I. Beverly Lake, Jr. Chair in Constitutional Studies and Chief Legal Officer, John Locke Foundation
Jeanette Doran is the I. Beverly Lake, Jr. Chair in Constitutional Studies and Senior Counsel at the John Locke Foundation.
Doran began her legal career as a federal law clerk in the Middle District of North Carolina after graduating with honors from Campbell Law School. She then served as the Research and Writing Attorney in the appeals section of the Federal Public Defender’s Office, appearing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. In 2004, she joined the UNC–Chapel Hill School of Government, and a year later became staff attorney at NCICL, ultimately rising to executive director in 2011. Appointed in 2013 by the Governor to chair the Division of Employment Security’s Board of Review, she completed that public service in 2019.
Doran is also the president of the North Carolina Institute for Constitutional Law (NCICL), and she serves on the state’s Rules Review Commission. She is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Fourth Circuit, multiple federal district courts, and all North Carolina courts. Doran holds a Juris Doctor from Campbell University.
Executive Vice President and Director of Litigation, EdChoice Legal Advocates
Before founding a public interest law firm at EdChoice, Tom Fisher served as Indiana’s first Solicitor General from 2005-2023. Fisher has argued dozens of high-profile cases before both the Indiana Supreme Court and the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and five cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. A two-time recipient of the National Association of Attorneys General Best Brief Award, Fisher is a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and a Sagamore of the Wabash. Fisher is a graduate of Wabash College and Indiana University Maurer School of Law, where he serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law.
Co-Founder, The Innovation Project and Author, EducationNC
Ann McColl is a lawyer, historian, and writer. Her positions have included co-founder and president of The Innovation Project; legislative director for the State Board of Education; general counsel for the North Carolina Association of Educators; general counsel for the North Carolina Association of School Administrators and the North Carolina School Superintendents Association; and legal counsel and director of policy for the North Carolina School Boards Association. She recently completed an interim appointment as CEO and president for the Public School Forum. She also has served as associate professor of educational leadership at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte College of Education; visiting faculty at the School of Government at UNC-Chapel Hill; and adjunct faculty for the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Education and UNC School of Law.
Leandro v. State Litigation and the North Carolina Constitutional Right to Education
Ms. McColl submitted an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the NC School Boards Association for the 1997 Leandro decision; an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the NC Association of School Administrators for the 2004 Leandro decision; an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the NC Association of Educators for the 2013 Leandro decision; and joined the amicus curiae brief submitted by legal scholars for the 2022 Leandro decision. She has given presentations across the state on the history of the NC constitutional right to education, including reenactments at the State Capitol of the 1868 Constitutional Convention. She writes for EdNC on the Leandro rulings including the recent Leandro V ruling.
Director of Government Affairs, Defending Education
Terry Stoops is the Director of Government Affairs for Defending Education. Over the last two decades, he has held leadership positions in North Carolina and Florida focused on influencing state education policy and championing parental rights through advocacy, research, and public commentary.
Partner, Womble Bond Dickinson
Matthew F. Tilley is a Partner in the Charlotte office of Womble Bond Dickinson. His practice focuses on constitutional litigation, appellate advocacy, education law, and government affairs. He has argued numerous cases before the North Carolina Supreme Court and Court of Appeals on significant constitutional and governmental issues.
Matthew led Womble’s representation of the North Carolina General Assembly in the final phase of the Leandro litigation. After a trial court ordered nearly $800 million transferred from the state treasury to implement the Comprehensive Remedial Plan without legislative action, the General Assembly intervened to defend its exclusive authority to appropriate public funds. Matthew and his team represented the Legislature through multiple appeals, culminating in the North Carolina Supreme Court's April 2026 decision rejecting the transfer order and ending the long-running Leandro litigation.
Prior to entering private practice, Matthew worked in government affairs for the Tennessee Valley Authority, where he served as a liaison to Congress and executive branch officials on matters involving budget oversight, regulatory policy, and public governance.
Matthew earned his J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law, where he served as Articles Editor of the North Carolina Law Review and was named to the Order of the Coif. He received his B.A., cum laude, from Washington and Lee University.
United States Attorney, Western District of North Carolina
Russ Ferguson leads the U.S. Attorney’s Office as the presidentially-appointed United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, following his confirmation by the United States Senate on December 18, 2025. Nominated by President Donald Trump, who formally signed his commission on December 23, 2025, U.S. Attorney Ferguson took the oath of office, administered by the Honorable Frank D. Whitney, Senior United States District Judge, on Christmas Eve.
