Senior Litigation Counsel, New Civil Liberties Alliance
Mr. Vecchione is a Senior Litigation Counsel for the non-profit New Civil Liberties Alliance representing clients against the Administrative State. He was previously President and CEO of the non-profit Cause of Action Institute, also advancing the constitutional order. He practiced at a number of D.C. area firms, including the eponymous John J. Vecchione Law, PLLC. Mr. Vecchione focuses his practice on strategic litigation in the federal district and appellate courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States. He is an experienced trial and appellate advocate having tried cases and argued appeals across the country. He is a member of the bars of the State of New York, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Virginia, as well as the Supreme Court of the United States and many federal courts. His cases are reported in scores of published opinions. He has also published pieces advancing the freedom agenda and constitutional order in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Times and many other forums. He lives in Virginia with his wife Rebecca, sons Tommy and Joe.
President and General Counsel, New Civil Liberties Alliance
NCLA’s President and General Counsel, Mark Chenoweth, has observed the administrative state up close and personal from perches in all four branches of the federal government. Mark served as the first chief of staff to Congressman Mike Pompeo, as legal counsel to Commissioner Anne Northup at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, as an attorney advisor in the Office of Legal Policy at the U.S. Department of Justice, and as a law clerk to the Hon. Danny J. Boggs on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Mark has worked in several different roles in the private sector as well. He began his legal career in D.C. as a regulatory associate at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. He then returned to his home state of Kansas to serve as in-house counsel for Koch Industries. Most recently he spent over four years as general counsel of the Washington Legal Foundation.
Mark is a graduate of Yale College and the University of Chicago Law School, where he co-founded the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship and became a Tony Patiño Fellow. Mark has been widely quoted and/or published in newspapers and websites including the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, New Hampshire Union Leader, and Metropolitan Corporate Counsel. He has also had recurring op-eds in the Los Angeles Daily Journal, and at Forbes.com.
Founder & CEO of The Hargan Group
Eric D. Hargan is the Founder and CEO of The Hargan Group, a healthcare consulting firm. Eric previously served as the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from 2017 to 2021; he also served as Acting Secretary for several months in 2017-2018. HHS is the largest department in the federal government and has an annual budget of more than $1.3 trillion and over 80,000 employees across 26 divisions. As Deputy Secretary, he oversaw the development and approval of all HHS, CMS and FDA regulations and significant guidances, as well as the day-to-day operations and management of the department, and he led policy and strategy development. From 2003 to 2007, Mr. Hargan also served at HHS in a variety of capacities, including holding the position of Acting Deputy Secretary.
Associate General Counsel, Williams-Sonoma, Inc.
Jay Lifschultz serves as the Associate General Counsel for Williams-Sonoma, Inc. where he provides counsel and support on a broad range of issues, including commercial matters, consumer disputes, internal investigations, labor and employment law, and regulatory compliance.
Previously, Jay worked at a multi-brand, nationwide residential and commercial consumer services company and he started his legal career at an AmLaw 200 firm representing management in labor and employment matters.
Jay earned his law degree with honors from Tulane University Law School and externed for the Honorable Lance Africk at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Arizona.
Jay lives in Memphis, Tennessee with his wife, daughter, and the laziest (but sweetest) Labrador in the world.
Partner, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP; Former General Counsel of the Department of Defense
Paul Ney is a partner at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP practicing in with the Defense & National Security and Government Enforcement and Investigations teams. Before joining Bradley, he served as the Legal Advisor to the National Security Council. Previously, he was Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary at Momentus Inc., a space infrastructure company. Ney has nearly four decades of public service and private law practice experience.
Before joining Momentus, he was presidentially appointed and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as the General Counsel of the Department of Defense. In this position, he was the Department’s chief legal officer leading a team of over 12,000 lawyers that served the Department’s more than 2.8 million military and civilian personnel, and he served as the Designated Agency Ethics Official overseeing the Department’s Standards of Conduct Office. During his tenure in the Department of Defense, the U.S. Space Force and the U.S. Space Command were established.
In earlier government roles, Ney was the Principal Deputy and the acting General Counsel of the United States Department of the Navy and Chief Deputy Attorney General for the State of Tennessee. He also served as Director of the Nashville Davidson County Mayor's Office of Economic and Community Development.
Ney has been a partner in two Nashville law firms. He is a registered patent attorney and he has more than 25 years of experience in private practice engaged in commercial litigation, administrative and regulatory law, and intellectual property law.
President and General Counsel, New Civil Liberties Alliance
NCLA’s President and General Counsel, Mark Chenoweth, has observed the administrative state up close and personal from perches in all four branches of the federal government. Mark served as the first chief of staff to Congressman Mike Pompeo, as legal counsel to Commissioner Anne Northup at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, as an attorney advisor in the Office of Legal Policy at the U.S. Department of Justice, and as a law clerk to the Hon. Danny J. Boggs on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Mark has worked in several different roles in the private sector as well. He began his legal career in D.C. as a regulatory associate at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. He then returned to his home state of Kansas to serve as in-house counsel for Koch Industries. Most recently he spent over four years as general counsel of the Washington Legal Foundation.
