Professor of Law and Jamie L. Whitten Chair in Law and Government, University of Mississippi School of Law
Christopher Green (https://law.olemiss.edu/faculty-directory/christopher-green/) is Professor of Law and Jamie L. Whitten Chair in Law and Government at the University of Mississippi, where he has taught since 2006. He is a graduate of Princeton University and Yale Law School, and has a PhD in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame. He clerked for Judge Rhesa H. Barksdale on the Fifth Circuit and is the author of Equal Citizenship, Civil Rights, and the Constitution: The Original Sense of the Privileges or Immunities Clause (2015) and a large number of articles and essays on constitutional theory and the Fourteenth Amendment, including the two-part Original Sense of the (Equal) Protection Clause and Clarity and Reasonable Doubt in Early State-Constitutional Judicial Review. He is an affiliated scholar with the University of San Diego Center for the Study of Constitutional Originalism.
Senior Vice President for Legal Studies, Cato Institute
Clark Neily is senior vice president for legal studies at the Cato Institute. His areas of interest include constitutional law, overcriminalization, civil forfeiture, police accountability, and gun rights. Neily is the author of Terms of Engagement: How Our Courts Should Enforce the Constitution’s Promise of Limited Government. His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and National Review Online, as well as various law reviews, including the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, George Mason Law Review, Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy, NYU Journal of Law and Liberty, and Texas Review of Law and Politics. Neily is a frequent guest speaker and lecturer for the Federalist Society, Institute for Humane Studies, and American Constitution Society.
Before joining Cato in 2017, Neily was a senior attorney and constitutional litigator at the Institute for Justice and director of the Institute’s Center for Judicial Engagement. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Texas School of Law, where he teaches constitutional litigation and public-interest law.
Neily served as co-counsel in District of Columbia v. Heller, the historic case in which the Supreme Court held for the first time that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to own a gun for self-defense.
Neily began his legal career as a law clerk to Judge Royce Lamberth on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. After that he spent four years in the trial department of the Dallas-based firm Thompson & Knight. Neily received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Texas, where he was Chief Articles Editor of the Texas Law Review.
Stone Hilton, Founding Partner
A founding partner of Stone Hilton, Judd Stone is well respected both in Texas and across the nation as an insightful and tenacious appellate litigator. A lifelong Texan, Judd has argued dozens of appeals in both federal and state court, including arguing eight cases before the United States Supreme Court.
Judd began his legal career clerking for United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and Fifth Circuit Chief Judge Edith H. Jones. With a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law where he graduated first in his class, Judd's academic and professional credentials place him among the most distinguished lawyers in the profession. At the helm of countless major legal battles and emergency appeals for the State of Texas, Judd's deep understanding of the law and persuasive advocacy have been instrumental in shaping legal precedents. His tenure as the Solicitor General of Texas is a testament to his expertise and the trust placed in him by high-ranking state officials. Judd's strategic prowess extends beyond the courtroom; his advisory roles have made him a respected figure among policymakers.
His contributions to Stone Hilton and the legal community are characterized by his meticulous approach to cases, his acumen as a counselor, and his unwavering commitment to justice. As a partner at Stone Hilton, Judd continues to apply his formidable talents to advocate for his clients with the utmost dedication and to uphold the pillars of integrity and excellence that the firm stands for.
Founder, President, and General Counsel, Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty
Rick Esenberg is the founder and current President and General Counsel of the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, a rapidly expanding law and policy organization headquartered in Milwaukee. Under Rick’s leadership, WILL has grown into one of the more active state-based think tanks and litigation centers in the country. Rick is a frequent litigator in state and federal courts and nationally recognized scholar and commentator on constitutional law, particularly the First Amendment’s guarantees of freedom of speech and religion. He is one of the leading experts on the Wisconsin Constitution and a frequent advocate before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Rick’s work seeks to advance the rule of law and individual liberty, formed by a robust civil society that forms individual and community character, preserving the wisdom of the past and an openness to the future.
Rick’s commentary has been featured in such outlets as the Wall Street Journal, National Review, Weekly Standard, Real Clear Politics, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Washington Examiner. Formerly on the faculty of Marquette University Law School, his scholarship has appeared in such publications as the Harvard Law Review, Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, Wake Forest Law Review and William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal. Back when they were a thing, he operated a blog called Shark and Shepherd where he tried to suggest something about the duality of man – “the Jungian thing.”
