Partner, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP
Andy excels at solving complex problems for his clients using a variety of effective strategies. As former Chief Deputy Attorney General for the State of Wisconsin, Andy Cook has extensive experience representing businesses before state Attorneys General involving investigations and lawsuits. His strong relationships with Attorneys General and their senior staff frequently facilitate the successful resolution of client issues through diplomacy and negotiations. When litigation becomes necessary, Andy effectively advocates for clients throughout the litigation process.
Andy combines his legal expertise in numerous areas of law covered by state Attorneys General, an understanding of how state AG offices operate, and vast knowledge of legal and regulatory issues facing his clients. This substantive and comprehensive legal approach is crucial to effectively representing clients before state Attorneys General. Andy also has substantial experience drafting and enacting complex civil liability reforms before state legislatures to successfully address client goals.
Andy’s main practice focuses on advising Fortune 500 companies before state Attorneys General in the areas of antitrust, consumer protection, False Claims Act, environmental law, and cybersecurity and data privacy. Andy, in collaboration with a team of attorneys, successfully navigated a client through antitrust regulatory review by state Attorneys General in one of the nation’s largest mergers of two major telecommunication companies. Andy also worked with a team of lawyers representing a large corporation involving the multistate opioids litigation brought by state Attorneys General.
Andy gained valuable experience serving as Deputy Attorney General for the State of Wisconsin where he was the second in command of the 700-plus state agency. In his role as Chief Deputy Attorney General, Andy oversaw the day-to-day operations at the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ); directed the State’s litigation strategy; negotiated, reviewed, and approved all settlements; drafted and reviewed attorney general opinions; managed the agency’s budget; oversaw civil and criminal investigations handled by DOJ; and managed DOJ’s legislative agenda.
Andy played college hockey and remains active by running, cross country skiing, and playing golf. On the weekends, Andy and his wife enjoy watching their kids’ sporting events, including soccer, baseball, gymnastics, and track. In his rare spare time, Andy reads history books.
President and General Counsel, Public Interest Legal Foundation
J. Christian Adams is the President and General Counsel of the Public Interest Legal Foundation. He served from 2005 to 2010 in the Voting Section at the United States Department of Justice Voting Section. President Trump appointed Adams to the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. President Trump also appointed Adams as a Commissioner to the United States Commission on Civil Rights where he also now serves with a term through 2025. He has been involved in election law lawsuits in 33 states and the territory of Guam. He has represented multiple presidential campaigns in election litigation. He has a law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law. He is a member of the South Carolina and Virginia Bars.
Litigation Counsel, Public Interest Legal Foundation
Kaylan L. Phillips joined Public Interest Legal Foundation in 2012. She has litigated election law and constitutional law cases across the nation, from Washington state to Maine. Kaylan has extensive experience at every level of litigation in state and federal court, including the Supreme Court. She also has experience representing clients before federal and state administrative agencies. Before joining Public Interest Legal Foundation, Kaylan was an associate at The Bopp Law Firm where her federal practice focused on election law. Kaylan co-authored a law review article entitled “The Limits of Citizens United” (2012) with James Bopp, Jr. Kaylan has also authored numerous amicus curiae briefs on key election law issues such as “one-person, one-vote” and alien voting. Kaylan received her B.A. (with honors, 2005) from the University of Oklahoma and J.D. (2008) from the University of Tulsa. She is admitted to practice law in the State of Oklahoma, State of Indiana, the District of Columbia, and in several federal district and appellate courts.
Senior Attorney, Institute for Justice
Sam Gedge is a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice. He joined IJ in June 2015 and litigates cases to promote economic liberty, protect political speech, and secure individuals’ rights to private property.
In 2017, Sam was named IJ’s second Elfie Gallun Fellow for Freedom and the Constitution. The fellowship comes with an emphasis on publishing written materials and speaking to students and others about the vital role the U.S. Constitution plays in protecting our most precious freedoms.
In his time at IJ, Sam has launched cases battling civil forfeiture and overzealous licensing boards, which generated widespread coverage and conversation in media outlets from Wired and The Atlantic to London’s Daily Mail.
Before joining IJ, Sam was an attorney at Wiley Rein LLP, in Washington, D.C., where he focused on litigation and election law. He is a former law clerk to Judge Raymond W. Gruender of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Sam received his law degree cum laude from Harvard Law School in 2010.