Mark is a graduate of Yale College and the University of Chicago Law School, where he co-founded the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship and became a Tony Patiño Fellow. Mark has been widely quoted and/or published in newspapers and websites including the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, New Hampshire Union Leader, and Metropolitan Corporate Counsel. He has also had recurring op-eds in the Los Angeles Daily Journal, and at Forbes.com.
U.S. Representative, Wyoming
Congresswoman Harriet Hageman represents the state of Wyoming in the U.S. House of Representatives. She grew up on a ranch, attended Casper College on a livestock judging scholarship and earned both her bachelor's degree and law degree from the University of Wyoming. A litigator for 34 years, Harriet is nationally known for challenging federal overreach, for protecting water and property rights, for exposing federal land and wildlife mismanagement, and for fighting back against the unconstitutional and unlawful acts of unelected bureaucrats. Harriet has extensive experience engaging in complex trials against federal agencies and has been admitted to practice in several states as well as the United States Supreme Court.
In her freshman term in the 118th Congress, Harriet has been selected to serve on the House Natural Resources committee where she is Chair of the Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs, and also serves on the Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries. Representative Hageman also serves on the Judiciary Committee and Subcommittees on the Constitution and Limited Government; the Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust; and the Select Committee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. She has shown her support for American energy independence by serving as Co-Chair of the Congressional Coal Caucus.
Legislation sponsored by Representative Hageman has been focused on reining in the regulatory state, ending the weaponization of our federal government and its proxies against American citizens, and ending the de facto moratorium on American energy production.
Former Acting Assistant Secretary, US Department of Education; Partner, Jackson Bone LLP, U.S. Department of Education
Candice Jackson is an attorney who served as Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights and Deputy General Counsel in the US Department of Education from 2017 to 2021 where she was responsible for drafting the first-ever regulations under Title IX addressing campus sexual harassment and assault. Candice has returned to private law practice and currently represents incarcerated women in California prisons in WoLF’s lawsuit to overturn the 2021 law that allows male criminals to choose to be housed in women’s prisons based on “gender identity.” Candice lives with her wife Patricia and their 9-year-old twins Madelyn and Zachary.
Professor of History, Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center
KC Johnson is professor of history at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center, where he has taught since 1999. He has written 13 books on topics in U.S. political history, U.S. foreign policy, and legal and policy debates surrounding campus due process and civil liberties. His Duke lacrosse case blog, Durham-in-Wonderland, was named ABA Journal’s Best Ethics Blog in 2007; and he continues to blog on higher-ed matters at the blog Minding the Campus.
Owner, Schneider Education & Employment Law PLLC
Scott Schneider is the owner and founder of Schneider Education & Employment Law and has advised companies and educational institutions nationwide on a variety of complex legal issues with a focus on particularly sensitive matters like institutional response to sexual misconduct.
Prior to founding Schneider Education & Employment Law, Scott was an equity partner in two major national law firms and served as in-house counsel for Tulane University.
He is a prominent litigator as well as a sought-after advisor on Title IX, labor and employment law issues, and various risk management concerns. He has led numerous investigations of serial sex abuse allegations, allegations of misconduct involving senior leadership and other acts of institutional misconduct. He has also handled various high-profile program reviews of institutional response to sexual misconduct, racial discrimination, athletics department ethics and compliance, and treatment of at-risk employees and students.
Scott has provided training nationally to thousands of personnel on a variety of issues, including Title IX; labor and employment law; faculty hiring, promotion and tenure processes; and Greek Life risk management. Scott also provides expert witness testimony on matters dealing with institutional response to allegations of sexual misconduct.
Scott regularly presents to national organizations, including the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA), the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), the Association for Student Conduct Administration (ASCA) Gehring Academy, the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA), the Association of College and University Housing Officers-International (ACUHO-I), EDUCAUSE and various associations of independent schools.
Additionally, Scott previously served as an award-winning professor at Tulane University, where he taught courses on higher education and labor and employment law and created the Tulane University Law School’s Title IX certification program. Scott has been retained by the National Center for Campus Public Safety to serve as a faculty member for its Trauma-Informed Sexual Assault Investigation and Adjudication training program for campus officials. Scott also serves on the faculty for the State University of New York’s Student Conduct Institute where he provides training on informal resolution and restorative justice.
Partner, Simpson Thacher
Based in Washington, D.C. office, David Blass is a Partner in the Firm’s Investment Funds Practice. David is a leading regulatory lawyer in the funds industry and has advised on matters involving innovative registered funds products, Investment Advisers Act compliance, SEC examination and enforcement matters, and broker-dealer regulatory compliance. He is uniquely qualified to provide strategic and regulatory advice on matters involving asset management firms and broker-dealers.
