U.S. Court of Federal Claims and Jurist-In-Residence Professor of Law, The University of Akron School of Law
Judge Ryan T. Holte was sworn in as a judge on the United States Court of Federal Claims in July 2019. Prior to confirmation he served as the David L. Brennan Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Intellectual Property Law and Technology at The University of Akron School of Law (2017-2019) and an assistant professor of law at Southern Illinois University School of Law (2013-2017). Judge Holte has written and presented widely on patent law subjects and empirical legal studies of Federal Circuit and district court patent law cases. His most recent articles were published in the Iowa Law Review (2019), George Mason Law Review (2018), and Washington Law Review (2017).
In practice, Judge Holte served for six years as general counsel and partner of an electrical engineering technology company and is co-inventor of multiple patents related to Systems and Methods for Countering Satellite-Navigated Munitions. Prior to entering academia, Judge Holte practiced as a litigation attorney at the Federal Trade Commission and an associate in the Intellectual Property Practice Group at Jones Day. Prior to practice, he served as a law clerk to Judge Stanley F. Birch, Jr. on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and as a law clerk to Judge Loren A. Smith on the United States Court of Federal Claims.
Judge Holte received his JD from the University of California Davis School of Law and his BS, magna cum laude, in engineering from the California Maritime Academy where he was a First Class graduate of the Corps of Cadets Third Engineering Division and sailed as a U.S. Merchant Marine oiler.
Founder and Principal, Rose Communication & Coaching LLC
Kristine Simmons has a passion for public service and has dedicated her professional life to making government more effective for the people it serves.
Kristine is the founder of Rose Communication and Coaching LLC, a consulting firm that helps clients communicate with and about government.
Prior to founding her consulting firm, Kristine was the Vice President for Government Affairs at the Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to building a better government and a stronger democracy. During her tenure at the Partnership, Kristine developed and executed strategies that resulted in over 50 pieces of government reform legislation becoming law. She helped launch the Partnership’s Center for Presidential Transition, which provides resources, data and hands-on support to promote a smooth transfer of power between presidential administrations. Kristine has testified before Congress as an expert witness on government effectiveness.
From 2001 to 2002, Kristine served as a Special Assistant for Domestic Policy to President George W. Bush. In this role, she advised the President on issues pertaining to the civil service, government operations, federalism, arts and humanities, the postal service and the District of Columbia, and participated in our government’s response to the 9/11 and anthrax attacks.
Prior to her time with the Bush administration, Kristine served as the staff director for the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring and the District of Columbia. In that capacity, she served as the primary advisor to chairman Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) on government operations, intergovernmental relations, and the management of human capital.
Kristine began her career as a professional staff member for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, where she managed issues related to federalism, government reform and inspectors general. She also served as a professional staff member for the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs under committee chairman Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN).
Kristine earned a Bachelor’s degree in Professional and Technical Communication from the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY.
Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Law and Economics, Georgetown University Law Center
David A. Super’s research focuses on Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Legislation (including the federal budget), Local Government Law, and Public Welfare Law. He teaches these subjects as well as Civil Procedure, Contracts, Evidence, Property, and Torts. In addition to Georgetown, he has also taught law at Columbia, Harvard, Howard, Maryland, Penn, Washington & Lee, and Yale. Prior to entering the legal academy, he served for several years as the general counsel for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and worked for the National Health Law Program and Community Legal Services in Philadelphia. He also was a recipient of the Frank F. Flegal Excellence in Teaching Award in 2018.
Senior Managing Associate, Sidley Austin LLP
Manuel Valle represents clients in a broad range of appeals, regulatory disputes, complex commercial litigation, and government enforcement actions. Manuel has experience representing clients at each level of the federal judiciary, as well as before federal administrative agencies and in state courts.
Before joining Sidley, Manuel served as a law clerk for Associate Justice Clarence Thomas of the United States Supreme Court during October Term 2021. Manuel also served as a law clerk for The Honorable Judge Joan L. Larsen of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and The Honorable Judge Edith H. Jones of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Manuel earned his law degree with high honors from the University of Chicago Law School, where he was a Rubenstein Scholar and served as the book review and symposium editor for the University of Chicago Law Review. He received his B.A. in Latin and English from Hillsdale College, where he graduated summa cum laude.
Senior Legal Fellow, Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law, Advancing American Freedom
Robert A. Schroeder Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Kansas School of Law
Robin Kundis Craig joined the KU Law faculty in July 2024 and serves as the Robert A. Schroeder Distinguished Professor of Law.
Craig specializes in all things water, including the relationships between climate change and water; the water-energy-food nexus; the Clean Water Act; the intersection of water issues and land issues; ocean and coastal law; marine biodiversity and marine protected areas; water law; ecological resilience and the law; climate change adaptation, and the relationships between environmental law and public health. She is the author, co-author, or editor of 12 books, including Re-Envisioning the Anthropocene Ocean (University of Utah Press, 2024, co-edited with Jeffrey M. McCarthy); The End of Sustainability (Kansas University Press 2017, with Melinda Harm Benson); Contemporary Issues in Climate Change Law and Policy (Environmental Law Institute 2016, with Stephen Miller); Comparative Ocean Governance: Place- Based Protections in an Era of Climate Change (Edward Elgar 2012); and The Clean Water Act and the Constitution (Environmental Law Institute 2nd Ed. 2009), as well as textbooks for Environmental Law, Water Law and Toxic Torts. She has also written more than100 law review articles and book chapters in both legal and scientific publications.
In recognition of her work on these topics, Craig was elected to membership in the American Law Institute (2015) and the American College of Environmental Lawyers (2019) and has been appointed to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s World Commission on Environmental Law and to the Center for Progressive Reform. She has served on six National Academy of Sciences committees that evaluated Florida Everglades restoration, implementation of the Edwards Aquifer Habitat Conservation Plan and application of the Clean Water Act to the Mississippi River. She has consulted on water quality issues with the government of Victoria, Australia, and the Council on Environmental Cooperation in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and she was one of 12 marine educators chosen to participate in a 2010 program in the Papahanamokuakea Marine National Monument, spending a week on Midway Atoll. She was also a principal researcher in a four-year grant project on Adaptive Water Governance sponsored by the National Social-Ecological Synthesis Center with money from the National Science Foundation. In 2018, Craig was named a William Evans Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. In 2017, the Rockefeller Foundation awarded her a Bellagio Center Writing Residency fellowship, allowing her to spend four weeks on Lake Como, Italy, working on a new book project on Re-Envisioning the Anthropocene Oceans, and in 2016 she was a Research Fellow at the University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia.
