Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
Patrick J. Bumatay was confirmed as a U.S. Circuit Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in December 2019. He is based in San Diego, California.
Prior to his appointment, Judge Bumatay served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, where he was a member of the Appellate and Narcotics Sections. He also served as a Counselor to the Attorney General on criminal law issues, including on national opioid strategy and combating transnational organized crime. Judge Bumatay has also worked in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, the Office of the Associate Attorney General, and the Office of Legal Policy at the U.S. Department of Justice. Judge Bumatay has twice received the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award.
Judge Bumatay previously worked as an associate at Morvillo, Abramowitz, Grand, Iason, and Bohrer in New York, New York. Judge Bumatay clerked for the Honorable Timothy M. Tymkovich of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and the Honorable Sandra L. Townes of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Bumatay earned his B.A., cum laude, from Yale University and his J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Former Attorney General, Arizona
During 8 years as Arizona Attorney General (2003-2011), Terry Goddard focused on protecting consumers and fighting trans-national organized crime. In 2010, he received the Kelly-Wyman Award, the highest recognition given by his fellow state Attorneys General.
As Mayor of Phoenix from 1984 to 1990, Terry increased citizen participation in government culminating in the Phoenix Futures Forum and the Billion Dollar Bond Issue in 1988. He was elected president of the National League of Cities in 1988 and recognized as Municipal Leader of the Year.
Recently, Terry’s political activity has been focused on getting a nonpartisan initiative to stop dark money from purchasing political ads in Arizona on the November ballot and approved by 72% of Arizona voters.
Terry retired as a commander after 27 years in the Naval Reserve. He practices law, works to revitalize and return to public use an historic church and teaches at the ASU College of Law. He is President of the Central Arizona Project board, the elected administrators of the canal system bringing water from the Colorado River to central Arizona. He lives in downtown Phoenix with his wife Monica, a tortoise, many cats and (occasionally) their recent ASU graduate son.
Of Counsel, Cashion Gilmore & Lindemuth
In addition to his experience as a litigator and appellate advocate, Scott Kendall offers a depth of expertise as a strategic consultant. He is well known for his work across all levels of government, across jurisdictions, and across political parties to design approaches that bring his clients positive results and disrupt negative outcomes.
Scott’s practice also includes providing guidance in matters related to strategic communications, as well as campaign and election law. He has represented organizations and individuals in proceedings before the Alaska Public Offices Commission and the Federal Elections Commission.
Scott’s campaign and election clients have included candidates for local, statewide, and national office as well as industry coalitions, non-profits, ballot measure groups, and independent campaign expenditure organizations (known as “superPACs”). In 2010, Scott was counsel to U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski’s historic, and successful, write-in campaign for reelection. In 2014, Scott drafted a successful statewide ballot measure aimed at protecting the world famous Bristol Bay salmon fishery.
From 2015 to 2016, Scott left the practice of law to serve as Campaign Coordinator for Senator Murkowski’s successful 2016 reelection campaign. And from 2016 to 2018 Scott served as Chief of Staff to Alaska Governor Bill Walker, providing him with a keen understanding of state government operations, as well as the complex relationships between state, federal, and local jurisdictions. During that time, Scott helped execute Governor Walker’s legislative strategy including the passage of landmark legislation transforming the way Alaska finances state government into an endowment or “POMV” model to protect the Alaska Permanent Fund in perpetuity.
More recently Scott authored, litigated, and advised the successful ballot measure campaign to improve Alaska’s statewide election system. The new system—which features a Top 4 open primary election along with Ranked Choice Voting in the general—has become a national model for election reform.
Early in his career, from 2003 to 2005, Scott served as law clerk to the Hon. Chief Judge of the Alaska Court of Appeals, Robert G. Coats.
Managing Partner, Statecraft
Kory Langhofer is the Managing Attorney at Statecraft PLLC, a law firm focusing on government and political law. His practice is concentrated in campaign finance, constitutional litigation, and political matters. He has previously worked as a federal prosecutor, as litigation counsel to the presidential campaigns for Mitt Romney and Donald Trump, and as general counsel for the 2016-2017 presidential transition team.
Kory received his A.B. in political science, summa cum laude, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he served as an Editor of The Yale Law Journal.
Sudler Family Professor of Constitutional Law, New York University School of Law
Richard H. Pildes is one of the nation’s leading scholars of constitutional law and a specialist in legal issues affecting democracy. He is a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Law Institute, and has received recognition as a Guggenheim Fellow and a Carnegie Scholar. His acclaimed casebook, The Law of Democracy: Legal Structure of the Political Process (now in its fourth edition), helped create an entirely new field of study in the law schools. The Law of Democracy systematically explores legal and policy issues concerning the structure of democratic elections and institutions, such as the role of money in politics, the design of election districts, the regulation of political parties, the design of voting systems, the representation of minority interests in democratic institutions, and similar issues. He has written extensively on the rise of political polarization in the United States, the Voting Rights Act, the dysfunction of America’s political processes, the role of the Supreme Court in overseeing American democracy, the powers of the American President and Congress, and he has criticized excessively “romantic” understandings of democracy. In addition to his scholarship on these issues, he has written on national-security law, the design of the regulatory state, and American constitutional history and theory.
