Wendell H. Ford Professor of Law, University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law
Paul E. Salamanca graduated from Dartmouth College in 1983 and Boston College Law School in 1989, where he was a note editor for the Boston College Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif.
Professor Salamanca served as a law clerk to Judge David H. Souter of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and subsequently clerked for Justice Souter on the U.S. Supreme Court. He practiced law with the firm of Debevoise & Plimpton in New York from 1991 to 1994 and was a visiting assistant professor of law at Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans before joining the faculty at the University of Kentucky College of Law in June 1995.
Professor Salamanca writes in the areas of separation of powers, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and privacy. He has published articles on these subjects in the University of Cincinnati Law Review, the Missouri Law Review, the Georgia Law Review and the Kentucky Law Journal, among other places.
From 2019 until 2021, Professor Salamanca served as a Senior Counsel and then as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) of the United States Department of Justice. His duties included supervision of the Natural Resources and Land Acquisition Sections of ENRD.
Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission
Paul S. Atkins was sworn into office as the 34th Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 21, 2025, after being nominated by President Donald J. Trump on January 20, 2025, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 9, 2025.
Prior to returning to the SEC, Chairman Atkins was most recently chief executive of Patomak Global Partners, a company he founded in 2009. Chairman Atkins helped lead efforts to develop best practices for the digital asset sector. He served as an independent director and non-executive chairman of the board of BATS Global Markets, Inc. from 2012 to 2015.
Chairman Atkins was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as a Commissioner of the SEC from 2002 to 2008. During his tenure, he advocated for transparency, consistency, and the use of cost-benefit analysis at the agency. Chairman Atkins also represented the SEC at meetings of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets and the U.S.-EU Transatlantic Economic Council. From 2009 to 2010, he was appointed a member of the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Before serving as an SEC Commissioner, Chairman Atkins was a consultant on securities and investment management industry matters, especially regarding issues of strategy, regulatory compliance, risk management, new product development, and organizational control.
From 1990 to 1994, Chairman Atkins served on the staff of two chairmen of the SEC, Richard C. Breeden and Arthur Levitt, ultimately as chief of staff and counselor, respectively. He received the SEC’s 1992 Law and Policy Award for work regarding corporate governance matters.
Chairman Atkins began his career as a lawyer in New York, focusing on a wide range of corporate transactions for U.S. and foreign clients, including public and private securities offerings and mergers and acquisitions. He was resident for 2½ years in his firm's Paris office and admitted as conseil juridique in France.
A member of the New York and Florida bars, Chairman Atkins received his J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1983 and was Senior Student Writing Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review. He received his A.B., Phi Beta Kappa, from Wofford College in 1980.
Originally from Lillington, North Carolina, Chairman Atkins grew up in Tampa, Florida. He and his wife Sarah have three sons.
Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Matthew D. McGill is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Co-Chair of the firm’s Judgment and Arbitral Award Enforcement and Betting and Gaming practice groups. He also is a member of the firm’s Appellate and Constitutional Law and Sports Law practice groups.
A three-time “Litigator of the Week” (The AmLaw Litigation Daily) Mr. McGill has been ranked by Chambers USA in Nationwide Appellate Law and recognized by The National Law Journal as a “Litigation Trailblazer” for his pioneering work enforcing judgments against foreign sovereigns. In 2020, he successfully negotiated a $335 million resolution of terrorism claims against the Republic of Sudan arising from the 1998 bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Previously, he successfully resolved NML Capital’s multi-billion dollar claims against the Republic of Argentina after what the Financial Times called “the trial of the century in sovereign debt restructuring.” He currently represents clients in public enforcement matters against the governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Pakistan, Spain, and Venezuela.
An accomplished appellate advocate, Mr. McGill has participated in 23 cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, prevailing in 17, including several high-profile triumphs over foreign sovereigns:
Opati v. Republic of Sudan (2020) – Mr. McGill successfully argued before the Supreme Court on behalf of victims of the 1998 bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and secured a ruling that “unanimously reinstated as much as $4.3 billion in punitive damages awarded against Sudan” (New York Times) setting the stage for the resolution of the Embassy bombing claims and the United States’ delisting of Sudan as a state-sponsor of terrorism.
