Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law, Ave Maria School of Law
Antony “Tony” Kolenc joined the Ave Maria School of Law faculty in 2022 as the Director of the Veterans and Servicemembers Law Clinic (VSLC), which gives students the opportunity to help those who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, representing them in litigation, administrative proceedings, and veterans treatment courts. Professor Kolenc taught in several law schools after serving over 21 years in the United States Air Force, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel from the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps. During his career as a JAG, he litigated both civil and criminal cases before trial and appellate courts, including the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He has also taught at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and Florida Coastal School of Law as a tenured professor.
Professor Kolenc received his Juris Doctor degree in 1999, graduating at the top of his class from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. While there, he served as a senior editor on the Florida Law Review and as a competitor and coach on the Justice Campbell Thornal Moot Court Board. He also earned his Master of Arts degree in Theology and Christian Ministry from the Franciscan University of Steubenville. His professional writings have focused on matters of constitutional law and military policy, especially focusing on Freedom of Religion. His articles have appeared in several academic legal journals and magazines. He also writes a regular legal column for homeschooling families in Practical Homeschooling Magazine and has penned an award-winning historical fiction trilogy for teens. He and his wife, Alisa, homeschooled their five children. You can learn more about him at www.antonykolenc.com.
Senior Counsel, First Liberty Institute
Christopher J. Motz serves as Senior Counsel with First Liberty Institute. His practice focuses on First Amendment free exercise and Establishment Clause rights of United States service members domestically and internationally, chaplains of varying denominations, veterans, and defense industry contractors. He has also represented Catholic bishops and priests against state officials.
Chris currently serves part-time as a judge advocate in the Air Force Reserve Component, holding the rank of lieutenant colonel. Prior to that, he served as a Marine infantry officer, leading Marines on several combat tours. He has been forward deployed alongside soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen, and Coast Guardsmen. His advocacy for the religious rights of service members has been published in the Wall Street Journal.
Before joining First Liberty, Chris served as general counsel and chief of staff to a Catholic diocese, where he led the Catholic Church’s efforts to oppose a state constitutional ballot measure reinstating Roe v. Wade, achieving a record-setting 18-point victory, a nationwide first in the wake of the Dobbs decision. Earlier in his career, he led a state Catholic conference, where he steered the successful passage of a state religious freedom restoration act. A member of the Knights of Columbus, he is a past member of the National Diocesan Attorneys Association and the National Association of State Catholic Conference Directors.
He graduated cum laude from the University of St. Thomas School of Law, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Law and Public Policy, represented a Messianic Jewish prisoner before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit with the school’s Religious Liberty Appellate Clinic, and published articles on attorney ethics and legal issues around drone strikes.
Chief Defense Counsel, U.S. Marine Corps
Colonel Iain Pedden currently serves as Chief Defense Counsel of the Marine Corps. His career experience includes trial and appellate litigation, academic instruction, constitutional advocacy, and service-level policy development within the military justice system.
Colonel Pedden’s recent litigation background includes serving as Director of the Appellate Government Division for the Navy and Marine Corps, where he led the representation of the United States in all criminal appeals within the Department of the Navy. He previously served as Chief Victims' Legal Counsel of the Marine Corps, Senior Defense Counsel, and Trial Counsel. His foundational appellate experience includes service as a clerk drafting briefs for the Illinois Attorney General’s Criminal Appeals Division in cases before the Illinois Supreme Court, the Seventh Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.
Apart from litigation assignments, Colonel Pedden served as Associate Professor of Criminal Law at the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School, teaching evidence and constitutional law. He later served as Branch Head of Military Justice at Headquarters Marine Corps, advising senior leaders on federal legislation, implementing the Military Justice Act of 2016, and drafting policy on criminal justice data-sharing protocols with the FBI. His operational assignments include a combat deployment to Afghanistan and service as a Staff Judge Advocate (general counsel) to the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. He went on to command Marines providing security at diplomatic facilities in Scandinavia, Western Europe and the Mediterranean.
Colonel Pedden holds an M.S. from the National War College, an LL.M. (International Law) from the U.S. Army JAG School, and a J.D. from Loyola University Chicago. He holds certifications as Victims’ Legal Counsel and military judge and is admitted to practice in Illinois and before the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.
