Senior Attorney, Institute of Justice
Kirby Thomas West is a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, where she is also the co-director of IJ’s National Initiative to End Forfeiture Abuse. She joined IJ in 2018 and litigates cases defending property rights, free speech, and educational choice.
In her time at IJ, Kirby has launched challenges to unconstitutional civil forfeiture and impoundment schemes. She has also litigated educational choice cases, including as part of the IJ team that litigated Carson v. Makin, a landmark educational choice case decided in 2022.
In 2024, Kirby was a Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow at Harvard Law School.
Before joining IJ, Kirby Was an attorney at Baker Botts LLP, in Washington D.C. She clerked for Judge Dennis Shedd of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Kirby received her law degree cum laude from Harvard Law School in 2015.
Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Professor Emeritus of Public Policy, Univ. of Maryland Baltimore County
George R. La Noue is Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Professor Emeritus of Public Policy at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. He has served as a trial expert in twenty cases involving public procurement preferences. For thirty years, he was Director of the Project on Civil Rights and Public Contracts at UMBC which recently contributed 289 public contracting disparity studies to the Library of Congress. He has been a consultant to nine governments and trial expert in thirty cases where the validity of disparity studies was at issue.
Prof. La Noue can be reached by email at glanoue@umbc.edu.
Managing Partner, Cramer Multhauf LLP
Attorney Matthew Fernholz focuses his practice on commercial litigation, trust and fiduciary disputes, business torts, trade secrets, non-compete agreements, defamation, and appellate work. In addition, he has developed one of the preeminent political and election law practices in the State of Wisconsin, and has handled several high-profile matters, from representing candidates for statewide office, successfully challenging the Governor’s emergency powers, arguing before the Wisconsin Elections Commission, and representing the Speaker of the Assembly.
Matthew frequently and successfully tries cases to verdict, and believes a lawyer unwilling to try a case should not take on a client in a litigation matter. In addition to this trial work, he has handled dozens of appeals, and countless dispositive motions.
His work has also been published in law review journals and newspapers alike.
Managing Partner, Cramer Multhauf LLP
Attorney Matthew Fernholz focuses his practice on commercial litigation, trust and fiduciary disputes, business torts, trade secrets, non-compete agreements, defamation, and appellate work. In addition, he has developed one of the preeminent political and election law practices in the State of Wisconsin, and has handled several high-profile matters, from representing candidates for statewide office, successfully challenging the Governor’s emergency powers, arguing before the Wisconsin Elections Commission, and representing the Speaker of the Assembly.
Matthew frequently and successfully tries cases to verdict, and believes a lawyer unwilling to try a case should not take on a client in a litigation matter. In addition to this trial work, he has handled dozens of appeals, and countless dispositive motions.
His work has also been published in law review journals and newspapers alike.
Managing Partner, Cramer Multhauf LLP
Attorney Matthew Fernholz focuses his practice on commercial litigation, trust and fiduciary disputes, business torts, trade secrets, non-compete agreements, defamation, and appellate work. In addition, he has developed one of the preeminent political and election law practices in the State of Wisconsin, and has handled several high-profile matters, from representing candidates for statewide office, successfully challenging the Governor’s emergency powers, arguing before the Wisconsin Elections Commission, and representing the Speaker of the Assembly.
Matthew frequently and successfully tries cases to verdict, and believes a lawyer unwilling to try a case should not take on a client in a litigation matter. In addition to this trial work, he has handled dozens of appeals, and countless dispositive motions.
His work has also been published in law review journals and newspapers alike.
Judge, United States District Court, Eastern District of Missouri
Judge Pitlyk received her law degree from Yale Law School, after earning her undergraduate degree from Boston College and master’s degrees from Georgetown University and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, where she studied as a Fulbright Scholar. Immediately before taking the bench, Judge Pitlyk served as Special Counsel for the Thomas More Society, a national public interest law firm. Before TMS, she spent several years at a small civil litigation boutique in St. Louis, MO, after starting her career at Covington & Burling in Washington, DC. From 2010 to 2011, she clerked for the Honorable Brett M. Kavanaugh, then a Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Judge Pitlyk was sworn in as a District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri on December 6, 2019.
Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney's Office
Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
Judge Walker was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals in September 2020. A graduate of Duke University and Harvard Law School, he clerked for then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh and Justice Anthony Kennedy. In 2019, he was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. Prior to that, he practiced at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher (D.C.) and Dinsmore & Shohl (Louisville). He has taught law in several states and foreign countries.