Craig is an active participant in several national organizations, including the American Bar Association Section on Environment, Energy and Resources (ABA SEER), where she currently serves on the editorial board of Natural Resources & Environment; the Foundation for Natural Resources and Environmental Law, where she co-chairs the Natural Resources Law Teachers Committee; and the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), where she has chaired the Maritime Law Section, the Natural Resources Law Section and the Environmental Law Section. She has also served as a consultant to the Environmental Defense Fund and the River Network’s Nutrient Task Force. Craig serves on the Editorial Boards of Coastal and Ocean Management and Ecology & Society, as a Specialty Chief Editor of Frontiers Climate: Climate Law and Policy and as a Guest Associate Editor for Frontiers Climate: Risk Management on the topic of “Climate Change Adaptation as Risk Management.”
Craig earned her J.D. summa cum laude in 1996 from the Lewis & Clark School of Law in Portland, Oregon, with a Certificate in Environmental Law; her Ph.D. in English/Literature and Science in 1993 from the University of California, Santa Barbara; her M.A. in Writing About Science in 1986 from the Johns Hopkins University; and her B.A. cum laude in English/Writing in 1985 from Pomona College in Claremont, California. While in law school, she worked for the Oregon Department of Justice in its General Counsel Division, Natural Resources Section, representing the state’s environmental and natural resources agencies. After law school, she clerked for Judge Robert E. Jones at the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon before starting her law teaching career as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Lewis & Clark School of Law. Before arriving at KU in 2024, Craig held tenure-track positions at the Western New England College School of Law, Indiana University—Indianapolis School of Law (where she first received tenure), the Florida State University School of Law, the University of Utah S.J. Quinney School of Law and USC’s Gould School of Law. She has visited at the Lewis & Clark School of Law, Vermont Law School, the University of Hawaii School of Law and the University of Tasmania Faculty of Law. At Kansas, Craig teaches Environmental Law, Water Law, Ocean & Coastal Law, Toxic Torts and Civil Procedure.
Professor of Law and Executive Director, Law and Economics Center, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
Donald Kochan is Professor of Law and Executive Director of the Law & Economics Center (LEC). Professor Kochan is an elected member of the American Law Institute (ALI) and serves as an Adviser to ALI's Restatement of the Law Fourth, Property project. Professor Kochan is a Nonresident Scholar at the Center for the Constitution at Georgetown University Law Center, where he was a Visiting Scholar in residence during Fall 2018. Before joining the Antonin Scalia Law School faculty, he was the Parker S. Kennedy Professor in Law at Chapman University’s Dale E. Fowler School of Law from 2004 to 2020. From 2003 to 2004, Professor Kochan was an Olin Fellow at the University of Virginia School of Law. During 2002-2003, he was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at George Mason’s Scalia Law School.
Professor Kochan’s scholarship focuses on areas of property law, constitutional law, administrative law, local government law, natural resources and environmental law, and law & economics. He has published several books and more than 50 scholarly articles and essays in well-regarded law journals. His work has been cited in more than a dozen state and federal court opinions, in more than 75 briefs filed in state and federal courts including more than 25 filed in the U.S. Supreme Court, in dozens of books and treatises, and in more than 800 scholarly articles.
Professor Kochan received his JD from Cornell Law School, where he was a John M. Olin Scholar in Law and Economics and managing editor of the Cornell International Law Journal. During law school, he also served as editor and executive editor of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy symposium issues in 1997 and 1998. He received his BA from Western Michigan University, magna cum laude, with majors in both political science and philosophy, where he studied as the John W. Gill Medallion Scholar and was honored as the Presidential Scholar (awarded to the top graduate in the political science department).
After graduating from law school, Professor Kochan was a law clerk to The Honorable Richard F. Suhrheinrich of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Following his clerkship, Professor Kochan was an associate with the firm of Crowell & Moring LLP in Washington, D.C., where he specialized in natural resources & environmental law as well as tort, products, and consumer civil litigation & legislative affairs.
Counsel, Boyden Gray PLLC
Jim Wedeking is counsel at Boyden Gray PLLC. He has extensive experience with environmental regulations, providing compliance counseling for large industrial and agricultural companies and their related trade associations, drafting comments on proposed environmental rulemakings from a variety of federal agencies, and challenging those rules in court. For over 20 years he has helped companies obtain various permits and other authorizations for constructing major infrastructure projects, including fossil fuel-fired power plants, natural gas pipelines, and offshore wind turbines, as well as defend those permits and authorizations through litigation. Mr. Wedeking frequently writes on federal environmental law topics, including for the Washington Legal Foundation.
He has also counseled clients on several Freedom of Information Act matters, including the protection of confidential business information from disclosure to third parties and how the Supreme Court’s Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media decision increased protections for company information provided to regulatory agencies.
Before joining the firm, Mr. Wedeking was counsel in Sidley Austin’s Washington, D.C. environmental, health, and safety practice group. There, he represented industrial companies in defending against civil and criminal enforcement actions and toxic tort suits.
Mr. Wedeking received a J.D., cum laude, from the Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law and a B.A. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Maryland.
Partner, Boyden Gray PLLC
Jared Kelson is a partner at Boyden Gray PLLC. He worked previously as an attorney-adviser in the Office of Legal Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he received the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service and developed significant expertise in administrative law, regulatory process, executive authority, and the constitutional separation of powers.
Mr. Kelson was a law clerk to Judge Thomas B. Griffith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and to Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he received the Faculty Award for Academic Excellence after achieving the highest overall academic record in his graduating class. He also served as an Articles Editor of the Virginia Law Review. Previously, he graduated summa cum laude from Brigham Young University with a B.S. in Biology.