Colonel Pedden’s participation in programming, unless noted otherwise, is in his personal capacity. The views expressed are those of the speaker and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of War, the Department of the Navy, the Marine Corps, or the U.S. Government.
Special Counsel, Office of the Secretary of Defense, U.S. Department of Defense
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law, Ave Maria School of Law
Antony “Tony” Kolenc joined the Ave Maria School of Law faculty in 2022 as the Director of the Veterans and Servicemembers Law Clinic (VSLC), which gives students the opportunity to help those who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, representing them in litigation, administrative proceedings, and veterans treatment courts. Professor Kolenc taught in several law schools after serving over 21 years in the United States Air Force, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel from the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps. During his career as a JAG, he litigated both civil and criminal cases before trial and appellate courts, including the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He has also taught at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and Florida Coastal School of Law as a tenured professor.
Professor Kolenc received his Juris Doctor degree in 1999, graduating at the top of his class from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. While there, he served as a senior editor on the Florida Law Review and as a competitor and coach on the Justice Campbell Thornal Moot Court Board. He also earned his Master of Arts degree in Theology and Christian Ministry from the Franciscan University of Steubenville. His professional writings have focused on matters of constitutional law and military policy, especially focusing on Freedom of Religion. His articles have appeared in several academic legal journals and magazines. He also writes a regular legal column for homeschooling families in Practical Homeschooling Magazine and has penned an award-winning historical fiction trilogy for teens. He and his wife, Alisa, homeschooled their five children. You can learn more about him at www.antonykolenc.com.
Senior Counsel, First Liberty Institute
Christopher J. Motz serves as Senior Counsel with First Liberty Institute. His practice focuses on First Amendment free exercise and Establishment Clause rights of United States service members domestically and internationally, chaplains of varying denominations, veterans, and defense industry contractors. He has also represented Catholic bishops and priests against state officials.
Chris currently serves part-time as a judge advocate in the Air Force Reserve Component, holding the rank of lieutenant colonel. Prior to that, he served as a Marine infantry officer, leading Marines on several combat tours. He has been forward deployed alongside soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen, and Coast Guardsmen. His advocacy for the religious rights of service members has been published in the Wall Street Journal.
Before joining First Liberty, Chris served as general counsel and chief of staff to a Catholic diocese, where he led the Catholic Church’s efforts to oppose a state constitutional ballot measure reinstating Roe v. Wade, achieving a record-setting 18-point victory, a nationwide first in the wake of the Dobbs decision. Earlier in his career, he led a state Catholic conference, where he steered the successful passage of a state religious freedom restoration act. A member of the Knights of Columbus, he is a past member of the National Diocesan Attorneys Association and the National Association of State Catholic Conference Directors.
He graduated cum laude from the University of St. Thomas School of Law, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Law and Public Policy, represented a Messianic Jewish prisoner before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit with the school’s Religious Liberty Appellate Clinic, and published articles on attorney ethics and legal issues around drone strikes.
Chief Defense Counsel, U.S. Marine Corps
Colonel Iain Pedden currently serves as Chief Defense Counsel of the Marine Corps. His career experience includes trial and appellate litigation, academic instruction, constitutional advocacy, and service-level policy development within the military justice system.
Colonel Pedden’s recent litigation background includes serving as Director of the Appellate Government Division for the Navy and Marine Corps, where he led the representation of the United States in all criminal appeals within the Department of the Navy. He previously served as Chief Victims' Legal Counsel of the Marine Corps, Senior Defense Counsel, and Trial Counsel. His foundational appellate experience includes service as a clerk drafting briefs for the Illinois Attorney General’s Criminal Appeals Division in cases before the Illinois Supreme Court, the Seventh Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.
Apart from litigation assignments, Colonel Pedden served as Associate Professor of Criminal Law at the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School, teaching evidence and constitutional law. He later served as Branch Head of Military Justice at Headquarters Marine Corps, advising senior leaders on federal legislation, implementing the Military Justice Act of 2016, and drafting policy on criminal justice data-sharing protocols with the FBI. His operational assignments include a combat deployment to Afghanistan and service as a Staff Judge Advocate (general counsel) to the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. He went on to command Marines providing security at diplomatic facilities in Scandinavia, Western Europe and the Mediterranean.
