General Counsel, United States Senator Jim Banks
Director, Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute
Thomas Berry is the director in the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies and editor in chief of the Cato Supreme Court Review. Before joining Cato, he was an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation and clerked for Judge E. Grady Jolly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. His academic work has appeared in NYU Journal of Law and Liberty, Washington and Lee Law Review Online, and Federalist Society Review. His popular writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, National Law Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, National Review Online, and The Hill Online. He has testified before the U.S. Senate, and his work has been cited by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Berry holds a J.D. from Stanford Law School, where he was a senior editor on the Stanford Law and Policy Review and a Bradley Student Fellow in the Stanford Constitutional Law Center. He graduated with a B.A. in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College, Santa Fe.
Milton R. Underwood Chair in Free Enterprise, Vanderbilt University Law School
Brian Fitzpatrick is the Milton R. Underwood Chair in Free Enterprise and Professor of Law at Vanderbilt Law School, where his research focuses on class action litigation, federal courts, judicial selection, and constitutional law. He is best known for his empirical studies of class action settlements as well as his book The Conservative Case for Class Actions (University of Chicago Press, 2019). Professor Fitzpatrick joined Vanderbilt's law faculty in 2007 after serving as the John M. Olin Fellow at New York University School of Law. He graduated first in his class from Harvard Law School and went on to clerk for Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Justice Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court. After his clerkships, Professor Fitzpatrick practiced commercial and appellate litigation for several years at Sidley Austin in Washington, D.C., and served as Special Counsel for Supreme Court Nominations to U.S. Senator John Cornyn. Before earning his law degree, Fitzpatrick graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's of science in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame. He has received the Hall-Hartman Outstanding Professor Award, which recognizes excellence in classroom teaching, for his Civil Procedure and Federal Courts courses.
Vice President & Senior Legal Fellow, Defending Education
Sarah Parshall Perry is vice president and senior legal fellow at Defending Education.
Before coming to Defending Education, Sarah served as a Senior Legal Fellow for the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, part of the Institute for Constitutional Government at Heritage, where her work centered on civil rights and the proper role of the courts.
Sarah joined Heritage after serving as Senior Counsel to the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education where she focused on policy reform, technical guidance, and the Office for Civil Rights’ (OCR) annual report to Congress. While at OCR, she was appointed by the Acting Assistant Secretary to co-chair the Employment Engagement, Diversity, & Inclusion Council and, in coordination with the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement oversee the hiring of dozens of attorneys for OCR’s 12 regional offices nationwide. Prior to her tenure at the Department of Education, she spent six years at the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. where she was Senior Fellow for Education Reform and later, became the regular substitute host for the “Washington Watch” radio show. Her work at the Family Research Council also included the building and oversight of multiple policy coalitions geared toward the fight against antisemitism in academia, curbing tech censorship, and protecting religious liberty.
Before joining FRC, Sarah was in-house counsel and director of development for a Baltimore advertising agency, providing management of all new business transactions from pitch to contract execution for the multi-million-dollar enterprise. She began her practice at the litigation firm of Simms Showers, LLP where her work included Title VII employment discrimination, maritime/admiralty, and False Claims Act (“Qui Tam”) law. Sarah has a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, where she was an editor of the Virginia Journal of International Law, a recipient of the American Jurisprudence award, a Phi Delta Phi honor society member, and a student practitioner in the appellate litigation clinic where she argued before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. She holds a B.S. in Journalism with honors from Liberty University.
Her commentary and analysis have appeared in media outlets across the country, including the AP, BBC, Fox News, NPR, The Hill, Washington Post, Washington Times, and the New York Times. She is the mother of three children, and the author of just as many books on the trials and triumphs of parenting children on the autism spectrum. Sarah is a member of the Kirkpatrick Society at the American Enterprise Institute, and makes her home north of Baltimore, Maryland.