David has extensive knowledge of the regulatory requirements of the asset management industry having served as General Counsel of the Investment Company Institute, the trade association for registered investment funds. He also held senior roles for over a decade at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, most recently as Chief Counsel and Associate Director in the Division of Trading and Markets, where he oversaw broker-dealer regulation and large aspects of FINRA’s regulatory program. David was the Associate General Counsel for the SEC where he was responsible for Dodd-Frank Act implementation, among many other programmatic areas. He also held a senior role in the SEC’s Division of Investment Management, leading the office regulating registered investment advisers, including advisers to private funds.
Chambers Global reports that clients say he is an “excellent regulatory lawyer” who is both “very knowledgeable and easy to work with.” David was notably named “Independent Counsel of the Year” by Fund Intelligence’s Mutual Fund Industry & ETF Awards in 2021.
CEO, Institutional Limited Partners Association
As Acting CEO for the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA), Jennifer Choi directs the association's engagement with external industry stakeholders to inform and enhance ILPA's education, research, membership and advocacy platforms. Ms. Choi also leads the implementation of ILPA's responses to emerging issues impacting the asset class, including efforts to establish and promote industry best practices.
Prior to joining the ILPA, Ms. Choi served as Vice President of Industry and External Affairs for the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA), where she led the association's member and industry engagement activities, including efforts to encourage policy frameworks that support the growth of the asset class. As EMPEA's Research Director, she built the industry's first global database of private equity activity in the emerging markets. A frequent speaker and commentator on the industry, Ms. Choi also oversaw the association's media communications and global institutional partnerships. Previously, Ms. Choi was a consultant with Boston-based Stax Inc., leading due diligence engagements and providing advisory services for the U.S. private equity and venture capital industry.
Jennifer holds a Masters in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University and a B.A. summa cum laude in Economics and Political Science from Augustana College.
Managing Director and Associate General Counsel, Head of Asset Management Group, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA)
Ms. Keljo is Managing Director, Associate General Counsel and Head of Asset Management Group for SIFMA, where she serves as counsel and staff for many of AMG’s workstreams. In particular, Ms. Keljo focuses on systemic risk & prudential regulation for asset managers, fixed income market structure, and ETF regulation. She also focuses on the U.S. impact of many European regulations, including the cross-border implications of Brexit, MiFID II, PRIIPs, and sustainable finance/ESG initiatives.
Ms. Keljo joined SIFMA AMG in October 2014 from Squire Patton Boggs, where she advised financial institutions, corporations, and asset managers on a wide range of financial services legislative and regulatory developments.
Ms. Keljo has extensive experience representing asset managers before Congress, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. Treasury Department, and other regulatory agencies that promulgate and implement financial regulation. Ms. Keljo began her career working for a major political party as a campaign manager based primarily in northwest Pennsylvania.
Ms. Keljo is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School and Mercyhurst College.
Senior Litigation Counsel, New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA)
Russ Ryan is a nationally recognized attorney and thought leader with particular interest in the regulatory and enforcement apparatus of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other quasi-governmental regulators overseen by the SEC, including the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and the various securities industry self-regulatory organizations (SROs). He has decades of experience defending private citizens and businesses caught in the crosshairs of these and other financial regulators.
Russ joined NCLA from the law firm King & Spalding, where he was a partner for 15 years. He left the firm from 2015 to 2018 to serve as Senior Vice President and Deputy Chief of Enforcement at FINRA. Earlier in his career he served for two years as law clerk to a federal judge in the Eastern District of New York and for 10 years as a staff attorney and Assistant Director in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. He also taught for several semesters as an adjunct professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University.
Russ is a prolific speaker and writer on financial regulation and enforcement. He has spoken at dozens of professional conferences and published scores of commentaries and academic articles, including numerous op-eds in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, Law360, and elsewhere. His regular column on LinkedIn is called “On SECond Thought: Unconventional Perspectives on Securities Enforcement.”
Russ earned his undergraduate degree from Boston College and his law degree from St. John’s University School of Law, where he was an executive editor of the law review.
President and General Counsel, New Civil Liberties Alliance
NCLA’s President and General Counsel, Mark Chenoweth, has observed the administrative state up close and personal from perches in all four branches of the federal government. Mark served as the first chief of staff to Congressman Mike Pompeo, as legal counsel to Commissioner Anne Northup at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, as an attorney advisor in the Office of Legal Policy at the U.S. Department of Justice, and as a law clerk to the Hon. Danny J. Boggs on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Mark has worked in several different roles in the private sector as well. He began his legal career in D.C. as a regulatory associate at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. He then returned to his home state of Kansas to serve as in-house counsel for Koch Industries. Most recently he spent over four years as general counsel of the Washington Legal Foundation.
