Partner, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
Kannon is the head of our Supreme Court & Appellate practice. He has argued 41 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and has argued more than 150 appeals in courts across the country, including every federal court of appeals and numerous state courts.
Kannon is ranked as a “Star Individual” in appellate law by Chambers USA, where a client notes, “It’s hard to think of enough superlatives to describe his talent, his judgment, his ability, his experience – he is as good as it gets.” Legal 500 U.S. recognizes Kannon in its Hall of Fame for appellate work. A client shares, “His work is the best in the business, and he is a wonderful human being in addition to being a world-class appellate litigator.”
In 2024 and 2022, Kannon was a finalist for the American Lawyer’s “Litigator of the Year” award. He was named “Appellate Litigator of the Year” by Benchmark Litigation in 2021 and was a 2026 finalist for that recognition.
Before entering private practice, Kannon served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice.
CEO, President, and General Counsel, Alliance Defending Freedom
As the CEO, president, and general counsel of Alliance Defending Freedom, Kristen Waggoner leads the faith-based organization in advancing every person’s God-given right to live and speak the truth in the U.S. and around the world. She oversees more than 450 ADF team members in 10 global offices.
Since 2011, ADF has won 15 cases at the U.S. Supreme Court, three of which were argued by Waggoner: Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, Uzuebgunam v. Presczewski, and 303 Creative v. Elenis. ADF also has a strong record of international success at the European Court of Human Rights, United Nations, and other leading courts and tribunals and has secured the release of more than 1,000 imprisoned Christians.
After clerking with Washington Supreme Court Justice Richard B. Sanders, Waggoner practiced law for over 16 years at a Seattle firm before joining ADF in 2013. She is Peer Review Rated AV® Preeminent™ in Martindale-Hubbell. Waggoner is a sought-after public speaker who often appears in national and international media outlets.
Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, Georgetown University
Thomas Farr, Ph.D. is cofounder of the Religious Freedom Institute (RFI), and served as its President from its founding until January 2023. RFI is a non-profit that works to advance religious freedom for everyone, both as a source of individual human dignity and flourishing, and as a source of political stability, economic development, and international security.
A leading authority on international religious freedom, Dr. Farr served for 28 years in the U.S. Army and the U.S. Foreign Service. In 1999 he became the first director of the State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom. He subsequently directed the Witherspoon Institute's International Religious Freedom (IRF) Task Force, was a member of the Chicago World Affairs Council’s Task Force on Religion and U.S. Foreign Policy, taught at the National Defense University, and served on the Secretary of State’s IRF working group.
From 2008 – 2018 Dr. Farr was Associate Professor of the Practice of Religion and World Affairs at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. He also founded and directed the Religious Freedom Project at Georgetown’s Berkley Center. Farr’s early work on religious freedom can be found here.
A Ph.D. in History from the University of North Carolina, Farr is a senior fellow at the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University. He serves as a consultant to the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference, and as a member of the advisory councils for the Human Rights Program at Catholic University, the international division of Alliance Defending Freedom, the Alexander Hamilton Society, and the National Museum of American Religion.
His many published works include World of Faith and Freedom: Why International Religious Liberty is Vital to American National Security (Oxford University Press, 2008), a book that has shaped U.S. religious freedom legislation and foreign policy. His later work can be found here.
Farr has been recognized for his contributions to religious freedom for all, as well as to U.S. policy, including the Defender of Religious Freedom Award, Religious Freedom Institute, 2024, the Edwin Meese III Originalism and Religious Liberty Award, Alliance Defending Freedom, 2024, the 15th Annual Religious Liberty Dinner International Award, June 1, 2017. a Lifetime Achievement Recognition, In Defense of Christians, September 2015, and the Jan Karski Wellspring of Freedom Award, Institute on Religion and Public Policy, 2003.
Founder and Executive Director, Hardwired, Inc.
2025 Annual Supreme Court Round Up
Kannon K. Shanmugam, Kristen K. Waggoner
On Thursday, July 24, the Washington, D.C. Lawyers Chapter will gather for the annual Supreme...
The Meriam Ibrahim Case and International Religious Liberty - Podcast
Thomas F. Farr, Tina Ramírez
Miriam Ibrahim is a Sudanese woman who was arrested in Sudan and charged with adultery...