Puerto Rico v. Franklin California Tax-Free Trust (2016) – Arguing before the Supreme Court on behalf of creditors that found themselves on the leading edge of Puerto Rico’s debt crisis, Mr. McGill successfully defended an injunction invalidating Puerto Rico’s emergency municipal bankruptcy legislation. The ruling protected bondholders against the “chance that the territory could write its own bankruptcy plan” (Wall Street Journal) and ensured that Congress would retain control over Puerto Rico’s fiscal rescue.
Bank Markazi v. Peterson (2016) – In this important separation-of-powers case, Mr. McGill represented victims of the 1983 Beirut Marine Corps Barracks Bombing who hold judgments against Iran. Ruling in favor of the Beirut Marines, the Supreme Court rejected arguments from Iran’s central bank that Congress had impermissibly invaded the province of the Judicial Branch by authorizing victims of terrorism to seize certain central bank assets. The ruling allowed nearly $2 billion to be distributed to Iran’s victims.
Argentina v. NML Capital, Ltd. (2014) – The Supreme Court’s decision in this case confirmed the availability of broad discovery to enforce judgments against foreign sovereigns, empowering creditors to seek information concerning the debtor nation’s assets anywhere in the world.
At the intersection of sports and gaming, Mr. McGill led the effort of the Governor of New Jersey to legalize sports wagering in the Garden State, culminating in the Supreme Court’s “historic decision” (Sports Illustrated) in Murphy v. NCAA that struck down the federal law that had prohibited states other than Nevada from legalizing sports betting. By establishing that the federal government has no power to “dictate[] what a state legislature may and may not do,” this “landmark ruling” (USA Today) safeguards the power of States to govern themselves and cleared the path for States across the country to legalize sports wagering.
Later, when the U.S. government announced in 2019 that it was abandoning its longstanding position that the Wire Act of 1961 prohibits only certain forms of sports wagering, Mr. McGill led the legal challenge to the new government policy. Representing the technology provider for the internet-based operations of the New Hampshire Lottery, Mr. McGill secured a judgment that the Wire Act covered only sports betting, and successfully defended that judgment on appeal. The ruling safeguarded “the entire online gambling industry as well as multi-state lotteries such as Powerball” (Am Law Litigation Daily) from an arbitrary change in government policy. For his work toward legalizing sports wagering and confining the Wire Act to its intended scope, Mr. McGill has been recognized by Law360 as a Sports Law “MVP” and “2020 Sports & Entertainment Trailblazer” by The National Law Journal.
Mr. McGill also maintains an active pro bono practice. He currently represents three adoptive couples in a constitutional challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act, and he represents persons born in American Samoa in their constitutional challenge to a federal statute that designates them “non-citizen nationals.”
Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Mr. McGill served as a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice. He clerked for the Hon. Joseph M. McLaughlin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the Hon. John G. Roberts, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Mr. McGill earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from Dartmouth College in 1996. In 2000, he graduated from Stanford Law School, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif.
Mr. McGill is licensed to practice in New York and the District of Columbia and he has been admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, District of Columbia, and Federal Circuits, and the United States District Courts for the District of Columbia and the Southern District of New York.
Publius comes from the pen name Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay used when they wrote 85 publicly printed letters now known as the Federalist Papers. Hamilton chose “Publius” as a name that would represent friends of the newly proposed American republic - Publius Valeria Publicola was a Roman general who helped to found the Roman Republic. The Federalist Society continues the tradition of publishing things under the name Publius in celebration of our constitutional roots and recognition that author credit is not always necessary.
Partner, Baker Hostetler LLP
David Rivkin is a member of the firm's litigation, international and environmental teams and is co-leader of the firm's national appellate practice. He has extensive experience in constitutional, administrative and international law litigation and has been involved in numerous high-profile cases. With his prior experience in the government sector, David draws on a wealth of knowledge when providing compliance advice to companies and handling enforcement proceedings before government agencies on issues arising out of multilateral and unilateral sanctions, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), anti-boycott issues, bankruptcy and financial fraud matters, and environmental and energy issues.