Attorney, Institute for Justice
John Wrench is a Constitutional Law Fellow at the Institute for Justice.
John grew up outside of Ithaca, New York, and received his law degree from the Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 2019. During law school, he served as editor in chief of the Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law and was a member of the Federalist Society. John interned in his law school’s First Amendment Litigation Clinic and was a judicial extern to the Honorable Paul E. Davison in the Southern District of New York. John graduated from Pace University in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Religious Studies.
Partner, Murtha Cullina LLP
Proloy K. Das is the chair of the Appellate Practice Group. He has argued over sixty appeals before the Connecticut Supreme Court, Connecticut Appellate Court, and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Attorney Das has advanced legal doctrines in cases of first impression in several areas including election law, tort liability, municipal law, contract law, insurance coverage, and felony prosecutions.
He has been named as one of the Connecticut Law Tribune’s New Leaders of the Law (2005), the Hartford Business Journal’s “40 Under Forty” (2007); the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s (NAPABA) Best Under 40 (2011); the “Super Lawyers Rising Stars” list of Connecticut appellate lawyers (2008-2012); and the “Super Lawyers” list of top appellate lawyers in New England from 2013-2017. In 2015, the Connecticut Law Tribune named the appellate department chaired by Attorney Das at his prior law firm as its “2015 Appellate Litigation Department of the Year.” In 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 the publication named Murtha Cullina’s appellate practice group as its “Litigation Department of the Year.”
The U. S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has appointed Attorney Das to its pro bono panel of appellate advocates for indigent appellants. Prior to private practice, Attorney Das served as Assistant State’s Attorney in the Appellate Bureau of the Chief State’s Attorney’s Office. He earned his undergraduate degree from Boston College and his law degree from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law.
Attorney Das is the Connecticut State Chair of the Republican National Lawyers Association.
Attorney, Paul, Weiss
An associate in the Restructuring Department, Joshua advises debtors, creditors, sponsors and shareholders, and distressed investment funds in chapter 11 cases, out-of-court restructurings, cross-border insolvency matters, and in bankruptcy litigation at both the trial and appellate courts. He also has significant experience representing the Financial Oversight & Management Board for Puerto Rico, as representative of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and certain of its instrumentalities, in their proceedings under Title III of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA).
Republican Minority Leader (34th District) and Partner, Fasano, Ippolito, Lee & Florentine, LLC
State Senator Len Fasano has represented the 34th Senate District communities of Durham, East Haven, North Haven and Wallingford since 2003.
In the General Assembly, Len Fasano has served as leader of the Senate Republican Caucus since 2014. He has championed bipartisan policies to benefit taxpayers, promote fiscal stability, and protect core services for the most vulnerable. Recent legislative accomplishments include developing first-in-the-nation legislation to make prescription drugs more affordable and bring transparency to health care, passing historic bipartisan state budgets with spending caps and bonding caps, and developing proposals to reform criminal justice, education funding, and bring more opportunities to Connecticut cities.
As leader of the Senate Republican Caucus, Senator Fasano is committed to making state government more cost-effective and efficient. He rallied bipartisan support to implement a spending cap, after decades of attempts by lawmakers to define the cap approved over 25 years ago. He also championed a bonding cap and volatility cap to reduce state debt and create more stability in state finances.
Senator Fasano established an urban affairs initiative within the Senate Republican Caucus in 2014 to start a dialogue between Republican lawmakers and Connecticut cities to enhance educational and economic opportunities. He has also proposed plans to reform the state’s justice system, to reduce recidivism and help people access the tools they need to succeed in all aspects of life.
As an advocate for the most vulnerable, Sen. Fasano has been named a “Children’s Champion” by the Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance and has proposed legislation to reform the state’s child welfare agency to better protect, monitor and support the children in its care. Senator Fasano has also worked closely with advocates for individuals with disabilities, passing legislation to address the growing needs of individuals on the state’s waitlist for services and legislation to better protect children with disabilities who are suspected or documented victims of abuse and neglect.