Mark is a graduate of Yale College and the University of Chicago Law School, where he co-founded the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship and became a Tony Patiño Fellow. Mark has been widely quoted and/or published in newspapers and websites including the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, New Hampshire Union Leader, and Metropolitan Corporate Counsel. He has also had recurring op-eds in the Los Angeles Daily Journal, and at Forbes.com.
U.S. Representative, Wyoming
Congresswoman Harriet Hageman represents the state of Wyoming in the U.S. House of Representatives. She grew up on a ranch, attended Casper College on a livestock judging scholarship and earned both her bachelor's degree and law degree from the University of Wyoming. A litigator for 34 years, Harriet is nationally known for challenging federal overreach, for protecting water and property rights, for exposing federal land and wildlife mismanagement, and for fighting back against the unconstitutional and unlawful acts of unelected bureaucrats. Harriet has extensive experience engaging in complex trials against federal agencies and has been admitted to practice in several states as well as the United States Supreme Court.
In her freshman term in the 118th Congress, Harriet has been selected to serve on the House Natural Resources committee where she is Chair of the Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs, and also serves on the Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries. Representative Hageman also serves on the Judiciary Committee and Subcommittees on the Constitution and Limited Government; the Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust; and the Select Committee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. She has shown her support for American energy independence by serving as Co-Chair of the Congressional Coal Caucus.
Legislation sponsored by Representative Hageman has been focused on reining in the regulatory state, ending the weaponization of our federal government and its proxies against American citizens, and ending the de facto moratorium on American energy production.
Former Acting Assistant Secretary, US Department of Education; Partner, Jackson Bone LLP, U.S. Department of Education
Candice Jackson is an attorney who served as Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights and Deputy General Counsel in the US Department of Education from 2017 to 2021 where she was responsible for drafting the first-ever regulations under Title IX addressing campus sexual harassment and assault. Candice has returned to private law practice and currently represents incarcerated women in California prisons in WoLF’s lawsuit to overturn the 2021 law that allows male criminals to choose to be housed in women’s prisons based on “gender identity.” Candice lives with her wife Patricia and their 9-year-old twins Madelyn and Zachary.
Professor of History, Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center
KC Johnson is professor of history at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center, where he has taught since 1999. He has written 13 books on topics in U.S. political history, U.S. foreign policy, and legal and policy debates surrounding campus due process and civil liberties. His Duke lacrosse case blog, Durham-in-Wonderland, was named ABA Journal’s Best Ethics Blog in 2007; and he continues to blog on higher-ed matters at the blog Minding the Campus.
Owner, Schneider Education & Employment Law PLLC
Scott Schneider is the owner and founder of Schneider Education & Employment Law and has advised companies and educational institutions nationwide on a variety of complex legal issues with a focus on particularly sensitive matters like institutional response to sexual misconduct.
Prior to founding Schneider Education & Employment Law, Scott was an equity partner in two major national law firms and served as in-house counsel for Tulane University.
He is a prominent litigator as well as a sought-after advisor on Title IX, labor and employment law issues, and various risk management concerns. He has led numerous investigations of serial sex abuse allegations, allegations of misconduct involving senior leadership and other acts of institutional misconduct. He has also handled various high-profile program reviews of institutional response to sexual misconduct, racial discrimination, athletics department ethics and compliance, and treatment of at-risk employees and students.
Scott has provided training nationally to thousands of personnel on a variety of issues, including Title IX; labor and employment law; faculty hiring, promotion and tenure processes; and Greek Life risk management. Scott also provides expert witness testimony on matters dealing with institutional response to allegations of sexual misconduct.
Scott regularly presents to national organizations, including the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA), the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), the Association for Student Conduct Administration (ASCA) Gehring Academy, the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA), the Association of College and University Housing Officers-International (ACUHO-I), EDUCAUSE and various associations of independent schools.
Additionally, Scott previously served as an award-winning professor at Tulane University, where he taught courses on higher education and labor and employment law and created the Tulane University Law School’s Title IX certification program. Scott has been retained by the National Center for Campus Public Safety to serve as a faculty member for its Trauma-Informed Sexual Assault Investigation and Adjudication training program for campus officials. Scott also serves on the faculty for the State University of New York’s Student Conduct Institute where he provides training on informal resolution and restorative justice.
Legal Fellow, Center for Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute
Brent Skorup is a legal fellow in the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies.
Before joining Cato, he was a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at the George Mason University. His research areas include free speech, technology law, Fourth Amendment protections, regulation, and property law. Skorup has published pieces in economics and law journals and in popular media, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg Law, Reuters, and Wired. He’s appeared as a TV and radio interview guest for news outlets like C‑SPAN, NPR, CBS News, ABC News, and CNBC Asia.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, a dissenting opinion at the Illinois Supreme Court, and the ALI's Restatement of the Law of Property have cited his legal research and he has testified as a technology and legal expert in legislative hearings in several states. Skorup has been appointed to several federal and state advisory bodies and he is currently a member of the Texas Advanced Air Mobility Advisory Committee.