Partner, Cooper & Kirk PLLC
BRIAN W. BARNES has litigated high-stakes cases at all levels of the federal court system and has also argued numerous cases in state trial and appellate courts. He was the principal author of the briefs for the petitioners in Collins v Mnuchin, a multi-billion-dollar administrative law case challenging the nationalization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which is currently pending in the United States Supreme Court. In related litigation, Mr. Barnes deposed several of the current and former senior executives for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, including both companies’ former CEOs. Mr. Barnes also played a central role representing shareholders in disputes over the scope of the government’s discovery obligations in the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac litigation, successfully persuading the Court of Federal Claims to order the government to show plaintiffs’ counsel most of the documents the government attempted to withhold under the deliberative process and bank examination privileges.
Mr. Barnes also has extensive experience representing plaintiffs in suits filed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”). He briefed and argued St. Luke’s Health Network v. Lancaster General Hospital, 967 F.3d 295 (3d Cir. 2020), in which the Third Circuit reversed dismissal of RICO claims filed as part of a putative class action against a hospital that allegedly defrauded a Pennsylvania program that subsidizes care for indigent patients. Mr. Barnes also helped pioneer the use of RICO to sue state-legalized marijuana businesses: he filed the first such case, successfully argued the case on appeal after it was dismissed, and later helped try the case to a jury on remand. See Safe Streets Alliance v. Hickenlooper, 859 F.3d 865 (10th Cir. 2017).
Mr. Barnes has also worked on a wide range of other matters. He has briefed and argued cases concerning state preemption of local gun regulations in the trial and intermediate appellate courts of Illinois and Pennsylvania. In litigation over the Department of Education’s Title IX regulations, Mr. Barnes represents intervenors who are defending the regulations. And he has an active practice advising institutional investors on the probable outcomes of market-moving litigation in both state and federal courts.
Mr. Barnes clerked for Justice Samuel Alito during the Supreme Court’s 2012 Term and was previously a law clerk to Judge Thomas Griffith of the D.C. Circuit. He is a graduate of Yale Law School, where he was an Articles Editor for the Yale Law Journal and a member of the Yale Supreme Court Clinic. Mr. Barnes received his B.A. from Yale College and is a member of the Colorado and District of Columbia bars.
Partner, Sidley Austin LLP
HARDY CALLCOTT’s practice concentrates on enforcement defense and regulatory counseling concerning securities market and regulatory issues for broker-dealers, investment advisers, mutual funds, and others in the financial services industry. He provides securities enforcement defense before the SEC, Department of Justice, FINRA and other SRO and state regulators for members of financial services industry, public companies and officers and directors. He also conducts internal investigations.
Prior to Sidley, Hardy was senior vice president and general counsel with Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. He also served in the General Counsel’s Office of the SEC as assistant general counsel for Market Regulation (now Trading and Markets), and taught in the Securities LLM program at Georgetown University Law Center. After law school, Hardy clerked for the Hon. Mariana Pfaelzer in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
Former Managing Director, BlackRock Inc.
Joanne Medero was until July 2020 a Managing Director at BlackRock where she was member of their Global Public Policy Group and a Senior Advisor to the Vice Chairman on the intersection of public policy and corporate governance. In June 2021, Ms. Medero was appointed a director/trustee of the Nuveen Funds.
Ms. Medero's service with BlackRock dates back to 1996, including her years with Barclays Global Investors (BGI), which merged with BlackRock in 2009. She joined BGI as its Global General Counsel in 1996 and after more than ten years in that role, became the global head of Government Relations and Public Policy for Barclays’ investment banking and investment management businesses. Prior to joining BGI, Ms. Medero was a partner with Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe specializing in derivatives and market regulation issues. Ms. Medero also served as general counsel of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (1989-1993) and as an associate director for legal and financial affairs at the Office of Presidential Personnel, The White House (1986-1989).
Ms. Medero is a graduate of St. Lawrence University and received her JD from George Washington University.
Partner, Cooper & Kirk PLLC
BRIAN W. BARNES has litigated high-stakes cases at all levels of the federal court system and has also argued numerous cases in state trial and appellate courts. He was the principal author of the briefs for the petitioners in Collins v Mnuchin, a multi-billion-dollar administrative law case challenging the nationalization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which is currently pending in the United States Supreme Court. In related litigation, Mr. Barnes deposed several of the current and former senior executives for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, including both companies’ former CEOs. Mr. Barnes also played a central role representing shareholders in disputes over the scope of the government’s discovery obligations in the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac litigation, successfully persuading the Court of Federal Claims to order the government to show plaintiffs’ counsel most of the documents the government attempted to withhold under the deliberative process and bank examination privileges.
Mr. Barnes also has extensive experience representing plaintiffs in suits filed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”). He briefed and argued St. Luke’s Health Network v. Lancaster General Hospital, 967 F.3d 295 (3d Cir. 2020), in which the Third Circuit reversed dismissal of RICO claims filed as part of a putative class action against a hospital that allegedly defrauded a Pennsylvania program that subsidizes care for indigent patients. Mr. Barnes also helped pioneer the use of RICO to sue state-legalized marijuana businesses: he filed the first such case, successfully argued the case on appeal after it was dismissed, and later helped try the case to a jury on remand. See Safe Streets Alliance v. Hickenlooper, 859 F.3d 865 (10th Cir. 2017).
Mr. Barnes has also worked on a wide range of other matters. He has briefed and argued cases concerning state preemption of local gun regulations in the trial and intermediate appellate courts of Illinois and Pennsylvania. In litigation over the Department of Education’s Title IX regulations, Mr. Barnes represents intervenors who are defending the regulations. And he has an active practice advising institutional investors on the probable outcomes of market-moving litigation in both state and federal courts.
Mr. Barnes clerked for Justice Samuel Alito during the Supreme Court’s 2012 Term and was previously a law clerk to Judge Thomas Griffith of the D.C. Circuit. He is a graduate of Yale Law School, where he was an Articles Editor for the Yale Law Journal and a member of the Yale Supreme Court Clinic. Mr. Barnes received his B.A. from Yale College and is a member of the Colorado and District of Columbia bars.
Partner, Sidley Austin LLP
HARDY CALLCOTT’s practice concentrates on enforcement defense and regulatory counseling concerning securities market and regulatory issues for broker-dealers, investment advisers, mutual funds, and others in the financial services industry. He provides securities enforcement defense before the SEC, Department of Justice, FINRA and other SRO and state regulators for members of financial services industry, public companies and officers and directors. He also conducts internal investigations.