Senator Fasano is the co-creator of the Bipartisan Round Table on Hospitals and Health Care, established in 2014 in partnership with Senate President Martin Looney to help ensure continued access to affordable quality care in Connecticut. Senator Fasano, whose father was a doctor in New Haven, has advocated for legislation that seeks to remedy the problems caused by the rapid consolidation of physician practices in Connecticut and the resulting impacts on health care costs and patient choice. He was also successful in passing bipartisan legislation to bring more transparency to medical expenses and to ban “gag clauses” that prevented pharmacists from telling consumers if cheaper prescription drug alternatives were available.
Senator Fasano is the President and Founder of Fasano, Ippolito, Lee, & Florentine, a law firm with offices in New Haven and Branford. He is also an East Haven business owner. Fasano earned his Bachelor of Science Degree from Yale University in 1981, a Juris Doctorate from Quinnipiac Law School in 1984, and an L.L.M. Degree in Taxation from Boston University Law School in 1985. He played football at Yale under legendary coach, Carm Cozza.
Senator Fasano has spent all of his life in New Haven and surrounding communities. He has three adult children and two grandchildren. He currently resides in North Haven with his wife, Jill.
Partner, Murtha Cullina LLP
Proloy K. Das is the chair of the Appellate Practice Group. He has argued over sixty appeals before the Connecticut Supreme Court, Connecticut Appellate Court, and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Attorney Das has advanced legal doctrines in cases of first impression in several areas including election law, tort liability, municipal law, contract law, insurance coverage, and felony prosecutions.
He has been named as one of the Connecticut Law Tribune’s New Leaders of the Law (2005), the Hartford Business Journal’s “40 Under Forty” (2007); the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s (NAPABA) Best Under 40 (2011); the “Super Lawyers Rising Stars” list of Connecticut appellate lawyers (2008-2012); and the “Super Lawyers” list of top appellate lawyers in New England from 2013-2017. In 2015, the Connecticut Law Tribune named the appellate department chaired by Attorney Das at his prior law firm as its “2015 Appellate Litigation Department of the Year.” In 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 the publication named Murtha Cullina’s appellate practice group as its “Litigation Department of the Year.”
The U. S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has appointed Attorney Das to its pro bono panel of appellate advocates for indigent appellants. Prior to private practice, Attorney Das served as Assistant State’s Attorney in the Appellate Bureau of the Chief State’s Attorney’s Office. He earned his undergraduate degree from Boston College and his law degree from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law.
Attorney Das is the Connecticut State Chair of the Republican National Lawyers Association.
Attorney, Paul, Weiss
An associate in the Restructuring Department, Joshua advises debtors, creditors, sponsors and shareholders, and distressed investment funds in chapter 11 cases, out-of-court restructurings, cross-border insolvency matters, and in bankruptcy litigation at both the trial and appellate courts. He also has significant experience representing the Financial Oversight & Management Board for Puerto Rico, as representative of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and certain of its instrumentalities, in their proceedings under Title III of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA).
Republican Minority Leader (34th District) and Partner, Fasano, Ippolito, Lee & Florentine, LLC
State Senator Len Fasano has represented the 34th Senate District communities of Durham, East Haven, North Haven and Wallingford since 2003.
In the General Assembly, Len Fasano has served as leader of the Senate Republican Caucus since 2014. He has championed bipartisan policies to benefit taxpayers, promote fiscal stability, and protect core services for the most vulnerable. Recent legislative accomplishments include developing first-in-the-nation legislation to make prescription drugs more affordable and bring transparency to health care, passing historic bipartisan state budgets with spending caps and bonding caps, and developing proposals to reform criminal justice, education funding, and bring more opportunities to Connecticut cities.
As leader of the Senate Republican Caucus, Senator Fasano is committed to making state government more cost-effective and efficient. He rallied bipartisan support to implement a spending cap, after decades of attempts by lawmakers to define the cap approved over 25 years ago. He also championed a bonding cap and volatility cap to reduce state debt and create more stability in state finances.
Senator Fasano established an urban affairs initiative within the Senate Republican Caucus in 2014 to start a dialogue between Republican lawmakers and Connecticut cities to enhance educational and economic opportunities. He has also proposed plans to reform the state’s justice system, to reduce recidivism and help people access the tools they need to succeed in all aspects of life.