Skorup has a BA in economics from Wheaton College and a law degree from the George Mason University School of Law, where he was articles editor for the Civil Rights Law Journal. He was a legal clerk at the FCC’s wireless bureau and Office of General Counsel and at the Energy and Commerce Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Internet Policy Counsel and Director of Appellate Litigation, TechFreedom
Corbin Barthold is TechFreedom's Internet Policy Counsel and Director of Appellate Litigation.
Corbin clerked for the Hon. Steven D. Merryday (M.D. Fla.) and the Hon. Robert H. Cleland (E.D. Mich.). After his clerkships, he became an associate, and later a partner, in the Los Angeles office of Browne George Ross LLP, where he engaged in high-stakes complex litigation. He then served as Senior Litigation Counsel at Washington Legal Foundation, a D.C. public-interest firm, where his practice focused on appeals involving administrative law, the separation of powers, antitrust, and tech policy.
Corbin received his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. He also holds a B.A., magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of California, San Diego, and an Msc., with distinction, from the London School of Economics.
Judge, U.S. District Court, Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri
Josh Divine was most recently the Solicitor General of Missouri, where he oversaw the office's appellate and special litigation divisions. As Solicitor General, Mr. Divine led Missouri's trial and appellate teams to some of its most significant victories. Mr. Divine was lead counsel in blocking $700 billion in student loan bailouts attempted by the federal government. He was lead counsel in obtaining a $25 billion judgment against China for antitrust violations. And he was lead counsel in successfully defending the Missouri law that prohibits gender transition interventions in minors, making Missouri the only state in the nation to prevail at trial against an equal protection challenge to one of these laws. In addition, Mr. Divine's work at the trial court in Missouri v. Biden (restyled Murthy v. Missouri) helped expose systemic violations of the First Amendment by the federal government, which the trial court found was unconstitutionally pressuring social media companies to suppress millions of free speech posts.
Before serving as Solicitor General, Mr. Divine was Chief Counsel to U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, where he oversaw all legal issues, managed matters related to the Judiciary Committee, and developed tech policy. Mr. Divine clerked on the Supreme Court for Justice Thomas and on the Eleventh Circuit for Judge William Pryor. He received a J.D. from Yale Law School and a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from the University of Northern Colorado. His recent legal scholarship has appeared in the Virginia Law Review and the Hastings Law Journal.
Litigation Counsel, New Civil Liberties Alliance
Jenin Younes is Litigation Counsel for the New Civil Liberties Alliance. Having always been a passionate advocate for individual liberties, Jenin spent the first part of her career as an appellate public defender, providing representation to indigent clients convicted of criminal offenses in New York City. In this capacity, she briefed and argued countless appeals in New York’s Appellate Division, Second Department, and several cases in the New York State Court of Appeals. She also represented individuals at civil hearings in trial court.
Jenin holds a B.A. from Cornell University and a J.D. from New York University School of Law.
Partner, Simpson Thacher
Based in Washington, D.C. office, David Blass is a Partner in the Firm’s Investment Funds Practice. David is a leading regulatory lawyer in the funds industry and has advised on matters involving innovative registered funds products, Investment Advisers Act compliance, SEC examination and enforcement matters, and broker-dealer regulatory compliance. He is uniquely qualified to provide strategic and regulatory advice on matters involving asset management firms and broker-dealers.
David has extensive knowledge of the regulatory requirements of the asset management industry having served as General Counsel of the Investment Company Institute, the trade association for registered investment funds. He also held senior roles for over a decade at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, most recently as Chief Counsel and Associate Director in the Division of Trading and Markets, where he oversaw broker-dealer regulation and large aspects of FINRA’s regulatory program. David was the Associate General Counsel for the SEC where he was responsible for Dodd-Frank Act implementation, among many other programmatic areas. He also held a senior role in the SEC’s Division of Investment Management, leading the office regulating registered investment advisers, including advisers to private funds.
Chambers Global reports that clients say he is an “excellent regulatory lawyer” who is both “very knowledgeable and easy to work with.” David was notably named “Independent Counsel of the Year” by Fund Intelligence’s Mutual Fund Industry & ETF Awards in 2021.
CEO, Institutional Limited Partners Association
As Acting CEO for the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA), Jennifer Choi directs the association's engagement with external industry stakeholders to inform and enhance ILPA's education, research, membership and advocacy platforms. Ms. Choi also leads the implementation of ILPA's responses to emerging issues impacting the asset class, including efforts to establish and promote industry best practices.