Prior to Sidley, Hardy was senior vice president and general counsel with Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. He also served in the General Counsel’s Office of the SEC as assistant general counsel for Market Regulation (now Trading and Markets), and taught in the Securities LLM program at Georgetown University Law Center. After law school, Hardy clerked for the Hon. Mariana Pfaelzer in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
Former Managing Director, BlackRock Inc.
Joanne Medero was until July 2020 a Managing Director at BlackRock where she was member of their Global Public Policy Group and a Senior Advisor to the Vice Chairman on the intersection of public policy and corporate governance. In June 2021, Ms. Medero was appointed a director/trustee of the Nuveen Funds.
Ms. Medero's service with BlackRock dates back to 1996, including her years with Barclays Global Investors (BGI), which merged with BlackRock in 2009. She joined BGI as its Global General Counsel in 1996 and after more than ten years in that role, became the global head of Government Relations and Public Policy for Barclays’ investment banking and investment management businesses. Prior to joining BGI, Ms. Medero was a partner with Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe specializing in derivatives and market regulation issues. Ms. Medero also served as general counsel of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (1989-1993) and as an associate director for legal and financial affairs at the Office of Presidential Personnel, The White House (1986-1989).
Ms. Medero is a graduate of St. Lawrence University and received her JD from George Washington University.
Professor Emeritus of Strategic Management and Public Policy, School of Business, The George Washington University
Howard Beales teaches in the School of Business at the George Washington University, where he has been since 1988. His research interests include a wide variety of consumer protection regulatory issues, including privacy, law and economics, and the regulation of advertising. He has published numerous articles addressing these issues in academic journals.
From 2001 through 2004, Dr. Beales served as the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission. In that capacity, he was instrumental in redirecting the FTC’s privacy agenda to focus on the consequences of the use and misuse of consumer information. During his tenure, the Commission proposed, promulgated, and implemented the national Do Not Call Registry. He also worked with Congress and the Administration to develop and implement the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, and testified before Congress on numerous occasions. His aggressive law enforcement program produced the largest redress orders in FTC history and attacked high volume frauds promoted through heavy television advertising.
Dr. Beales also worked at the FTC from 1977 to 1987, as a staff economist, Assistant to the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, Associate Director for Policy and Evaluation, and Acting Deputy Director. In 1987-88, he was the Chief of the Human Resources and Housing Branch of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget.
Howard Beales received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago in 1978. He graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University with a B.A. in Economics in 1972.
Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP
Svetlana S. Gans is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP where she helps clients navigate complex consumer protection, privacy, and competition related regulatory proceedings before the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), , U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, State Attorneys General and other enforcement bodies. Ms. Gans also assists on litigation matters and provides strategic counseling and advice related to public policy issues.
Before joining Gibson Dunn, she served as the Vice President & Associate General Counsel at NCTA, the Internet & Television Association, where she helped lead the association’s consumer protection and competition policy work. Prior to joining NCTA, Ms. Gans served with distinction as Chief of Staff to Acting Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen at the FTC. As the agency chief of staff, Ms. Gans managed and oversaw agency operations, including bureau and office heads reporting to the Chairman, a seven-member office staff, and an agency budget of over $300 million. She also served as the Acting Chairman’s key advisor on consumer protection and competition investigations and litigation, working with a diverse team of attorneys and economists to preserve competition and protect U.S. consumers. She created, executed, and oversaw several strategic initiatives for the agency, including the agency process reform, regulatory reform, and data security transparency initiatives. Previously, Ms. Gans had the unique experience of serving in both litigating bureaus of the FTC: the Bureau of Competition and the Bureau of Consumer Protection.
Prior to her time in government, Ms. Gans worked as an antitrust associate at major law firms. Her practice focused on defending consumer product, financial services, and trade association clients in regulatory and private investigations alleging conspiracy and violations of antitrust and consumer protection laws.
Ms. Gans has been an active leader in the ABA Antitrust Law Section (“Section”) for two decades, and currently serves as the Section’s Marketing Officer. Ms. Gans helped create the Section’s Young Lawyer Representative Program, now in its 10th year, and the Section’s Law Ambassador Program, each aimed at developing and promoting the next generation of consumer protection and competition attorneys. Ms. Gans is also active in the Federal Communications Bar Association, currently serving as Co-Chair of the Diversity Pipeline Initiative and the Women’s Leadership Committee.
Ms. Gans received her law degree with high honors from the University of Denver College of Law. During law school, Ms. Gans served as a Judicial Intern to the Honorable John L. Kane, Jr. and as an Honors Program Paralegal for the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Merger Taskforce. Ms. Gans earned her undergraduate degree cum laude from Boston University.
George Mason University Foundation Professor of Law
Professor Timothy J. Muris, a George Mason University Foundation Professor of Law, served from 2000-2004 as Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. During his tenure at the FTC, he created the highly popular National Do Not Call Registry that has allowed millions of consumers to block unwanted telemarketing calls. In addition to his current position at the Antonin Scalia Law School, Muris is Senior Counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Professor Muris has held three previous positions at the Commission: Assistant Director of the Planning Office (1974-1976), Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection (1981-1983), and Director of the Bureau of Competition (1983-1985). After leaving the FTC in 1985, Muris served with the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget for three years. He was also Of Counsel with the law firm of Collier, Shannon, Rill & Scott (1992-2000), Howrey Simon Arnold & White (2000-2001), O’Melveny & Myers (2004-2011), Kirkland & Ellis LLP (2011-2017), and Senior Counsel, Sidley Austin LLP (2017- present).
Professor Muris joined the Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University as a Foundation Professor in 1988 and was interim dean of the law school from 1996 to 1997.
Professor Muris graduated with high honors from San Diego State University in 1971 and received his JD from UCLA in 1974. He was awarded Order of the Coif and was associate editor of the UCLA Law Review. A member of the American Bar Association's Antitrust Section, Muris has written widely on antitrust, consumer protection, regulatory, and budget issues.
Partner, Antitrust and Competition, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Maureen Ohlhausen is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where she advises industry-leading clients on complex antitrust and litigation matters, with a focus on high-profile cases. Sought after for her depth of experience on antitrust and Federal Trade Commission (FTC)-related issues, Maureen is known for her relationships with officials in the U.S. and abroad.