Rick holds a J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review, and a B.A., summa cum laude, in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In addition to service on the Marquette Faculty, he was formerly a litigation partner at Foley & Lardner and General Counsel of an international manufacturing firm headquartered in Wisconsin. He lives in Mequon Wisconsin with his wife Karen, golden retrievers Cooper and Riley and more books than he can find places for.
Senior Partner, Pines Bach LLP
Lester Pines is a Senior Partner in the firm.
A Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, he is a respected civil and criminal litigator and appellate advocate. In his over 40 years of practice, he has appeared in trial and appellate courts throughout Wisconsin, in numerous federal district courts, and before the federal 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. After a recent trial, one of Lester’s clients wrote:
"Seeing you in action was like watching an artist create a classic painting from a blank canvas but instead of paint you used facts, figures and, most importantly, words to achieve a masterpiece in the courtroom."
His wide-ranging civil trial practice encompasses commercial claims, employment disputes, constitutional and civil rights matters, personal injury and intellectual property cases. His criminal defense work has involved many high profile cases, especially involving teachers, police officers and other public employees. He is counsel to Madison Teachers Inc., which represents the employees of the Madison Metropolitan School District.
Recently, Lester was featured in a cover story in Isthmus, a Madison weekly newspaper, " Activist Attorney – Lester Pines draws on faith and family in his practice and beyond."
Recent challenges to the constitutionality of newly enacted laws that Lester brought on behalf of his clients include:
Previously, in cases in which he was appointed by former Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, Lester defended Wisconsin’s law creating domestic partnerships for same sex couples and stopped an attempt by then Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen to suppress voting in the 2008 Presidential election.
Among the many cases Lester has argued before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, two in particular have shaped Wisconsin law. In 2010 he represented the Zurich American Insurance Company inMiller v. Hanover Insurance, securing the reversal of a $2,000,000 default judgment against his client and achieving a significant change in Wisconsin law regarding relief from such judgments. In an original action in 1996, he successfully argued the case of Thompson v. Craney, which delineated the constitutionally vested powers of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and protected them from being altered by the Legislature, which the Wisconsin Supreme Court reaffirmed in 2016 in Coyne v. Walker.
Partner, Eimer Stahl LLP
Ryan is a partner at Eimer Stahl LLP and is based in the firm’s Madison office. He focuses his practice on appellate and complex litigation in a wide variety of areas, including antitrust, constitutional law, corporate law, environmental, ERISA, products liability, and white collar. As part of his practice, Ryan devotes significant time to matters of legal strategy and the art of written and oral advocacy.
Ryan previously served as Chief Deputy Solicitor General of Wisconsin, securing numerous wins in the Supreme Court of the United States, in three federal courts of appeal, and in the state supreme court. Ryan built national, bipartisan coalitions of attorneys general and agencies in support of several lawsuits and briefing efforts, including a Wisconsin-led, 12-state coalition whose suit against the Federal Communications Commission prompted that agency to reverse a major new rule. When he left government, Ryan had a perfect win record in all of his cases to have reached final judgment.
Earlier in his career, Ryan worked in Washington D.C. as an associate in the appellate group of one of the world’s largest law firms.
Ryan also served as a law clerk on the U.S. Supreme Court for the Honorable Antonin Scalia and on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for the Honorable Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain.
Ryan was named to Forbes’ “30 Under 30: Law and Policy” list in 2017. His briefing has won awards from the National Association of Attorneys General and the International Municipal Lawyers Association. He has also won a “best brief” accolade from the State Bar of Wisconsin in the civil category for his written work defending Wisconsin’s right-to-work law.
Partner; Firmwide Chair, Appeals, Issues & Strategy Practice, Perkins Coie LLP
Michael Huston is co-chair of the Appeals, Issues & Strategy practice at Perkins Coie LLP, where he counsels some of the World’s leading companies on appellate matters and all aspects of litigation strategy.
Michael is a former Assistant to the Solicitor General at the United States Department of Justice. In that role, he represented the federal government before the Supreme Court of the United States. Michael has argued nine cases before the Supreme Court and briefed hundreds more. He is a member of the Edward Coke Appellate Inn of Court.