Respect for his expertise in these areas is reflected in frequent citations of his work in U.S. Supreme Court opinions, the translation of his work into many languages, and his frequent public lectures and appearances around the world, including his nomination with the NBC News Team for an Emmy Award for coverage of the 2000 Presidential election litigation.
His work has been translated and published in Chinese, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. In addition to his scholarship, Professor Pildes plays an active role litigating in these areas. He has won two cases before the United States Supreme Court, including a 2015 victory in Alabama Democratic Conference v. Alabama, a case involving race and redistricting. He served as counsel to a group of former chairmen of the Securities and Exchange Commission in litigation defending the constitutionality of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; as counsel in election litigation to the Puerto Rico Electoral Commission; as counsel to the government of Puerto Rico; as a federal court-appointed independent expert on voting rights litigation; and as counsel in successful Supreme Court litigation that challenged the way the United States Tax Court operated. He was also a senior legal advisor to the 2008 and 2012 campaigns of President Obama.
Pildes received his A.B. in physical chemistry summa cum laude from Princeton, and his J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard, where he served as Supreme Court Note Editor on the Harvard Law Review. He clerked for Judge Abner J. Mikva of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and for Justice Thurgood Marshall of the U.S. Supreme Court. After practicing law in Boston, he began his academic career at the University of Michigan Law School, before joining the NYU School of Law in 2001.
Chairman and Founder, Institute for Free Speech; Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault Designated Professor of Law, Capital University Law School
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.
Of Counsel, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Prerak Shah is Of Counsel at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. He was most recently the Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, leading a team of approximately 120 Assistant U.S. Attorneys handling a wide range of cases, including securities fraud, health care fraud, the False Claims Act, computer crime, national security, tax fraud, money laundering, public corruption, and terrorism. Mr. Shah previously held several leadership positions at the Department of Justice, including Deputy Associate Attorney General in the office overseeing the work of the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment & Natural Resources, and Tax Divisions. Before joining the Justice Department, Mr. Shah served as Chief of Staff to Senator Ted Cruz and as a Chief Counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He graduated from the University of Chicago Law School and clerked for the Honorable Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Of Counsel, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Prerak Shah is Of Counsel at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. He was most recently the Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, leading a team of approximately 120 Assistant U.S. Attorneys handling a wide range of cases, including securities fraud, health care fraud, the False Claims Act, computer crime, national security, tax fraud, money laundering, public corruption, and terrorism. Mr. Shah previously held several leadership positions at the Department of Justice, including Deputy Associate Attorney General in the office overseeing the work of the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment & Natural Resources, and Tax Divisions. Before joining the Justice Department, Mr. Shah served as Chief of Staff to Senator Ted Cruz and as a Chief Counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He graduated from the University of Chicago Law School and clerked for the Honorable Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Partner, Jackson Walker
A former federal prosecutor, Jennifer Freel advises businesses and individuals under investigation by the government and conducts internal investigations for companies. Drawing on her extensive courtroom experience, Jennifer also represents clients in civil disputes at the pre-trial, trial, and appellate levels in state and federal court.
In her previous role as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Texas, Jennifer prosecuted cases involving child exploitation, narcotics conspiracies, gun smuggling, and white collar crimes. Her practice focused on appellate matters, defending convictions from across the district. She has argued more than 20 times before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Before becoming a prosecutor, Jennifer clerked for Judge Fortunato Benavides, who served on the Fifth Circuit. She has been appointed to the Western District of Texas Attorney Discipline Committee and the Criminal Justice Act appellate panel for the Austin Division of the Western District of Texas. Jennifer is an elected Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, the Mentorship Chair of the Robert W. Calvert American Inn of Court, a past chair of the Criminal Law Section of the Federal Bar Association, and a past president of the Austin Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.
Prior to attending law school, Jennifer worked as a broadcast news reporter at the NBC affiliate in Columbia, Missouri and the ABC affiliate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Executive Director, Georgetown Center for the Constitution
Alexa Gervasi is Executive Director at the Georgetown Center for the Constitution. Alexa is a graduate of Texas A&M University and Georgetown University Law Center. She completed law school through Georgetown Law’s evening program, spending her days working as the Program Manager for the Georgetown Center for the Constitution, directed by Professor Randy E. Barnett. After law school, Alexa spent some time in private practice before jumping ship to clerk for the Honorable D. Michael Fisher of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She then had the distinct privilege of clerking on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals for the liberty-loving Honorable Don R. Willett before joining the Institute for Justice.
Alexa is licensed to practice law in New York and the District of Columbia. She is also admitted to practice before the Third Circuit.
Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
Wes Hendrix is a judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. He was nominated by President Donald Trump in January 2019 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in July 2019. He presides over federal civil and criminal cases in the Northern District’s Lubbock, Abilene, and San Angelo Divisions. He is a member of the Fifth Circuit’s Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions Committee and the Northern District of Texas’s Local Rules Committee. He is an adjunct professor at Texas Tech University School of Law.
Prior to his confirmation, Judge Hendrix served as the Appellate Chief for the Northern District of Texas’s United States Attorney’s Office. He served as Chair of the Department of Justice’s Appellate Chiefs Working Group and as an ex officio member of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee. He regularly coordinated with the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division Appellate Section and the Office of the Solicitor General regarding cases appealed to and argued before the U.S. Supreme Court.
