Partner, Torridon Law PLLC
Mike Fragoso is an experienced legal and policy strategist who represents clients before all three branches of the federal government. Most recently he served as chief counsel to the Senate Republican Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-KY). He has negotiated consequential legislation, managed successful congressional oversight, and prepared individuals for the most contentious Senate hearings.
As chief counsel to Leader McConnell, Mike was the Leader’s primary legal advisor and managed the “last mile” of any legislation touching on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He ran the 2024 reauthorization of FISA Section 702 and was involved at the highest levels of the appropriations and budget-reconciliation processes. Mike also repeatedly represented Leader McConnell as counsel of record at the Supreme Court. Leader McConnell said of Mike that he’s “equally at home in the high-minded philosophical discourse of the legal community and the urgent pragmatism of congressional dealmaking,” and that he “maintains a firm grasp on the realm of the possible” but “knows which screws to twist.” He observed that Mike “is so exceptionally competent that he often produces from his desk the work that would normally require, literally, teams of outside counsel.”
President, JCN
Carrie Campbell Severino is the president of the JCN, and co-author with Mollie Hemingway of the bestselling book Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Court. As a go-to expert on the confirmation process, Mrs. Severino has been extensively quoted in the media. She regularly appears on television, including FOX, CNN, MSNBC, C-SPAN, and ABC’s This Week.
Severino writes and speaks on a wide range of judicial issues, including the constitutional limits on government, the federal nomination process, and state judicial selection. She has testified before Congress on constitutional questions and briefed Senators on judicial nominations, and regularly files briefs in high-profile Supreme Court cases. She was a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and to Judge David B. Sentelle of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and is a graduate of Harvard Law School (J.D.), Duke University (B.A., Biology), and Michigan State University (M.A., Linguistics).
Solicitor General, West Virginia
Michael Williams is the Solicitor General for the State of West Virginia. In that role, Michael represents the State in appeals before state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. Michael also coordinates strategic affirmative litigation on the State’s behalf, including litigation against the federal government.
Before joining the Attorney General’s Office, Michael co-led the complex briefing and appeals group at a Michigan boutique firm, representing Fortune 50 companies and others in actions across the country. He also practiced in the litigation groups of two Washington, D.C. firms and clerked with the Appellate Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine.
Michael’s work has been honored with a Best Brief Award from the National Associationof Attorneys General and a Leader in the Law Award from Michigan Lawyers Weekly. He often speaks and writes on appellate-related issues.
Michael clerked twice in the Fourth Circuit: once with then-Chief Judge Deborah Chasanow of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland and later with Judge G. Steven Agee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He attended George Washington University Law School and Bates College.
Partner, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Theodore J. Boutrous, Jr. is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Gibson Dunn and one of the nation’s leading litigators. He is a member of the American Law Institute and a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers.
As The New York Times has noted, Mr. Boutrous has “a long history of pushing the courts and the public to see the bigger picture on heated issues.” The American Lawyer named Mr. Boutrous the 2019 “Litigator of the Year, Grand Prize Winner” and the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journals in 2021 named him a “Top Lawyer of the Decade.” According to The National Law Journal, which in 2013 named him one of the “100 Most Influential Lawyers in America,” he “is known for his wise, strategic advice to clients in crisis and is a media law star.”