David has developed and implemented legislative, regulatory and litigation initiatives for two presidential administrations. Over the years, he has published hundreds of articles, op-eds, book reviews and book chapters on a variety of international, legal, constitutional, defense, arms control, foreign policy, environmental and energy issues for various newspapers and magazines, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today and The Los Angeles Times, and has been a frequent commentator and guest on TV and radio shows including ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News, NPR and PBS.
Partner, Baker & Hostetler LLP
Lee A. Casey focuses on federal environmental, constitutional and international law and Alien Tort Statute issues. He also advises clients on compliance issues under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), U.S. trade sanctions regimes, and federal ethics requirements. Mr. Casey’s practice includes federal, district and appellate court litigation, as well as matters before federal agencies. Prior to joining BakerHostetler, Mr. Casey was an associate with Hunton & Williams, practicing in international, environmental and constitutional law. From 2004 through 2007 he served as an member of the United Nations Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.
From 1986 to 1993, Mr. Casey served in various capacities in the federal government, including the Office of Legal Policy (1986-90) and the Office of Legal Counsel (1992-93) at the U.S. Department of Justice and served as Deputy Associate General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Energy (1990-92). The Office of Legal Counsel is responsible for advising the Attorney General and the White House on issues of constitutional law and statutory interpretation. The Office of Legal Policy served as a strategic “think tank” for the Reagan Justice Department and was responsible for reviewing candidates for appointments to the federal bench.
Before joining the government in 1986, Mr. Casey was an associate in the Los Angeles firm of Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp, practicing in the litigation section, with an emphasis on copyright, contract and First Amendment issues. From 1984 to 1985, Mr. Casey served as Law Clerk to the Honorable Alex Kozinski, then Chief Judge of the United States Claims Court. From 1982 to 1984, he practiced at the Detroit firm of Dykema Gossett, focusing on corporate, securities, commercial and intellectual property litigation, and from 1990 through 1994, he served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law in Arlington, Virginia.
Among the chapters, articles and papers that Mr. Casey has authored or co-authored are: “International Law and the Nation-State at the U.N.,” Reclaiming the Language of Freedom at the United Nations: A Guide for U.S. Policymakers, The Heritage Foundation (2006) (with David B. Rivkin, Jr.); “The Dangerous Myth of Universal Jurisdiction,” A Country I Do Not Recognize (ed. Robert H. Bork) (2005) (with David B. Rivkin, Jr.); “Leashing the Dogs of War,” The National Interest (Fall 2003) (with David B. Rivkin, Jr.); “The Limits of Legitimacy: The Rome Statute’s Unlawful Application to Non-State Parties,” 44 Va.J.Int’l L. 63 (Fall 2003) (with David B. Rivkin, Jr.); “Devil’s Advocates: The Danger of Judging Lawyers By Their Clients,” Policy Review (Feb. and Mar. 2002) (with David B. Rivkin, Jr.); “The Case Against the International Criminal Court,” 25 Fordham Int’l L.J. 840 (2002); “Europe in the Balance: The Alarmingly Undemocratic Drift of the European Union,” Policy Review (June and July 2001) (with David B. Rivkin Jr.); “Against an International Criminal Court,” Commentary, May 1998 (with David B. Rivkin, Jr.); “Federalism (Cont’d.),” Commentary, December 1996 (with David B. Rivkin, Jr.); “Presidents and War Powers: Another View,” Common Sense, Winter 1996 (with David B. Rivkin, Jr.); “How Binding Are Contracts?” The American Enterprise, Nov./Dec. 1993 (with David B. Rivkin, Jr.); and “Pirate Constitutionalism: An Essay in Self-Government,” 8 J. of L. & Politics 477 (1992).
Mr. Casey is a member of the California, Michigan and District of Columbia Bar Associations.