Managing Partner, Cramer Multhauf LLP
Attorney Matthew Fernholz focuses his practice on commercial litigation, trust and fiduciary disputes, business torts, trade secrets, non-compete agreements, defamation, and appellate work. In addition, he has developed one of the preeminent political and election law practices in the State of Wisconsin, and has handled several high-profile matters, from representing candidates for statewide office, successfully challenging the Governor’s emergency powers, arguing before the Wisconsin Elections Commission, and representing the Speaker of the Assembly.
Matthew frequently and successfully tries cases to verdict, and believes a lawyer unwilling to try a case should not take on a client in a litigation matter. In addition to this trial work, he has handled dozens of appeals, and countless dispositive motions.
His work has also been published in law review journals and newspapers alike.
United States Senator, Wisconsin
Both of Ron’s parents were born and raised on farms. Their work ethic and small-town values were naturally passed along to their own children. As a result, Ron has worked hard all his life. As a boy, he mowed lawns, shoveled snow, delivered papers, and caddied for a few extra bucks. At the age of 15, he obtained his first tax-paying job as a dishwasher in a Walgreens grill. He rose through the ranks as a soda jerk, fry cook, and finally night manager before reaching the age of 16.
He gained early acceptance to the University of Minnesota, so he skipped his senior year of High School and worked full time while obtaining his degree in business and accounting. In 1977, after graduating with a BSB-Accounting degree, he married his wife Jane, and started working as an accountant at Jostens. He also continued his education by enrolling in an MBA night program.
In July of 1979, Ron and Jane moved to Oshkosh to start a business with Jane’s brother. The company -PACUR- began producing plastic sheet for packaging and printing applications. From operating the equipment, to keeping the company books, and selling its products, Ron has been involved in every function of the business. It is this body of experience and private sector perspective that he now brings to the Senate.
Ron came to Washington because the federal government is bankrupting America. He thinks it is important for citizen legislators to ally with those who are seriously facing that reality. Ron’s manufacturing background has taught him to attack the root cause of a problem, not mere symptoms. He believes huge deficits, slow economic activity, high unemployment and woefully inadequate job creation are severe symptoms of the problem – but not the root cause. The ever expanding size, scope and cost of government is.
Ron is Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and also serves on the Budget, Foreign Relations, and Commerce, Science and Transportation committees. He resides in Oshkosh, Wisconsin with his wife Jane. They have three children and two grandchildren.
Managing Partner, Cramer Multhauf LLP
Attorney Matthew Fernholz focuses his practice on commercial litigation, trust and fiduciary disputes, business torts, trade secrets, non-compete agreements, defamation, and appellate work. In addition, he has developed one of the preeminent political and election law practices in the State of Wisconsin, and has handled several high-profile matters, from representing candidates for statewide office, successfully challenging the Governor’s emergency powers, arguing before the Wisconsin Elections Commission, and representing the Speaker of the Assembly.
Matthew frequently and successfully tries cases to verdict, and believes a lawyer unwilling to try a case should not take on a client in a litigation matter. In addition to this trial work, he has handled dozens of appeals, and countless dispositive motions.
His work has also been published in law review journals and newspapers alike.
Learning to Change: New Takes on Education Reform
Kirby Thomas West
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First Freedom: Religious Liberty in the 21st Century
Milwaukee Lawyers Chapter
Public Contracting Litigation After Croson: Data, Disparities, & Discrimination
George R. La Noue
What causes racial disparities, and what, if anything, can and should be done to remedy...
The Judicial Confirmation Process
Milwaukee Lawyers Chapter
Topics
How Justice Dan Kelly Has Helped Transform the Wisconsin State Supreme Court
The nation's eyes are focused on the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the...
Principled Philanthropy in Milwaukee and Beyond
Milwaukee Lawyers Chapter
Keynote Address & Reception
2020 Wisconsin Lawyers Chapters Conference
Pewaukee, WIRecent Trends in the Roberts Court
Matthew M. Fernholz
On August 18, 2020, the Federalist Society's Milwaukee Lawyers Chapter hosted a virtual event on...
Recent Trends in the Roberts Court
Matthew M. Fernholz
On August 18, 2020, the Federalist Society's Milwaukee Lawyers Chapter hosted a virtual event on...
Recent Trends in the Roberts Court
Milwaukee Lawyers Chapter