Colonel Pedden holds an M.S. from the National War College, an LL.M. (International Law) from the U.S. Army JAG School, and a J.D. from Loyola University Chicago. He holds certifications as Victims’ Legal Counsel and military judge and is admitted to practice in Illinois and before the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.
Colonel Pedden’s participation in programming, unless noted otherwise, is in his personal capacity. The views expressed are those of the speaker and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of War, the Department of the Navy, the Marine Corps, or the U.S. Government.
Special Counsel, Office of the Secretary of Defense, U.S. Department of Defense
Beton Michael Kaneb Professor of National Security and Military Affairs, Harvard University
In addition to his roles at Harvard, where he has also served as Harvard College Professor, head of Winthrop House, and Director of the John M. Olin Institute for Strategic Studies, Professor Rosen has also served as the civilian assistant to the director, Net Assessment in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Director of Political-Military Affairs on the staff of the National Security Council, and a professor in the Strategic Department at the Naval War College. He participated in the President's Commission on Integrated Long Term Strategy, and in the Gulf War Air Power Survey sponsored by the Secretary of the Air Force. He currently serves as Senior Counsellor at the Long Term Strategy Group. He has published articles on ballistic missile defense, the American theory of limited war, and the strategic implications of the AIDS epidemic. His books include Winning the Next War: Innovation and the Modern Military, Societies and Military Power: India and its Armies, and War and Human Nature.
Managing Director, SCF Partners
Daniel G. West invests in energy services, equipment, and technology companies at SCF Partners in Houston, Texas. He provides equity capital and strategic growth assistance to entrepreneurs and leaders of both start-up ventures and established, growing businesses.
Prior to joining the private sector, Mr. West served as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps. As a platoon commander with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard the USS Mesa Verde, he led the Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel force in support of the NATO aerial campaign over Libya. He then served as executive officer of India Company, 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines as it mentored Afghan forces to assume lead security responsibility and executed counter-narcotics missions in Marjah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He also served as a clerk for Judge Laurence H. Silberman on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Mr. West holds degrees in law, business administration, and economics from Harvard University, where he served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review and taught undergraduate courses in economics and government. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the International & National Security Law Practice Group of the Federalist Society and a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Senior Fellow, International Security Program, New America
As a Senior Fellow with the International Security Program at New America, Ioannis "Gianni" Koskinas focuses on foreign policy issues with an emphasis on Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and the Levant. He is the CEO of the Hoplite Group, a company focused on sustainable and innovative solutions to complex problems, in the most challenging environments and harshest conditions. Previously he was the Executive Vice President of the Asia Africa Projects Group and the President of the Global Initiatives Group, focusing on natural resources development and national security projects, respectively. Gianni retired from the U.S. Air Force in 2011 after a twenty-year career in Special Operations. He has a B.S. in Biology from the University of Connecticut, as well as three Master's degrees in Operational Art, Strategy, and International Relations. He is also a candidate for a Ph.D. in War Studies from King's College, London.
Managing Director, SCF Partners
Daniel G. West invests in energy services, equipment, and technology companies at SCF Partners in Houston, Texas. He provides equity capital and strategic growth assistance to entrepreneurs and leaders of both start-up ventures and established, growing businesses.
Prior to joining the private sector, Mr. West served as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps. As a platoon commander with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard the USS Mesa Verde, he led the Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel force in support of the NATO aerial campaign over Libya. He then served as executive officer of India Company, 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines as it mentored Afghan forces to assume lead security responsibility and executed counter-narcotics missions in Marjah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He also served as a clerk for Judge Laurence H. Silberman on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Mr. West holds degrees in law, business administration, and economics from Harvard University, where he served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review and taught undergraduate courses in economics and government. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the International & National Security Law Practice Group of the Federalist Society and a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Maurice A. Deane Distinguished Professor of Constitutional Law and Faculty Director of International Programs, Hofstra University School of Law
Professor Ku’s primary research interest is the relationship of international law to constitutional law. He has also conducted academic research on a wide range of topics including international dispute resolution, international criminal law, and China’s relationship with international law. He teaches courses such as U.S. constitutional law, U.S. foreign affairs law, transnational law, and international trade and business law. Since 2014, he has served as the faculty director of international programs, overseeing Hofstra Law’s study abroad, exchange and LL.M. programs. Professor Ku also teaches Constitutional Law in our online degree programs: Master of Laws in American Law and Master of Arts in American Legal Studies. He has also been selected as the John DeWitt Gregory Research Scholar and as a Hofstra Law Research Fellow. He is a member of the American Law Institute.
