Florida Office Managing Attorney, Institute for Justice
Justin Pearson is the Institute’s Florida Office Managing Attorney. He also coordinates aspects of the Institute’s national economic liberty efforts and personally directs IJ’s National Street Vending Initiative. Justin has devoted his career to vindicating the constitutional rights of small-business owners, and he has victoriously litigated on their behalf in trial and appellate courts across the nation.
Justin often wins in novel ways. He was the lead counsel in a federal appellate court victory vindicating the right of a Florida dairy creamery to tell the truth on its labels, which was the first victorious First Amendment challenge to a food standard of identity in U.S. history. His win against Little Rock’s ban on taxi competition was based on a provision in the Arkansas Constitution that had not been successfully relied upon in over half a century. And his victory against Fort Pierce’s food truck ban included the first preliminary injunction ever issued in this type of challenge anywhere in the nation.
In addition to litigation, Justin has testified to Florida Senate and House committees dozens of times, and provisions suggested by Justin have been enacted into law. The successful bills that Justin has actively supported include Florida’s 2021 cottage food, home-based business, and local occupational licensing reforms, Florida’s historic 2020 occupational licensing reform (which repealed the most occupational licensing barriers in U.S. history), Florida’s 2019 repeal of the certificate of need requirement for hospitals, Florida’s 2019 Fresh Start reform making it easier for individuals with criminal records to obtain employment, and Florida’s 2016 overhaul of its civil forfeiture laws.
Justin’s work has appeared in countless media outlets, and Justin has spoken to scores of law schools and attorney organizations across the nation. The law schools that have hosted Justin’s talks include Yale, the University of Chicago, Duke, NYU, Notre Dame, and the University of Michigan, among many others.
Prior to joining IJ, Justin founded and managed his own law practice to advocate for small-business owners, and Justin’s law practice was successful for many years before he made the decision to join IJ in 2012 to better fight against government power gone awry.
Justin received his law degree with honors from the University of Miami in 2002, where he was the Research and Writing Editor for, and was published in, the University of Miami Business Law Review. Justin received his undergraduate degree in business management from North Carolina State University. Justin has been honored by the Daily Business Review and Law.com for being one of South Florida’s “Most Effective Lawyers.”
United States District Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
On December 20, 2019, Raag Singhal received his judicial commission to serve on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Judge Singhal is the first Asian American in history to serve as an Article III judge in the jurisdiction of the Eleventh Circuit (Alabama, Georgia and Florida).
Immediately prior to becoming a federal judge, Judge Singhal spent eight years as a State Circuit Court Judge in Broward County, Florida, having been appointed by then-Governor Rick Scott in 2011. During that period of time, Singhal served, at times, in the Criminal, Civil and Mental Health divisions and was fortunate enough to sit as an Associate Judge on Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal on four occasions.
As a lawyer, Singhal gained experience at a civil litigation firm followed by three years as an Assistant State Attorney. After that, Singhal ran a successful criminal defense practice in Fort Lauderdale for eighteen years. During that time, he handled more than two hundred jury trials including thirty first-degree murder cases.
Judge Singhal has had leadership roles in many law-related groups. He is past-President of the Broward Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Stephen H. Booher Chapter of the American Inns of Court. He was on the Board of Directors of the Broward County Bar Association, and is a frequent speaker at events for various local Bar groups such as the Asian Pacific American Bar Association and the Federalist Society. Singhal was also Associate Dean of the Florida College for Advanced Judicial Studies upon his elevation to the federal court system.
Judge Singhal received his law degree from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1989 where he was very active in Moot Court activities, and was on the winning team of the J. Braxton Craven National Moot Court Competition (4th Amendment). He received his undergraduate degree in Political Science from Rice University in 1986.
Legal Fellow and Manager, Supreme Court and Appellate Advocacy Program, The Heritage Foundation
Zack is a Legal Fellow and Manager of the Supreme Court and Appellate Advocacy Program in the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation.
He previously served for several years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Florida. Prior to that, he spent two years as an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, which he joined after clerking for the Hon. Emmett R. Cox on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Smith received his undergraduate, master’s, and law degrees from the University of Florida. During law school, Smith served as the Editor in Chief of the Florida Law Review and served on the executive boards of several student organizations, including the UF Chapter of the Federalist Society.
