United States Supreme Court and has led or been a part of Becket litigation teams in each of Becket’s pathbreaking victories there, including Hosanna-Tabor, Hobby Lobby, Holt v. Hobbs, Zubik v. Burwell, Agudath Israel of America v. Cuomo, and Fulton v. Philadelphia. In 2020, Eric argued Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru to the Supreme Court, garnering a 7-2 win for his Catholic school clients. Eric has also briefed and argued cases in federal appeals courts and state supreme courts across the nation. Eric has also represented clients in appeals to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France and in the highest courts of several other countries.
Eric believes passionately in the right of all people to the full measure of religious liberty and has represented members of almost every religious group present in the United States, including Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains, Jews, Muslims, Native Americans, Santeros, and Sikhs, as well as many governmental entities targeted for accommodating religion.
Eric frequently comments on church-state issues in the media, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and other major press outlets. He has published legal scholarship in the Harvard Law Review Forum, the Tennessee Law Review, the Illinois Law Review, the Cato Supreme Court Review, and other legal journals, and often speaks to law school audiences.
Before joining Becket, Eric worked at Baker Botts LLP in Houston, where he worked in international project finance. He also served as a law clerk to United States District Court Judge Lee Rosenthal in Houston, Texas.
Eric graduated from Haverford College with a degree in Comparative Literature, is a member of Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge, and is a graduate of Harvard Law School. Eric was a 2012-2013 Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow at Harvard Law School. He is Visiting Professor and Executive Director of The Hugh and Hazel Darling Foundation Religious Liberty Clinic at Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law in Malibu, where he leads students in litigating cases in American courts. He is also an Associated Scholar with the Centre for Religious Freedom at Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland. Eric is admitted in Texas, DC, California, and Ireland.
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