He is the co-author, with John Yoo, of Taming Globalization: International Law, the U.S. Constitution, and the New World Order (Oxford University Press 2012). He also has published more than 40 law review articles, book chapters and symposia essays. He has given dozens of academic lectures and workshops at major universities and conferences in the United States, Europe and Asia.
He co-founded the leading international law weblog Opinio Juris, which is read daily by thousands worldwide. His essays and op-eds have been published in major news publications such as the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the NYTimes.com. He has been frequently interviewed for television news programs and quoted in print and electronic media. He has also signed or submitted amicus briefs to national and international courts and served as an expert witness in both domestic and international proceedings.
Before joining the Hofstra Law faculty, Professor Ku served as a law clerk to the Honorable Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and as an Olin Fellow and Lecturer in Law at the University of Virginia Law School. Professor Ku also practiced as an associate at the New York City law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton, specializing in litigation and arbitration arising out of international disputes. He has been a visiting professor at the College of William & Mary Marshall- Wythe School of Law in Williamsburg, Virginia; a Fulbright Distinguished Lecturer in Law at East China University of Political Science and Law in Shanghai, China; and a Taiwan Fellow at National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan. He is a member of the New York Bar and a graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School.
Professor in the Stockton Center for the Study of International, U.S. Naval War College
James Kraska is Howard S. Levie Professor in the Stockton Center for the Study of International Law at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. He is also a Distinguished Fellow at the Law of the Sea Institute, University of California Berkeley School of Law and Senior Fellow at the Center for Oceans Law and Policy at the University of Virginia School of Law. He is a permanent Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. Previously, he served as an endowed visiting scholar at Duke University Marine Laboratory and Fellow in residence at the Marine Policy Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. His publications include numerous scholarly articles and books, including Maritime Power and Law of the Sea (Oxford) and co-author of the treatise, International Maritime Security Law (Brill).
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law, Ave Maria School of Law
Antony “Tony” Kolenc joined the Ave Maria School of Law faculty in 2022 as the Director of the Veterans and Servicemembers Law Clinic (VSLC), which gives students the opportunity to help those who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, representing them in litigation, administrative proceedings, and veterans treatment courts. Professor Kolenc taught in several law schools after serving over 21 years in the United States Air Force, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel from the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps. During his career as a JAG, he litigated both civil and criminal cases before trial and appellate courts, including the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He has also taught at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and Florida Coastal School of Law as a tenured professor.
Professor Kolenc received his Juris Doctor degree in 1999, graduating at the top of his class from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. While there, he served as a senior editor on the Florida Law Review and as a competitor and coach on the Justice Campbell Thornal Moot Court Board. He also earned his Master of Arts degree in Theology and Christian Ministry from the Franciscan University of Steubenville. His professional writings have focused on matters of constitutional law and military policy, especially focusing on Freedom of Religion. His articles have appeared in several academic legal journals and magazines. He also writes a regular legal column for homeschooling families in Practical Homeschooling Magazine and has penned an award-winning historical fiction trilogy for teens. He and his wife, Alisa, homeschooled their five children. You can learn more about him at www.antonykolenc.com.
Senior Counsel, First Liberty Institute
Christopher J. Motz serves as Senior Counsel with First Liberty Institute. His practice focuses on First Amendment free exercise and Establishment Clause rights of United States service members domestically and internationally, chaplains of varying denominations, veterans, and defense industry contractors. He has also represented Catholic bishops and priests against state officials.