Emeritus Professor of Telecommunications and Law, Penn State University
Rob Frieden serves as an educator, researcher, grant seeker and consultant in the law, regulation, and business of broadband networks, cybersecurity, electronic commerce, intellectual property, the Internet of Things, privacy, regulatory reform, satellites, and spectrum management.
He currently serves as a 2022 Wilson Center Fellow and holds the rank of Emeritus Professor of Telecommunications and Law at Penn State University. Professor Frieden has published 4 books, written over 100 articles in law and telecommunications policy journals and frequently provides insights on current topics in telecommunications law and policy for media, conference attendees, and consultancy clients throughout the world.
Professor Frieden holds a B.A., with distinction, from the University of Pennsylvania (1977) and a J.D. from the University of Virginia (1980).
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for the Economics of the Internet, Hudson Institute
Harold Furchtgott-Roth is a senior fellow and director of the Center for the Economics of the Internet at Hudson Institute.
Mr. Furchtgott-Roth founded Furchtgott-Roth Economic Enterprises in 2003. He frequently comments on issues related to the communications sector of the economy. From 2001 to 2003, he was a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute where he published A Tough Act to Follow, chronicling the difficulties implementing the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
From 1997 through 2001, Mr. Furchtgott-Roth served as a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission. In that capacity, he served on the Joint Board on Universal Service. He is one of the few economists to have served as a federal regulatory commissioner, and the only one to have served on the Federal Communications Commission.
Before his appointment to the FCC, he was chief economist for the House Committee on Commerce and a principal staff member on the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Earlier in his career, he was a senior economist with Economists Incorporated and a research analyst with the Center for Naval Analyses.
Mr. Furchtgott-Roth is a member of the Washington Legal Foundation’s Legal Policy Advisory Board. He is the coauthor of three books: Cable TV: Regulation or Competition, with R.W. Crandall; Economics of A Disaster: The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, with B.M. Owen et al; and International Trade in Computer Software, with S.E. Siwek.
Sr. VP of Industry Affairs and Business Development, NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association
Michael Romano oversees NTCA’s public policy, government affairs and business development initiatives, as well as the educational and community-focused mission of the Foundation for Rural Service. Before joining NTCA, Mike was of counsel with Bingham McCutchen, LLP (now Morgan Lewis), served as the founding vice president and general counsel of GTT Communications and held a variety of positions with America Online and Level 3 Communications.
Mike has a Bachelor of Arts degree in American history from Middlebury College, and a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center.
Policy Director, Telecommunications, U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation
Arielle Roth serves as Policy Director, Telecommunications for Ranking Member Ted Cruz on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Prior to joining the committee, Roth spent almost a decade working on federal communications and broadband policy, including in senior roles at the Federal Communications Commission and as Wireline Legal Advisor to former Commissioner Michael O’Rielly. Her previous congressional experience includes serving as Legislative Counsel to U.S. Senator Roy Blunt and as Counsel on Detail to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Before entering government, Roth was a Legal Fellow with the Hudson Institute's Center for the Economics of the Internet. Roth holds degrees from the University of Toronto and the McGill University Faculty of Law. She lives in D.C. with her husband Yaakov and their five children.
Partner, Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Reginald “Reg” Brown is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. He has a vibrant and diverse crisis and governmental investigations practice, and regularly counsels financial institutions and other industry-leading clients facing complex and significant regulatory, enforcement and reputational matters.
Reg provides investigations-related guidance, strategic counsel and crisis management assistance to a broad range of companies and senior executives confronting challenges and opportunities at the intersection of government, law, media and public policy. He has assisted leading institutions and high-profile individual clients with more than a hundred congressional inquiries, as well as numerous federal, state and global government investigations and crisis avoidance and mitigation matters.
Reg leads teams of lawyers responding to some of the most challenging Department of Justice (DOJ), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), State Attorneys General and other regulatory or enforcement matters for financial institutions. Many of his clients are among the world's most prominent banks, hedge funds, private equity and venture firms, energy companies, government contractors, healthcare institutions and technology firms, as well as CEOs and high-ranking public officials. Reg has also assisted prospective and incumbent high-level public officials in connection with complex ethics agreements and governmental controversies.
