Trial Attorney, Civil Rights Division, United States Department of Justice (incoming)
Adam Griffin is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law. During law school, he served as a research assistant to Professor Stephen E. Sachs and UNC Law Dean Martin Brinkley. After law school, he spent two years litigating for liberty at the Institute for Justice as an inaugural Law and Liberty Fellow. He served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Richard E. Myers in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, and is now a separation-of-powers attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation.
Distinguished Fellow, Economic Policy Institute
Richard Rothstein is a Distinguished Fellow of the Economic Policy Institute and a Senior Fellow (emeritus) at the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. He is the author of The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, which recovers a forgotten history of how federal, state, and local policy explicitly segregated metropolitan areas nationwide, creating racially homogenous neighborhoods in patterns that violate the Constitution and require remediation. He is also the author of many other articles and books on race and education, which can be found on his web page at the Economic Policy Institute: http://www.epi.org/people/richard-rothstein/. Previous influential books include Class and Schools: Using Social, Economic and Educational Reform to Close the Black–White Achievement Gap and Grading Education: Getting Accountability Right. He welcomes questions and comments at [email protected].
Elisabeth H. and Granville S. Ridley Jr. Chair in Law, Vanderbilt University Law School
Christopher Serkin teaches and writes about land use and property law. His provocative scholarship addresses local governments, property theory, the Takings Clause, land use regulations and eminent domain. His articles have appeared in the Chicago, Columbia, Michigan, New York University, Notre Dame and Northwestern University law reviews, among others. He is the author of The Law of Property, a Concept and Insights book published in 2013, and a co-editor of a leading casebook, Land Use Controls (5th edition, 2020) with Robert Ellickson, Vicki Been and Roderick Hills. Professor Serkin was the law school's associate dean for academic affairs from 2019 to 2021 and its associate dean for research from 2015 to 2017. Before joining Vanderbilt’s law faculty, Serkin taught at Brooklyn Law School from 2005-13. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago, and New York University. He began his academic career at New York University School of Law, where he taught for two years as an acting assistant professor in its Lawyering Program. After earning his J.D. at the University of Michigan School of Law, where he was a Clarence Darrow Scholar, Dean Serkin was a law clerk for Judge John M. Walker Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and for Judge J. Garvan Murtha of the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont. Before joining the legal academy, he practiced law as an associate with Davis Polk & Wardwell.
John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law and Associate Dean for External Engagement, University of Notre Dame Law School
Nicole Stelle Garnett is the John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School, where she also serves as the Associate Dean for External Engagement and directs the Notre Dame Education Law Project. Her teaching and research focus on education law and policy, religious liberty, and topics related to property law (especially land use and urban development policies). In addition to dozens of articles on these subjects, she is the author of Lost Classroom, Lost Community: Catholic Schools' Importance in Urban America (University of Chicago Press, 2014) and Ordering the City: Land Use, Policing and the Restoration of Urban America (Yale University Press, 2009).
Garnett received her B.A. with distinction in Political Science from Stanford University and her J.D. from Yale Law School. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable Morris S. Arnold of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and for Associate Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court of the United States. Before joining the law school faculty in 1999, she worked for two years as a staff attorney at the Institute for Justice, a non-profit public-interest law firm in Washington, D.C., where she helped to defend the constitutionality of the nation's first private-school-choice programs.
At Notre Dame, Garnett is a faculty fellow in the Institute for Educational Initiatives, Kellogg Institute for International Studies, Fitzgerald Institute for Real Estate, and deNicola Center for Ethics and Culture. She also is an elected member of the American Law Institute and a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
Senior Associate, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
Brad Hubbard is a senior associate in the Dallas office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. His is a member of the firm’s Appellate and Constitutional Law Practice Group.
Mr. Hubbard was recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® as “One to Watch” in Appellate Practice (2022).