Mr. Ferguson was first appointed as interim United States Attorney by Attorney General Pamela Bondi on March 3, 2025, and sworn in on March 11, 2025. He was subsequently unanimously appointed to the position by all federal judges in this district effective June 30, 2025. He was then nominated by the President on July 30, 2025.
As U.S. Attorney, Mr. Ferguson serves as the chief federal law enforcement officer in the Western District, responsible for representing the United States in all civil and criminal litigations. Mr. Ferguson leads an office of nearly 100 federal prosecutors and support personnel, serving 32 counties across western North Carolina, including the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the largest Native American community in the eastern United States.
U.S. Attorney Ferguson brings 16 years of significant legal experience to his new role. He began his legal career as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, where he tried 28 cases to verdict. Before his appointment as U.S. Attorney, Mr. Ferguson was a partner at the international law firm of Womble Bond Dickinson, where he led the firm’s complex litigation group and handled complex civil and criminal cases. Mr. Ferguson’s work included representing clients in high-profile and complex criminal and civil trials, as well as in international arbitrations before a number of world arbitral bodies.
U.S. Attorney Ferguson has held leadership roles with the Mecklenburg County Bar, which honored him with an award for Best Individual Attorney for his pro bono service. He has been named to Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America, North Carolina Business Elite, and received the Charlotte Business Journal’s Forty Under Forty Award. Mr. Ferguson has also served as a speaker and panelist for local and national events and has published numerous articles on topics related to civil and criminal law.
U.S. Attorney Ferguson has served the community by serving on the Board of NourishUp, Charlotte’s food pantry and meals on wheels organization, demonstrating his ongoing commitment to addressing hunger and supporting families in need. He also previously served on Keep Charlotte Beautiful, to which he was appointed by the City Council, and on the Mecklenburg County Bar’s Board of Directors.
U.S. Attorney Ferguson received his undergraduate degree from Duke University and earned his law degree and a masters of law from Georgetown University Law Center. After law school, U.S. Attorney Ferguson clerked for the Honorable Frank D. Whitney in the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
Jennifer Walker Elrod is the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She was nominated to the Fifth Circuit in 2007, and she served as a Circuit Judge on the court until assuming the role of Chief Judge in October 2024. Prior to serving as a Circuit Judge, Chief Judge Elrod was appointed and then twice elected Judge of the 190th District Court of Harris County, Texas, where she spent over five years presiding over more than 200 jury and non-jury trials.
Chief Judge Elrod graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she was an active member of the Harvard Federalist Society, an Ames Moot Court finalist, and a Senior Editor of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy. She clerked for the Honorable Sim Lake in the Southern District of Texas. Before serving as a judge, Chief Judge Elrod worked in private practice, focusing on civil litigation, antitrust, and employment matters.
She has been repeatedly recognized for her work as a jurist, as well as for her pro bono work and contributions to the community. She has been named the 2022 Texas Review of Law & Politics’ Jurist of the Year, the 2018 Harvard Federalist Society’s Alumni of the Year, the 2016–17 Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists’ Appellate Judge of the Year, and the 2008 Mexican-American Bar Association of Texas’s Judge of the Year.
Chief Judge Elrod is actively engaged in the academic and legal communities. Chief Judge Elrod currently serves on the Board of Directors and as the Jurist-in-Residence at the South Texas College of Law, where she teaches civil procedure and First Amendment law. She is also a member of the American Law Institute and of the Board of Advisors for the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, and she is a former member of the Board of Regents of her alma mater, Baylor University, and the Board of Visitors at Brigham Young University Law School. She previously served as the Chair of the Codes of Conduct Committee for the Judicial Conference of the United States. She has also served as the M.D. Anderson Visiting Public Service Professor at the Texas Tech University School of Law and as Jurist-in-Residence at Brigham Young University Law School, and she has taught legal writing at the University of Houston Law Center. She presented the Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Distinguished Lecture at the Washington and Lee University School of Law and is a frequent speaker on the topics of trial and appellate procedure, ethics, employment law, and constitutional law. Chief Judge Elrod also serves on the board of the Garland R. Walker Inn of Court, and co-produces an annual musical CLE, for which her pupilage group has won multiple national awards.