Michael previously practiced appellate and administrative law at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Washington, DC. He served as a law clerk to the Honorable John G. Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice of the United States, and to the Honorable Raymond M. Kethledge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Michael graduated first in his class from the University of Michigan Law School, where he received the Henry M. Bates Memorial Scholarship Award—the law school's highest honor. He served as an editor on the Michigan Law Review.
Michael graduated summa cum laude from the University of Arizona with a bachelor's degree in political science and philosophy. He was elected Phi Beta Kappa.
Director, ENRD, Pacific Legal Foundation
Mark Miller is the Director of the Environment and Natural Resources practice group at Pacific Legal Foundation, where he leads the firm’s efforts to protect individuals and small businesses from government overreach in matters involving land and water, and its efforts to encourage America to better harness its abundant natural resources, including energy resources, minerals, timber, and grazing lands. Mark first joined PLF in 2014.
A seasoned appellate specialist, Mark has litigated several high-profile cases for PLF, including Weyerhaeuser v. United States Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co., and United States v. Robertson, all of them unanimous Supreme Court of the United States wins for property owners fighting federal overreach via the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act.
In 2020, Mark left PLF to serve as General Counsel and later Chief of Staff for then-South-Dakota Governor Kristi Noem. As Noem’s longest-serving chief of staff, he worked behind the scenes to advance limited government, cut red tape, defend individual rights, and promote free-market principles. In 2023, he returned home to PLF.
A frequent commentator and public speaker, Mark regularly appears in print, on radio and TV, and before legislative committees across the country. His commentary and work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, CBS News, The View, CBN, and Fox News. He is a regular guest each Thursday morning on SiriusXM’s POTUS channel, offering insight on Supreme Court cases and trends.
Mark earned both his undergraduate and law degrees with honors from the University of Florida. He clerked for U.S. District Judge Henry Lee Adams, Jr., and Florida state appellate Judge Emerson R. Thompson, Jr.—two mentors who deepened his commitment to the Bill of Rights, especially the Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments.
Mark serves on the Board of Trustees for the University of Florida College of Law, and he is a member of the boards of directors for both Americans United for Life, the nation’s oldest pro-life non-profit law firm, and Farm of the Child USA, a nonprofit that supports an orphanage and school for children in need in Honduras called La Finca del Niño.
Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow, The Hoover Institution, Stanford University; Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus, UCLA School of Law
Eugene Volokh is the Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution (Stanford), as well as the Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus and Distinguished Research Professor at UCLA School of Law. He recently retired from teaching at UCLA, after 30 years there, and is now focusing on research.
Volokh is the author of the textbooks The First Amendment and Related Statutes (8th ed. 2023), and Academic Legal Writing (5th ed. 2016), as well as over 100 academic law journal articles, mostly on First Amendment law. He is a member of The American Law Institute; the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Free Speech Law; and the creator and coauthor of The Volokh Conspiracy, a leading legal blog founded in 2002 (hosted at the Washington Post from 2014 to 2017 and now at Reason Magazine).
Judge William Hawley Atwell Chair of Constitutional Law, SMU Dedman School of Law
Professor Carpenter is the Judge William Hawley Atwell Chair of Constitutional Law. He previously served as the Charles J. and Inez Wright Murray Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at SMU, teaching Constitutional Law I as well as LGBT Rights and the Law. This fall he will teach Constitutional Law II.
Prior to joining SMU, Professor Carpenter taught for 16 years at the University of Minnesota, where he served as a Distinguished University Teaching Professor and the Earl R. Larson Professor of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Law. He won multiple teaching awards. He is also an editor of Constitutional Commentary.
The Texas native received his B.A. degree in history, magna cum laude, from Yale College and received his J.D., with honors, from the University of Chicago Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the University of Chicago Law Review. After serving as a law clerk for Fifth Circuit Judge Edith Jones, he practiced at the firms Vinson & Elkins LLP in Houston, and at Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk & Rabkin, P.C. in San Francisco.
As the author of numerous articles and an award-winning book —FLAGRANT CONDUCT: THE STORY OF LAWRENCE V. TEXAS (W.W. Norton & Co., 2012), about the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that invalidated America's sodomy laws — he is often asked by the media to comment on constitutional law, the First Amendment, and LGBT Rights and the Law. Since 2005, he has been an active blogger on the popular legal blog, The Volokh Conspiracy, which is hosted by the Washington Post.