Mr. Hubbard is a trusted appellate advocate and counselor. He has represented clients in their most complex, high-stakes, time-sensitive matters, appearing before U.S. Supreme Court, the Texas Supreme Court, and countless state and federal courts of appeals. Mr. Hubbard has presented argument before the Fifth and Tenth Circuits; second-chaired arguments in the Texas Supreme Court, the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Circuits, and the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Texas Courts of Appeals; and conducted direct and cross-examination of witnesses at trial. Mr. Hubbard has successfully litigated cases involving arbitration, antitrust, class actions, the constitution, contracts, products liability, trade secrets, the False Claims Act, RICO, and state and federal criminal law.
Mr. Hubbard’s most significant victories include reversing the largest judgment in the history of the False Claims Act in the Fifth Circuit; reversing a half-billion dollar jury verdict in the San Antonio Court of Appeals; reversing an eight-figure verdict in the Dallas Court of Appeals; reversing a seven-figure verdict in the Texas Supreme Court; and prevailing in several eight-figure arbitration cases in the Fifth Circuit. Mr. Hubbard has also helped clients preserve significant wins in the U.S. Supreme Court, the Texas Supreme Court, and the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Circuits. His pro bono victories include persuading a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate his client’s religious-liberty claims against two Kansas police officers; protecting the First Amendment rights of the Kountze ISD cheerleaders; and successfully advocating on behalf of crime victims as amici curiae in a number of important criminal cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Associate Attorney, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
Elizabeth A. Kiernan is an associate in the Dallas office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She currently practices with the firm’s Appellate and Constitutional Law Practice Group and has represented clients in trial and appellate proceedings in state and federal courts.
Ms. Kiernan graduated with Honors from the University of Chicago Law School in 2017. While at the Law School, she served as a Comments Editor of The University of Chicago Law Review. Ms. Kiernan earned her Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude from the University of Alabama. She double majored in English and Political Science and was elected Phi Beta Kappa.
Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Kiernan served as a law clerk to the Honorable Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the Honorable William H. Pryor Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. She also served as Special Counsel to U.S. Senator Josh Hawley for the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
Ms. Kiernan is admitted to practice in Texas and the District of Columbia. She is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits, and the U.S. District Courts for the Northern District of Texas and Southern District of Texas.
Senior Associate, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
Brad Hubbard is a senior associate in the Dallas office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. His is a member of the firm’s Appellate and Constitutional Law Practice Group.
Mr. Hubbard was recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® as “One to Watch” in Appellate Practice (2022).
Mr. Hubbard is a trusted appellate advocate and counselor. He has represented clients in their most complex, high-stakes, time-sensitive matters, appearing before U.S. Supreme Court, the Texas Supreme Court, and countless state and federal courts of appeals. Mr. Hubbard has presented argument before the Fifth and Tenth Circuits; second-chaired arguments in the Texas Supreme Court, the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Circuits, and the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Texas Courts of Appeals; and conducted direct and cross-examination of witnesses at trial. Mr. Hubbard has successfully litigated cases involving arbitration, antitrust, class actions, the constitution, contracts, products liability, trade secrets, the False Claims Act, RICO, and state and federal criminal law.
Mr. Hubbard’s most significant victories include reversing the largest judgment in the history of the False Claims Act in the Fifth Circuit; reversing a half-billion dollar jury verdict in the San Antonio Court of Appeals; reversing an eight-figure verdict in the Dallas Court of Appeals; reversing a seven-figure verdict in the Texas Supreme Court; and prevailing in several eight-figure arbitration cases in the Fifth Circuit. Mr. Hubbard has also helped clients preserve significant wins in the U.S. Supreme Court, the Texas Supreme Court, and the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Circuits. His pro bono victories include persuading a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate his client’s religious-liberty claims against two Kansas police officers; protecting the First Amendment rights of the Kountze ISD cheerleaders; and successfully advocating on behalf of crime victims as amici curiae in a number of important criminal cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Associate Attorney, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
Elizabeth A. Kiernan is an associate in the Dallas office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She currently practices with the firm’s Appellate and Constitutional Law Practice Group and has represented clients in trial and appellate proceedings in state and federal courts.