As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, he represented the United States at trial and on appeal. He helped prosecute Hosam Smadi, who was convicted of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction in a downtown Dallas skyscraper. He also argued over 25 appeals at the Fifth and Seventh Circuits—including two en banc arguments—and served as sole counsel in over 350 appeals. He regularly taught courses at the Department of Justice’s National Advocacy Center.
Prior to his work as a prosecutor, Judge Hendrix was an associate at the Dallas office of Baker Botts L.L.P., where he focused on complex commercial, oil-and-gas, and intellectual-property litigation. He began his legal career as a law clerk to Judge Patrick Higginbotham of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Judge Hendrix received his law degree from the University of Texas, where he served on the Texas Law Review and graduated with high honors and as a Chancellor-at-Large. He received his undergraduate degree with honors from the University of Chicago.
Of Counsel, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Prerak Shah is Of Counsel at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. He was most recently the Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, leading a team of approximately 120 Assistant U.S. Attorneys handling a wide range of cases, including securities fraud, health care fraud, the False Claims Act, computer crime, national security, tax fraud, money laundering, public corruption, and terrorism. Mr. Shah previously held several leadership positions at the Department of Justice, including Deputy Associate Attorney General in the office overseeing the work of the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment & Natural Resources, and Tax Divisions. Before joining the Justice Department, Mr. Shah served as Chief of Staff to Senator Ted Cruz and as a Chief Counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He graduated from the University of Chicago Law School and clerked for the Honorable Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Partner, Ashcroft Law Firm
With more than 20 years government experience, Johnny Sutton has acquired expertise as a front-line trial prosecutor and a top policy advisor to a Governor and a President. Mr. Sutton runs the Austin office of the Ashcroft Law Firm which specializes in internal investigations, white-collar criminal defense and helping companies comply with federal law.
From November 2001 to April 2009, Sutton led one of the largest and busiest United States Attorney’s Offices in the nation. The Western District of Texas covers 93,000 square miles, 68 counties and 660 miles of U.S.-Mexico border. As U.S. Attorney, Mr. Sutton managed more than 300 employees, a $28 million annual budget and directed 43,000 federal prosecutions and thousands of civil cases. Under Mr. Sutton’s leadership, the office led the nation in drug convictions, was second in illegal alien prosecutions, won more than 105 public corruption convictions and sent nearly 400 violent criminal gang members to prison.
In 2003, then-United States Attorney General John Ashcroft appointed Mr. Sutton to the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee—a panel of 17 U.S. Attorneys that advise the General and help carry out the President’s national goals. Sutton served from 2003 until 2009 and was chairman for nearly two years.
After leading the Bush-Cheney Department of Justice Transition Team in 2000, Mr. Sutton was named Associate Deputy Attorney General. He held the position until becoming U.S. Attorney.
From 1995 to 2000, Mr. Sutton served as the Criminal Justice Policy Director for then-Governor George W. Bush. Mr. Sutton was the chief policy advisor to the Governor on all criminal justice issues.
From 1988 to 1995, Mr. Sutton was a prosecutor in the Harris County District Attorney’s Office (Houston, TX) where he tried more than 60 first chair felony jury trials and had only three acquittals. He also successfully tried 17 murder jury trials, including seven for capital murder.
Mr. Sutton attended the University of Texas at Austin on a baseball scholarship where he was a two year lettermen and the starting left fielder for the 1983 University of Texas National Championship baseball team. Mr. Sutton was voted the Most Valuable Player of the NCAA Central Regional Baseball Tournament in 1983. Mr. Sutton is fluent in Spanish and conversant in Portuguese.
Mr. Sutton has dedicated his career to defending the innocent and standing up for the rule of law.
Partner, Jackson Walker
A former federal prosecutor, Jennifer Freel advises businesses and individuals under investigation by the government and conducts internal investigations for companies. Drawing on her extensive courtroom experience, Jennifer also represents clients in civil disputes at the pre-trial, trial, and appellate levels in state and federal court.
In her previous role as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Texas, Jennifer prosecuted cases involving child exploitation, narcotics conspiracies, gun smuggling, and white collar crimes. Her practice focused on appellate matters, defending convictions from across the district. She has argued more than 20 times before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Before becoming a prosecutor, Jennifer clerked for Judge Fortunato Benavides, who served on the Fifth Circuit. She has been appointed to the Western District of Texas Attorney Discipline Committee and the Criminal Justice Act appellate panel for the Austin Division of the Western District of Texas. Jennifer is an elected Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, the Mentorship Chair of the Robert W. Calvert American Inn of Court, a past chair of the Criminal Law Section of the Federal Bar Association, and a past president of the Austin Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.
Prior to attending law school, Jennifer worked as a broadcast news reporter at the NBC affiliate in Columbia, Missouri and the ABC affiliate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Executive Director, Georgetown Center for the Constitution
Alexa Gervasi is Executive Director at the Georgetown Center for the Constitution. Alexa is a graduate of Texas A&M University and Georgetown University Law Center. She completed law school through Georgetown Law’s evening program, spending her days working as the Program Manager for the Georgetown Center for the Constitution, directed by Professor Randy E. Barnett. After law school, Alexa spent some time in private practice before jumping ship to clerk for the Honorable D. Michael Fisher of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She then had the distinct privilege of clerking on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals for the liberty-loving Honorable Don R. Willett before joining the Institute for Justice.
Alexa is licensed to practice law in New York and the District of Columbia. She is also admitted to practice before the Third Circuit.
Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
Wes Hendrix is a judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. He was nominated by President Donald Trump in January 2019 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in July 2019. He presides over federal civil and criminal cases in the Northern District’s Lubbock, Abilene, and San Angelo Divisions. He is a member of the Fifth Circuit’s Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions Committee and the Northern District of Texas’s Local Rules Committee. He is an adjunct professor at Texas Tech University School of Law.
Prior to his confirmation, Judge Hendrix served as the Appellate Chief for the Northern District of Texas’s United States Attorney’s Office. He served as Chair of the Department of Justice’s Appellate Chiefs Working Group and as an ex officio member of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee. He regularly coordinated with the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division Appellate Section and the Office of the Solicitor General regarding cases appealed to and argued before the U.S. Supreme Court.
As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, he represented the United States at trial and on appeal. He helped prosecute Hosam Smadi, who was convicted of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction in a downtown Dallas skyscraper. He also argued over 25 appeals at the Fifth and Seventh Circuits—including two en banc arguments—and served as sole counsel in over 350 appeals. He regularly taught courses at the Department of Justice’s National Advocacy Center.
Prior to his work as a prosecutor, Judge Hendrix was an associate at the Dallas office of Baker Botts L.L.P., where he focused on complex commercial, oil-and-gas, and intellectual-property litigation. He began his legal career as a law clerk to Judge Patrick Higginbotham of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Judge Hendrix received his law degree from the University of Texas, where he served on the Texas Law Review and graduated with high honors and as a Chancellor-at-Large. He received his undergraduate degree with honors from the University of Chicago.
Of Counsel, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Prerak Shah is Of Counsel at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. He was most recently the Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, leading a team of approximately 120 Assistant U.S. Attorneys handling a wide range of cases, including securities fraud, health care fraud, the False Claims Act, computer crime, national security, tax fraud, money laundering, public corruption, and terrorism. Mr. Shah previously held several leadership positions at the Department of Justice, including Deputy Associate Attorney General in the office overseeing the work of the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment & Natural Resources, and Tax Divisions. Before joining the Justice Department, Mr. Shah served as Chief of Staff to Senator Ted Cruz and as a Chief Counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He graduated from the University of Chicago Law School and clerked for the Honorable Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Partner, Ashcroft Law Firm
With more than 20 years government experience, Johnny Sutton has acquired expertise as a front-line trial prosecutor and a top policy advisor to a Governor and a President. Mr. Sutton runs the Austin office of the Ashcroft Law Firm which specializes in internal investigations, white-collar criminal defense and helping companies comply with federal law.
From November 2001 to April 2009, Sutton led one of the largest and busiest United States Attorney’s Offices in the nation. The Western District of Texas covers 93,000 square miles, 68 counties and 660 miles of U.S.-Mexico border. As U.S. Attorney, Mr. Sutton managed more than 300 employees, a $28 million annual budget and directed 43,000 federal prosecutions and thousands of civil cases. Under Mr. Sutton’s leadership, the office led the nation in drug convictions, was second in illegal alien prosecutions, won more than 105 public corruption convictions and sent nearly 400 violent criminal gang members to prison.
In 2003, then-United States Attorney General John Ashcroft appointed Mr. Sutton to the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee—a panel of 17 U.S. Attorneys that advise the General and help carry out the President’s national goals. Sutton served from 2003 until 2009 and was chairman for nearly two years.
After leading the Bush-Cheney Department of Justice Transition Team in 2000, Mr. Sutton was named Associate Deputy Attorney General. He held the position until becoming U.S. Attorney.
From 1995 to 2000, Mr. Sutton served as the Criminal Justice Policy Director for then-Governor George W. Bush. Mr. Sutton was the chief policy advisor to the Governor on all criminal justice issues.
From 1988 to 1995, Mr. Sutton was a prosecutor in the Harris County District Attorney’s Office (Houston, TX) where he tried more than 60 first chair felony jury trials and had only three acquittals. He also successfully tried 17 murder jury trials, including seven for capital murder.
Mr. Sutton attended the University of Texas at Austin on a baseball scholarship where he was a two year lettermen and the starting left fielder for the 1983 University of Texas National Championship baseball team. Mr. Sutton was voted the Most Valuable Player of the NCAA Central Regional Baseball Tournament in 1983. Mr. Sutton is fluent in Spanish and conversant in Portuguese.
Mr. Sutton has dedicated his career to defending the innocent and standing up for the rule of law.
Partner, Jackson Walker
A former federal prosecutor, Jennifer Freel advises businesses and individuals under investigation by the government and conducts internal investigations for companies. Drawing on her extensive courtroom experience, Jennifer also represents clients in civil disputes at the pre-trial, trial, and appellate levels in state and federal court.
In her previous role as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Texas, Jennifer prosecuted cases involving child exploitation, narcotics conspiracies, gun smuggling, and white collar crimes. Her practice focused on appellate matters, defending convictions from across the district. She has argued more than 20 times before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Before becoming a prosecutor, Jennifer clerked for Judge Fortunato Benavides, who served on the Fifth Circuit. She has been appointed to the Western District of Texas Attorney Discipline Committee and the Criminal Justice Act appellate panel for the Austin Division of the Western District of Texas. Jennifer is an elected Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, the Mentorship Chair of the Robert W. Calvert American Inn of Court, a past chair of the Criminal Law Section of the Federal Bar Association, and a past president of the Austin Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.