Prior to joining the ILPA, Ms. Choi served as Vice President of Industry and External Affairs for the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA), where she led the association's member and industry engagement activities, including efforts to encourage policy frameworks that support the growth of the asset class. As EMPEA's Research Director, she built the industry's first global database of private equity activity in the emerging markets. A frequent speaker and commentator on the industry, Ms. Choi also oversaw the association's media communications and global institutional partnerships. Previously, Ms. Choi was a consultant with Boston-based Stax Inc., leading due diligence engagements and providing advisory services for the U.S. private equity and venture capital industry.
Jennifer holds a Masters in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University and a B.A. summa cum laude in Economics and Political Science from Augustana College.
Managing Director and Associate General Counsel, Head of Asset Management Group, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA)
Ms. Keljo is Managing Director, Associate General Counsel and Head of Asset Management Group for SIFMA, where she serves as counsel and staff for many of AMG’s workstreams. In particular, Ms. Keljo focuses on systemic risk & prudential regulation for asset managers, fixed income market structure, and ETF regulation. She also focuses on the U.S. impact of many European regulations, including the cross-border implications of Brexit, MiFID II, PRIIPs, and sustainable finance/ESG initiatives.
Ms. Keljo joined SIFMA AMG in October 2014 from Squire Patton Boggs, where she advised financial institutions, corporations, and asset managers on a wide range of financial services legislative and regulatory developments.
Ms. Keljo has extensive experience representing asset managers before Congress, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. Treasury Department, and other regulatory agencies that promulgate and implement financial regulation. Ms. Keljo began her career working for a major political party as a campaign manager based primarily in northwest Pennsylvania.
Ms. Keljo is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School and Mercyhurst College.
Senior Litigation Counsel, New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA)
Russ Ryan is a nationally recognized attorney and thought leader with particular interest in the regulatory and enforcement apparatus of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other quasi-governmental regulators overseen by the SEC, including the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and the various securities industry self-regulatory organizations (SROs). He has decades of experience defending private citizens and businesses caught in the crosshairs of these and other financial regulators.
Russ joined NCLA from the law firm King & Spalding, where he was a partner for 15 years. He left the firm from 2015 to 2018 to serve as Senior Vice President and Deputy Chief of Enforcement at FINRA. Earlier in his career he served for two years as law clerk to a federal judge in the Eastern District of New York and for 10 years as a staff attorney and Assistant Director in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. He also taught for several semesters as an adjunct professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University.
Russ is a prolific speaker and writer on financial regulation and enforcement. He has spoken at dozens of professional conferences and published scores of commentaries and academic articles, including numerous op-eds in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, Law360, and elsewhere. His regular column on LinkedIn is called “On SECond Thought: Unconventional Perspectives on Securities Enforcement.”
Russ earned his undergraduate degree from Boston College and his law degree from St. John’s University School of Law, where he was an executive editor of the law review.
Partner, Simpson Thacher
Based in Washington, D.C. office, David Blass is a Partner in the Firm’s Investment Funds Practice. David is a leading regulatory lawyer in the funds industry and has advised on matters involving innovative registered funds products, Investment Advisers Act compliance, SEC examination and enforcement matters, and broker-dealer regulatory compliance. He is uniquely qualified to provide strategic and regulatory advice on matters involving asset management firms and broker-dealers.
David has extensive knowledge of the regulatory requirements of the asset management industry having served as General Counsel of the Investment Company Institute, the trade association for registered investment funds. He also held senior roles for over a decade at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, most recently as Chief Counsel and Associate Director in the Division of Trading and Markets, where he oversaw broker-dealer regulation and large aspects of FINRA’s regulatory program. David was the Associate General Counsel for the SEC where he was responsible for Dodd-Frank Act implementation, among many other programmatic areas. He also held a senior role in the SEC’s Division of Investment Management, leading the office regulating registered investment advisers, including advisers to private funds.
Chambers Global reports that clients say he is an “excellent regulatory lawyer” who is both “very knowledgeable and easy to work with.” David was notably named “Independent Counsel of the Year” by Fund Intelligence’s Mutual Fund Industry & ETF Awards in 2021.
CEO, Institutional Limited Partners Association
As Acting CEO for the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA), Jennifer Choi directs the association's engagement with external industry stakeholders to inform and enhance ILPA's education, research, membership and advocacy platforms. Ms. Choi also leads the implementation of ILPA's responses to emerging issues impacting the asset class, including efforts to establish and promote industry best practices.
Prior to joining the ILPA, Ms. Choi served as Vice President of Industry and External Affairs for the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA), where she led the association's member and industry engagement activities, including efforts to encourage policy frameworks that support the growth of the asset class. As EMPEA's Research Director, she built the industry's first global database of private equity activity in the emerging markets. A frequent speaker and commentator on the industry, Ms. Choi also oversaw the association's media communications and global institutional partnerships. Previously, Ms. Choi was a consultant with Boston-based Stax Inc., leading due diligence engagements and providing advisory services for the U.S. private equity and venture capital industry.