Ms. Kiernan graduated with Honors from the University of Chicago Law School in 2017. While at the Law School, she served as a Comments Editor of The University of Chicago Law Review. Ms. Kiernan earned her Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude from the University of Alabama. She double majored in English and Political Science and was elected Phi Beta Kappa.
Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Kiernan served as a law clerk to the Honorable Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the Honorable William H. Pryor Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. She also served as Special Counsel to U.S. Senator Josh Hawley for the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
Ms. Kiernan is admitted to practice in Texas and the District of Columbia. She is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits, and the U.S. District Courts for the Northern District of Texas and Southern District of Texas.
District Judge, State of Texas
Cory Liu is a state district judge in Austin, Texas. He previously served as assistant general counsel to Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Mr. Liu clerked for Judge Andrew Oldham on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and Judge Danny Boggs on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He was Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy and is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the University of Chicago.
Principal, Clear IP, LLC
Joseph Matal is the Principal at Clear IP, LLC.
Joe has served as both the U.S. Patent and Trademark’s Acting Director and Acting Solicitor. As Acting Solicitor, he defended the agency in intellectual property cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court. In his role in the Solicitor’s Office, he participated in briefing almost every major case involving PTAB trials that has come before the Federal Circuit, including cases that have defined the Board’s powers and the evidence that it may consider, the content of final decisions, and the burdens and scope of motions to amend. Recent cases include Uniloc v. Hulu, Thryv v. Click-to-Call, and Aqua Products v. Matal. Previously, Joe served in senior legal roles for more than a decade for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. In that capacity, he negotiated and drafted many of the key provisions of the America Invents Act.
In his roles at the USPTO, Joe briefed and argued numerous appeals of patent and trademark decisions before the Federal Circuit; oversaw the management of the USPTO and its 13,000 employees; and advised the U.S. Solicitor General’s Office in key IP cases before the Supreme Court.
Visiting Fellow, National Security Institute, George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School
Mr. Taylor was counsel and chief counsel of the House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, for over 20 years, where he shepherded dozens of bills through committee to be signed into law by presidents of both political parties. He was also counsel to the House Oversight Committee, where he handled constitutional and civil rights issues. He is the author of over a dozen law review articles on legal reform, continuity in government, religious liberty, congressional powers, civil rights, and patent law. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute (the first active congressional staff person elected to that body in its 100-year history), a 1991 graduate of Yale University (BA, summa cum laude), and a 1994 graduate of Harvard Law School (JD, cum laude). He is a Visiting Fellow at the National Security Institute at George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School.
Former Congressman, United States House of Representatives
Bob Goodlatte served in the United States House of Representatives representing Virginia's 6th congressional district for 13 terms.
Goodlatte’s service to the people of the Sixth District began in 1977 when he became District Director for former Congressman Caldwell Butler. He served in this position for two years until 1979, and was responsible for helping folks across the District seeking assistance with or encountering problems from various federal agencies. In 1979, he founded his own private law practice in Roanoke. Later, he was a partner in the law firm of Bird, Kinder and Huffman, working there from 1981 until taking office.
Rep. Goodlatte was first elected to serve as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee in the 113th Congress. He was the first Judiciary Committee Chairman from Virginia in the last 125 years. Rep. Goodlatte was an active Member of the Judiciary Committee since arriving in Congress, serving in a variety of leadership positions on the Committee including taking the lead on many intellectual property issues. During his time in Congress, Rep. Goodlatte made a name for himself as a leader on Internet and technology issues. He was Co-Chair of the Congressional Internet Caucus and the International Creativity and Theft-Prevention Caucus.
Rep. Goodlatte is a graduate of Washington and Lee University School of Law, and his undergraduate degree in Government was earned at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Principal, Clear IP, LLC
Joseph Matal is the Principal at Clear IP, LLC.