Prior to attending law school, Jennifer worked as a broadcast news reporter at the NBC affiliate in Columbia, Missouri and the ABC affiliate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Executive Director, Georgetown Center for the Constitution
Alexa Gervasi is Executive Director at the Georgetown Center for the Constitution. Alexa is a graduate of Texas A&M University and Georgetown University Law Center. She completed law school through Georgetown Law’s evening program, spending her days working as the Program Manager for the Georgetown Center for the Constitution, directed by Professor Randy E. Barnett. After law school, Alexa spent some time in private practice before jumping ship to clerk for the Honorable D. Michael Fisher of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She then had the distinct privilege of clerking on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals for the liberty-loving Honorable Don R. Willett before joining the Institute for Justice.
Alexa is licensed to practice law in New York and the District of Columbia. She is also admitted to practice before the Third Circuit.
Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
Wes Hendrix is a judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. He was nominated by President Donald Trump in January 2019 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in July 2019. He presides over federal civil and criminal cases in the Northern District’s Lubbock, Abilene, and San Angelo Divisions. He is a member of the Fifth Circuit’s Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions Committee and the Northern District of Texas’s Local Rules Committee. He is an adjunct professor at Texas Tech University School of Law.
Prior to his confirmation, Judge Hendrix served as the Appellate Chief for the Northern District of Texas’s United States Attorney’s Office. He served as Chair of the Department of Justice’s Appellate Chiefs Working Group and as an ex officio member of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee. He regularly coordinated with the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division Appellate Section and the Office of the Solicitor General regarding cases appealed to and argued before the U.S. Supreme Court.
As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, he represented the United States at trial and on appeal. He helped prosecute Hosam Smadi, who was convicted of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction in a downtown Dallas skyscraper. He also argued over 25 appeals at the Fifth and Seventh Circuits—including two en banc arguments—and served as sole counsel in over 350 appeals. He regularly taught courses at the Department of Justice’s National Advocacy Center.
Prior to his work as a prosecutor, Judge Hendrix was an associate at the Dallas office of Baker Botts L.L.P., where he focused on complex commercial, oil-and-gas, and intellectual-property litigation. He began his legal career as a law clerk to Judge Patrick Higginbotham of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Judge Hendrix received his law degree from the University of Texas, where he served on the Texas Law Review and graduated with high honors and as a Chancellor-at-Large. He received his undergraduate degree with honors from the University of Chicago.
Of Counsel, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Prerak Shah is Of Counsel at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. He was most recently the Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, leading a team of approximately 120 Assistant U.S. Attorneys handling a wide range of cases, including securities fraud, health care fraud, the False Claims Act, computer crime, national security, tax fraud, money laundering, public corruption, and terrorism. Mr. Shah previously held several leadership positions at the Department of Justice, including Deputy Associate Attorney General in the office overseeing the work of the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment & Natural Resources, and Tax Divisions. Before joining the Justice Department, Mr. Shah served as Chief of Staff to Senator Ted Cruz and as a Chief Counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He graduated from the University of Chicago Law School and clerked for the Honorable Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Partner, Ashcroft Law Firm
With more than 20 years government experience, Johnny Sutton has acquired expertise as a front-line trial prosecutor and a top policy advisor to a Governor and a President. Mr. Sutton runs the Austin office of the Ashcroft Law Firm which specializes in internal investigations, white-collar criminal defense and helping companies comply with federal law.
From November 2001 to April 2009, Sutton led one of the largest and busiest United States Attorney’s Offices in the nation. The Western District of Texas covers 93,000 square miles, 68 counties and 660 miles of U.S.-Mexico border. As U.S. Attorney, Mr. Sutton managed more than 300 employees, a $28 million annual budget and directed 43,000 federal prosecutions and thousands of civil cases. Under Mr. Sutton’s leadership, the office led the nation in drug convictions, was second in illegal alien prosecutions, won more than 105 public corruption convictions and sent nearly 400 violent criminal gang members to prison.
In 2003, then-United States Attorney General John Ashcroft appointed Mr. Sutton to the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee—a panel of 17 U.S. Attorneys that advise the General and help carry out the President’s national goals. Sutton served from 2003 until 2009 and was chairman for nearly two years.
After leading the Bush-Cheney Department of Justice Transition Team in 2000, Mr. Sutton was named Associate Deputy Attorney General. He held the position until becoming U.S. Attorney.
From 1995 to 2000, Mr. Sutton served as the Criminal Justice Policy Director for then-Governor George W. Bush. Mr. Sutton was the chief policy advisor to the Governor on all criminal justice issues.
From 1988 to 1995, Mr. Sutton was a prosecutor in the Harris County District Attorney’s Office (Houston, TX) where he tried more than 60 first chair felony jury trials and had only three acquittals. He also successfully tried 17 murder jury trials, including seven for capital murder.
Mr. Sutton attended the University of Texas at Austin on a baseball scholarship where he was a two year lettermen and the starting left fielder for the 1983 University of Texas National Championship baseball team. Mr. Sutton was voted the Most Valuable Player of the NCAA Central Regional Baseball Tournament in 1983. Mr. Sutton is fluent in Spanish and conversant in Portuguese.
Mr. Sutton has dedicated his career to defending the innocent and standing up for the rule of law.