Jennifer holds a Masters in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University and a B.A. summa cum laude in Economics and Political Science from Augustana College.
Managing Director and Associate General Counsel, Head of Asset Management Group, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA)
Ms. Keljo is Managing Director, Associate General Counsel and Head of Asset Management Group for SIFMA, where she serves as counsel and staff for many of AMG’s workstreams. In particular, Ms. Keljo focuses on systemic risk & prudential regulation for asset managers, fixed income market structure, and ETF regulation. She also focuses on the U.S. impact of many European regulations, including the cross-border implications of Brexit, MiFID II, PRIIPs, and sustainable finance/ESG initiatives.
Ms. Keljo joined SIFMA AMG in October 2014 from Squire Patton Boggs, where she advised financial institutions, corporations, and asset managers on a wide range of financial services legislative and regulatory developments.
Ms. Keljo has extensive experience representing asset managers before Congress, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. Treasury Department, and other regulatory agencies that promulgate and implement financial regulation. Ms. Keljo began her career working for a major political party as a campaign manager based primarily in northwest Pennsylvania.
Ms. Keljo is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School and Mercyhurst College.
Senior Litigation Counsel, New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA)
Russ Ryan is a nationally recognized attorney and thought leader with particular interest in the regulatory and enforcement apparatus of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other quasi-governmental regulators overseen by the SEC, including the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and the various securities industry self-regulatory organizations (SROs). He has decades of experience defending private citizens and businesses caught in the crosshairs of these and other financial regulators.
Russ joined NCLA from the law firm King & Spalding, where he was a partner for 15 years. He left the firm from 2015 to 2018 to serve as Senior Vice President and Deputy Chief of Enforcement at FINRA. Earlier in his career he served for two years as law clerk to a federal judge in the Eastern District of New York and for 10 years as a staff attorney and Assistant Director in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. He also taught for several semesters as an adjunct professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University.
Russ is a prolific speaker and writer on financial regulation and enforcement. He has spoken at dozens of professional conferences and published scores of commentaries and academic articles, including numerous op-eds in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, Law360, and elsewhere. His regular column on LinkedIn is called “On SECond Thought: Unconventional Perspectives on Securities Enforcement.”
Russ earned his undergraduate degree from Boston College and his law degree from St. John’s University School of Law, where he was an executive editor of the law review.
Associate Dean for Research and Intellectual Life, McKnight Presidential Professor in Law, Distinguished McKnight University Professor, Harlan Albert Rogers Professor in Law, Associate Director, Corporate Institute, University of Minnesota Law School
Professor Kristin E. Hickman is the McKnight Presidential Professor in Law, a Distinguished McKnight University Professor, and Harlan Albert Rogers Professor in Law at the University of Minnesota Law School. She also has taught at Harvard Law School and Northwestern University School of Law. Professor Hickman teaches and writes primarily in the areas of administrative law, tax administration, and statutory interpretation. Her articles on these topics have appeared in the Columbia Law Review, Cornell Law Review, Virginia Law Review, Duke Law Journal, and other publications. She also co-authors the Administrative Law Treatise with Richard J. Pierce, Jr., and a casebook on federal administrative law with Pierce and Christopher J. Walker. Her scholarly work has been cited several times in opinions of the United States Supreme Court as well as regularly in lower court judicial opinions and court briefs.
In 2018-19, Professor Hickman served as Special Adviser to the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in Washington, D.C. She presently serves as a Senior Fellow, and previously served as a public member and chair of the judicial review committee, for the Administrative Conference of the United States. She also is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel.
Professor Hickman received her B.S. degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting and a secondary major in history from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. After practicing for several years as a certified public accountant, Professor Hickman earned her J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from Northwestern University School of Law, where she was awarded the Raoul Berger Prize and the Lowden Wigmore Prize for her scholarly writings. Following law school, Professor Hickman clerked for The Honorable David B. Sentelle of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and practiced law as an associate with the Chicago office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, concentrating on corporate and international tax transactions and matters.
Senior Litigation Counsel, New Civil Liberties Alliance
Mr. Vecchione is a Senior Litigation Counsel for the non-profit New Civil Liberties Alliance representing clients against the Administrative State. He was previously President and CEO of the non-profit Cause of Action Institute, also advancing the constitutional order. He practiced at a number of D.C. area firms, including the eponymous John J. Vecchione Law, PLLC. Mr. Vecchione focuses his practice on strategic litigation in the federal district and appellate courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States. He is an experienced trial and appellate advocate having tried cases and argued appeals across the country. He is a member of the bars of the State of New York, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Virginia, as well as the Supreme Court of the United States and many federal courts. His cases are reported in scores of published opinions. He has also published pieces advancing the freedom agenda and constitutional order in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Times and many other forums. He lives in Virginia with his wife Rebecca, sons Tommy and Joe.
