Shareholder & Co-Chair of the Workplace Policy Institute, Littler Mendelson P.C.
Alexander T. MacDonald advises employers on all aspects of the employment and labor landscape, focusing on emerging legislation and regulation. He has extensive experience advising businesses on worker classification, arbitration, the administrative and regulatory process, and the future of work. He frequently writes, publishes, and speaks on these subjects. His work has been cited by scholars and appellate courts. He is a recognized voice for the management perspective.
Alexander is a co-chair of the Workplace Policy Institute (WPI) team. With WPI, he advises employers on legislative, administrative, and regulatory developments at the state and federal level. He advocates for employers in the regulatory and administrative process. He also helps employers protect their businesses by understanding and anticipating cutting-edge legal developments.
Alexander also has extensive experience in traditional labor law. He represents management in all aspects of labor-management relations, including unfair labor practice charges, grievance arbitrations, representation elections, contract negotiations, and related litigation, including litigation in the U.S. courts of appeals.
Before joining Littler, Alexander served as the director, future of work, for a major technology company. He also worked in a national labor and employment law firm and a major public-sector general counsel’s office. He was a law clerk to the senior judges in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.
He is also a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. He served in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. In law school, he graduated first in his class
Tammy McCutchen is a leading authority on federal and state wage-hour laws and prevailing wage laws. She counsels businesses on wage-hour compliance, including conducting internal audits on independent contractor status, overtime exemptions, and other pay practices. She also represents employers during investigations by the U.S. Department of Labor and serves as an expert witness in wage-hour class actions. She was a founding officer of ComplianceHR, a law and technology company, where she created AI-based applications to evaluate independent contractor and overtime exempt status.
Ms. McCutchen served as Administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, appointed by President Bush and confirmed by the Senate in 2001. She was the primary architect of the 2004 revisions to the overtime exemption regulations, the first major changes to the regulations in 55 years.
Before joining DOL, she was senior counsel for the Hershey Company in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Ms. McCutchen has been a volunteer leader of the Federalist Society since 1989. She served in leadership roles for the Northwestern Student Chapter and Chicago Lawyers Chapter. She currently serves in leadership for the Labor & Employment Practice Group, the Regulatory Transparency Project, and the Knoxville, TN Lawyers Chapter. She served on the Editorial Advisory Board of Law360, the Labor Committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Small Business Legal Advisory Board of the National Federation of Independent Business, and a Policy Fellow at the ACU Foundation.
Ms. McCutchen is a graduate of Western Illinois University and Northwestern University School of Law. She clerked for the Hon. Daniel Manion on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Vice President and Executive Director, Napa Legal Institute
Mary Margaret serves as Napa Legal Institute's Vice President & Executive Director. She joined Napa Legal in 2019, serving most recently as the organization’s Senior Counsel. Before working at Napa Legal, Mary Margaret was an associate attorney with a Chicago-based law firm which specialized in nonprofits and tax-exempt organizations. While there, Mary Margaret helped clients with legal guidance on matters including corporate formation, governance, and tax and regulatory compliance. Prior to serving the nonprofit sector, Mary Margaret focused her career in finance. While in law school, she worked at the CME Group and Dimensional Fund Advisors on financial compliance matters, implementation of U.S. sanctions programs, and cyber-security risk management. She is particularly interested in the intersection of business and law and helping nonprofit organizations navigate the complexities involved in that area. Mary Margaret attended Texas A&M University on a National Merit Scholarship and received an undergraduate degree with honors in Finance and Business. Mary Margaret earned CALI awards for her work in Constitutional Lawand Administrative Law while studying at Chicago Kent Law School. Mary Margaret also studied Spanish law during a semester at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, and she received a certificate in Legal Spanish from American University Washington College of Law. She is an ADF Blackstone Fellow.
Counsel, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
Amanda Salz is counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, where her practice focuses on First Amendment litigation at both the trial and appellate levels. She is also a member of the Federalist Society’s Religious Liberties Executive Committee.
