Partner, King & Spalding PLLC
Will Barnette is a partner in the Atlanta office of King & Spalding, where he is a member of the firm’s business litigation practice and class action defense group. During his 30-year career, Will has consistently led clients to successful outcomes in their most sensitive and high exposure class action, MDL, and related regulatory matters. From litigating high-stakes tobacco class actions at the turn of the century, to defending massive data breach litigation in the last decade, and winning several lucrative antitrust opt-out settlements more recently, Will has played a key role in much of the leading complex litigation of the era and led clients to tremendous success on both sides of the “v.” In particular, he has deep experience in litigating consumer, products, and antitrust class actions, commercial disputes, and managing internal investigations.
Prior to rejoining King & Spalding, where he worked earlier in his career, Will served as Associate General Counsel for The Home Depot and was a member of the company’s Legal Senior Leadership Team. As leader of The Home Depot’s commercial litigation team for more than ten years, he was responsible for the company’s most significant commercial and business litigation, which frequently challenged core aspects of the company’s business. During his 21-year tenure with The Home Depot, Will led the successful defense of several hundred class actions, created and led the company’s recovery litigation program, and successfully managed multiple high-profile investigations and favorably resolved significant related regulatory matters, including with the United States Department of Justice, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and multi-state Attorney General groups.
A recognized thought leader in complex litigation, Will argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in the 2019 term—one of the few in-house counsel to do so. He received the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Corporate Counsel Award for Advocacy in 2016 and has authored seven law review articles. His recent works, Misunderstanding Original Jurisdiction and There Is No Conservative Case for Class Actions, ranked among the top SSRN downloads in Federal Courts and Jurisdiction. He frequently lectures on class actions, MDL litigation, and internal investigations, and teaches Complex Litigation at the University of Tennessee Winston College of Law, where he earned the Harold C. Warner Outstanding Adjunct Professor Award in 2025.
Will chairs the Board of Georgians for Lawsuit Reform, which was instrumental in passing Georgia’s 2025 tort reform legislation. He also serves as Chair of the Class Actions Section for the State Bar of Georgia and is a former President of the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. Will played varsity college basketball at Sewanee.
Director, Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies, Cato Institute
Dan Ikenson is director of Cato's Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies, where he coordinates and conducts research on all manner of international trade and investment policy. Since joining Cato in 2000, Ikenson has authored dozens of papers on various aspects of trade policy, focusing his research on U.S.-China trade relations; bilateral and multilateral trade agreements and institutions; globalization; U.S. manufacturing issues; trade politics; and trade remedies, such as the antidumping regime.
Ikenson has been involved in international trade since 1990. Before joining the Cato Institute in 2000, he was director of international trade planning for an international accounting and business advisory firm. In 1997 he cofounded and was a principal at an international trade consulting firm in Washington,.and from 1990 to 1997 he was a trade policy and antidumping analyst at a few international trade law practices. In addition to his many studies and articles, Ikenson is coauthor of the book Antidumping Exposed: The Devilish Details of Unfair Trade Law. He has testified before congressional committees on a variety of policy matter and has appeared on numerous television news programs and networks, including PBS, CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg TV, MSNBC, ABC News, Fox News, Fox Business News, and NPR. His articles have been published in widely circulated newspapers and magazines, including the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, the Washington Times, the Detroit News, Forbes, and National Review.
Ikenson holds a MA in economics from George Washington University.
Associate Professor of History, Campbell University
Courses Taught: Western Civilization, U.S. History, Civil War, American Military Experience, and World Maritime History
Fields of Interest: Military and Maritime History; Maritime Industry Policy, and World History
Of Counsel, Liskow & Lewis
Don Haycraft is of counsel at the firm of Liskow & Lewis in the New Orleans office. He has been a maritime attorney for almost 35 years. He is also an adjunct professor of maritime law at the Loyola Law School in New Orleans, teaching maritime personal injury and wrongful death. He is a 1983 Order of the Coif graduate of Virginia Law School where he served as an editor of the Law Review. He clerked for Judge James Michael, Western District of Virginia. Notably, he served as a trial counsel for BP in the multi-district litigation arising out of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. He authored an amicus brief in the Batterton case and attended the oral argument on March 25, 2019.
Professor of Law, University of Minnesota Law School
Professor James W. Coleman is a scholar of energy law. He specializes in North American energy infrastructure, transport, and trade. He is also a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute focused on energy policy.
Professor Coleman has testified before Congress on steps to speed up energy infrastructure permits. He also worked with a team of experts as part of Alberta's Royalty Review to revise the Canadian province's management of its vast oil and gas resources.
Before joining Minnesota, Professor Coleman taught at Southern Methodist University's Dedman School of Law, the University of Calgary’s law and business schools, and Harvard Law School. Earlier, he practiced environmental and appellate law at Sidley Austin in Washington, D.C., and clerked for the Honorable Steven M. Colloton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Professor Coleman received two degrees from Harvard University—a J.D. (cum laude) and B.A. in biology (magna cum laude with highest honors in the field). As a result of his undergraduate thesis on butterfly genetics, which required fieldwork in Central Asia, a species of lycaenid butterfly was named after him—Agrodiaetus ripartii colemani.