Fellow, Manhattan Institute
Tim Rosenberger serves as Senior Counsel at the United States Department of Education. He was previously a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and Stanford University’s Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. He was also the founding COO of Verbum Labs and serves as a Chaplain with the Cleveland Division of Police. Before matriculating to law school, he was a legal policy fellow at the Cicero Institute, a parish pastor, and a management consultant with McKinsey & Company.
Tim has contributed to a variety of academic, popular, and professional publications, including the Wall Street Journal, The Hill, The New York Post, and City Journal. He also regularly provides commentary for various media outlets, testifies before state legislatures, and files dozens of amicus curiae “friend of the court” briefs in the Supreme Court and various circuit courts.
He holds an AB from Georgetown University, a M.Div. from United Lutheran Seminary, a D.Min from the Rawlings School of Divinity, an LL.M. from Universität Wien, and a JD/MBA from Stanford University, where he was Federalist Society Chapter President and served on Law Review. Tim’s research interests lie at the intersection of law, faith, education and entrepreneurship—with a particular focus on leveraging policy to help America’s overlooked populations build lives of dignity.
Pio Cardinal Laghi Distinguished Chair in Law, Professor and Co-director of the Terrence J. Murphy Institute for Catholic Thought, Law, and Public Policy, University of St. Thomas School of Law - Minnesota
Professor Gregory Sisk is the Pio Cardinal Laghi Distinguished Chair in Law at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
He received his B.A. from Montana State University and his J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law, where he graduated first in his class, was an editor on the law review, and president of the moot court board. Prior to joining the legal academy, he served as a legal advisor in all three branches of the federal government: as a legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, as a law clerk to a U.S. Court of Appeals judge, and as an appellate attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice representing the United States in the courts of appeals and the Supreme Court. Subsequent to his government service, he was in private practice as the head of the appellate department of a Seattle law firm.
Professor Sisk joined the University of St. Thomas law faculty in 2003, after teaching for twelve years at the Drake University Law School, where he had also been named as the Richard M. & Anita Calkins Distinguished Professor. He teaches Professional Responsibility and Civil Procedure, as well as a new course with original materials on Litigation with the Federal Government. His casebook, "Litigation With the Federal Government: Cases and Materials," was published by Foundation Press in 2000 and has been adopted at several law schools, including Georgetown University, George Washington University, Catholic University, New York University, the University of Pittsburgh, and McGeorge School of Law.
Professor Sisk also is author of the leading treatise on the subject, "Litigation With the Federal Government," published as the fourth edition by ALI-ABA in 2006. He has published nearly three dozen articles on litigation with the federal government, judicial decisionmaking, awards of attorney's fees, professional responsibility, constitutional interpretation, law and religion, and tort reform. His articles have been cited by the United States Supreme Court, several federal courts of appeals, and the supreme courts of several states. His empirical study of judicial decisionmaking and the influence of judicial background, co-authored with Professors Michael Heise and Andrew Morriss, was published in the New York University Law Review and received the 1999 Article Prize from the Law and Society Association.
Professor Sisk has remained active as a member of the legal profession. He served as reporter for the Iowa Rules of Professional Conduct Drafting Committee appointed by the Iowa Supreme Court to draft the new set of ethics rules to govern lawyers in Iowa. He is a member of the American Law Institute, the nation's premier law reform organization. He maintains a limited practice, primarily as an appellate attorney and as an expert witness on professional ethics and conduct. For example, he briefed a leading environmental/federal-common-law case as counsel for amicus curiae and then was invited to argue the central issue before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. More important than success on the merits, however, was the testament that the court gave to the attorneys in the case: "Litigation often produces criticism for its participants. This case, however, was extraordinarily well briefed and argued by consummate professionals on both sides and we are grateful for that." Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. Brown & Bryant, Inc., 132 F.3d 1295, 1303 n.5 (9th Cir. 1997), amended, 159 F.3d 358, 365 n.6 (9th Cir. 1998).