Joe has served as both the U.S. Patent and Trademark’s Acting Director and Acting Solicitor. As Acting Solicitor, he defended the agency in intellectual property cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court. In his role in the Solicitor’s Office, he participated in briefing almost every major case involving PTAB trials that has come before the Federal Circuit, including cases that have defined the Board’s powers and the evidence that it may consider, the content of final decisions, and the burdens and scope of motions to amend. Recent cases include Uniloc v. Hulu, Thryv v. Click-to-Call, and Aqua Products v. Matal. Previously, Joe served in senior legal roles for more than a decade for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. In that capacity, he negotiated and drafted many of the key provisions of the America Invents Act.
In his roles at the USPTO, Joe briefed and argued numerous appeals of patent and trademark decisions before the Federal Circuit; oversaw the management of the USPTO and its 13,000 employees; and advised the U.S. Solicitor General’s Office in key IP cases before the Supreme Court.
Visiting Fellow, National Security Institute, George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School
Mr. Taylor was counsel and chief counsel of the House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, for over 20 years, where he shepherded dozens of bills through committee to be signed into law by presidents of both political parties. He was also counsel to the House Oversight Committee, where he handled constitutional and civil rights issues. He is the author of over a dozen law review articles on legal reform, continuity in government, religious liberty, congressional powers, civil rights, and patent law. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute (the first active congressional staff person elected to that body in its 100-year history), a 1991 graduate of Yale University (BA, summa cum laude), and a 1994 graduate of Harvard Law School (JD, cum laude). He is a Visiting Fellow at the National Security Institute at George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School.
Former Congressman, United States House of Representatives
Bob Goodlatte served in the United States House of Representatives representing Virginia's 6th congressional district for 13 terms.
Goodlatte’s service to the people of the Sixth District began in 1977 when he became District Director for former Congressman Caldwell Butler. He served in this position for two years until 1979, and was responsible for helping folks across the District seeking assistance with or encountering problems from various federal agencies. In 1979, he founded his own private law practice in Roanoke. Later, he was a partner in the law firm of Bird, Kinder and Huffman, working there from 1981 until taking office.
Rep. Goodlatte was first elected to serve as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee in the 113th Congress. He was the first Judiciary Committee Chairman from Virginia in the last 125 years. Rep. Goodlatte was an active Member of the Judiciary Committee since arriving in Congress, serving in a variety of leadership positions on the Committee including taking the lead on many intellectual property issues. During his time in Congress, Rep. Goodlatte made a name for himself as a leader on Internet and technology issues. He was Co-Chair of the Congressional Internet Caucus and the International Creativity and Theft-Prevention Caucus.
Rep. Goodlatte is a graduate of Washington and Lee University School of Law, and his undergraduate degree in Government was earned at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
President, Center for American Rights
Daniel Suhr serves as president of the Center for American Rights, where he spends every day on the front lines of the fight to preserve our rights and liberties. The Center's mission is to advance free speech, free enterprise, and parental freedom in education through strategic, precedent-setting litigation.
Daniel formerly worked as policy director for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, as chief of staff for Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, and as a law clerk for Judge Diane Sykes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He holds a B.A. and J.D. from Marquette University, and master’s degrees from Georgetown and the University of Missouri.
Partner, Phelps Dunbar LLP
Mike Hurst is a partner with Phelps Dunbar LLP where he optimizes his in-depth knowledge of the court system, investigative and prosecutorial agencies, the regulatory arena, and the public policy realm to help clients facing government investigations, enforcement actions, regulatory matters, general litigation and policy issues. Mike currently serves as the General Counsel of the Republican National Committee and as Chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party. He previously served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi from 2017-2021, and with over 20 years of experience before judges, juries and policy makers, handling some of the largest and most high-profile cases in Mississippi, he's known for untangling the most complex legal issues.