President and CEO, Frontiers of Freedom
Since 1998, George Landrith has served as the President and CEO of Frontiers of Freedom – a public policy think tank devoted to promoting a strong national defense, free markets, individual liberty, and constitutionally limited government. Frontiers of Freedom is recognized as a national leader on many of the most important issues facing America today – including: national security and defense, constitutional freedoms, market-based environmental solutions, energy, tax reform, property rights, and regulatory reform.
Previously, Landrith served as the Vice President and General Counsel to the National Legal Center for the Public Interest — now associated with the American Enterprise Institute. Landrith is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was the Business Editor of the Virginia Journal of Law and Politics. He also graduated, magna cum laude, from Brigham Young University studying political science and economics. Landrith is admitted to the bar in Virginia and California and is a member of the United States Supreme Court bar.
In 1994 and 1996, Landrith was the Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District. He also served on the Albemarle County (Virginia) School Board from 1992 through 1995. He was appointed by then Governor George Allen and confirmed by the General Assembly to serve on the Virginia Workforce 2000 Advocacy Council. As an adjunct professor at the George Mason School of Law, Landrith has taught constitutional law, appellate advocacy, and legal writing. Landrith also teaches at the Leadership Institute’s candidate school.
Landrith appears frequently on television and radio news programs. He has been quoted or referenced in many of the nation’s leading newspapers, including: New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. Landrith’s work has been printed in over 100 newspapers across the nation, including: Washington Times, Chicago Tribune, LA Daily News, National Review, Sacramento Bee, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Providence Journal, Daily Caller, Washington Examiner, Townhall, and Human Events. In 2004, Landrith published a book, On Politics and Policy: Views on Freedom from an American Conservative.
Daryl Joseffer is executive vice president and chief counsel at the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, the litigation arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. A former principal deputy solicitor general, Joseffer has argued 12 cases in the U.S. Supreme Court and dozens of other appeals across the country.
Before joining the Chamber, Joseffer practiced law with King & Spalding LLP, where he was a partner and head of the firm’s appellate group. Previously, he served in the Solicitor General’s Office and as a deputy general counsel in the White House Office of Management and Budget, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, and a law clerk to the Honorable Jerry E. Smith, Circuit Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Joseffer graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School and received a B.A. in economics from Stanford University.
Professor of Law, University of Minnesota Law School
Professor James W. Coleman is a scholar of energy law. He specializes in North American energy infrastructure, transport, and trade. He is also a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute focused on energy policy.
Professor Coleman has testified before Congress on steps to speed up energy infrastructure permits. He also worked with a team of experts as part of Alberta's Royalty Review to revise the Canadian province's management of its vast oil and gas resources.
Before joining Minnesota, Professor Coleman taught at Southern Methodist University's Dedman School of Law, the University of Calgary’s law and business schools, and Harvard Law School. Earlier, he practiced environmental and appellate law at Sidley Austin in Washington, D.C., and clerked for the Honorable Steven M. Colloton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Professor Coleman received two degrees from Harvard University—a J.D. (cum laude) and B.A. in biology (magna cum laude with highest honors in the field). As a result of his undergraduate thesis on butterfly genetics, which required fieldwork in Central Asia, a species of lycaenid butterfly was named after him—Agrodiaetus ripartii colemani.
Chairman and CEO, NTELX
As Chairman and CEO, Rob sets the vision and direction for NTELX. Rob is a former member of the US Federal Maritime Commission and an internationally recognized expert in maritime and US transportation policy; his experience spans energy, transportation, safety and environmental regulation, and other public policy issues. Rob is a prolific writer and speaker, frequently cited in the media and called upon for expert testimony. He has been a senior policy advisor to numerous public figures and to Congress. He received his undergraduate degree in biology at Rice University and his Master’s in public and private management from Yale University’s School of Organization and Management. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and other public policy and security advisory bodies.
Partner, Blank Rome
Jonathan Waldron concentrates his practice in maritime, international, and environmental law, including maritime security. Jon counsels clients, both domestically and internationally, in areas such as:
Jon served in the U.S. Coast Guard for 20 years, attaining the rank of commander, and was senior counsel to the Marine Spill Response Corporation, where he provided on-scene legal advice at major spill events.
He is ranked by Chambers USA as a leading attorney for shipping regulatory matters, with Chambers sources stating that he has a “deep knowledge of maritime and environmental laws” and is “iconic when it comes to D.C. regulatory matters.” Chambers has also noted that Jon is “knowledgeable but practical” and is “known for his prominence in matters relating to the Coast Guard.” Sources say that he is “the ultimate professional,” “knowledgeable, wise, well known in the industry and a pleasure to work with,” and particularly appreciate that he is “very well connected within the Coast Guard.”
President, Committee for Justice
Curt Levey is President of the Committee For Justice, an organization devoted to advancing constitutionally limited government and individual liberty. He is a veteran of Supreme Court and other judicial confirmation battles and serves on the executive committee of the Federalist Society's Civil Rights Practice Group.