Professor Sisk is also active with the Conference on Catholic Legal Thought, writing and speaking about religion and public life and the role of faith in professional life. He occasionally participates as a member of the Mirror of Justice blog, which present a diverse array of Catholic perspectives on the law, public life, and social justice.
J.D., University of Washington Law School
B.A., Montana State University
Former Chief, DOJ Tax Division, Appellate Section
Francesca Ugolini spent 22 years in the Appellate Section of DOJ’s Tax Division, where she directed all of the federal government’s civil tax litigation in the courts of appeals and assisted the Solicitor General’s office with tax cases in the Supreme Court. Ms. Ugolini received her JD from the University of Virginia School of Law and her B.S. from the University of Maryland at College Park.
Partner, Boyden Gray PLLC
Jimmy Conde is partner at Boyden Gray PLLC, specializing in energy, environmental, and administrative law, with particular expertise in the Clean Air Act. He has protected clients against agency overreach in cutting-edge and complex legal proceedings, including challenges to EPA, DOE, DOT, and California rules seeking to compel electrification of motor vehicles, the FCC’s universal service fund, Department of Labor Wage & Hour Division rules, and HHS rules interfering with the practice of medicine and sound insurance practices. His written commentary has been published and referenced in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Examiner, Concurrences (an antitrust publication), and Newsweek, among others.
Mr. Conde began his legal career as an associate with Boyden Gray PLLC. He clerked for Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Judge David J. Porter in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Environmental Law Attorney, DLA Piper
Garrett Kral is an attorney in DLA Piper’s Washington, DC, office, and a member of the Regulatory and Government Affairs Practice Group. His practice includes regulatory counseling, enforcement defense, and complex civil litigation on matters arising under major federal environmental statutes.
Garrett builds on a strong background in environmental science, a familiarity with technical processes involved in industrial operations, and valuable insights gained by serving in each branch of the federal government. With this experience, he advances the business objectives of Fortune 500 companies while limiting exposure and risk. Garrett is regarded as a strategic advisor to such clients on matters of environmental law and policy.
Law Clerk, United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
Law Clerk, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Tom Fogarty is currently a law clerk in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Tom received his J.D. from Duke University School of Law, where he was the VP of Internal Affairs of the Duke Law Federalist Society, the President of the Mock Trial Board, a member of the Moot Court Board, and an Online Editor of the Duke Law Journal. He also received his B.A. in History from the Ohio State University.
Partner, Boyden Gray PLLC
Jimmy Conde is partner at Boyden Gray PLLC, specializing in energy, environmental, and administrative law, with particular expertise in the Clean Air Act. He has protected clients against agency overreach in cutting-edge and complex legal proceedings, including challenges to EPA, DOE, DOT, and California rules seeking to compel electrification of motor vehicles, the FCC’s universal service fund, Department of Labor Wage & Hour Division rules, and HHS rules interfering with the practice of medicine and sound insurance practices. His written commentary has been published and referenced in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Examiner, Concurrences (an antitrust publication), and Newsweek, among others.
Mr. Conde began his legal career as an associate with Boyden Gray PLLC. He clerked for Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Judge David J. Porter in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Environmental Law Attorney, DLA Piper
Garrett Kral is an attorney in DLA Piper’s Washington, DC, office, and a member of the Regulatory and Government Affairs Practice Group. His practice includes regulatory counseling, enforcement defense, and complex civil litigation on matters arising under major federal environmental statutes.
Garrett builds on a strong background in environmental science, a familiarity with technical processes involved in industrial operations, and valuable insights gained by serving in each branch of the federal government. With this experience, he advances the business objectives of Fortune 500 companies while limiting exposure and risk. Garrett is regarded as a strategic advisor to such clients on matters of environmental law and policy.