Before joining Becket, Amanda worked as an associate at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. As a member of the firm’s appellate group, Amanda litigated many cases involving constitutional and administrative issues. In addition to her experience in private practice, Amanda clerked for the Honorable Andrew S. Oldham of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the Honorable Reed C. O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
Partner, Clement & Murphy, PLLC
Paul served as the 43rd Solicitor General of the United States from June 2005 until June 2008. Before his confirmation as Solicitor General, he served as Acting Solicitor General for nearly a year and as Principal Deputy Solicitor General for over three years.
Paul has argued over 100 cases before the United States Supreme Court, including McConnell v. FEC, Tennessee v. Lane, United States v. Booker, MGM v. Grokster, Hobby Lobby v. Burwell, Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, Rucho v. Common Cause, Facebook v. Duguid, and TransUnion v. Ramirez. Paul has argued more Supreme Court cases since 2000 than any lawyer in or out of government. He has also argued many important cases in the lower courts, including Walker v. Cheney, United States v. Moussaoui and NFL v. Brady.
Paul’s practice focuses on appellate matters, constitutional litigation and strategic counseling. He represents a broad array of clients in the Supreme Court and in federal and state appellate courts. Last year, for example, he successfully argued Supreme Court cases involving significant issues of energy regulation, statutory interpretation, state sovereign immunity and Article III standing, and successfully argued a trademark appeal in the Fourth Circuit, and a constitutional appeal before the en banc Eleventh Circuit.
Paul focuses on high-stakes appeals. In recent years, he successfully defended a $1.2 billion jury verdict for clients in a Tenth Circuit case, while securing the reversal of an over $2 billion jury verdict for another client in the Seventh Circuit and the approval of a nearly $1 billion dollar class action settlement in the Third Circuit. He has initiated major administrative law challenges and constitutional litigation against the federal government, such as the successful challenge to the HHS drug-pricing rule and threatened challenges that led to the withdrawal of the Treasury Department’s proposed cryptocurrency regulations. He also counsels clients on a variety of strategic legal questions, whether arising from pending legislation, government inquiries or ongoing litigation.
Paul has undertaken substantial pro bono engagements in the Supreme Court, such as twice successfully representing the defendant in Bond v. United States and successfully representing the Omaha Tribe in Nebraska v. Parker, the guardian ad litem in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, the defendant in Sekhar v. United States, a high school football coach in Kennedy v. Bremerton, and the Little Sisters of the Poor. Paul’s pro bono representation also precipitated the federal government’s confession of error in United States v. Rojas.
Following law school, Paul clerked for Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court. After his clerkships, he went on to serve as Chief Counsel of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Federalism and Property Rights.
Paul is a Distinguished Lecturer in Law at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he has taught in various capacities since 1998. He also serves as a Senior Fellow of the Law Center’s Supreme Court Institute. He is the Justice Joseph Story Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at the Gray Center at Scalia Law School.
Senior Fellow, Governance Studies, The Brookings Institution
William A. Galston holds the Ezra K. Zilkha Chair in the Brookings Institution’s Governance Studies Program, where he serves as a senior fellow. A former policy advisor to President Clinton and presidential candidates, Galston is an expert on domestic policy, political campaigns, and elections. His current research focuses on designing a new social contract and the implications of political polarization.
He is also College Park Professor at the University of Maryland. Prior to January 2006, he was Saul Stern Professor and Acting Dean at the School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, director of the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, founding director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), and executive director of the National Commission on Civic Renewal, co-chaired by William Bennett and Sam Nunn. A participant in six presidential campaigns, he served from 1993 to 1995 as Deputy Assistant to President Clinton for Domestic Policy. From 1969 to 1970 Galston served as a member of the United States Marine Corps and was honorably discharged.
Galston is the author of eight books and more than 100 articles in the fields of political theory, public policy, and American politics. His most recent books are Liberal Pluralism (Cambridge, 2002), The Practice of Liberal Pluralism (Cambridge, 2004), and Public Matters (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005). A winner of the American Political Science Association’s Hubert H. Humphrey Award, he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2004.
Galston has appeared on all the principal television networks and is a frequent commentator on NPR. He writes a weekly column for the Wall Street Journal.