Mr. Boutrous has represented clients in federal and state appellate courts throughout the nation in a wide spectrum of cases, and he is currently serving as Co-Chair of the firm's First Amendment and Free Expression Practice Group. He has argued hundreds of appeals, including before the Supreme Court of the United States, 12 different federal circuit courts of appeals, and 12 different state supreme courts (including 14 arguments in the California Supreme Court), and he has led a multitude of other complex civil, constitutional and criminal matters. Mr. Boutrous has successfully persuaded courts to overturn some of the largest jury verdicts and class actions in history, and prevailed in many cutting-edge cases. In 2011, he successfully represented Walmart before the Supreme Court of the United States in the Dukes case, which unanimously reversed what had been the largest employment class action in history and established important standards governing class actions (Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes). In 2013, he successfully represented the prevailing party in obtaining a unanimous Supreme Court decision enforcing the Class Action Fairness Act (Standard Fire Insurance Co. v. Knowles). Also in 2013, Mr. Boutrous successfully represented plaintiffs in the Supreme Court in a case invalidating California’s prohibition on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8 (Hollingsworth v. Perry), in which he also served as one of the lead trial lawyers and architects of the legal strategy that led to this landmark victory. In 2018, Mr. Boutrous successfully represented CNN and its reporter Jim Acosta in bringing First Amendment and due process claims against then-President Donald Trump and other White House officials, forcing the White House to restore Mr. Acosta’s press credentials. “Litigators of the Week: Gibson Dunn’s Two Teds Score for the Free Press,” The AmLaw Litigation Daily (November 30, 2018). And in 2021, he secured a major victory for Hewlett-Packard Company when the California Court of Appeal affirmed a more than $3 billion verdict in HP’s long-running contract dispute with Oracle Corporation. “Litigators of the Week: Gibson Dunn Protects Its $3B Trial Win for HP Against Oracle on Appeal,” The AmLaw Litigation Daily (June 18, 2021).
As both a crisis management strategist and a seasoned appellate and media lawyer, Mr. Boutrous has extensive experience handling high-profile litigation, media relations and media legal issues. He routinely advises clients in planning how to respond, and in responding, to crises and other especially significant legal problems that attract the media spotlight.
Mr. Boutrous has also received the 2021 Freedom of the Press Award from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Distinguished Leadership Award from PEN America in 2019 for his leadership in advancing First Amendment rights and protecting freedom of expression. As The Hollywood Reporter noted in naming him to its 2022 “Power Lawyers” list, “When issues of free speech are in play, Boutrous is the attorney on speed dial.” Hollywood’s Top 100 Attorneys (March 2022). Mr. Boutrous was also named a “First Amendment Rights Trailblazer” by The National Law Journal in 2020.
Numerous profiles of Mr. Boutrous and his practice have appeared in the media. Prominent mentions include: “Mr. Boutrous, You Have 4 Minutes’: On Rebuttal With Ted Boutrous of Gibson Dunn,” The AmLaw Litigation Daily (August 25, 2022); “Litigator of the Week: How Gibson Dunn Helped Hit Print on Mary Trump’s Best-Seller,” The AmLaw Litigation Daily (July 17, 2020); “Litigation Department of the Year,” The American Lawyer (January 2020); “Litigator of the Week: Gibson Dunn’s Theodore Boutrous Jr. Scores Another Win for the Fourth Estate,”The AmLaw Litigation Daily (September 6, 2019); “Lawyer of the week: Theodore Boutrous Jr, attorney in White House press pass victory,” The Times of London (November 29, 2018); Ted Boutrous, CNN’s Champion, Is Fired Up,” Law.com (November 30, 2018); “Litigator of the Week: From Zero to Hero in Seven Days” The AmLaw Litigation Daily (April 27, 2017); “Litigator of the Week” The AmLaw Litigation Daily (September 8, 2016); “Practice Group Performs In Spotlight and Under Pressure,” Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal (March 14, 2012); “Litigator of the Week,” The AmLaw Litigation Daily (June 23, 2011); “Lawyer of the Week,” The Times of London (June 30, 2011); “Appellate Lawyer of the Week,” National Law Journal (March 23, 2011); “Litigation Department of the Year,” The American Lawyer (January 2016); “Litigation Department of the Year,” The American Lawyer (January 2012); “Litigation Department of the Year,” The American Lawyer (January 2010); and “He’s a Hired Gun of the Highest Caliber,” The Los Angeles Times (June 24, 2007).