Chief Judge Elrod’s publications include: Trial by Siri: AI Comes to the Courtroom; Don’t Mess with Texas Judges: In Praise of the State Judiciary; For Good: Enriching Your Practice and Your Life Through Pro Bono and Community Service; Is the Jury Still Out?: A Case for the Continued Viability of the American Jury; and W(h)ither the Jury? The Diminishing Role of the Jury Trial in our Legal System.
President, North Carolina Student Chapter
Caroline L. Martin is the 2025-2026 Federalist Society Student Chapter President at the University of North Carolina School of Law. She graduated from the University of Michigan Honors College in 2021 with B.A. in History and Political Science. Before attending law school, she worked at the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the U.S. House of Representatives. She is currently externing with the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. Upon graduating and passing the bar exam, she plans to return to a law firm in her hometown of Chicago, Illinois. If admitted to the bar, she will be a sixth generation Irish attorney.
United States Magistrate Judge, Eastern District of North Carolina
Robert T. Numbers, II serves as a United States Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
Judge Numbers received degrees in Political Science and Economics, with honors, from Wake Forest University. After completing his undergraduate work, Judge Numbers obtained his law degree from the University of Notre Dame where he served on the Notre Dame Law Review.
Upon his graduation from law school, Judge Numbers joined the Winston-Salem office of a large, regional law firm. From 2005 until 2010, Judge Numbers’ practice focused on civil rights claims against local municipalities and government contractors. In 2010, Judge Numbers joined the firm’s Raleigh office and concentrated his practice on complex business litigation in state and federal courts.
Chief Appellate Attorney, Office of the Federal Public Defender, Eastern District of North Carolina
Eric Brignac received his BA in English from Emory University in 1998 and his JD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2002. Immediately after law school he worked as an associate at Covington & Burling in Washington D.C., focusing on transportation law and employee benefits law. Mr. Brignac also clerked for Judge James L. Dennis on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and Judge Allyson K. Duncan on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Mr. Brignac is currently employed as the Chief Appellate Attorney with the Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina, where he has worked since 2006. He also teaches a seminar on Appellate Advocacy as an adjunct law professor at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Assistant Solicitor General, North Carolina Department of Justice
Nick was appointed Solicitor General of North Carolina in May 2025. In that role,
he oversees the State’s appellate litigation and leads key appeals in the U.S.
Supreme Court, the Fourth Circuit, and the North Carolina appellate courts. Nick
earlier served as North Carolina’s Deputy Solicitor General and has worked in the
state SG’s office since 2019. Before starting a career in state-government service,
he was a senior associate at Hogan Lovells in Washington, D.C.
Nick clerked for Judge Gerald Tjoflat of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Eleventh Circuit and Judge Lee Rosenthal of the U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of Texas. He earned his law degree from Duke, where he was an
Executive Editor of the Duke Law Journal and a member of the Moot Court Board.
He received his undergraduate degree from UNC-Chapel Hill and is a proud Tar
Heel.
Attorney, Smith Anderson
Hunter Bruton handles complex commercial and public litigation issues from pre-litigation counseling through Supreme Court appeals. After serving as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, Hunter began his career as an attorney at a multinational law firm contributing to its Issues & Appeals practice, litigating complex cases and filing briefs in courts across the country. Since returning home to North Carolina, Hunter has continued his nationwide practice while carving out a role at the local level litigating in the North Carolina Business Court, North Carolina Superior Court, the Court of Appeals and the North Carolina Supreme Court.
His litigation practice also includes class actions, administrative law matters, employment disputes and business-to-business disputes. Hunter has successfully managed multi-million dollar high-stakes cases, securing dismissals in state and federal courts or obtaining favorable settlements. He shapes appellate strategy in cases that originate with the firm, and in cases that call on the firm later for appeal, in search of repair. He has argued before multiple U.S. Courts of Appeals, including a case of first impression in the Federal Circuit narrowing the government’s exemption from the Takings Clause. His appellate work has shaped precedent in areas like constitutional law, federal preemption, sovereign immunity and trade secret misappropriation. Hunter has a proven track record of minimizing risk while maintaining his clients’ business objectives, exemplified by key victories such as dismissals of consumer class action complaints.
Hunter is a problem solver first and litigator second, always striving to minimize legal exposure and resolve business disputes before they become public. His approach combines deep legal knowledge with a commitment to his clients’ long-term goals and reputational concerns. Hunter often serves as outside counsel for corporations mitigating legal risk, handling investigations, advising on compliance and formulating contracting best practices. Hunter advises a range of clients—from Fortune 500 companies to emerging growth companies—across industries including banking, healthcare, technology, data privacy, finance and administrative law.