President and CEO, Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Rachel Laser is the President and CEO at Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
As a religious minority – she was raised as a Reform Jew – Rachel personally understands how much it matters that our laws treat everyone fairly and equally. She is an advocate for racial justice and has led workshops, given speeches and worked with schools and universities to challenge racism and expose privilege.
Rachel has written op-eds for major publications, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, and appeared on high-profile media outlets, including MSNBC, Fox News, CNBC, and ABC.
Before joining AU, Rachel served as the deputy director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (the RAC), running interfaith campaigns on LGBTQ+ equality, immigration reform, gun-violence prevention, and paid sick, family and medical leave.
She directed the Culture Program at Third Way, a Washington, D.C., progressive think tank specializing in understanding and reaching moderates. There, she launched the “Come Let Us Reason Together” initiative, which mobilized evangelical Christians and liberals to find shared values and work together on abortion and LGBTQ+ equality.
As senior counsel at the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), Rachel founded and ran the Pharmacy Refusal Project, which put protections in place to ensure that birth control prescriptions are filled – without delay or judgment. She advocated for judicial appointments with a proven record on women’s equality, and lobbied in favor of reproductive health bills.
Rachel is a graduate of Harvard University and the University of Chicago Law School. She is also a former national board member of Reproductive Freedom for All (previously NARAL Pro-Choice America).
Rachel lives in Washington, D.C. She and her husband have three children and a dog, Teddy.
President, March for Life Education and Defense Fund
Jennie Bradley Lichter is President of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, the iconic organization committed to restoring a culture of life in the United States most notably through the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. – the world’s largest annual human rights event – and through the growing State March for Life program.
Jennie has wide-ranging legal and policy experience in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, including at the highest levels of the federal government. In the first Trump Administration, she served in the White House as a Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council (DPC). In that role she supervised rulemaking and policy efforts on a vast array of issues arising from the Departments of Education, Labor, Health & Human Services, Justice, Housing & Urban Development, Interior, and others. Jennie led policy initiatives across the federal government to protect religious liberty, encourage faith-based partnerships, and defend the dignity of life. She also led DPC’s work on regulatory and administrative state reform.
Prior to her White House service, Jennie worked on policy issues and federal judicial (including Supreme Court) confirmation efforts in the Office of Legal Policy at the U.S. Department of Justice.
Jennie has worked in higher education as Deputy General Counsel for The Catholic University of America, where was also a Fellow at the Center for Religious Liberty in the University’s Columbus School of Law. She previously served as in-house counsel for the Archdiocese of Washington, and as an associate at Jones Day.
Jennie clerked for Judge David B. Sentelle on the D.C. Circuit and for Judge Steven M. Colloton on the Eighth Circuit in Des Moines. She graduated from the University of Notre Dame and from Harvard Law School. Prior to law school she was a research assistant in Bioethics at a D.C. think tank, and earned a graduate degree in Theology & Religious Studies from the University of Cambridge.
President, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty; Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Center for Religious Liberty, Catholic University; Visiting Professor, Harvard Law School
Mark joined the Becket team in 2011 and splits his time as Associate Professor at The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, and as Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School. Mark teaches constitutional law, religious liberty, torts, and evidence. He has been voted Teacher of the Year three years in a row by the Law School’s Student Bar Association.
Mark has broad experience litigating First Amendment religious exercise and free speech cases. He has represented the winning parties in a variety of Supreme Court First Amendment cases including Hobby Lobby, Little Sisters, Wheaton College, and Holt. In January 2014, Mark argued before the Supreme Court in McCullen v. Coakley, a First Amendment challenge to a Massachusetts speech restriction outside of abortion clinics. The Justices ruled in favor of his clients 9-0. Mark also led a successful eight-year litigation battle against Governor Blagojevich’s effort to force religious pharmacists to distribute the morning-after and week-after pills.
Mark’s academic writing focuses on the First and Fourteenth Amendments, and has appeared in a variety of prestigious journals, including the Harvard Law Review.