After finishing law school and clerking at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Maureen joined the FTC in 1997. She held a series of roles at the agency over the next 12 years, rising to the position of Director of the FTC Office of Policy Planning, where she led the agency’s work on e-commerce and headed the FTC’s Internet Access Task Force, which produced an influential report analyzing competition and consumer protection legal issues in the broadband and internet sectors. She then went into private practice at a leading telecommunications law firm, where she headed the FTC practice group.
In 2012, Maureen was confirmed by the Senate as a Commissioner of the FTC and was appointed Acting Chairman in January 2017, a role she held until May 2018. As Acting Chairman, Maureen directed all aspects of the agency’s antitrust work, including merger review, conduct enforcement, and all consumer protection enforcement, with an emphasis on privacy and technology issues. Under her leadership, the FTC won several influential merger challenges in court and reached a number of key digital privacy settlements.
To date, Maureen is the only FTC Commissioner to have received the Robert Pitofsky Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her contributions to the FTC.
Following the end of her term at the FTC, and immediately prior to joining Wilson Sonsini, Maureen was chair of the global antitrust and competition practice at Baker Botts, based in that firm’s Washington, D.C., office.
A recognized thought leader, Maureen is a frequent author and speaker, and is often quoted by leading print and broadcast media on antitrust, FTC, and privacy and data security matters. She has published dozens of articles on antitrust, privacy, intellectual property, regulation, FTC litigation, telecommunications, and international law issues in prestigious publications. During her tenure at the FTC and in private practice, she testified more than two dozen times before Congress, including before the Senate Commerce Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Antitrust Sub-Committee. She also testified before the Antitrust Modernization Commission.
Professor Emeritus of Strategic Management and Public Policy, School of Business, The George Washington University
Howard Beales teaches in the School of Business at the George Washington University, where he has been since 1988. His research interests include a wide variety of consumer protection regulatory issues, including privacy, law and economics, and the regulation of advertising. He has published numerous articles addressing these issues in academic journals.
From 2001 through 2004, Dr. Beales served as the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission. In that capacity, he was instrumental in redirecting the FTC’s privacy agenda to focus on the consequences of the use and misuse of consumer information. During his tenure, the Commission proposed, promulgated, and implemented the national Do Not Call Registry. He also worked with Congress and the Administration to develop and implement the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, and testified before Congress on numerous occasions. His aggressive law enforcement program produced the largest redress orders in FTC history and attacked high volume frauds promoted through heavy television advertising.
Dr. Beales also worked at the FTC from 1977 to 1987, as a staff economist, Assistant to the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, Associate Director for Policy and Evaluation, and Acting Deputy Director. In 1987-88, he was the Chief of the Human Resources and Housing Branch of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget.
Howard Beales received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago in 1978. He graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University with a B.A. in Economics in 1972.
Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP
Svetlana S. Gans is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP where she helps clients navigate complex consumer protection, privacy, and competition related regulatory proceedings before the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), , U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, State Attorneys General and other enforcement bodies. Ms. Gans also assists on litigation matters and provides strategic counseling and advice related to public policy issues.
Before joining Gibson Dunn, she served as the Vice President & Associate General Counsel at NCTA, the Internet & Television Association, where she helped lead the association’s consumer protection and competition policy work. Prior to joining NCTA, Ms. Gans served with distinction as Chief of Staff to Acting Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen at the FTC. As the agency chief of staff, Ms. Gans managed and oversaw agency operations, including bureau and office heads reporting to the Chairman, a seven-member office staff, and an agency budget of over $300 million. She also served as the Acting Chairman’s key advisor on consumer protection and competition investigations and litigation, working with a diverse team of attorneys and economists to preserve competition and protect U.S. consumers. She created, executed, and oversaw several strategic initiatives for the agency, including the agency process reform, regulatory reform, and data security transparency initiatives. Previously, Ms. Gans had the unique experience of serving in both litigating bureaus of the FTC: the Bureau of Competition and the Bureau of Consumer Protection.
Prior to her time in government, Ms. Gans worked as an antitrust associate at major law firms. Her practice focused on defending consumer product, financial services, and trade association clients in regulatory and private investigations alleging conspiracy and violations of antitrust and consumer protection laws.
Ms. Gans has been an active leader in the ABA Antitrust Law Section (“Section”) for two decades, and currently serves as the Section’s Marketing Officer. Ms. Gans helped create the Section’s Young Lawyer Representative Program, now in its 10th year, and the Section’s Law Ambassador Program, each aimed at developing and promoting the next generation of consumer protection and competition attorneys. Ms. Gans is also active in the Federal Communications Bar Association, currently serving as Co-Chair of the Diversity Pipeline Initiative and the Women’s Leadership Committee.
Ms. Gans received her law degree with high honors from the University of Denver College of Law. During law school, Ms. Gans served as a Judicial Intern to the Honorable John L. Kane, Jr. and as an Honors Program Paralegal for the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Merger Taskforce. Ms. Gans earned her undergraduate degree cum laude from Boston University.
George Mason University Foundation Professor of Law
Professor Timothy J. Muris, a George Mason University Foundation Professor of Law, served from 2000-2004 as Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. During his tenure at the FTC, he created the highly popular National Do Not Call Registry that has allowed millions of consumers to block unwanted telemarketing calls. In addition to his current position at the Antonin Scalia Law School, Muris is Senior Counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Professor Muris has held three previous positions at the Commission: Assistant Director of the Planning Office (1974-1976), Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection (1981-1983), and Director of the Bureau of Competition (1983-1985). After leaving the FTC in 1985, Muris served with the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget for three years. He was also Of Counsel with the law firm of Collier, Shannon, Rill & Scott (1992-2000), Howrey Simon Arnold & White (2000-2001), O’Melveny & Myers (2004-2011), Kirkland & Ellis LLP (2011-2017), and Senior Counsel, Sidley Austin LLP (2017- present).
Professor Muris joined the Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University as a Foundation Professor in 1988 and was interim dean of the law school from 1996 to 1997.