Associate Attorney, Gibson Dunn
David Casazza is an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He practices in the firm’s Appellate and Constitutional Law, and Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice groups.
Mr. Casazza has represented clients in appellate and regulatory litigation before the Supreme Court of the United States, federal appellate courts, and federal district courts. These cases have involved a wide range of subjects including separation of powers, federal rulemaking challenges, data privacy protections, anti-terrorism claims and foreign sovereign immunity, energy infrastructure permitting, and a variety of First Amendment speech and religious liberty claims. He has also represented clients in complex litigation, obtaining dismissal with prejudice of consumer class actions attacking major brand names. He has been named by Best Lawyers as a 2021 and 2022 “One to Watch” in Appellate Practice.
He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he served as a Managing Editor for the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy and as Executive Vice President of the Harvard Federalist Society. Mr. Casazza received an A.B. magna cum laude in history from Princeton and an M.A. in history from the Johns Hopkins University.
Mr. Casazza served as a law clerk to Justice Samuel Alito on the Supreme Court of the United States and for Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
He is a member of the bars of New York and the District of Columbia and is admitted to practice in the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth Circuits and in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
Of Counsel, Spencer Fane LLP
Anthony J. “A.J.” Ferate has built a multi-faceted background in the areas of the law, policy, energy, campaigns and elections, and defense over the last 20 years.
Through recent representation as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs for the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association (“OIPA”), A.J. held responsibilities over government efforts outside of the legislative branch on matters as broad as water, electric generation, commodity marketing, land matters, and seismicity. A.J. also maintained responsibility for legal matters at OIPA, including amicus briefing in appellate matters. A.J.’s extensive experience also includes management of public policy strategy for a Fortune 500 company.
For the past eleven years, A.J. has volunteered as General Counsel and spokesman for the Oklahoma Republican Party and has represented a number of elected officials, including U.S. Senator James Lankford, former statewide elected officials, a number of state legislators, and members of Congress.
Additionally, A.J. has assisted elected officials serve their constituents in all branches of government. Early in his career, A.J. held legislative aide duties in the Nebraska Legislature, then went on to work for former Nebraska Treasurer David Heineman. A.J. gained experience in the judiciary while serving Judge Gary L. Lumpkin at the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest criminal appellate court in Oklahoma. Following this service, A.J. began work with Denise A. Bode of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, assisting her in her duties regulating 70 percent of Oklahoma’s economy, including oil and gas and electric utilities.
A.J. honorably served ten years as an intelligence analyst for the United States Naval Reserve, including time at the Office of Naval Intelligence in the greater Washington DC area.
Opinion pieces authored or ghostwritten by A.J. have been published in the Seattle Times, Politico, Law360, The Oklahoman, Tulsa World and The Journal Record. A.J. has also been interviewed by national and international newspapers, and has also appeared on national radio programs including NPR’s The Diane Rehm Show and On Point with Tom Ashbrook.
General Counsel and Senior Advisor, White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud
Jason Manion has high-level legal experience in all three branches of federal government, in Ohio state government, and in private practice.
Since January 20, 2025, Jason has served in senior legal roles in the Trump-Vance Administration. He currently serves as General Counsel and Senior Advisor for the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within federal benefit programs.
Before joining the White House, Jason served as part of the senior leadership team at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he was Counselor to the Attorney General and Counselor and Chief of Staff to the Associate Attorney General. At the Justice Department, he oversaw a broad portfolio that included matters and issues arising out of the Civil, Civil Rights, Criminal, and National Security Divisions.
Previously, Jason was an award-winning federal prosecutor and accomplished appellate attorney. He worked as an appellate Assistant United States Attorney, a deputy Ohio solicitor general, and an appellate associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. In these various roles, he handled dozens of civil and criminal appeals (primarily in the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and the Ohio Supreme Court) and presented eighteen oral arguments (in the Sixth Circuit, the D.C. Circuit, the Ohio Supreme Court, and federal district courts in Ohio and D.C.).
Jason has also worked on the confirmations of several of President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Branch and judicial nominees, including serving on the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary as Special Counsel to Senator Ted Cruz for the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
Jason graduated from Harvard Law School and clerked for two Ohio-based Sixth Circuit judges, Judges Alice M. Batchelder and Eric E. Murphy. He has been an active member of the Federalist Society since law school and has served in multiple leadership roles in the Society.
Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig
Jennifer Weddle is the Co-Chair of Greenberg Traurig's American Indian Law Practice and has wide-ranging experience in complex regulatory and jurisdictional issues, with a focus in Indian law, handling a variety of matters for tribal and non-tribal clients. She has a dynamic, inter-disciplinary practice that centers on providing strategies for resolving complex jurisdictional problems. Much of her practice focuses in the areas of tribal economic development and natural resources development. Jennifer also has U.S. Supreme Court experience, including serving as one of the attorneys for the respondent in Nevada v. Hicks (2001) and representing the petitioners in Ute Mountain Ute Tribe v. Padilla (2012) and Grand Canyon Skywalk Development, LLC v. Grand Canyon Resort Corporation (2013) and cert stage amici in Saginaw-Chippewa Tribe v. NLRB (2016) and United States v. Cooley (2020) and amici on the merits in Lewis v. Clarke (2017), U.S. v. Washington (2018), Carpenter v. Murphy (2018), McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020), and United States v. Cooley (2021).