Mark is a widely sought after speaker on constitutional issues, particularly concerning abortion and the First Amendment. Professor Rienzi has been invited to discuss these issues at Harvard Law School, Columbia University Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, Boston College Law School, Notre Dame Law School, the National Press Club, and the Capitol. He has been quoted on constitutional law issues on NPR, in the Washington Times, The New York Daily News, and the Chicago Sun-Times. Mark has also been featured on the Kelly File, Fox News Sunday, Your World with Neil Cavuto, Geraldo at Large, CNN Tonight, CNN Live, Andrea Mitchell Reports, and Wall Street Journal Live.
Prior to joining Becket, Mark served as counsel for the litigation department and the intellectual property litigation practice group of WilmerHale LLP. His practice focused on complex civil and appellate litigation with a particular emphasis on intellectual property and First Amendment issues. Prior to joining WilmerHale, he served as law clerk to the Hon. Stephen F. Williams, senior circuit judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Prior to that, Mark was an editor of the Harvard Law Review, and earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School and B.A. from Princeton University, both with honors.
Partner, Rutan & Tucker LLP
Dave Lanferman is a land use lawyer, whose practice emphasizes real estate development, land use approvals, regulatory and development mitigation fees and a wide range of litigation involving regulatory requirements. His land use expertise includes the California Mitigation Fee Act, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and regulatory compliance, environmental mitigation, planning, zoning and subdivision approvals and litigation, development impact fees, and appropriate conditions of approval.
He is an editorial advisor and update author for CEB’s authoritative treatise on California Land Use Practice, and has served as Vice Chair of the State Bar’s Real Property Law Section. Dave’s clients include developers, property owners, home builders, public agencies, public interest groups, and industry associations.
Partner, Marzulla Law
Ms. Marzulla served as an Attorney-Advisor and as a trial lawyer prosecuting employment violations in the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice. Later, Nancie joined the law firm of Verner, Liipfert (now DLA Piper), where she litigated complex airline and other civil matters. In 1991, She founded Defenders of Property Rights, where she was involved in high profile takings cases in the Supreme Court, federal courts of appeal, and trial courts. Ms. Marzulla also worked at the International Labor Organization in Geneva, Switzerland doing comparative legal research.
Nancie G. Marzulla is a founding partner of Marzulla Law, ranked as one of the nation’s “Best Law Firms,” and a “Tier One” environmental litigation firm by the U.S. News and World Report. Nancie’s litigation practice concentrates on water rights, takings, and contract claims in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. She also has extensive experience in handling matters involving property, water, environmental law, Indian tribal claims, development, and natural resources in trial courts, courts of appeal, the Supreme Court, and in international tribunals. Nancie also represents corporate clients in enforcement or permitting disputes with federal regulatory agencies.
Vice President and Executive Director, Napa Legal Institute
Mary Margaret serves as Napa Legal Institute's Vice President & Executive Director. She joined Napa Legal in 2019, serving most recently as the organization’s Senior Counsel. Before working at Napa Legal, Mary Margaret was an associate attorney with a Chicago-based law firm which specialized in nonprofits and tax-exempt organizations. While there, Mary Margaret helped clients with legal guidance on matters including corporate formation, governance, and tax and regulatory compliance. Prior to serving the nonprofit sector, Mary Margaret focused her career in finance. While in law school, she worked at the CME Group and Dimensional Fund Advisors on financial compliance matters, implementation of U.S. sanctions programs, and cyber-security risk management. She is particularly interested in the intersection of business and law and helping nonprofit organizations navigate the complexities involved in that area. Mary Margaret attended Texas A&M University on a National Merit Scholarship and received an undergraduate degree with honors in Finance and Business. Mary Margaret earned CALI awards for her work in Constitutional Lawand Administrative Law while studying at Chicago Kent Law School. Mary Margaret also studied Spanish law during a semester at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, and she received a certificate in Legal Spanish from American University Washington College of Law. She is an ADF Blackstone Fellow.
Counsel, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
Amanda Salz is counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, where her practice focuses on First Amendment litigation at both the trial and appellate levels. She is also a member of the Federalist Society’s Religious Liberties Executive Committee.