Professor Muris graduated with high honors from San Diego State University in 1971 and received his JD from UCLA in 1974. He was awarded Order of the Coif and was associate editor of the UCLA Law Review. A member of the American Bar Association's Antitrust Section, Muris has written widely on antitrust, consumer protection, regulatory, and budget issues.
Partner, Antitrust and Competition, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Maureen Ohlhausen is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where she advises industry-leading clients on complex antitrust and litigation matters, with a focus on high-profile cases. Sought after for her depth of experience on antitrust and Federal Trade Commission (FTC)-related issues, Maureen is known for her relationships with officials in the U.S. and abroad.
After finishing law school and clerking at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Maureen joined the FTC in 1997. She held a series of roles at the agency over the next 12 years, rising to the position of Director of the FTC Office of Policy Planning, where she led the agency’s work on e-commerce and headed the FTC’s Internet Access Task Force, which produced an influential report analyzing competition and consumer protection legal issues in the broadband and internet sectors. She then went into private practice at a leading telecommunications law firm, where she headed the FTC practice group.
In 2012, Maureen was confirmed by the Senate as a Commissioner of the FTC and was appointed Acting Chairman in January 2017, a role she held until May 2018. As Acting Chairman, Maureen directed all aspects of the agency’s antitrust work, including merger review, conduct enforcement, and all consumer protection enforcement, with an emphasis on privacy and technology issues. Under her leadership, the FTC won several influential merger challenges in court and reached a number of key digital privacy settlements.
To date, Maureen is the only FTC Commissioner to have received the Robert Pitofsky Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her contributions to the FTC.
Following the end of her term at the FTC, and immediately prior to joining Wilson Sonsini, Maureen was chair of the global antitrust and competition practice at Baker Botts, based in that firm’s Washington, D.C., office.
A recognized thought leader, Maureen is a frequent author and speaker, and is often quoted by leading print and broadcast media on antitrust, FTC, and privacy and data security matters. She has published dozens of articles on antitrust, privacy, intellectual property, regulation, FTC litigation, telecommunications, and international law issues in prestigious publications. During her tenure at the FTC and in private practice, she testified more than two dozen times before Congress, including before the Senate Commerce Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Antitrust Sub-Committee. She also testified before the Antitrust Modernization Commission.
U.S. Court of Federal Claims and Jurist-In-Residence Professor of Law, The University of Akron School of Law
Judge Ryan T. Holte was sworn in as a judge on the United States Court of Federal Claims in July 2019. Prior to confirmation he served as the David L. Brennan Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Intellectual Property Law and Technology at The University of Akron School of Law (2017-2019) and an assistant professor of law at Southern Illinois University School of Law (2013-2017). Judge Holte has written and presented widely on patent law subjects and empirical legal studies of Federal Circuit and district court patent law cases. His most recent articles were published in the Iowa Law Review (2019), George Mason Law Review (2018), and Washington Law Review (2017).
In practice, Judge Holte served for six years as general counsel and partner of an electrical engineering technology company and is co-inventor of multiple patents related to Systems and Methods for Countering Satellite-Navigated Munitions. Prior to entering academia, Judge Holte practiced as a litigation attorney at the Federal Trade Commission and an associate in the Intellectual Property Practice Group at Jones Day. Prior to practice, he served as a law clerk to Judge Stanley F. Birch, Jr. on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and as a law clerk to Judge Loren A. Smith on the United States Court of Federal Claims.
Judge Holte received his JD from the University of California Davis School of Law and his BS, magna cum laude, in engineering from the California Maritime Academy where he was a First Class graduate of the Corps of Cadets Third Engineering Division and sailed as a U.S. Merchant Marine oiler.
Founder and Principal, Rose Communication & Coaching LLC
Kristine Simmons has a passion for public service and has dedicated her professional life to making government more effective for the people it serves.
Kristine is the founder of Rose Communication and Coaching LLC, a consulting firm that helps clients communicate with and about government.
Prior to founding her consulting firm, Kristine was the Vice President for Government Affairs at the Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to building a better government and a stronger democracy. During her tenure at the Partnership, Kristine developed and executed strategies that resulted in over 50 pieces of government reform legislation becoming law. She helped launch the Partnership’s Center for Presidential Transition, which provides resources, data and hands-on support to promote a smooth transfer of power between presidential administrations. Kristine has testified before Congress as an expert witness on government effectiveness.
From 2001 to 2002, Kristine served as a Special Assistant for Domestic Policy to President George W. Bush. In this role, she advised the President on issues pertaining to the civil service, government operations, federalism, arts and humanities, the postal service and the District of Columbia, and participated in our government’s response to the 9/11 and anthrax attacks.
Prior to her time with the Bush administration, Kristine served as the staff director for the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring and the District of Columbia. In that capacity, she served as the primary advisor to chairman Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) on government operations, intergovernmental relations, and the management of human capital.
Kristine began her career as a professional staff member for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, where she managed issues related to federalism, government reform and inspectors general. She also served as a professional staff member for the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs under committee chairman Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN).
Kristine earned a Bachelor’s degree in Professional and Technical Communication from the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY.
Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Law and Economics, Georgetown University Law Center
David A. Super’s research focuses on Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Legislation (including the federal budget), Local Government Law, and Public Welfare Law. He teaches these subjects as well as Civil Procedure, Contracts, Evidence, Property, and Torts. In addition to Georgetown, he has also taught law at Columbia, Harvard, Howard, Maryland, Penn, Washington & Lee, and Yale. Prior to entering the legal academy, he served for several years as the general counsel for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and worked for the National Health Law Program and Community Legal Services in Philadelphia. He also was a recipient of the Frank F. Flegal Excellence in Teaching Award in 2018.
Senior Managing Associate, Sidley Austin LLP
Manuel Valle represents clients in a broad range of appeals, regulatory disputes, complex commercial litigation, and government enforcement actions. Manuel has experience representing clients at each level of the federal judiciary, as well as before federal administrative agencies and in state courts.
Before joining Sidley, Manuel served as a law clerk for Associate Justice Clarence Thomas of the United States Supreme Court during October Term 2021. Manuel also served as a law clerk for The Honorable Judge Joan L. Larsen of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and The Honorable Judge Edith H. Jones of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Manuel earned his law degree with high honors from the University of Chicago Law School, where he was a Rubenstein Scholar and served as the book review and symposium editor for the University of Chicago Law Review. He received his B.A. in Latin and English from Hillsdale College, where he graduated summa cum laude.