Professor of Law, University of Colorado Law School
Paul Campos left a position with a Chicago law firm to begin his teaching career at Colorado Law School in 1990. As a scholar, he has focused on constitutional law and legal theory. His graduate studies in English literature, which culminated in a thesis on Shakespeare's King Lear, provided him with rigorous training in literary theory that has been helpful in his current work in constitutional interpretation. He has written several well-regarded law review articles in this area, including "Against Constitutional Theory," published in the Yale Journal of Law and Humanities, and "Advocacy in Scholarship," published in the California Law Review. Both of these articles have been noted as major critiques of the political and normative orientation of current constitutional theory. Professor Campos' regular column for the Rocky Mountain News (distributed by the Scripps Howard News Service), written for a general audience on political, social, and legal issues, has developed a considerable following. A packed house, drawn by his provocative take on a wide range of topics, attended his presentation of the 27th Annual Austin W. Scott, Jr. Lecture entitled "The Obesity Myth & The Lewinsky Scandal," which was based on his latest book project. His second book, Jurismania: The Madness of American Law, critiques the American legal system. Professor Campos also served as the first director of CU law school's Byron R. White Center for the Study of American Constitutional Law.
U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
Frank H. Easterbrook is a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and a Senior Lecturer at the Law School of the University of Chicago. He was Chief Judge from 2006–2013. Before joining the court in 1985, he was the Lee andBrena Freeman Professor of Law at the University of Chicago, where he taught and wrote in antitrust, securities, corporate law, jurisprudence, and criminal procedure. He has published The Economic Structure of Corporate Law (with Daniel R. Fischel) and about 100 scholarly articles. He served as Co-Editor of the Journal of Law and Economics from 1982 to 1991 and as a member of the Judicial Conference’s Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure from 1991 to 1997. Before joining the faculty of the Law School in 1979, Judge Easterbrook was Deputy Solicitor General of the United States. He holds degrees from Swarthmore College (B.A. with high honors, 1970) and the University of Chicago (J.D. cum laude, 1973), and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Law Institute, the Mont Pelerin Society, Phi Beta Kappa, and the Order of the Coif.
President, The Catholic University of America
Professor of Law, University of San Diego School of Law
Maimon Schwarzschild is Professor of Law at the University of San Diego, where he has taught
since 1982. He has published extensively on constitutional law, jurisprudence, law and religion,
and civil rights. He is an English barrister and an American lawyer: he was an attorney in the
Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice from 1976 to 1981 and practised as a
barrister in London in the 1980s. He was a visiting professor at the Sorbonne for several years,
and has been a visiting professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is a Director of the
Institute of Law and Religion at the University of San Diego and a member of the editorial board
of Law and Philosophy. With Gail Heriot he recently co-edited a volume entitled “A Dubious
Expediency: How Race Preferences Damage Higher Education”, published by Encounter Books.
Dean and Professor of Law, Widener University Delaware School of Law
Rod Smolla is Dean and Professor of Law at the Delaware Law School of Widener University, in Wilmington, Delaware. He was previously the 11th President of Furman University, in Greenville, South Carolina, the Dean of the Law School at Washington and Lee University Law School, the Dean of the University of Richmond Law School, the Director of the Institute of Bill of Rights Law at the College of William and Mary, and Senior Fellow and Project Director of the Washington Annenberg Program of Northwestern University. He has also been a faculty member at the DePaul, University of Illinois, and University of Arkansas law schools, and a visiting professor at the Duke, University of Georgia, University of Indiana, Denver University, and University of Melbourne law schools. As an educator, he has been an advocate for experiential learning, including greater emphasis on helping law students develop skills relating to counseling, problem-solving, negotiation, drafting, advocacy, civic engagement, pro bono service, legal ethics, and professionalism. He has emphasized diversity and community outreach and important institutional missions in higher education and legal education.