Before joining Becket, Amanda worked as an associate at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. As a member of the firm’s appellate group, Amanda litigated many cases involving constitutional and administrative issues. In addition to her experience in private practice, Amanda clerked for the Honorable Andrew S. Oldham of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the Honorable Reed C. O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
Vice President and Executive Director, Napa Legal Institute
Mary Margaret serves as Napa Legal Institute's Vice President & Executive Director. She joined Napa Legal in 2019, serving most recently as the organization’s Senior Counsel. Before working at Napa Legal, Mary Margaret was an associate attorney with a Chicago-based law firm which specialized in nonprofits and tax-exempt organizations. While there, Mary Margaret helped clients with legal guidance on matters including corporate formation, governance, and tax and regulatory compliance. Prior to serving the nonprofit sector, Mary Margaret focused her career in finance. While in law school, she worked at the CME Group and Dimensional Fund Advisors on financial compliance matters, implementation of U.S. sanctions programs, and cyber-security risk management. She is particularly interested in the intersection of business and law and helping nonprofit organizations navigate the complexities involved in that area. Mary Margaret attended Texas A&M University on a National Merit Scholarship and received an undergraduate degree with honors in Finance and Business. Mary Margaret earned CALI awards for her work in Constitutional Lawand Administrative Law while studying at Chicago Kent Law School. Mary Margaret also studied Spanish law during a semester at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, and she received a certificate in Legal Spanish from American University Washington College of Law. She is an ADF Blackstone Fellow.
Counsel, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
Amanda Salz is counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, where her practice focuses on First Amendment litigation at both the trial and appellate levels. She is also a member of the Federalist Society’s Religious Liberties Executive Committee.
Before joining Becket, Amanda worked as an associate at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. As a member of the firm’s appellate group, Amanda litigated many cases involving constitutional and administrative issues. In addition to her experience in private practice, Amanda clerked for the Honorable Andrew S. Oldham of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the Honorable Reed C. O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
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.
Partner, Clement & Murphy, PLLC
Paul served as the 43rd Solicitor General of the United States from June 2005 until June 2008. Before his confirmation as Solicitor General, he served as Acting Solicitor General for nearly a year and as Principal Deputy Solicitor General for over three years.
Paul has argued over 100 cases before the United States Supreme Court, including McConnell v. FEC, Tennessee v. Lane, United States v. Booker, MGM v. Grokster, Hobby Lobby v. Burwell, Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, Rucho v. Common Cause, Facebook v. Duguid, and TransUnion v. Ramirez. Paul has argued more Supreme Court cases since 2000 than any lawyer in or out of government. He has also argued many important cases in the lower courts, including Walker v. Cheney, United States v. Moussaoui and NFL v. Brady.
Paul’s practice focuses on appellate matters, constitutional litigation and strategic counseling. He represents a broad array of clients in the Supreme Court and in federal and state appellate courts. Last year, for example, he successfully argued Supreme Court cases involving significant issues of energy regulation, statutory interpretation, state sovereign immunity and Article III standing, and successfully argued a trademark appeal in the Fourth Circuit, and a constitutional appeal before the en banc Eleventh Circuit.
Paul focuses on high-stakes appeals. In recent years, he successfully defended a $1.2 billion jury verdict for clients in a Tenth Circuit case, while securing the reversal of an over $2 billion jury verdict for another client in the Seventh Circuit and the approval of a nearly $1 billion dollar class action settlement in the Third Circuit. He has initiated major administrative law challenges and constitutional litigation against the federal government, such as the successful challenge to the HHS drug-pricing rule and threatened challenges that led to the withdrawal of the Treasury Department’s proposed cryptocurrency regulations. He also counsels clients on a variety of strategic legal questions, whether arising from pending legislation, government inquiries or ongoing litigation.
Paul has undertaken substantial pro bono engagements in the Supreme Court, such as twice successfully representing the defendant in Bond v. United States and successfully representing the Omaha Tribe in Nebraska v. Parker, the guardian ad litem in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, the defendant in Sekhar v. United States, a high school football coach in Kennedy v. Bremerton, and the Little Sisters of the Poor. Paul’s pro bono representation also precipitated the federal government’s confession of error in United States v. Rojas.