Senior Legal Fellow, Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law, Advancing American Freedom
Partner, Cooper & Kirk PLLC
BRIAN W. BARNES has litigated high-stakes cases at all levels of the federal court system and has also argued numerous cases in state trial and appellate courts. He was the principal author of the briefs for the petitioners in Collins v Mnuchin, a multi-billion-dollar administrative law case challenging the nationalization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which is currently pending in the United States Supreme Court. In related litigation, Mr. Barnes deposed several of the current and former senior executives for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, including both companies’ former CEOs. Mr. Barnes also played a central role representing shareholders in disputes over the scope of the government’s discovery obligations in the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac litigation, successfully persuading the Court of Federal Claims to order the government to show plaintiffs’ counsel most of the documents the government attempted to withhold under the deliberative process and bank examination privileges.
Mr. Barnes also has extensive experience representing plaintiffs in suits filed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”). He briefed and argued St. Luke’s Health Network v. Lancaster General Hospital, 967 F.3d 295 (3d Cir. 2020), in which the Third Circuit reversed dismissal of RICO claims filed as part of a putative class action against a hospital that allegedly defrauded a Pennsylvania program that subsidizes care for indigent patients. Mr. Barnes also helped pioneer the use of RICO to sue state-legalized marijuana businesses: he filed the first such case, successfully argued the case on appeal after it was dismissed, and later helped try the case to a jury on remand. See Safe Streets Alliance v. Hickenlooper, 859 F.3d 865 (10th Cir. 2017).
Mr. Barnes has also worked on a wide range of other matters. He has briefed and argued cases concerning state preemption of local gun regulations in the trial and intermediate appellate courts of Illinois and Pennsylvania. In litigation over the Department of Education’s Title IX regulations, Mr. Barnes represents intervenors who are defending the regulations. And he has an active practice advising institutional investors on the probable outcomes of market-moving litigation in both state and federal courts.
Mr. Barnes clerked for Justice Samuel Alito during the Supreme Court’s 2012 Term and was previously a law clerk to Judge Thomas Griffith of the D.C. Circuit. He is a graduate of Yale Law School, where he was an Articles Editor for the Yale Law Journal and a member of the Yale Supreme Court Clinic. Mr. Barnes received his B.A. from Yale College and is a member of the Colorado and District of Columbia bars.
Partner, Sidley Austin LLP
HARDY CALLCOTT’s practice concentrates on enforcement defense and regulatory counseling concerning securities market and regulatory issues for broker-dealers, investment advisers, mutual funds, and others in the financial services industry. He provides securities enforcement defense before the SEC, Department of Justice, FINRA and other SRO and state regulators for members of financial services industry, public companies and officers and directors. He also conducts internal investigations.
Prior to Sidley, Hardy was senior vice president and general counsel with Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. He also served in the General Counsel’s Office of the SEC as assistant general counsel for Market Regulation (now Trading and Markets), and taught in the Securities LLM program at Georgetown University Law Center. After law school, Hardy clerked for the Hon. Mariana Pfaelzer in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
Former Managing Director, BlackRock Inc.
Joanne Medero was until July 2020 a Managing Director at BlackRock where she was member of their Global Public Policy Group and a Senior Advisor to the Vice Chairman on the intersection of public policy and corporate governance. In June 2021, Ms. Medero was appointed a director/trustee of the Nuveen Funds.
Ms. Medero's service with BlackRock dates back to 1996, including her years with Barclays Global Investors (BGI), which merged with BlackRock in 2009. She joined BGI as its Global General Counsel in 1996 and after more than ten years in that role, became the global head of Government Relations and Public Policy for Barclays’ investment banking and investment management businesses. Prior to joining BGI, Ms. Medero was a partner with Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe specializing in derivatives and market regulation issues. Ms. Medero also served as general counsel of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (1989-1993) and as an associate director for legal and financial affairs at the Office of Presidential Personnel, The White House (1986-1989).
Ms. Medero is a graduate of St. Lawrence University and received her JD from George Washington University.
Professor Emeritus of Strategic Management and Public Policy, School of Business, The George Washington University
Howard Beales teaches in the School of Business at the George Washington University, where he has been since 1988. His research interests include a wide variety of consumer protection regulatory issues, including privacy, law and economics, and the regulation of advertising. He has published numerous articles addressing these issues in academic journals.
From 2001 through 2004, Dr. Beales served as the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission. In that capacity, he was instrumental in redirecting the FTC’s privacy agenda to focus on the consequences of the use and misuse of consumer information. During his tenure, the Commission proposed, promulgated, and implemented the national Do Not Call Registry. He also worked with Congress and the Administration to develop and implement the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, and testified before Congress on numerous occasions. His aggressive law enforcement program produced the largest redress orders in FTC history and attacked high volume frauds promoted through heavy television advertising.
Dr. Beales also worked at the FTC from 1977 to 1987, as a staff economist, Assistant to the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, Associate Director for Policy and Evaluation, and Acting Deputy Director. In 1987-88, he was the Chief of the Human Resources and Housing Branch of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget.
Howard Beales received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago in 1978. He graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University with a B.A. in Economics in 1972.
Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP
Svetlana S. Gans is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP where she helps clients navigate complex consumer protection, privacy, and competition related regulatory proceedings before the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), , U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, State Attorneys General and other enforcement bodies. Ms. Gans also assists on litigation matters and provides strategic counseling and advice related to public policy issues.
Before joining Gibson Dunn, she served as the Vice President & Associate General Counsel at NCTA, the Internet & Television Association, where she helped lead the association’s consumer protection and competition policy work. Prior to joining NCTA, Ms. Gans served with distinction as Chief of Staff to Acting Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen at the FTC. As the agency chief of staff, Ms. Gans managed and oversaw agency operations, including bureau and office heads reporting to the Chairman, a seven-member office staff, and an agency budget of over $300 million. She also served as the Acting Chairman’s key advisor on consumer protection and competition investigations and litigation, working with a diverse team of attorneys and economists to preserve competition and protect U.S. consumers. She created, executed, and oversaw several strategic initiatives for the agency, including the agency process reform, regulatory reform, and data security transparency initiatives. Previously, Ms. Gans had the unique experience of serving in both litigating bureaus of the FTC: the Bureau of Competition and the Bureau of Consumer Protection.