Smolla is a nationally-known scholar on matters relating to constitutional law, civil rights, freedom of speech, and mass media, particularly matters relating to libel and privacy. He is the author of five multi-volume legal treatises, all published by Thomson Reuters, which are updated twice annually: Law of Defamation; Smolla and Nimmer on Freedom of Speech; Rights and Liabilities in Media Content, Internet, Broadcast, and Print; Federal Civil Rights Acts; and, Law of Lawyer Advertising. He is also author of The First Amendment: Freedom of Expression, Regulation of Mass Media, Freedom of Religion (Carolina Academic Press 1999) (a law school casebook); and co-author of Constitutional Law: Structure and Rights in Our Federal System (6th Edition, 2010, with Dean William Banks). He is the editor each year of the First Amendment Law Handbook, published annually by Thomson Reuters. He was also editor of The Copyright Law Anthology published by Thomson Reuters. He is also the author of may trade and university press books, including Suing the Press: Libel, the Media, and Power (Oxford University Press 1986) (won ABA Silver Gavel Award Certificate of Merit); Jerry Falwell v. Larry Flynt: The First Amendment on Trial (St. Martin's Press 1988); Free Speech in an Open Society (Alfred A. Knopf 1992) (winner of the William O. Douglas Award); Deliberate Intent: A Lawyer Tells the True Story of Murder by the Book (Crown Publishers 1999) (made into a television movie by FX, with Timothy Hutton playing the role of Rod Smolla); The Constitution Goes to College (New York University Press 2010). He was editor of A Year in the Life of the Supreme Court (Duke University Press 1995) (won ABA Civil Gavel Award). Smolla has published over 100 articles in law reviews and other publications.
Smolla has served as Chairman of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Defamation and Privacy Law, as Chairman of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Mass Communications Law, as a member of the American Bar Association Advisory Committee to the Forum on Mass Communications Law, and as a member of the First Amendment Advisory Board to the Media Institute, as the Director of the Annenberg Washington Program Libel Reform Project, and author of the Annenberg Libel Reform Report that emerged from the blue ribbon task force on that project. He served as a Director of the Media General Corporation, and as a Director of the American Arbitration Association. In 2011, he was appointed by Governor Nikki Haley to serve as a Commissioner on the South Carolina Commission of Higher Education, which included within its mission the oversight of all of South Carolina's public universities and colleges, and licensure and programmatic approval for all public and private educational programs within the state.
Smolla has been and remains an active litigator. He has participated as counsel or co-counsel in litigation matters in state and federal courts throughout the nation, and is a frequent advocate, having presented oral argument in numerous state and federal courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States.
Professor of Law, University of Colorado Law School
Paul Campos left a position with a Chicago law firm to begin his teaching career at Colorado Law School in 1990. As a scholar, he has focused on constitutional law and legal theory. His graduate studies in English literature, which culminated in a thesis on Shakespeare's King Lear, provided him with rigorous training in literary theory that has been helpful in his current work in constitutional interpretation. He has written several well-regarded law review articles in this area, including "Against Constitutional Theory," published in the Yale Journal of Law and Humanities, and "Advocacy in Scholarship," published in the California Law Review. Both of these articles have been noted as major critiques of the political and normative orientation of current constitutional theory. Professor Campos' regular column for the Rocky Mountain News (distributed by the Scripps Howard News Service), written for a general audience on political, social, and legal issues, has developed a considerable following. A packed house, drawn by his provocative take on a wide range of topics, attended his presentation of the 27th Annual Austin W. Scott, Jr. Lecture entitled "The Obesity Myth & The Lewinsky Scandal," which was based on his latest book project. His second book, Jurismania: The Madness of American Law, critiques the American legal system. Professor Campos also served as the first director of CU law school's Byron R. White Center for the Study of American Constitutional Law.
U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
Frank H. Easterbrook is a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and a Senior Lecturer at the Law School of the University of Chicago. He was Chief Judge from 2006–2013. Before joining the court in 1985, he was the Lee andBrena Freeman Professor of Law at the University of Chicago, where he taught and wrote in antitrust, securities, corporate law, jurisprudence, and criminal procedure. He has published The Economic Structure of Corporate Law (with Daniel R. Fischel) and about 100 scholarly articles. He served as Co-Editor of the Journal of Law and Economics from 1982 to 1991 and as a member of the Judicial Conference’s Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure from 1991 to 1997. Before joining the faculty of the Law School in 1979, Judge Easterbrook was Deputy Solicitor General of the United States. He holds degrees from Swarthmore College (B.A. with high honors, 1970) and the University of Chicago (J.D. cum laude, 1973), and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Law Institute, the Mont Pelerin Society, Phi Beta Kappa, and the Order of the Coif.
