Kansas Securities Commissioner
Aaron Jack, J.D., M.B.A., is the Kansas Securities Commissioner, a position he was appointed to by Kansas Governor Sam Brownback in 2011. Aaron was previously the West-Central Zone Director for New York Life where his 3,200 registered representatives produced over $1.5 billion in sales annually. Aaron was the first director in the history of New York Life to raise $1 billion in new assets for the company's investment management subsidiary, NYLIM.
Founder and Senior Director, Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance
Stanley Carlson-Thies is the Founder and Senior Director of the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance (IRFA), a division of the Center for Public Justice. As part of this role, he convenes the Coalition to Preserve Religious Freedom, a multi-faith alliance of social-service, education, and religious freedom organizations that advocates for the religious freedom of faith-based organizations to Congress and the federal government. In addition he is also a Senior Fellow at the Canadian think tank Cardus.
From 2009-2010 he served on a task force of President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, helping to draft recommendations on how to clarify the church-state rules that apply to federal funding of social-service providers, and has consulted with federal departments and several states.
He served with the White House Office of Faith-Based & Community Initiatives from its inception in February 2001 until mid-May 2002. He assisted with writing “Unlevel Playing Field: Barriers to Participation by Faith-Based and Community Organizations in Federal Social Service Programs,” a report released by the White House in August 2001, and “Rallying the Armies of Compassion,” the initial blueprint for President George W. Bush’s faith and community agenda.
Previously, he was Director of Social Policy Studies for CPJ and directed CPJ’s project to track the implementation and impact of the Charitable Choice provision of the 1996 federal welfare reform law. Following his term in the White House, he returned to CPJ as the Director of Faith-based Policy Studies.
He received the William Bentley Ball Life and Religious Liberty Defense Award from the Center for Law and Religious Freedom and the Christian Legal Society in October 2004. He was named as one of 12 advocates who are “reinterpreting God and country” by the National Journal in May 2004. He holds a doctorate in political science from the University of Toronto. His dissertation is on the role of Protestants and Catholics in the development of Dutch politics in the 19th and 20th centuries. Besides the United States, he has lived in Canada, the Netherlands, and Japan, where he was born of missionary parents. He lives in Annapolis, Maryland, with his wife, Christiane. They are the proud parents of Simon.
Partner and Co-Chair, Public Policy Group, Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP
Mark Behrens co-chairs Shook's Washington, DC-based Public Policy Practice Group and is a leading national expert on civil justice issues with over thirty years of experience. A substantial part of his practice is working to improve the civil litigation environment through state and federal legislation; in the courts through amicus curiae briefs; through legal scholarship and judicial education; and in the court of public opinion.
Mark is actively involved in civil justice reform efforts at the federal and state levels. He has testified before the U.S. Congress and most state legislatures on behalf of business and civil justice organizations. Mark also has an active amicus brief practice specializing in tort liability and civil justice issues. He has authored or co-authored over 150 amicus briefs in cases before the United States Supreme Court and federal and state appellate courts on behalf of business, civil justice, and defense lawyer organizations. In addition, Mark routinely files comments on behalf of business, civil justice, and defense lawyer organizations regarding potential changes to federal and state court rules. He chairs the International Association of Defense Counsel’s (IADC) Civil Justice Response Committee and serves on the Board of Directors of Lawyers for Civil Justice (LCJ).
Mark is a member of the American Law Institute (ALI). He received his J.D. in 1990 from Vanderbilt University Law School, where he was a member of the Vanderbilt Law Review. He received his B.A. in economics from the University of Wisconsin in 1987.
Partner and Co-Chair, Public Policy Group, Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP
Mark Behrens co-chairs Shook's Washington, DC-based Public Policy Practice Group and is a leading national expert on civil justice issues with over thirty years of experience. A substantial part of his practice is working to improve the civil litigation environment through state and federal legislation; in the courts through amicus curiae briefs; through legal scholarship and judicial education; and in the court of public opinion.
Mark is actively involved in civil justice reform efforts at the federal and state levels. He has testified before the U.S. Congress and most state legislatures on behalf of business and civil justice organizations. Mark also has an active amicus brief practice specializing in tort liability and civil justice issues. He has authored or co-authored over 150 amicus briefs in cases before the United States Supreme Court and federal and state appellate courts on behalf of business, civil justice, and defense lawyer organizations. In addition, Mark routinely files comments on behalf of business, civil justice, and defense lawyer organizations regarding potential changes to federal and state court rules. He chairs the International Association of Defense Counsel’s (IADC) Civil Justice Response Committee and serves on the Board of Directors of Lawyers for Civil Justice (LCJ).
Mark is a member of the American Law Institute (ALI). He received his J.D. in 1990 from Vanderbilt University Law School, where he was a member of the Vanderbilt Law Review. He received his B.A. in economics from the University of Wisconsin in 1987.
Research Director, Independence Institute
David B. Kopel is Research Director at the Independence Institute; Adjunct Scholar at the Cato Institute; and Senior Fellow at the University of Wyoming College of Law, Firearms Research Center. He received his B.A. in history with Highest Honors from Brown University and his J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School.
He is the author of over 20 books, including the textbook Firearm Law and the Second Amendment: Regulation, Rights, and Policy (Aspen Pubs. 4th ed. forthcoming 2026). His scholarship and briefs have been cited 7 Supreme Court cases--including Heller, McDonald, and Bruen--and in 140 lower courts opinions. He is the author of 120 scholarly articles. His shorter articles often appear on The Volokh Conspiracy blog, hosted by Reason magazine. His topics of interest include the right to arms throughout history, the Colorado Constitution, and law enforcement policy.