Prior to her time in government, Ms. Gans worked as an antitrust associate at major law firms. Her practice focused on defending consumer product, financial services, and trade association clients in regulatory and private investigations alleging conspiracy and violations of antitrust and consumer protection laws.
Ms. Gans has been an active leader in the ABA Antitrust Law Section (“Section”) for two decades, and currently serves as the Section’s Marketing Officer. Ms. Gans helped create the Section’s Young Lawyer Representative Program, now in its 10th year, and the Section’s Law Ambassador Program, each aimed at developing and promoting the next generation of consumer protection and competition attorneys. Ms. Gans is also active in the Federal Communications Bar Association, currently serving as Co-Chair of the Diversity Pipeline Initiative and the Women’s Leadership Committee.
Ms. Gans received her law degree with high honors from the University of Denver College of Law. During law school, Ms. Gans served as a Judicial Intern to the Honorable John L. Kane, Jr. and as an Honors Program Paralegal for the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Merger Taskforce. Ms. Gans earned her undergraduate degree cum laude from Boston University.
George Mason University Foundation Professor of Law
Professor Timothy J. Muris, a George Mason University Foundation Professor of Law, served from 2000-2004 as Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. During his tenure at the FTC, he created the highly popular National Do Not Call Registry that has allowed millions of consumers to block unwanted telemarketing calls. In addition to his current position at the Antonin Scalia Law School, Muris is Senior Counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Professor Muris has held three previous positions at the Commission: Assistant Director of the Planning Office (1974-1976), Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection (1981-1983), and Director of the Bureau of Competition (1983-1985). After leaving the FTC in 1985, Muris served with the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget for three years. He was also Of Counsel with the law firm of Collier, Shannon, Rill & Scott (1992-2000), Howrey Simon Arnold & White (2000-2001), O’Melveny & Myers (2004-2011), Kirkland & Ellis LLP (2011-2017), and Senior Counsel, Sidley Austin LLP (2017- present).
Professor Muris joined the Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University as a Foundation Professor in 1988 and was interim dean of the law school from 1996 to 1997.
Professor Muris graduated with high honors from San Diego State University in 1971 and received his JD from UCLA in 1974. He was awarded Order of the Coif and was associate editor of the UCLA Law Review. A member of the American Bar Association's Antitrust Section, Muris has written widely on antitrust, consumer protection, regulatory, and budget issues.
Partner, Antitrust and Competition, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Maureen Ohlhausen is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where she advises industry-leading clients on complex antitrust and litigation matters, with a focus on high-profile cases. Sought after for her depth of experience on antitrust and Federal Trade Commission (FTC)-related issues, Maureen is known for her relationships with officials in the U.S. and abroad.
After finishing law school and clerking at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Maureen joined the FTC in 1997. She held a series of roles at the agency over the next 12 years, rising to the position of Director of the FTC Office of Policy Planning, where she led the agency’s work on e-commerce and headed the FTC’s Internet Access Task Force, which produced an influential report analyzing competition and consumer protection legal issues in the broadband and internet sectors. She then went into private practice at a leading telecommunications law firm, where she headed the FTC practice group.
In 2012, Maureen was confirmed by the Senate as a Commissioner of the FTC and was appointed Acting Chairman in January 2017, a role she held until May 2018. As Acting Chairman, Maureen directed all aspects of the agency’s antitrust work, including merger review, conduct enforcement, and all consumer protection enforcement, with an emphasis on privacy and technology issues. Under her leadership, the FTC won several influential merger challenges in court and reached a number of key digital privacy settlements.
To date, Maureen is the only FTC Commissioner to have received the Robert Pitofsky Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her contributions to the FTC.
Following the end of her term at the FTC, and immediately prior to joining Wilson Sonsini, Maureen was chair of the global antitrust and competition practice at Baker Botts, based in that firm’s Washington, D.C., office.
A recognized thought leader, Maureen is a frequent author and speaker, and is often quoted by leading print and broadcast media on antitrust, FTC, and privacy and data security matters. She has published dozens of articles on antitrust, privacy, intellectual property, regulation, FTC litigation, telecommunications, and international law issues in prestigious publications. During her tenure at the FTC and in private practice, she testified more than two dozen times before Congress, including before the Senate Commerce Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Antitrust Sub-Committee. She also testified before the Antitrust Modernization Commission.
Plenary 2: DOGE and the Future of the Federal Workforce
Ryan T. Holte, Kristine I. Simmons, David A. Super, Manuel Valle, Hans A. Von Spakovsky
On January 20th, 2025, President Trump established the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) by executive...
Plenary 2: DOGE and the Future of the Federal Workforce
Washington, DCThirteenth Annual Executive Branch Review Conference — EBRXIII
Theories of Presidential Power
Washington, DCState “Climate Superfund” Laws and Related Legal Issues
Robin Kundis Craig, Donald J. Kochan, Jim Wedeking, Jared Kelson
Join us for a distinguished panel discussion on state “climate superfund” laws, including Vermont’s Climate...
The Future of Securities Self-Regulation After Alpine
Brian W. Barnes, W. Hardy Callcott, Joanne Medero
Alpine Securities Corp. v. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“Alpine’) raises a challenge to the constitutionality...
The Future of Securities Self-Regulation After Alpine
Brian W. Barnes, W. Hardy Callcott, Joanne Medero
Alpine Securities Corp. v. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“Alpine’) raises a challenge to the constitutionality...
The Future of Securities Self-Regulation After Alpine
FTC Policy Unpacked: Achieving Change at the Federal Trade Commission
J. Howard Beales III, Svetlana Gans, Timothy J. Muris, Maureen K. Ohlhausen
FTC Chair Khan has sought to implement aggressive and profound changes at the agency from...
FTC Policy Unpacked: Achieving Change at the Federal Trade Commission
J. Howard Beales III, Svetlana Gans, Timothy J. Muris, Maureen K. Ohlhausen
FTC Chair Khan has sought to implement aggressive and profound changes at the agency from...
FTC Policy Unpacked: Achieving Change at the Federal Trade Commission