Associate, Lehotsky Keller Cohn
Mark Rothrock helps clients navigate complex litigation matters in state and federal courts.
Before joining Lehotsky Keller Cohn LLP, Mr. Rothrock worked in the Litigation Practice Group at Smith Anderson Blount Dorsett Mitchell & Jernigan, LLP, where he advised clients facing high-stakes disputes in state and federal courts. Mr. Rothrock clerked for Judge Raymond M. Kethledge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and for Judge James C. Dever III of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
Mr. Rothrock graduated from Duke Law School, where he served as the Managing Editor of the Duke Law Journal, Executive Vice President of the Federalist Society, and as a research assistant to Professor Ernest Young.
Before law school, Mr. Rothrock served as a Tank Officer in the United States Marine Corps and deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Mr. Rothrock is now a Major in the United States Marine Corps Reserve.
Partner, Nelson Mullins
Martin is a North Carolina Board Certified Appellate Practice Specialist who practices in the areas of business and consumer financial services litigation. He has represented diverse clients from a variety of industries, including healthcare, regulated utilities, local government, retail, banking, investment, and insurance.
Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
Jennifer Walker Elrod is the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She was nominated to the Fifth Circuit in 2007, and she served as a Circuit Judge on the court until assuming the role of Chief Judge in October 2024. Prior to serving as a Circuit Judge, Chief Judge Elrod was appointed and then twice elected Judge of the 190th District Court of Harris County, Texas, where she spent over five years presiding over more than 200 jury and non-jury trials.
Chief Judge Elrod graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she was an active member of the Harvard Federalist Society, an Ames Moot Court finalist, and a Senior Editor of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy. She clerked for the Honorable Sim Lake in the Southern District of Texas. Before serving as a judge, Chief Judge Elrod worked in private practice, focusing on civil litigation, antitrust, and employment matters.
She has been repeatedly recognized for her work as a jurist, as well as for her pro bono work and contributions to the community. She has been named the 2022 Texas Review of Law & Politics’ Jurist of the Year, the 2018 Harvard Federalist Society’s Alumni of the Year, the 2016–17 Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists’ Appellate Judge of the Year, and the 2008 Mexican-American Bar Association of Texas’s Judge of the Year.
Chief Judge Elrod is actively engaged in the academic and legal communities. Chief Judge Elrod currently serves on the Board of Directors and as the Jurist-in-Residence at the South Texas College of Law, where she teaches civil procedure and First Amendment law. She is also a member of the American Law Institute and of the Board of Advisors for the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, and she is a former member of the Board of Regents of her alma mater, Baylor University, and the Board of Visitors at Brigham Young University Law School. She previously served as the Chair of the Codes of Conduct Committee for the Judicial Conference of the United States. She has also served as the M.D. Anderson Visiting Public Service Professor at the Texas Tech University School of Law and as Jurist-in-Residence at Brigham Young University Law School, and she has taught legal writing at the University of Houston Law Center. She presented the Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Distinguished Lecture at the Washington and Lee University School of Law and is a frequent speaker on the topics of trial and appellate procedure, ethics, employment law, and constitutional law. Chief Judge Elrod also serves on the board of the Garland R. Walker Inn of Court, and co-produces an annual musical CLE, for which her pupilage group has won multiple national awards.
Chief Judge Elrod’s publications include: Trial by Siri: AI Comes to the Courtroom; Don’t Mess with Texas Judges: In Praise of the State Judiciary; For Good: Enriching Your Practice and Your Life Through Pro Bono and Community Service; Is the Jury Still Out?: A Case for the Continued Viability of the American Jury; and W(h)ither the Jury? The Diminishing Role of the Jury Trial in our Legal System.
President, North Carolina Student Chapter
Caroline L. Martin is the 2025-2026 Federalist Society Student Chapter President at the University of North Carolina School of Law. She graduated from the University of Michigan Honors College in 2021 with B.A. in History and Political Science. Before attending law school, she worked at the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the U.S. House of Representatives. She is currently externing with the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. Upon graduating and passing the bar exam, she plans to return to a law firm in her hometown of Chicago, Illinois. If admitted to the bar, she will be a sixth generation Irish attorney.
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