Following law school, Paul clerked for Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court. After his clerkships, he went on to serve as Chief Counsel of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Federalism and Property Rights.
Paul is a Distinguished Lecturer in Law at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he has taught in various capacities since 1998. He also serves as a Senior Fellow of the Law Center’s Supreme Court Institute. He is the Justice Joseph Story Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at the Gray Center at Scalia Law School.
Senior Fellow, Governance Studies, The Brookings Institution
William A. Galston holds the Ezra K. Zilkha Chair in the Brookings Institution’s Governance Studies Program, where he serves as a senior fellow. A former policy advisor to President Clinton and presidential candidates, Galston is an expert on domestic policy, political campaigns, and elections. His current research focuses on designing a new social contract and the implications of political polarization.
He is also College Park Professor at the University of Maryland. Prior to January 2006, he was Saul Stern Professor and Acting Dean at the School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, director of the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, founding director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), and executive director of the National Commission on Civic Renewal, co-chaired by William Bennett and Sam Nunn. A participant in six presidential campaigns, he served from 1993 to 1995 as Deputy Assistant to President Clinton for Domestic Policy. From 1969 to 1970 Galston served as a member of the United States Marine Corps and was honorably discharged.
Galston is the author of eight books and more than 100 articles in the fields of political theory, public policy, and American politics. His most recent books are Liberal Pluralism (Cambridge, 2002), The Practice of Liberal Pluralism (Cambridge, 2004), and Public Matters (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005). A winner of the American Political Science Association’s Hubert H. Humphrey Award, he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2004.
Galston has appeared on all the principal television networks and is a frequent commentator on NPR. He writes a weekly column for the Wall Street Journal.
President and CEO, Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Rachel Laser is the President and CEO at Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
As a religious minority – she was raised as a Reform Jew – Rachel personally understands how much it matters that our laws treat everyone fairly and equally. She is an advocate for racial justice and has led workshops, given speeches and worked with schools and universities to challenge racism and expose privilege.
Rachel has written op-eds for major publications, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, and appeared on high-profile media outlets, including MSNBC, Fox News, CNBC, and ABC.
Before joining AU, Rachel served as the deputy director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (the RAC), running interfaith campaigns on LGBTQ+ equality, immigration reform, gun-violence prevention, and paid sick, family and medical leave.
She directed the Culture Program at Third Way, a Washington, D.C., progressive think tank specializing in understanding and reaching moderates. There, she launched the “Come Let Us Reason Together” initiative, which mobilized evangelical Christians and liberals to find shared values and work together on abortion and LGBTQ+ equality.
As senior counsel at the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), Rachel founded and ran the Pharmacy Refusal Project, which put protections in place to ensure that birth control prescriptions are filled – without delay or judgment. She advocated for judicial appointments with a proven record on women’s equality, and lobbied in favor of reproductive health bills.
Rachel is a graduate of Harvard University and the University of Chicago Law School. She is also a former national board member of Reproductive Freedom for All (previously NARAL Pro-Choice America).
Rachel lives in Washington, D.C. She and her husband have three children and a dog, Teddy.
President, March for Life Education and Defense Fund
Jennie Bradley Lichter is President of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, the iconic organization committed to restoring a culture of life in the United States most notably through the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. – the world’s largest annual human rights event – and through the growing State March for Life program.
Jennie has wide-ranging legal and policy experience in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, including at the highest levels of the federal government. In the first Trump Administration, she served in the White House as a Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council (DPC). In that role she supervised rulemaking and policy efforts on a vast array of issues arising from the Departments of Education, Labor, Health & Human Services, Justice, Housing & Urban Development, Interior, and others. Jennie led policy initiatives across the federal government to protect religious liberty, encourage faith-based partnerships, and defend the dignity of life. She also led DPC’s work on regulatory and administrative state reform.
Prior to her White House service, Jennie worked on policy issues and federal judicial (including Supreme Court) confirmation efforts in the Office of Legal Policy at the U.S. Department of Justice.