Prior to joining Kirkland, Reg was a partner at WilmerHale, where he served as chairman of the firm's Financial Institutions Group and led the firm's congressional investigations practice as vice chair of the Crisis Management and Strategic Response Group. He previously served in the White House Counsel's office, where he was the White House's principal legal liaison to the Departments of Treasury and Housing and Urban Development, as well as many independent financial services agencies. In this role, he provided counsel on a wide variety of issues. Among other things, Reg served as a counselor for the White House Office of Political Affairs, Presidential Personnel Office and the National Economic Council.
Prior to his government service, Reg served as assistant to the CEO and vice president of corporate strategy at Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, and as the deputy general counsel to former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Federated States of Micronesia early in his professional career.
Partner, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Miguel A. Estrada is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
Mr. Estrada has represented clients before federal and state courts throughout the country in a broad range of matters. He has argued 24 cases before the United States Supreme Court, and briefed many others. He has also argued dozens of appeals in the lower federal courts.
Best Lawyers® recognized Mr. Estrada as a 2020 Lawyer of the Year in Intellectual Property Litigation and as a Lawyer of the Year in Appellate Practice. He has been recognized by Benchmark Litigation as a 2020 U.S. Appellate Litigation “Star”. In 2014, The American Lawyer named Mr. Estrada a “Litigator of the Year,” praising his “brains and tenacity” and noting he is the lawyer to call for “a tough, potentially unwinnable case.” From 2014-2021, Chambers & Partners has named him as one of a handful of attorneys that it ranked in the top tier among the nation’s leading appellate lawyers. Chambers & Partners noted that “clients are impressed by his intellect and ability, with one saying, ‘His papers are just blindingly clear in what they say and devastating in how they marshal the arguments.’” The Atlantic described his oral argument in a 2014 high-profile separation-of-powers case as “one of the most dazzling arguments the marble chamber has heard in many years.”
Mr. Estrada was selected by his peers for inclusion in the 2020 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of Appellate Law, in addition to previous recognition by the publication in the specialties of Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation and Criminal Defense: White Collar, Intellectual Property Litigation, and Regulatory Enforcement Litigation in the areas of SEC, Telecom, and Energy. In 2017, he was elected as a member of the American Law Institute. In 2021, Mr. Estrada was named among the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America. In 2004, Legal Times named him one of the top 12 appellate litigators in the D.C. area, noting that “people who follow appellate practice in Washington have known for several years that Estrada . . . is one of the best around.” Also in 2004, Washingtonian Magazine named him one of the top constitutional law lawyers “who could become one of the legends of the Supreme Court bar.”
Mr. Estrada joined Gibson Dunn in 1997, after serving for five years as Assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States. He previously served as Assistant U.S. Attorney and Deputy Chief of the Appellate Section, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York. In those capacities, Mr. Estrada represented the government in numerous jury trials and in many appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mr. Estrada practiced corporate law in New York with Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.
Mr. Estrada is a Trustee of the Supreme Court Historical Society. He was formerly a member of the Board of Visitors of Harvard Law School.
Mr. Estrada served as a law clerk to the Honorable Anthony M. Kennedy in the U.S. Supreme Court from 1988 to 1989 and to the Honorable Amalya L. Kearse in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1986 to 1987. He received a J.D. degree magna cum laude in 1986 from Harvard Law School, where he was editor of the Harvard Law Review. Mr. Estrada graduated with an A.B. degree magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1983 from Columbia College, New York. He is fluent in Spanish and proficient in French.
Representative Supreme Court matters include:
In 2011, the Supreme Court appointed Mr. Estrada to brief and argue two criminal cases –Dorsey v. United States and Hill v. United States – in which the Solicitor General declined to defend the judgments of the court of appeals. Mr. Estrada was appointed to argue the position that the Solicitor General had declined to defend.