Partner, Williams & Connolly
Sarah Harris is a partner in Williams & Connolly’s Supreme Court and Appellate practice, where she represents clients in high-stakes appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court and federal and state appellate courts across the country. She has argued five cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, and she has presented many arguments in federal courts of appeals and state appellate courts. Her cases have run the gamut of substantive areas, including constitutional law—especially First Amendment and separation-of-powers issues—as well as administrative law, arbitration, class actions, antitrust, False Claims Act litigation, commercial litigation, and federal civil procedure.
Sarah is widely recognized for her appellate advocacy. Chambers USA has recognized her as “Up and Coming” in Appellate Law. She has been named to Bloomberg Law’s 40 Under 40 list of top lawyers nationwide and to Benchmark Litigation’s “40 & Under Hot List,” as well as a an appellate “Rising Star” by The National Law Journal and Law360, a “Next Generation Lawyer” by The Legal 500, and as one of Bloomberg Law’s “Five Fresh Faces to Know in Appellate.”
Sarah clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court of the United States, Judge Laurence Silberman on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and Judge Sandra Lynch on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Before joining Williams & Connolly, she served as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel.
Sarah received her undergraduate degree summa cum laude from Princeton University, and her J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. She also holds a Ph.D. and M. Phil. from the University of Cambridge.
Judge, United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois
John Fitzgerald Kness is a judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on June 24, 2019. The United States Senate confirmed Kness on February 12, 2020, by a vote of 81-12.
Kness was the general counsel of the College of DuPage from 2016 to 2020.
Vice Dean for Faculty Development and Professor of Law, UCLA Law
Joanna Schwartz is Vice Dean for Faculty Development and Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law. She teaches Civil Procedure and a variety of courses on police accountability and public interest lawyering. In 2015, she received UCLA's Distinguished Teaching Award.
Professor Schwartz is one of the country's leading experts on police misconduct litigation. Professor Schwartz additionally studies the dynamics of modern civil litigation. She is co-author, with Stephen Yeazell, of a leading casebook, Civil Procedure (9th Edition), and her scholarship has appeared in the New York University Law Review, the Texas Law Review, the UCLA Law Review, and the Yale Law Journal, among others.
Professor Schwartz is a graduate of Brown University and Yale Law School. After law school, Professor Schwartz clerked for Judge Denise Cote of the Southern District of New York and Judge Harry Pregerson of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She was then associated with Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady LLP, in New York City, where she specialized in police misconduct, prisoners' rights, and First Amendment litigation.
Research Fellow, CATO Institute
Jay Schweikert is a research fellow with the Cato Institute’s Project on Criminal Justice. His research and advocacy focuses on accountability for prosecutors and law enforcement, plea bargaining, Sixth Amendment trial rights, and the provision and structuring of indigent defense.
Before joining Cato, Schweikert spent four years doing civil and criminal litigation at Williams & Connolly LLP. He holds a JD from Harvard Law School, where he was an articles editor for the Harvard Law Review, and chaired the Harvard Federalist Society’s student colloquium program. Following law school, Schweikert clerked for Judge Diane Sykes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and Judge Laurence Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.
He holds a BA in political science and economics from Yale University.
Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School
Christopher J. Walker is a Professor of Law at the University of Michigan. Prior to joining Michigan law faculty in 2022, he spent a decade teaching at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. He previously clerked for Justice Anthony Kennedy of the U.S. Supreme Court, worked on the Civil Appellate Staff at the U.S. Department of Justice, and served on the Senate Judiciary Committee staff for the Gorsuch Supreme Court confirmation. Professor Walker’s research focuses on administrative law, regulation, and law and policy at the agency level. Outside the law school, he chaired the American Bar Association’s Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice in 2020-21 and served as one of forty Public Members of the Administrative Conference of the United States from 2016-2022, and he continues to serve in both organizations in various capacities. He also works of counsel at the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center. In 2022, he received the Federalist Society’s Joseph Story Award.
Judge, United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois
John Fitzgerald Kness is a judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on June 24, 2019. The United States Senate confirmed Kness on February 12, 2020, by a vote of 81-12.
Kness was the general counsel of the College of DuPage from 2016 to 2020.