Jennie has worked in higher education as Deputy General Counsel for The Catholic University of America, where was also a Fellow at the Center for Religious Liberty in the University’s Columbus School of Law. She previously served as in-house counsel for the Archdiocese of Washington, and as an associate at Jones Day.
Jennie clerked for Judge David B. Sentelle on the D.C. Circuit and for Judge Steven M. Colloton on the Eighth Circuit in Des Moines. She graduated from the University of Notre Dame and from Harvard Law School. Prior to law school she was a research assistant in Bioethics at a D.C. think tank, and earned a graduate degree in Theology & Religious Studies from the University of Cambridge.
President, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty; Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Center for Religious Liberty, Catholic University; Visiting Professor, Harvard Law School
Mark joined the Becket team in 2011 and splits his time as Associate Professor at The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, and as Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School. Mark teaches constitutional law, religious liberty, torts, and evidence. He has been voted Teacher of the Year three years in a row by the Law School’s Student Bar Association.
Mark has broad experience litigating First Amendment religious exercise and free speech cases. He has represented the winning parties in a variety of Supreme Court First Amendment cases including Hobby Lobby, Little Sisters, Wheaton College, and Holt. In January 2014, Mark argued before the Supreme Court in McCullen v. Coakley, a First Amendment challenge to a Massachusetts speech restriction outside of abortion clinics. The Justices ruled in favor of his clients 9-0. Mark also led a successful eight-year litigation battle against Governor Blagojevich’s effort to force religious pharmacists to distribute the morning-after and week-after pills.
Mark’s academic writing focuses on the First and Fourteenth Amendments, and has appeared in a variety of prestigious journals, including the Harvard Law Review.
Mark is a widely sought after speaker on constitutional issues, particularly concerning abortion and the First Amendment. Professor Rienzi has been invited to discuss these issues at Harvard Law School, Columbia University Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, Boston College Law School, Notre Dame Law School, the National Press Club, and the Capitol. He has been quoted on constitutional law issues on NPR, in the Washington Times, The New York Daily News, and the Chicago Sun-Times. Mark has also been featured on the Kelly File, Fox News Sunday, Your World with Neil Cavuto, Geraldo at Large, CNN Tonight, CNN Live, Andrea Mitchell Reports, and Wall Street Journal Live.
Prior to joining Becket, Mark served as counsel for the litigation department and the intellectual property litigation practice group of WilmerHale LLP. His practice focused on complex civil and appellate litigation with a particular emphasis on intellectual property and First Amendment issues. Prior to joining WilmerHale, he served as law clerk to the Hon. Stephen F. Williams, senior circuit judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Prior to that, Mark was an editor of the Harvard Law Review, and earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School and B.A. from Princeton University, both with honors.
Loper and Labor Law: Implications of a Possible Decrease in Deference on New Rulemaking
Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, CA - Post-Argument SCOTUScast
David P. Lanferman, Nancie G. Marzulla
On January 9, 2024, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Sheetz v. County...
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For four weeks last quarter, the world gathered to negotiate modifications to the Radio Regulations,...
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The Meaning of “Regulate Commerce” to the Constitution’s Ratifiers: An Update
Constitutional Background The constitutional justification for much of the federal regulatory and administrative apparatus rests...
Litigation Update: Chen et al v. Hillsdale College & Buettner-Hartsoe v. Baltimore Lutheran
Mary Margaret Bush, Amanda Salz
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 applies to educational institutions at all levels...
Litigation Update: Chen et al v. Hillsdale College & Buettner-Hartsoe v. Baltimore Lutheran
Mary Margaret Bush, Amanda Salz
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 applies to educational institutions at all levels...
Litigation Update: Chen et al v. Hillsdale College & Buettner-Hartsoe v. Baltimore Lutheran
Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce - Post-Argument SCOTUScast
John J. Vecchione
On January 17, 2024 the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo...
Three Decades On: RFRA's Modern Pressure Points
Paul D. Clement, William A. Galston, Rachel Laser, Jennie Bradley Lichter, Mark L. Rienzi
In-person registration is now closed Livestream is available for virtual attendees. Join us on Wednesday,...
Three Decades On: RFRA's Modern Pressure Points
Washington, DC