Partner, Jackson Walker
Arthur offers clients a winning combination of trial and appellate experience gained as a federal prosecutor and more than 20 years of experience in handling patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secrets litigation.
While his practice concentrates on intellectual property litigation, Arthur also has significant experience in internal investigations, False Claims Act suits, partnership and breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, and employment litigation. Arthur also has represented clients testifying before Congressional committees.
Arthur writes and speaks frequently on topics ranging from the case against Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to patent litigation reform.
Prior to joining Michael Best, Arthur served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York, where he was the lead prosecutor in criminal trials, including federal intellectual property crimes. He also argued numerous appeals.
Judge, United States Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit
Leonard Steven Grasz is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
A graduate of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the University of Nebraska College of Law, Grasz spent eleven years as the state of Nebraska's Chief Deputy Attorney General. He was a senior partner at the law firm of Husch Blackwell prior to his appointment to the federal judiciary.
Angela Kopolovich is a former litigator with a large international firm on the east coast. She currently works as a consultant in law practice management and recruiting in California.
Professor of Law, University of Florida Levin College of Law
Professor Willis joined the UF Law Faculty in 1981, having taught previously in the New York University Graduate Tax Program. He teaches tax courses in both the J.D. and the Graduate Tax Programs plus Family Law Economics and Accounting and Finance for Lawyers. In the fall of 2013, Professor Willis took a sabbatical from teaching in order to lend his expertise in tax law to Hobby Lobby Stores in its religious liberty fight against the PPACA. To this end, he authored the lead article in volume 65 of the South Carolina Law Review titled: Corporations, Taxes, and Religion: The Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Contraceptive Cases. He is also the lead author for the amicus curiae brief on behalf of Freedom X in support of Hobby Lobby and Conestoga.
Professor Willis is licensed to practice law in Florida, a member of the Louisiana Bar, and a CPA (inactive) in Louisiana. He is a faculty advisor for numerous student groups such as the Christian Legal Society and the Law College Republicans. He has also honorably served as the faculty advisor for the student chapter of the UF Federalist Society since its inception.
Judge, Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal
In April 2023, Judge Jordan E. Pratt was commissioned as a member of the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal following his appointment by Governor Ron DeSantis.
Before joining the court, Judge Pratt worked as senior counsel at First Liberty Institute and served in various roles in state and federal government: as senior counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice, deputy general counsel in the U.S. Small Business Administration, and deputy solicitor general in the Florida Office of the Attorney General. As a deputy solicitor general, he defended significant Florida legislation and executive actions at every level of the state and federal court systems, with successful arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, the Florida Supreme Court, and Florida’s First District Court of Appeal.
Judge Pratt graduated as a co-valedictorian of his undergraduate class at the University of Florida. He then received his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Florida College of Law, where he was a law review editor and president of the school’s Federalist Society and Christian Legal Society chapters. During law school, he interned for the Hon. Jeffrey S. Sutton on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
After his graduation from law school, Judge Pratt served as a law clerk to the Hon. Harvey E. Schlesinger on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Jacksonville Division. He then clerked for the Hon. Jennifer W. Elrod on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Judge Pratt has held several fellowships, including an Olin–Searle Fellowship at Florida State University’s College of Law, and has published scholarship in the Tennessee Law Review, the Nebraska Law Review, and the Mississippi Law Journal. He is a member of the Federalist Society for Law & Public Policy Studies, and he has held several leadership roles in the organization, including service as president of its Tallahassee Lawyers Chapter from 2016 to 2019.
The Economic Freedom Amendment: A States-Based Response to the Nationalizing Effects of Bailouts and Federal Ownership of Corporate Stock
Aaron Jack
Note from the Editor: This paper discusses a proposed state constitutional amendment that would deny...
Which Religious Organizations Count as Religious? The Religious Employer Exemption of the Health Insurance Law's Contraceptives Mandate
Stanley Carlson-Thies
On August 1, 2011, the Health Resources and Service Administration issued guidelines specifying that, among...
Philadelphia Tort Litigation: Forum Shopping and Venue Reform
Mark A. Behrens
The Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy initiatives. Any expressions...
Philadelphia Tort Litigation: Forum Shopping and Venue Reform
Mark A. Behrens
The Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy initiatives. Any expressions...
Mexico's Federal Law of Firearms and Explosives
David B. Kopel
In recent years, gun control has become an important international issue. For example, some persons...
Local Patent Rules - Certainty and Efficiency or a Crazy Quilt of Substantive Law?
Arthur Gollwitzer
More than a decade ago, the United States District Court for the Northern District of...
Judicial Selection in Nebraska
Steven Grasz
The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies is an organization of 40,000 lawyers,...
Judicial Selection in Nebraska
The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies is an organization of 40,000 lawyers,...
California Supreme Court Upholds Law Dissolving Redevelopment Agencies
Angela Kopolovich
In California Redevelopment Assn. v. Matosantos1 the California Supreme Court upheld a law dissolving the...
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Vacates Trial Court's Denial of a Minor's Application to Obtain an Abortion
Steven J. Willis, Jordan E. Pratt
On December 22, 2011, in a case of first impression,1 the Pennsylvania Supreme Court vacated...