In 2025, The Daily Journal recognized Mr. Boutrous with its inaugural Distinguished Counsel award, which honors lawyers “whose consistent excellence and enduring influence in California’s legal community have earned them a place among the Top 100 lawyers for 15 years or more,” and has repeatedly named him to its list of “Top 100 Lawyers” and “Leading Commercial Litigators” in California for over two decades. The Hollywood Reporter, featuring him in Power Lawyers 2021: Hollywood’s Top 100 Attorneys, declared that “Boutrous is there when an industry’s future rides on a big argument.” He has been named a California “Litigation Star” in Benchmark Litigation, as well as a “National Practice Area Star.” Chambers USA ranks him as a leading lawyer in five different categories, describing him as “an absolute star,” with clients praising his skills as “an amazing orator” and his “incredible knack of picking the winning argument and his oral advocacy skills are peerless. He picks the right point in response to every question without even blinking.” The Legal 500 named Mr. Boutrous a “Leading Lawyer” for Supreme Court and Appellate litigation, calling him a “renowned advocate” and “the preeminent authority on punitive damages defenses in the U.S.” Lawdragon recognizes Mr. Boutrous as one of its distinguished "Lawdragon Legends," an honor reserved for those who have appeared in Lawdragon's guide at least ten times since its inception in 2005. Over the years, he has been named to the following Lawdragon lists: 500 Leading Litigators in America, Leading Global Litigators, 500 Leading Lawyers in America, 500 Leading Global Entertainment, Sports & Media Lawyers, 500 Global Leaders in Crisis Management, and 100 Leading AI & Tech Legal Advisors.
Mr. Boutrous is a frequent commentator on legal issues. His articles include: Spare the ‘Dreamers’ a Nightmare by According Them Due Process,” The Wall Street Journal (May 2, 2017); “Poor Children Need a New Brown v. Board of Education,” The Wall Street Journal (August 28, 2016); “A First Amendment Blind Spot,” The Wall Street Journal (May 27, 2014); “California Kids Go to Court to Demand a Good Education,” The Wall Street Journal (January 28, 2014); “A Radical Departure on Press Freedom,” The Wall Street Journal (May 23, 2013); “A Killer’s Notebook, a Reporter’s Rights,” The New York Times (April 9, 2013); and “Broadcast ‘Indecency’ on Trial,” The Wall Street Journal (January 17, 2012).
Mr. Boutrous is a member of the Steering Committee of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and was a recipient of its 2021 Freedom of the Press Awards. He also sits on the Advisory Board of the International Women’s Media Foundation, which named him its 2015 Leadership Honoree. In addition, he is a member of the Advisory Board of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which advises the Chief Judge on matters related to the effective administration of the courts in the Ninth Circuit.
Mr. Boutrous received his law degree, summa cum laude, from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1987, where he was Valedictorian and Editor-in-Chief of the San Diego Law Review.
Mr. Boutrous is admitted to practice in California, New York, and the District of Columbia.
Professor Emeritus of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
In 1994, Professor of Law Michael I. Krauss became the law school's first recipient of the university's "Teacher of the Year" award for his engaging and challenging approach in the classroom. Born in the United States but raised in Canada, Professor Krauss speaks legalese in two languages. He earned his B.A. cum laude from Carleton University, his LL.B. summa cum laude from the Université de Sherbrooke, and his LL.M. from Yale Law School, where he was a Commonwealth Scholar. He was Columbia University's Law and Economics Fellow in 1981. He has been teaching at George Mason since 1987 and also has taught at the law schools of Seattle University, the University of Toronto, and the Université de Sherbrooke.
Hired as a law clerk by Justice Louis-Philippe Pigeon of Canada's Supreme Court, Professor Krauss practiced law for Quebec City's largest law firm before entering academia. He also served for five years on Québec's Human Rights Commission. A Salvatori Fellow of the Heritage Foundation and an academic fellow of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, Professor Krauss sits on the advisory boards of several think tanks. He served as president of the Virginia Association of Scholars and on the Board of Governors of the Education Section of the Virginia State Bar, and is currently a member of the Board of Governors of the National Association of Scholars.
Professor Krauss teaches Torts, Legal Ethics and Jurisprudence, and has a strong interest in national security issues. His research on torts and ethics is nationally known. He co-authored the first edition of Legal Ethics in a Nutshell in May 2003. This book digests the Model Rules in an engaging and often critical fashion. The second edition was published in 2006. Professor Krauss is now under contract with West Publications to produce an innovative textbook on Products Liability in late 2008.
Professor Krauss received his B.A. cum laude from Carleton University, his LL.B. summa cum laude from the Université de Sherbrooke, and his LL.M. from Yale Law School.
J.D. Candidate, George Mason University
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Michael I. Krauss, Samantha Rocci
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