Jennifer's work also includes negotiations for mineral leasing employment matters and representation before federal agencies. She has also been involved in civil litigation, working on numerous complex federal, state and tribal litigation matters, including class action tort litigation and large commercial disputes. Her transactional experience includes oil and gas renewables projects throughout the west, as well as Endangered Species Act work. Jennifer frequently assists tribes, banks and non-bank entities with financing and regulatory matters with Indian law components. Jennifer has wide-ranging project siting experience, including the application of NEPA, NHPA, and other environmental laws on tribal and public lands, including with respect to large linear multi-state energy and infrastructure projects. Jennifer has deep transactional, regulatory and litigation experience involving very complex matters with both legal and policy components.
Jennifer is past President of the National Native American Bar Association and past two-term Chair of the Federal Bar Association Indian Law Section. She currently serves as the Tenth Circuit Representative on the American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, a role she has held since 2018, spanning the evaluations for more than two dozen federal judicial nominees at every level of the federal courts. She is a ’00 graduate of Harvard Law School and a ’97 graduate of the University of Michigan (Classical Languages and Literature).
Of Counsel, Spencer Fane LLP
Anthony J. “A.J.” Ferate has built a multi-faceted background in the areas of the law, policy, energy, campaigns and elections, and defense over the last 20 years.
Through recent representation as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs for the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association (“OIPA”), A.J. held responsibilities over government efforts outside of the legislative branch on matters as broad as water, electric generation, commodity marketing, land matters, and seismicity. A.J. also maintained responsibility for legal matters at OIPA, including amicus briefing in appellate matters. A.J.’s extensive experience also includes management of public policy strategy for a Fortune 500 company.
For the past eleven years, A.J. has volunteered as General Counsel and spokesman for the Oklahoma Republican Party and has represented a number of elected officials, including U.S. Senator James Lankford, former statewide elected officials, a number of state legislators, and members of Congress.
Additionally, A.J. has assisted elected officials serve their constituents in all branches of government. Early in his career, A.J. held legislative aide duties in the Nebraska Legislature, then went on to work for former Nebraska Treasurer David Heineman. A.J. gained experience in the judiciary while serving Judge Gary L. Lumpkin at the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest criminal appellate court in Oklahoma. Following this service, A.J. began work with Denise A. Bode of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, assisting her in her duties regulating 70 percent of Oklahoma’s economy, including oil and gas and electric utilities.
A.J. honorably served ten years as an intelligence analyst for the United States Naval Reserve, including time at the Office of Naval Intelligence in the greater Washington DC area.
Opinion pieces authored or ghostwritten by A.J. have been published in the Seattle Times, Politico, Law360, The Oklahoman, Tulsa World and The Journal Record. A.J. has also been interviewed by national and international newspapers, and has also appeared on national radio programs including NPR’s The Diane Rehm Show and On Point with Tom Ashbrook.
Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig
Jennifer Weddle is the Co-Chair of Greenberg Traurig's American Indian Law Practice and has wide-ranging experience in complex regulatory and jurisdictional issues, with a focus in Indian law, handling a variety of matters for tribal and non-tribal clients. She has a dynamic, inter-disciplinary practice that centers on providing strategies for resolving complex jurisdictional problems. Much of her practice focuses in the areas of tribal economic development and natural resources development. Jennifer also has U.S. Supreme Court experience, including serving as one of the attorneys for the respondent in Nevada v. Hicks (2001) and representing the petitioners in Ute Mountain Ute Tribe v. Padilla (2012) and Grand Canyon Skywalk Development, LLC v. Grand Canyon Resort Corporation (2013) and cert stage amici in Saginaw-Chippewa Tribe v. NLRB (2016) and United States v. Cooley (2020) and amici on the merits in Lewis v. Clarke (2017), U.S. v. Washington (2018), Carpenter v. Murphy (2018), McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020), and United States v. Cooley (2021).
Jennifer's work also includes negotiations for mineral leasing employment matters and representation before federal agencies. She has also been involved in civil litigation, working on numerous complex federal, state and tribal litigation matters, including class action tort litigation and large commercial disputes. Her transactional experience includes oil and gas renewables projects throughout the west, as well as Endangered Species Act work. Jennifer frequently assists tribes, banks and non-bank entities with financing and regulatory matters with Indian law components. Jennifer has wide-ranging project siting experience, including the application of NEPA, NHPA, and other environmental laws on tribal and public lands, including with respect to large linear multi-state energy and infrastructure projects. Jennifer has deep transactional, regulatory and litigation experience involving very complex matters with both legal and policy components.
Jennifer is past President of the National Native American Bar Association and past two-term Chair of the Federal Bar Association Indian Law Section. She currently serves as the Tenth Circuit Representative on the American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, a role she has held since 2018, spanning the evaluations for more than two dozen federal judicial nominees at every level of the federal courts. She is a ’00 graduate of Harvard Law School and a ’97 graduate of the University of Michigan (Classical Languages and Literature).
Of Counsel, Spencer Fane LLP
Anthony J. “A.J.” Ferate has built a multi-faceted background in the areas of the law, policy, energy, campaigns and elections, and defense over the last 20 years.
Through recent representation as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs for the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association (“OIPA”), A.J. held responsibilities over government efforts outside of the legislative branch on matters as broad as water, electric generation, commodity marketing, land matters, and seismicity. A.J. also maintained responsibility for legal matters at OIPA, including amicus briefing in appellate matters. A.J.’s extensive experience also includes management of public policy strategy for a Fortune 500 company.