Chris currently serves part-time as a judge advocate in the Air Force Reserve Component, holding the rank of lieutenant colonel. Prior to that, he served as a Marine infantry officer, leading Marines on several combat tours. He has been forward deployed alongside soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen, and Coast Guardsmen. His advocacy for the religious rights of service members has been published in the Wall Street Journal.
Before joining First Liberty, Chris served as general counsel and chief of staff to a Catholic diocese, where he led the Catholic Church’s efforts to oppose a state constitutional ballot measure reinstating Roe v. Wade, achieving a record-setting 18-point victory, a nationwide first in the wake of the Dobbs decision. Earlier in his career, he led a state Catholic conference, where he steered the successful passage of a state religious freedom restoration act. A member of the Knights of Columbus, he is a past member of the National Diocesan Attorneys Association and the National Association of State Catholic Conference Directors.
He graduated cum laude from the University of St. Thomas School of Law, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Law and Public Policy, represented a Messianic Jewish prisoner before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit with the school’s Religious Liberty Appellate Clinic, and published articles on attorney ethics and legal issues around drone strikes.
Chief Defense Counsel, U.S. Marine Corps
Colonel Iain Pedden currently serves as Chief Defense Counsel of the Marine Corps. His career experience includes trial and appellate litigation, academic instruction, constitutional advocacy, and service-level policy development within the military justice system.
Colonel Pedden’s recent litigation background includes serving as Director of the Appellate Government Division for the Navy and Marine Corps, where he led the representation of the United States in all criminal appeals within the Department of the Navy. He previously served as Chief Victims' Legal Counsel of the Marine Corps, Senior Defense Counsel, and Trial Counsel. His foundational appellate experience includes service as a clerk drafting briefs for the Illinois Attorney General’s Criminal Appeals Division in cases before the Illinois Supreme Court, the Seventh Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.
Apart from litigation assignments, Colonel Pedden served as Associate Professor of Criminal Law at the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School, teaching evidence and constitutional law. He later served as Branch Head of Military Justice at Headquarters Marine Corps, advising senior leaders on federal legislation, implementing the Military Justice Act of 2016, and drafting policy on criminal justice data-sharing protocols with the FBI. His operational assignments include a combat deployment to Afghanistan and service as a Staff Judge Advocate (general counsel) to the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. He went on to command Marines providing security at diplomatic facilities in Scandinavia, Western Europe and the Mediterranean.
Colonel Pedden holds an M.S. from the National War College, an LL.M. (International Law) from the U.S. Army JAG School, and a J.D. from Loyola University Chicago. He holds certifications as Victims’ Legal Counsel and military judge and is admitted to practice in Illinois and before the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.
Colonel Pedden’s participation in programming, unless noted otherwise, is in his personal capacity. The views expressed are those of the speaker and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of War, the Department of the Navy, the Marine Corps, or the U.S. Government.
Special Counsel, Office of the Secretary of Defense, U.S. Department of Defense
Service Members & the First Amendment
Antony Kolenc, Christopher J. Motz, Iain Pedden, Thomas N. Wheatley
Recent litigation has resurfaced longstanding debates over the scope of First Amendment protections for members...
Service Members & the First Amendment
Antony Kolenc, Christopher J. Motz, Iain Pedden, Thomas N. Wheatley
Recent litigation has resurfaced longstanding debates over the scope of First Amendment protections for members...
Service Members & the First Amendment
New START, Nuclear Weapons, and the New Landscape: Arms Control and Deterrence Post-Ukraine
Stephen P. Rosen, Daniel G. West
In February 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would withdraw from the New...
The Stakes: Reinstating Afghanistan Withdrawal?
Ioannis "Gianni" Koskinas, Daniel G. West
Whether an Afghanistan “peace accord” process that includes negotiations with Taliban agents is resumed, or...
When Lines in The Sea Fail: China Dismisses Hague Arbitration Court Ruling - Podcast
Julian Ku, James Kraska
The Chinese Supreme People’s Court and the Chinese government have denounced the Permanent Court of...
Bar Watch Bulletin August 8, 2004
ABA WATCH will be reporting daily from the ABA Meetings in Atlanta through August 10....