Vice Dean for Faculty Development and Professor of Law, UCLA Law
Joanna Schwartz is Vice Dean for Faculty Development and Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law. She teaches Civil Procedure and a variety of courses on police accountability and public interest lawyering. In 2015, she received UCLA's Distinguished Teaching Award.
Professor Schwartz is one of the country's leading experts on police misconduct litigation. Professor Schwartz additionally studies the dynamics of modern civil litigation. She is co-author, with Stephen Yeazell, of a leading casebook, Civil Procedure (9th Edition), and her scholarship has appeared in the New York University Law Review, the Texas Law Review, the UCLA Law Review, and the Yale Law Journal, among others.
Professor Schwartz is a graduate of Brown University and Yale Law School. After law school, Professor Schwartz clerked for Judge Denise Cote of the Southern District of New York and Judge Harry Pregerson of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She was then associated with Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady LLP, in New York City, where she specialized in police misconduct, prisoners' rights, and First Amendment litigation.
Research Fellow, CATO Institute
Jay Schweikert is a research fellow with the Cato Institute’s Project on Criminal Justice. His research and advocacy focuses on accountability for prosecutors and law enforcement, plea bargaining, Sixth Amendment trial rights, and the provision and structuring of indigent defense.
Before joining Cato, Schweikert spent four years doing civil and criminal litigation at Williams & Connolly LLP. He holds a JD from Harvard Law School, where he was an articles editor for the Harvard Law Review, and chaired the Harvard Federalist Society’s student colloquium program. Following law school, Schweikert clerked for Judge Diane Sykes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and Judge Laurence Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.
He holds a BA in political science and economics from Yale University.
Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School
Christopher J. Walker is a Professor of Law at the University of Michigan. Prior to joining Michigan law faculty in 2022, he spent a decade teaching at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. He previously clerked for Justice Anthony Kennedy of the U.S. Supreme Court, worked on the Civil Appellate Staff at the U.S. Department of Justice, and served on the Senate Judiciary Committee staff for the Gorsuch Supreme Court confirmation. Professor Walker’s research focuses on administrative law, regulation, and law and policy at the agency level. Outside the law school, he chaired the American Bar Association’s Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice in 2020-21 and served as one of forty Public Members of the Administrative Conference of the United States from 2016-2022, and he continues to serve in both organizations in various capacities. He also works of counsel at the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center. In 2022, he received the Federalist Society’s Joseph Story Award.
Deputy Solicitor General, Office of the Ohio Attorney General
Zachery joined the Ohio Attorney General’s Office in 2013. He started in the Constitutional Offices Section, a division that represents Ohio’s elected officials. In 2019, Zachery became a Deputy Solicitor General. In this role, he represents the State of Ohio—along with its agencies and officials—in appeals before the Ohio Supreme Court, the United States Supreme Court, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Before working for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, Zachery clerked for District Judge Edmund A. Sargus and Magistrate Judge Elizabeth P. Deavers in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. He received his J.D. from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in 2010.
Any opinions expressed in Zachery’s posts represent his own views, which do not necessarily reflect the views of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.
Supreme Court Roundup
Mississippi Student Chapter
University, MSQualified Immunity, a Debate--Retain or Abolish?
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Wisconsin Election Law Panel
2020 Wisconsin Lawyers Chapters Conference
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Memphis Lawyers Chapter - Online Event
The Doctrine of Qualified Immunity
John F. Kness, Joanna C. Schwartz, Jay R. Schweikert, Christopher J. Walker
On August 17, 2020, The Federalist Society's Chicago Lawyers Chapter hosted a virtual panel on...
The Doctrine of Qualified Immunity
John F. Kness, Joanna C. Schwartz, Jay R. Schweikert, Christopher J. Walker
On August 17, 2020, The Federalist Society's Chicago Lawyers Chapter hosted a virtual panel on...
A First-Hand Preview Of The Upcoming Term of the Supreme Court of the United States
Evansville Lawyers Chapter - Online Event
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Zachery Keller
The Ohio Supreme Court’s decision in State v. Nettles[1] illustrates what happens when decades-old law...
Religious Liberty & SCOTUS: A Big Year for the Free Exercise of Religion
Palm Beach Lawyers Chapter
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Southern Methodist Student Chapter
Dallas, TX