Mr. Estrada was also part of the team that successfully presented then Governor Bush’s position to the Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore (2000). Other cases that Mr. Estrada handled in the Supreme Court include Granholm v. Heald (2005) (dormant Commerce Clause and Twenty-First Amendment), Vermont Agency of Natural Resources v. United States ex rel. Stevens (2000) (False Claims Act, Article III standing and Eleventh Amendment immunity), Old Chief v. United States (1997) (rules of evidence), United States v. Mezzanatto (1995) (evidence and plea bargaining), United States v. Robertson (1995) (constitutional limits on Congress’s Commerce Clause powers), Citizens Bank of Maryland v. Strumpf (1995) (bankruptcy law), and NOW, Inc. v. Scheidler (1994) (RICO).
Recent Court of Appeals matters include:
In addition, Mr. Estrada is lead appellate counsel to Vivendi S.A. in two securities-fraud appeals from jury verdicts that are currently pending in the Second Circuit, and to the National Association of Broadcasters in a challenge to certain procedures promulgated by the FCC in connection with the upcoming Spectrum Auction. Mr. Estrada also recently presented argument before the D.C. Circuit on behalf of the tobacco industry in a first amendment challenge to certain compelled disclosures that were imposed as part of the government’s long-running civil RICO case against the industry.
Other matters:
Solicitor General, Missouri
D. John Sauer has served as the Solicitor General of Missouri since 2017. Before that, he served as a federal prosecutor for five years and spent time in civil practice at boutique law firms, including the firm he founded, the James Otis Law Group. Mr. Sauer has first-chaired many jury and bench trials, and served as lead counsel in many appeals. He has presented oral argument in the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, the Supreme Court of Missouri, and many other state and federal appellate courts. Mr. Sauer served as a law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge J. Michael Luttig of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He was a Rhodes Scholar and a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School.
Senior Fellow and Director of Constitutional Studies, Manhattan Institute
Ilya Shapiro is a senior fellow and director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of City Journal. Previously he was executive director and senior lecturer at the Georgetown Center for the Constitution, and before that a vice president of the Cato Institute.
Shapiro is the author of Lawless: The Miseducation of America’s Elites (2025) and Supreme Disorder: Judicial Nominations and the Politics of America’s Highest Court (2020), coauthor of Religious Liberties for Corporations? (2014), and editor of 11 volumes of the Cato Supreme Court Review (2008-18). He has contributed to a variety of academic, popular, and professional publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, National Review, and Newsweek. He also regularly provides commentary for various media outlets, writes the Shapiro’s Gavel newsletter on Substack, and once appeared on the Colbert Report.
Shapiro has testified many times before Congress and state legislatures and has filed more than 500 amicus curiae “friend of the court” briefs in the Supreme Court. He lectures regularly on behalf of the Federalist Society, is a member of the board of fellows of the Jewish Policy Center, was an inaugural Washington Fellow at the National Review Institute, and has been an adjunct law professor at the George Washington University and University of Mississippi. He is also the chairman of the board of advisers of the Mississippi Justice Institute, a barrister in the Edward Coke Appellate Inn of Court, and a former member of the Virginia Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
Earlier in his career, Shapiro was a special assistant/adviser to the Multi-National Force in Iraq on rule-of-law issues and practiced at Patton Boggs and Cleary Gottlieb. Before entering private practice, he clerked for Judge E. Grady Jolly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He holds an AB from Princeton University, an MSc from the London School of Economics, and a JD from the University of Chicago Law School.
Senior Supervising Attorney and Director, Justice First and Client Re-entry Projects, Center for Appellate Litigation
Claudia Trupp is founder and Director of CAL's Justice First Project, which received the New York State Bar Association's award for Excellence in Mandated Representation in 2015. Before joining CAL, she was a staff attorney with the Criminal Appeals Bureau of The Legal Aid Society in New York City. Claudia is a past recipient of an Outstanding Public Service Award from the New York County Lawyer's Association and the Reginald Heber Smith Award from the National Legal Aid and Defender Association. She is a board member of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NYSACDL) and Vice-President of the NYSACDL Foundation. Claudia received her J.D., magna cum laude, from NYU School of Law, where she was Order of the Coif.She received her B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Rochester.
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