As an advocate for the most vulnerable, Sen. Fasano has been named a “Children’s Champion” by the Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance and has proposed legislation to reform the state’s child welfare agency to better protect, monitor and support the children in its care. Senator Fasano has also worked closely with advocates for individuals with disabilities, passing legislation to address the growing needs of individuals on the state’s waitlist for services and legislation to better protect children with disabilities who are suspected or documented victims of abuse and neglect.
Senator Fasano is the co-creator of the Bipartisan Round Table on Hospitals and Health Care, established in 2014 in partnership with Senate President Martin Looney to help ensure continued access to affordable quality care in Connecticut. Senator Fasano, whose father was a doctor in New Haven, has advocated for legislation that seeks to remedy the problems caused by the rapid consolidation of physician practices in Connecticut and the resulting impacts on health care costs and patient choice. He was also successful in passing bipartisan legislation to bring more transparency to medical expenses and to ban “gag clauses” that prevented pharmacists from telling consumers if cheaper prescription drug alternatives were available.
Senator Fasano is the President and Founder of Fasano, Ippolito, Lee, & Florentine, a law firm with offices in New Haven and Branford. He is also an East Haven business owner. Fasano earned his Bachelor of Science Degree from Yale University in 1981, a Juris Doctorate from Quinnipiac Law School in 1984, and an L.L.M. Degree in Taxation from Boston University Law School in 1985. He played football at Yale under legendary coach, Carm Cozza.
Senator Fasano has spent all of his life in New Haven and surrounding communities. He has three adult children and two grandchildren. He currently resides in North Haven with his wife, Jill.
Executive Director, Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society, The Ohio State University
Professor Lee J. Strang serves as the inaugural executive director of the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society at The Ohio State University.
Initiated in 2023 by the state of Ohio, the Chase Center will be an academic home at Ohio State for teaching, research, and programing on the foundations of the American constitutional order and its impact on society. As executive director, Professor Strang is responsible for organizing the center, overseeing the hiring and appointment of the center’s faculty, developing curriculum, and delivering student and academic programming. He also holds a faculty appointment in the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State.
Professor Strang is a nationally recognized legal scholar who has published dozens of articles in leading journals in the fields of constitutional law and interpretation, property law, and religion and the First Amendment. He co-edits the textbook Federal Constitutional Law, and his most recent book, Originalism’s Promise: A Natural Law Account of the American Constitution is the first book-length, natural law justification for originalism. He currently is writing on civic thought and leadership, and he is finalizing a book on the history of American Catholic legal education (with John M. Breen).
Before joining Ohio State, Professor Strang served as the inaugural director of the University of Toledo’s Institute of American Constitutional Thought & Leadership. He joined the Toledo College of Law faculty in 2008, was granted tenure in 2010, and was named John W. Stoepler Professor of Law & Values in 2015. The University of Toledo awarded Professor Strang its Outstanding Faculty Research and Scholarship Award in 2017. Before that, he was a visiting professor at Michigan State University College of Law. A graduate of the University of Iowa, where he was articles editor of the Iowa Law Review and Order of the Coif, Professor Strang holds an LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School.
Professor Strang has been a visiting scholar at the Georgetown Center for the Constitution and a visiting fellow at the James Madison Program at Princeton University. In 2016, he was appointed to the Ohio Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and reappointed as chair in 2023.
Prior to teaching, Professor Strang served as a judicial clerk for Judge Alice M. Batchelder of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He was also an associate for Jenner & Block LLP in Chicago, where he practiced in general and appellate litigation.
Professor Strang is a frequent presenter at scholarly conferences. He is the president of the Board of Trustees of Northwest Ohio Classical Academy, Ohio’s first classical charter school. He is also a regular participant in debates at law schools across the country, a contributor to the media, and a speaker to political, civic, and religious groups.
Professor of Law, Widener University Commonwealth Law School
Partner, Murtha Cullina LLP
Proloy K. Das is the chair of the Appellate Practice Group. He has argued over sixty appeals before the Connecticut Supreme Court, Connecticut Appellate Court, and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Attorney Das has advanced legal doctrines in cases of first impression in several areas including election law, tort liability, municipal law, contract law, insurance coverage, and felony prosecutions.