After graduating Harvard Law School with honors and clerking for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Mr. Levey served as Director of Legal & Public Affairs at the Center for Individual Rights (CIR). There he worked on landmark Supreme Court cases, including the University of Michigan affirmative action cases and the successful constitutional challenge to the Violence Against Women Act. After CIR, Mr. Levey headed the Title IX policy group at the U.S. Department of Education.
Before attending law school, Mr. Levey earned an M.S. and B.A. in computer science from Brown University and worked in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). He invented a new type of AI technology, for which he wrote a successful patent application.
Of Counsel, Liskow & Lewis
Don Haycraft is of counsel at the firm of Liskow & Lewis in the New Orleans office. He has been a maritime attorney for almost 35 years. He is also an adjunct professor of maritime law at the Loyola Law School in New Orleans, teaching maritime personal injury and wrongful death. He is a 1983 Order of the Coif graduate of Virginia Law School where he served as an editor of the Law Review. He clerked for Judge James Michael, Western District of Virginia. Notably, he served as a trial counsel for BP in the multi-district litigation arising out of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. He authored an amicus brief in the Batterton case and attended the oral argument on March 25, 2019.
Professor of Law, University of Minnesota Law School
Professor James W. Coleman is a scholar of energy law. He specializes in North American energy infrastructure, transport, and trade. He is also a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute focused on energy policy.
Professor Coleman has testified before Congress on steps to speed up energy infrastructure permits. He also worked with a team of experts as part of Alberta's Royalty Review to revise the Canadian province's management of its vast oil and gas resources.
Before joining Minnesota, Professor Coleman taught at Southern Methodist University's Dedman School of Law, the University of Calgary’s law and business schools, and Harvard Law School. Earlier, he practiced environmental and appellate law at Sidley Austin in Washington, D.C., and clerked for the Honorable Steven M. Colloton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Professor Coleman received two degrees from Harvard University—a J.D. (cum laude) and B.A. in biology (magna cum laude with highest honors in the field). As a result of his undergraduate thesis on butterfly genetics, which required fieldwork in Central Asia, a species of lycaenid butterfly was named after him—Agrodiaetus ripartii colemani.
Chairman and CEO, NTELX
As Chairman and CEO, Rob sets the vision and direction for NTELX. Rob is a former member of the US Federal Maritime Commission and an internationally recognized expert in maritime and US transportation policy; his experience spans energy, transportation, safety and environmental regulation, and other public policy issues. Rob is a prolific writer and speaker, frequently cited in the media and called upon for expert testimony. He has been a senior policy advisor to numerous public figures and to Congress. He received his undergraduate degree in biology at Rice University and his Master’s in public and private management from Yale University’s School of Organization and Management. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and other public policy and security advisory bodies.
Partner, Blank Rome
Jonathan Waldron concentrates his practice in maritime, international, and environmental law, including maritime security. Jon counsels clients, both domestically and internationally, in areas such as:
Jon served in the U.S. Coast Guard for 20 years, attaining the rank of commander, and was senior counsel to the Marine Spill Response Corporation, where he provided on-scene legal advice at major spill events.
He is ranked by Chambers USA as a leading attorney for shipping regulatory matters, with Chambers sources stating that he has a “deep knowledge of maritime and environmental laws” and is “iconic when it comes to D.C. regulatory matters.” Chambers has also noted that Jon is “knowledgeable but practical” and is “known for his prominence in matters relating to the Coast Guard.” Sources say that he is “the ultimate professional,” “knowledgeable, wise, well known in the industry and a pleasure to work with,” and particularly appreciate that he is “very well connected within the Coast Guard.”
There Is No Conservative Case for Class Actions
William P. Barnette
A review of The Conservative Case for Class Actions, by Brian T. Fitzpatrick (Chicago), https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo43233299.html (Read...
Is It Time to Repeal the Jones Act? [POLICYbrief]
Daniel J. Ikenson, Sal Mercogliano
The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, also known as the Jones Act, has governed the...
Courthouse Steps Decision Teleforum: The Dutra Group v. Batterton
Don Haycraft
On June 24, 2019, the Supreme Court, in an opinion written by Justice Alito, decided...
The Jones Act: Debating the Lingering Effects of a 100-Year-Old Law
James W. Coleman, George Landrith
Passed into law in 1920, the Jones Act is a ban on transport between two...
Courthouse Steps Decision Teleforum: The Dutra Group v. Batterton
TeleforumThe Dutra Group v. Batterton - Post-Argument SCOTUScast
Daryl Joseffer
On March 25, 2019, the Supreme Court heard argument in The Dutra Group v. Batterton,...
Time to Reform the Jones Act?
James W. Coleman, Rob Quartel, Jonathan Waldron
Section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, colloquially known as the Jones Act,...
Time to Reform the Jones Act?
Regulatory Transparency Project Co-Sponsored Event
Washington, DCTopics
Jones Act Waived for Puerto Rico – RTP Expert Argues for Complete Repeal
Today, President Donald J. Trump waived the requirements of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920...
Courthouse Steps: Sessions v. Morales-Santana Update - Podcast
Curt Levey
On November 9, 2016, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Lynch v. Morales-Santana. Morales-Santana’s father was born...