William R. Orthwein Distinguished Professor of Law, Washington University in St. Louis School of Law
Professor Ronald M. Levin is a nationally known scholar who specializes in administrative law and related public law issues. He is the co-author of a casebook on state and federal administrative law, now in its third edition, as well as a nutshell on administrative law and process, now in its fifth edition. Formerly the law school's associate dean, he has published numerous articles and book chapters on administrative law topics, including judicial review, rulemaking, and legislative reform of the regulatory process. He also has written about the law of legislation, lobbying, and legislative ethics. Among his professional affiliations, Professor Levin has chaired the ABA Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice and served as the ABA's advisor to the drafting committee to revise the Model State Administrative Procedure Act. He also has chaired the Section on Administrative Law and the Section on Legislation of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). Currently a public member of the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS), he previously served as a consultant to ACUS and to the Supreme Court of Indonesia. Before joining the law faculty, Professor Levin clerked for the Hon. John C. Godbold, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and practiced for three years in Washington, D.C., with the firm of Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan.
Partner, Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak PLLC
Abhishek (Abhi) Kambli is a partner at Holtzman Vogel who represents clients in high-stakes appellate and complex litigation, constitutional challenges, and matters involving state attorneys general and federal agencies. He is one of a handful of lawyers nationally who has both led federal litigation from inside the Department of Justice and multi-state coalition work from a State Attorney General’s office—giving clients a 360-degree perspective on government enforcement, regulatory challenges, and constitutional advocacy.
Prior to joining Holtzman Vogel, Abhi served as Deputy Associate Attorney General at the United States Department of Justice, where he acted as lead counsel in high-priority matters for the Trump Administration, oversaw the Department’s civil components on behalf of the Associate Attorney General, advised the White House Counsel’s Office and federal agencies on litigation risk and strategy, and developed the Department’s national affirmative civil litigation strategy.
Earlier, he served as Deputy Attorney General and Division Chief of the Special Litigation and Constitutional Issues Division at the Kansas Attorney General’s Office, where he launched the division and led multi-state coalitions in trial and appellate courts nationwide, including the United States Supreme Court. He began his career as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Indiana, prosecuting more than 100 federal cases from investigation through appeal.
Abhi is also a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General's Corps, having served on active duty and in the reserves since 2013. His military service includes criminal trials as both prosecutor and defense attorney, appellate representation before the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and representation of a high-profile detainee before the Military Commissions at Guantánamo Bay.
Litigation Counsel, New Civil Liberties Alliance
Sheng Li is Litigation Counsel for the New Civil Liberties Alliance. Prior to joining NCLA, Sheng served as Counselor to the Administrator of Wage and Hour at the U.S. Department of Labor. In that role, he led numerous efforts to remove or simplify unduly burdensome regulations. He has also worked in the private sector as a litigation associate at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler and at Kirkland & Ellis.
Sheng is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and Yale Law School, where he was managing editor of the Yale Journal of International Law. After graduating law school, Sheng served as law clerk to the Hon. Danny J. Boggs on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
The Effects of Loper-Bright on Litigation Against Administrative Agencies
Cleveland Lawyers Chapter
Cleveland, OHDoes Deference Make a Difference? The Effect of Loper Bright and Relentless on Business
Nashville, TNPlenary Session 1: Title IX: Gender Identity and So Much More
Washington, DCPlenary Session 1: Title IX: Gender Identity and So Much More
Mark Chenoweth, Harriet Hageman, Candice Jackson, KC Johnson, Scott Schneider
The Biden administration contends that the U.S. Department of Education’s final Title IX regulations published...
Murthy v. Missouri - Post-Decision SCOTUScast
Brent Skorup, Corbin K. Barthold, Josh Divine, Jenin Younes
On June 26, 2024, the Supreme Court issued their opinion in Murthy v. Missouri. Originally filed...
Understanding the Regulatory Landscape for Private Fund Advisers
David W. Blass, Jennifer Choi, Lindsey Keljo, Russ Ryan
The regulatory landscape for Private Funds has changed dramatically over the past decade, culminating in...
Understanding the Regulatory Landscape for Private Fund Advisers
David W. Blass, Jennifer Choi, Lindsey Keljo, Russ Ryan
The regulatory landscape for Private Funds has changed dramatically over the past decade, culminating in...
Understanding the Regulatory Landscape for Private Fund Advisers
Loper Bright & Relentless - Post-Decision SCOTUScast
Kristin E. Hickman, John J. Vecchione, Ronald M. Levin
On June 28, 2024, the Supreme Court issued its 6-2 decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v....
Litigation Update: Challenges to the SAVE Plan
Abhishek Kambli, Sheng Li
Since its earliest days, the Biden Administration has been clear as to its goal of...