He has been named as one of the Connecticut Law Tribune’s New Leaders of the Law (2005), the Hartford Business Journal’s “40 Under Forty” (2007); the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s (NAPABA) Best Under 40 (2011); the “Super Lawyers Rising Stars” list of Connecticut appellate lawyers (2008-2012); and the “Super Lawyers” list of top appellate lawyers in New England from 2013-2017. In 2015, the Connecticut Law Tribune named the appellate department chaired by Attorney Das at his prior law firm as its “2015 Appellate Litigation Department of the Year.” In 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 the publication named Murtha Cullina’s appellate practice group as its “Litigation Department of the Year.”
The U. S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has appointed Attorney Das to its pro bono panel of appellate advocates for indigent appellants. Prior to private practice, Attorney Das served as Assistant State’s Attorney in the Appellate Bureau of the Chief State’s Attorney’s Office. He earned his undergraduate degree from Boston College and his law degree from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law.
Attorney Das is the Connecticut State Chair of the Republican National Lawyers Association.
Attorney, Paul, Weiss
An associate in the Restructuring Department, Joshua advises debtors, creditors, sponsors and shareholders, and distressed investment funds in chapter 11 cases, out-of-court restructurings, cross-border insolvency matters, and in bankruptcy litigation at both the trial and appellate courts. He also has significant experience representing the Financial Oversight & Management Board for Puerto Rico, as representative of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and certain of its instrumentalities, in their proceedings under Title III of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA).
Republican Minority Leader (34th District) and Partner, Fasano, Ippolito, Lee & Florentine, LLC
State Senator Len Fasano has represented the 34th Senate District communities of Durham, East Haven, North Haven and Wallingford since 2003.
In the General Assembly, Len Fasano has served as leader of the Senate Republican Caucus since 2014. He has championed bipartisan policies to benefit taxpayers, promote fiscal stability, and protect core services for the most vulnerable. Recent legislative accomplishments include developing first-in-the-nation legislation to make prescription drugs more affordable and bring transparency to health care, passing historic bipartisan state budgets with spending caps and bonding caps, and developing proposals to reform criminal justice, education funding, and bring more opportunities to Connecticut cities.
As leader of the Senate Republican Caucus, Senator Fasano is committed to making state government more cost-effective and efficient. He rallied bipartisan support to implement a spending cap, after decades of attempts by lawmakers to define the cap approved over 25 years ago. He also championed a bonding cap and volatility cap to reduce state debt and create more stability in state finances.
Senator Fasano established an urban affairs initiative within the Senate Republican Caucus in 2014 to start a dialogue between Republican lawmakers and Connecticut cities to enhance educational and economic opportunities. He has also proposed plans to reform the state’s justice system, to reduce recidivism and help people access the tools they need to succeed in all aspects of life.
As an advocate for the most vulnerable, Sen. Fasano has been named a “Children’s Champion” by the Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance and has proposed legislation to reform the state’s child welfare agency to better protect, monitor and support the children in its care. Senator Fasano has also worked closely with advocates for individuals with disabilities, passing legislation to address the growing needs of individuals on the state’s waitlist for services and legislation to better protect children with disabilities who are suspected or documented victims of abuse and neglect.
Senator Fasano is the co-creator of the Bipartisan Round Table on Hospitals and Health Care, established in 2014 in partnership with Senate President Martin Looney to help ensure continued access to affordable quality care in Connecticut. Senator Fasano, whose father was a doctor in New Haven, has advocated for legislation that seeks to remedy the problems caused by the rapid consolidation of physician practices in Connecticut and the resulting impacts on health care costs and patient choice. He was also successful in passing bipartisan legislation to bring more transparency to medical expenses and to ban “gag clauses” that prevented pharmacists from telling consumers if cheaper prescription drug alternatives were available.
Senator Fasano is the President and Founder of Fasano, Ippolito, Lee, & Florentine, a law firm with offices in New Haven and Branford. He is also an East Haven business owner. Fasano earned his Bachelor of Science Degree from Yale University in 1981, a Juris Doctorate from Quinnipiac Law School in 1984, and an L.L.M. Degree in Taxation from Boston University Law School in 1985. He played football at Yale under legendary coach, Carm Cozza.
Senator Fasano has spent all of his life in New Haven and surrounding communities. He has three adult children and two grandchildren. He currently resides in North Haven with his wife, Jill.
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Absentee Balloting in Connecticut- The Law and Practice of Conducting Fair and Secure Elections this November
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