President, The Catholic University of America
Professor of Law, University of San Diego School of Law
Maimon Schwarzschild is Professor of Law at the University of San Diego, where he has taught
since 1982. He has published extensively on constitutional law, jurisprudence, law and religion,
and civil rights. He is an English barrister and an American lawyer: he was an attorney in the
Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice from 1976 to 1981 and practised as a
barrister in London in the 1980s. He was a visiting professor at the Sorbonne for several years,
and has been a visiting professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is a Director of the
Institute of Law and Religion at the University of San Diego and a member of the editorial board
of Law and Philosophy. With Gail Heriot he recently co-edited a volume entitled “A Dubious
Expediency: How Race Preferences Damage Higher Education”, published by Encounter Books.
Dean and Professor of Law, Widener University Delaware School of Law
Rod Smolla is Dean and Professor of Law at the Delaware Law School of Widener University, in Wilmington, Delaware. He was previously the 11th President of Furman University, in Greenville, South Carolina, the Dean of the Law School at Washington and Lee University Law School, the Dean of the University of Richmond Law School, the Director of the Institute of Bill of Rights Law at the College of William and Mary, and Senior Fellow and Project Director of the Washington Annenberg Program of Northwestern University. He has also been a faculty member at the DePaul, University of Illinois, and University of Arkansas law schools, and a visiting professor at the Duke, University of Georgia, University of Indiana, Denver University, and University of Melbourne law schools. As an educator, he has been an advocate for experiential learning, including greater emphasis on helping law students develop skills relating to counseling, problem-solving, negotiation, drafting, advocacy, civic engagement, pro bono service, legal ethics, and professionalism. He has emphasized diversity and community outreach and important institutional missions in higher education and legal education.
Smolla is a nationally-known scholar on matters relating to constitutional law, civil rights, freedom of speech, and mass media, particularly matters relating to libel and privacy. He is the author of five multi-volume legal treatises, all published by Thomson Reuters, which are updated twice annually: Law of Defamation; Smolla and Nimmer on Freedom of Speech; Rights and Liabilities in Media Content, Internet, Broadcast, and Print; Federal Civil Rights Acts; and, Law of Lawyer Advertising. He is also author of The First Amendment: Freedom of Expression, Regulation of Mass Media, Freedom of Religion (Carolina Academic Press 1999) (a law school casebook); and co-author of Constitutional Law: Structure and Rights in Our Federal System (6th Edition, 2010, with Dean William Banks). He is the editor each year of the First Amendment Law Handbook, published annually by Thomson Reuters. He was also editor of The Copyright Law Anthology published by Thomson Reuters. He is also the author of may trade and university press books, including Suing the Press: Libel, the Media, and Power (Oxford University Press 1986) (won ABA Silver Gavel Award Certificate of Merit); Jerry Falwell v. Larry Flynt: The First Amendment on Trial (St. Martin's Press 1988); Free Speech in an Open Society (Alfred A. Knopf 1992) (winner of the William O. Douglas Award); Deliberate Intent: A Lawyer Tells the True Story of Murder by the Book (Crown Publishers 1999) (made into a television movie by FX, with Timothy Hutton playing the role of Rod Smolla); The Constitution Goes to College (New York University Press 2010). He was editor of A Year in the Life of the Supreme Court (Duke University Press 1995) (won ABA Civil Gavel Award). Smolla has published over 100 articles in law reviews and other publications.
Smolla has served as Chairman of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Defamation and Privacy Law, as Chairman of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Mass Communications Law, as a member of the American Bar Association Advisory Committee to the Forum on Mass Communications Law, and as a member of the First Amendment Advisory Board to the Media Institute, as the Director of the Annenberg Washington Program Libel Reform Project, and author of the Annenberg Libel Reform Report that emerged from the blue ribbon task force on that project. He served as a Director of the Media General Corporation, and as a Director of the American Arbitration Association. In 2011, he was appointed by Governor Nikki Haley to serve as a Commissioner on the South Carolina Commission of Higher Education, which included within its mission the oversight of all of South Carolina's public universities and colleges, and licensure and programmatic approval for all public and private educational programs within the state.