For the past eleven years, A.J. has volunteered as General Counsel and spokesman for the Oklahoma Republican Party and has represented a number of elected officials, including U.S. Senator James Lankford, former statewide elected officials, a number of state legislators, and members of Congress.
Additionally, A.J. has assisted elected officials serve their constituents in all branches of government. Early in his career, A.J. held legislative aide duties in the Nebraska Legislature, then went on to work for former Nebraska Treasurer David Heineman. A.J. gained experience in the judiciary while serving Judge Gary L. Lumpkin at the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest criminal appellate court in Oklahoma. Following this service, A.J. began work with Denise A. Bode of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, assisting her in her duties regulating 70 percent of Oklahoma’s economy, including oil and gas and electric utilities.
A.J. honorably served ten years as an intelligence analyst for the United States Naval Reserve, including time at the Office of Naval Intelligence in the greater Washington DC area.
Opinion pieces authored or ghostwritten by A.J. have been published in the Seattle Times, Politico, Law360, The Oklahoman, Tulsa World and The Journal Record. A.J. has also been interviewed by national and international newspapers, and has also appeared on national radio programs including NPR’s The Diane Rehm Show and On Point with Tom Ashbrook.
Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig
Jennifer Weddle is the Co-Chair of Greenberg Traurig's American Indian Law Practice and has wide-ranging experience in complex regulatory and jurisdictional issues, with a focus in Indian law, handling a variety of matters for tribal and non-tribal clients. She has a dynamic, inter-disciplinary practice that centers on providing strategies for resolving complex jurisdictional problems. Much of her practice focuses in the areas of tribal economic development and natural resources development. Jennifer also has U.S. Supreme Court experience, including serving as one of the attorneys for the respondent in Nevada v. Hicks (2001) and representing the petitioners in Ute Mountain Ute Tribe v. Padilla (2012) and Grand Canyon Skywalk Development, LLC v. Grand Canyon Resort Corporation (2013) and cert stage amici in Saginaw-Chippewa Tribe v. NLRB (2016) and United States v. Cooley (2020) and amici on the merits in Lewis v. Clarke (2017), U.S. v. Washington (2018), Carpenter v. Murphy (2018), McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020), and United States v. Cooley (2021).
Jennifer's work also includes negotiations for mineral leasing employment matters and representation before federal agencies. She has also been involved in civil litigation, working on numerous complex federal, state and tribal litigation matters, including class action tort litigation and large commercial disputes. Her transactional experience includes oil and gas renewables projects throughout the west, as well as Endangered Species Act work. Jennifer frequently assists tribes, banks and non-bank entities with financing and regulatory matters with Indian law components. Jennifer has wide-ranging project siting experience, including the application of NEPA, NHPA, and other environmental laws on tribal and public lands, including with respect to large linear multi-state energy and infrastructure projects. Jennifer has deep transactional, regulatory and litigation experience involving very complex matters with both legal and policy components.
Jennifer is past President of the National Native American Bar Association and past two-term Chair of the Federal Bar Association Indian Law Section. She currently serves as the Tenth Circuit Representative on the American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, a role she has held since 2018, spanning the evaluations for more than two dozen federal judicial nominees at every level of the federal courts. She is a ’00 graduate of Harvard Law School and a ’97 graduate of the University of Michigan (Classical Languages and Literature).
Panel 2: Recent Developments in Election Law
2023 Western Chapters Conference
Simi Valley, CAOur Nation's Under-Incarceration Problem
Evansville Lawyers Chapter
Evansville, INOur Nation’s Under-Incarceration Problem
Indianapolis Lawyers Chapter
Indianapolis, INDemystifying the Judicial Application and Nomination Process at the Federal and State Levels
Tampa Bay Lawyers Chapter
Tampa, FLPanel 1: Rising Crime Rates and Criminal Justice Reform
Jennifer Sheffield Freel, Alexa L. Gervasi, James Wesley Hendrix, Prerak Shah, Johnny Sutton
Alexa Gervasi, Executive Director, Georgetown Center for the Constitution Jennifer Freel, Partner, Jackson Walker Prerak Shah,...
Panel 1: Rising Crime Rates and Criminal Justice Reform
Jennifer Sheffield Freel, Alexa L. Gervasi, James Wesley Hendrix, Prerak Shah, Johnny Sutton
Alexa Gervasi, Executive Director, Georgetown Center for the Constitution Jennifer Freel, Partner, Jackson Walker Prerak Shah,...
Panel 1: Rising Crime Rates and Criminal Justice Reform
Eighth Annual Texas Chapters Conference
Austin, TXCourthouse Steps Decision: Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta
David W. Casazza, Anthony J. Ferate, Jason Manion, Jennifer H. Weddle
On June 29, 2022, the Supreme Court decided Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta. In a 5-4 decision,...
Courthouse Steps Decisions: Denezpi and Ysleta
Anthony J. Ferate, Jennifer H. Weddle
On June 13 and 15, 2022, the Supreme Court decided Denezpi v. United States and...
Courthouse Steps Decisions: Denezpi and Ysleta
Anthony J. Ferate, Jennifer H. Weddle
On June 13 and 15, 2022, the Supreme Court decided Denezpi v. United States and...