As U.S. Attorney, Mike was described as a “hard charger,” leading efforts to combat violent crime, human trafficking and public corruption, among many other issues, throughout Mississippi. He almost tripled prosecutions in the U.S. Attorney’s Office over a three-year period, resulting in the most indictments and federal defendants indicted in a one-year period in Mississippi history. He created innovative and national award-winning crime-fighting solutions, like “Project EJECT,” and he established the first statewide, multilevel and multidisciplinary human trafficking body, the Mississippi Human Trafficking Council, to comprehensively and holistically address this criminal scourge.
During his tenure as U.S. Attorney, Mike oversaw some of the biggest cases in Mississippi history: the largest health care fraud scheme (Wade Walters, et. al.), the largest Ponzi scheme (Lamar Adams), the largest False Claims Act health care fraud settlement (Region 8), and the largest nursing home False Claim Act settlement (Hyperion). In addition, as Chief Federal Law Enforcement Officer for the Southern District, Mike coordinated the largest single-state immigration worksite enforcement operation in our nation’s history, involving hundreds of federal law enforcement agents covering seven different locations operated by multiple companies.
Mike’s no show pony – he’s a work horse. Before his tenure as U.S. Attorney, Mike was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi for more than eight years. He handled some of the most difficult and complex cases in that office, dealing with white collar crimes, public corruption and financial fraud, including numerous jury trials before almost every federal judge in the Southern District.
He also has experience in the private sector. He has practiced law in Washington, D.C., and has served as a litigator and general counsel for a conservative nonprofit. He also has extensive experience in public policy, having served as the Legislative Director to a U.S. Congressman and as Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee.
Mike has also testified before both the United States Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives on issues ranging from crime to Presidential pardons. He has worked on all sides of the legal, regulatory, investigative, prosecutorial and policy spectrum. The incredible insight gained from this varied experience enables him to find a path forward for clients, no matter how complicated the case.
Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
JEFFREY S. SUTTON is the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He has served as Chair of the Federal Judicial Conference Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, Chair of the Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules, and Chair of the Supreme Court Fellows Commission. He currently serves as Chair of the Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. Since 1993, Chief Judge Sutton has been an adjunct professor at The Ohio State University College of Law, where he teaches seminars on State Constitutional Law, the United States Supreme Court, and Appellate Advocacy. He also teaches a class on State Constitutional Law at Harvard Law School. Among other publications, he is the author of Who Decides? States as Laboratories of Constitutional Experimentation and 51 Imperfect Solutions: States and the Making of American Constitutional Law. He is the co-author of a casebook, State Constitutional Law: The Modern Experience, as well as The Law of Judicial Precedent. He is also the co-editor of The Essential Scalia: On the Constitution, the Courts, and the Rule of Law. In 2006, Chief Judge Sutton was elected to the American Law Institute, and in 2017 he was elected to its Council.
Environmental Justice, Property Rights, and Zoning
Adam F. Griffin, Randall O'Toole, Richard Rothstein, Christopher Serkin, Nicole Stelle Garnett
This panel will focus on the pros and cons of zoning, its relation to environmental...
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The Free State Foundation's Fourteenth Annual Policy Conference on May 6
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On March 31, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Badgerow v. Walters. In an 8-1 decision,...
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Bradley G. Hubbard, Elizabeth Kiernan
On March 31, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Badgerow v. Walters. In an 8-1 decision,...
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Cory R. Liu
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Columbus, OHTen Years On: The America Invents Act and the role of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in resolving patent disputes
Joseph Matal, Paul Brian Taylor, Bob Goodlatte
On September 16, 2011, President Obama signed the American Invents Act (AIA) into law. The...
Ten Years On: The America Invents Act and the role of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in resolving patent disputes
Joseph Matal, Paul Brian Taylor, Bob Goodlatte
On September 16, 2011, President Obama signed the American Invents Act (AIA) into law. The...