Smolla has been and remains an active litigator. He has participated as counsel or co-counsel in litigation matters in state and federal courts throughout the nation, and is a frequent advocate, having presented oral argument in numerous state and federal courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States.
Patrick Hotung Professor of Constitutional Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Randy Barnett is the Patrick Hotung Professor of Constitutional Law at Georgetown University Law Center. He has argued before the United States Supreme Court, tried murder cases to juries as a prosecutor in Chicago, and appeared as a prosecutor in the feature film Inalienable. He is the author of numerous books, including Restoring the Lost Constitution, The Structure of Liberty, Our Republican Constitution, and The Original Meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment. He has published two memoirs, A Life for Liberty: The Making of an American Originalist, and Felony Review: Tales of True Crime and Corruption in Chicago. He is currently working on a new book, Freedom and Flourishing: Libertarianism for the Real World.
Distinguished University Professor, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
University Professor Nelson Lund is the author of Rousseau’s Rejuvenation of Political Philosophy: A New Introduction. He has also written widely in the field of constitutional law, including articles on constitutional interpretation, federalism, separation of powers, the Second Amendment, the Commerce Clause, the Speech or Debate Clause, the Equal Protection Clause, and the Uniformity Clause. In addition, he has published articles in the fields of employment discrimination and civil rights, the legal regulation of medical ethics, and the application of economic analysis to legal institutions and legal ethics.
Professor Lund graduated from St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, after which he received an MA in philosophy from the Catholic University of America and a PhD in political science from Harvard University. He left the faculty of the University of Chicago to attend its law school, where he served as executive editor of the University of Chicago Law Review and chapter chairman of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies. After law school, he held positions at the United States Department of Justice in the Office of the Solicitor General and the Office of Legal Counsel. He also served as a law clerk to the Honorable Patrick E. Higginbotham of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and to the Honorable Sandra Day O'Connor of the United States Supreme Court. Following his clerkship with Justice O'Connor, Professor Lund served in the White House as associate counsel to the president from 1989 to 1992.
Since joining the faculty at George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School, Professor Lund has taught Constitutional Law, Legislation, Federal Election Law, Employment Discrimination, State and Local Government, and seminars on the Second Amendment and on a variety of topics in Jurisprudence.
Intelligent Design & The Law: More Than Meets the Eye?
Cleveland, OhioAn Evening with SEC Commissioner Paul S. Atkins
Nashville, TennesseeFinding Terrorist Needles: The Automated Targeting System
Seth Stodder
On any given day, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the agency within the Department...
SCOTUScast 3-5-08 featuring Matt McGill
Matthew McGill
On January 16, 2008, the Court decided the case of New York State Board of...
Merit Selection and School Reform
Publius
Few areas of law are the source of more contentious litigation than education cases, particularly...
State AGs on Antitrust and Interstate Comity
Amicus curiae, or "friend of the court", briefs offer non-parties to a case an opportunity...
State AGs on Global Warming Litigation
David B. Rivkin, Lee A. Casey
Many state Attorneys General across the country are becoming increasingly involved in global climate change...
Panel III: American Law Schools: Envy of the World or General Motors Before the Fall?
Paul Campos, Frank H. Easterbrook, John Garvey, Maimon Schwarzschild, George Shepherd, Rodney Smolla
This panel discussion took place on January 4, 2008, at the Federalist Society's 10th Annual...
Panel III: American Law Schools: Envy of the World or General Motors Before the Fall?
Paul Campos, Frank H. Easterbrook, John Garvey, Maimon Schwarzschild, George Shepherd, Rodney Smolla
This panel discussion took place on January 4, 2008, at the Federalist Society's 10th Annual...
Debate: Is the DC Gun Ban Unconstitutional?
Randy E. Barnett, Nelson Lund, David Yassky
This debate took place on January 4, 2008, at the Federalist Society's 10th Annual Faculty...