Partner, Boyden Gray PLLC
Jimmy Conde is partner at Boyden Gray PLLC, specializing in energy, environmental, and administrative law, with particular expertise in the Clean Air Act. He has protected clients against agency overreach in cutting-edge and complex legal proceedings, including challenges to EPA, DOE, DOT, and California rules seeking to compel electrification of motor vehicles, the FCC’s universal service fund, Department of Labor Wage & Hour Division rules, and HHS rules interfering with the practice of medicine and sound insurance practices. His written commentary has been published and referenced in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Examiner, Concurrences (an antitrust publication), and Newsweek, among others.
Mr. Conde began his legal career as an associate with Boyden Gray PLLC. He clerked for Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Judge David J. Porter in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Environmental Law Attorney, DLA Piper
Garrett Kral is an attorney in DLA Piper’s Washington, DC, office, and a member of the Regulatory and Government Affairs Practice Group. His practice includes regulatory counseling, enforcement defense, and complex civil litigation on matters arising under major federal environmental statutes.
Garrett builds on a strong background in environmental science, a familiarity with technical processes involved in industrial operations, and valuable insights gained by serving in each branch of the federal government. With this experience, he advances the business objectives of Fortune 500 companies while limiting exposure and risk. Garrett is regarded as a strategic advisor to such clients on matters of environmental law and policy.
Associate Professor of Law, J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University
Tyler Lindley joined BYU Law School in 2024 as an Associate Professor of Law. His research centers on the judicial role and the historical evolution of the judiciary in America. He has extensively examined and published on judicial remedies, federal courts, constitutional law, and administrative law. His scholarly contributions have been or will be featured in the Alabama Law Review, BYU Law Review, Georgia Law Review, Virginia Law Review, and Wake Forest Law Review.
Professor Lindley holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Brigham Young University (2018) and a Juris Doctor from The University of Chicago Law School (2021). During his legal studies, he served as a judicial extern for Judge Ryan Nelson on the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Prior to joining the faculty at BYU Law, he clerked for Chief Judge William Pryor on the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and Judge Gregory Katsas on the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He also served as a Research Fellow at BYU Law between his clerkships.
A Seat at the Sitting - April 2025
The April Docket in 90 Minutes or Less
Topics
SCOTUS Clarifies Scope of RICO’s Civil Cause of Action in Medical Marijuana, Inc. v. Horn
In Medical Marijuana, Inc. v. Horn, the Supreme Court held that RICO’s civil cause of...
Topics
Say the Magic Word, Counselor: Oral Argument in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic
On Wednesday, April 2, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Medina v. Planned Parenthood...
Topics
Does the EPA Have a Hometown Advantage in the DC Circuit?: Oral Arguments in EPA v. Calumet Shreveport Refining and Oklahoma v. EPA
That is a simplified, or perhaps subtextual, version of the questions presented in three closely...
Wisconsin Supreme Court Overrules Two-Year-Old Precedent to Allow Ballot Drop Boxes
Jared C. Huber
Wisconsin Statute Section 6.87(4)(b)1 provides that an absentee ballot “shall be mailed by the elector,...
Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules Sidewalk is Not “Pedestrian Way”
Tom M. Fogarty
Sojenhomer, LLC owned and operated a pub near the intersection of County Highway G...
Courthouse Steps Oral Argument: Oklahoma v. EPA and EPA v. Calumet Shreveport Refining, LLC
James Conde, Garrett Kral
On March 25th, 2025, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument to resolve two circuit...
Courthouse Steps Oral Argument: Oklahoma v. EPA and EPA v. Calumet Shreveport Refining, LLC
James Conde, Garrett Kral
On March 25th, 2025, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument to resolve two circuit...
Courthouse Steps Oral Argument: Oklahoma v. EPA and EPA v. Calumet Shreveport Refining, LLC
Venue Selection for Judicial Review of EPA’s Clean Air Act Final Actions: When does EPA get to pick its court?
Williams v. Reed - Post-Decision SCOTUScast
Tyler B. Lindley
On February 21, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued their 9-0 opinion in Williams v. Reed. The...