Leitner Family Professor of International Law and Co-Founder & Co-Director of the Center on Asian Americans & the Law, Fordham University School of Law
Thomas H. Lee is the Leitner Family Professor of International Law at Fordham, where he teaches civil procedure, constitutional law, federal courts, international law, and the U.S. law of civil-military relations. His meticulously researched and historically-grounded scholarship has argued that the Eleventh Amendment reflected the classical international law principle that only a sovereign state—not its citizens or subjects— has rights against other sovereign states; that the Alien Tort Statute was a national-security peacekeeping statute, not an international human-rights statute, enacted in 1789 when the United States was a militarily weak state; and that the Natural Born Citizen Clause regarding presidential eligibility reflected natural-law principles of membership by descent as well as domestic birthplace. His current research examines the nature of Article III judicial power and the role of the federal courts in American society.
He is Co-Director of the Center on Asian Americans and the Law, Special Counsel at Hughes Hubbard & Reed, and a Member of the American Law Institute. He was Special Counsel to the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Defense, a Member of the ICSID Panel of Conciliators, Adviser to the Constitutional Court of Korea, and Visiting Professor at Columbia, Harvard, and the University of Virginia law schools, as well as Faculty Director of International and Graduate Studies at Fordham from 2006 to 2019. Before his academic career, Lee clerked for Judge Michael Boudin of the First Circuit and Justice David Souter of the Supreme Court and served as an active-duty U.S. naval cryptology officer, afloat on submarines and surface combatants and ashore in Korea, Japan, and with the National Security Agency. He holds A.B. (summa cum laude), A.M. (Regional Studies—East Asia), and J.D. degrees from Harvard, where he was Articles Chair of the Harvard Law Review and a Ph.D. candidate (ABD) in Government.
Judicial Law Clerk, 31st Circuit Court of Virginia
Peter is a legal professional, receiving his J.D. in 2024 from the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. He has experience in both the public and private sectors, having worked as a crime analyst for Memphis Police Department, and a geographic information systems analyst for Geomni, a private aerial imaging firm. He also has experience in historical and geopolitical research and analysis, including a peer-reviewed essay on U.S.-Pakistani relations during the Soviet-Afghan War, published in BYU's journal for undergraduate historical research. He is an American patriot and wants to use his analytical skill to serve his nation and community.
Honor Law Graduate Attorney, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Judicial Law Clerk, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
Leo O'Malley graduated, with honors, from the University of Notre Dame School of Law, where he served as a Showcase Team Oralist on the Moot Court Board and the Director of the 2022-23 Religious Freedom Tournament. He recently completed a clerkship with Justice Janine Kern of the South Dakota Supreme Court and is currently clerking on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. He will go on to clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit during the 2027-28 term.
A National Merit Scholarship Recipient, Leo previously graduated summa cum laude from Wheaton College, IL in 2020, with a BS in Applied Mathematics and a BM in Organ Performance. While in high school, Leo performed on classical violin at a competitive level, being recognized at numerous local and national music competitions and participating in the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras and the Midwest Young Artists Conservatory. In his free time, Leo enjoys reading fantasy novels and experiencing historical architecture. His passion lies in finding innovative and pragmatic solutions to the political, economic, and societal issues facing America in the 21st Century.
Devon Westhill is the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The U.S. Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s nomination of Westhill on October 7, 2025.
Westhill returns to the USDA where he previously headed the civil rights office as Deputy Assistant Secretary in President Trump’s first term. His previous government appointments also include service at the U.S. Department of Labor, liaison to the Administrative Conference of the U.S., and liaison to the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Prior to returning to government service, Westhill was President and General Counsel of a nonprofit civil rights organization.
Westhill has testified on civil rights matters before Congress, federal agencies, and as an expert witness in federal court. He has spoken hundreds of times at college campuses, conferences, and on radio and TV programs, and he is frequently quoted in print publications, and his writing has appeared in numerous national outlets. A U.S. Navy veteran, Westhill earned his BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his JD from the University of Florida.
Judicial Law Clerk, 31st Circuit Court of Virginia
Peter is a legal professional, receiving his J.D. in 2024 from the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. He has experience in both the public and private sectors, having worked as a crime analyst for Memphis Police Department, and a geographic information systems analyst for Geomni, a private aerial imaging firm. He also has experience in historical and geopolitical research and analysis, including a peer-reviewed essay on U.S.-Pakistani relations during the Soviet-Afghan War, published in BYU's journal for undergraduate historical research. He is an American patriot and wants to use his analytical skill to serve his nation and community.
Honor Law Graduate Attorney, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Judicial Law Clerk, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
Leo O'Malley graduated, with honors, from the University of Notre Dame School of Law, where he served as a Showcase Team Oralist on the Moot Court Board and the Director of the 2022-23 Religious Freedom Tournament. He recently completed a clerkship with Justice Janine Kern of the South Dakota Supreme Court and is currently clerking on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. He will go on to clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit during the 2027-28 term.
A National Merit Scholarship Recipient, Leo previously graduated summa cum laude from Wheaton College, IL in 2020, with a BS in Applied Mathematics and a BM in Organ Performance. While in high school, Leo performed on classical violin at a competitive level, being recognized at numerous local and national music competitions and participating in the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras and the Midwest Young Artists Conservatory. In his free time, Leo enjoys reading fantasy novels and experiencing historical architecture. His passion lies in finding innovative and pragmatic solutions to the political, economic, and societal issues facing America in the 21st Century.
Devon Westhill is the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The U.S. Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s nomination of Westhill on October 7, 2025.
Westhill returns to the USDA where he previously headed the civil rights office as Deputy Assistant Secretary in President Trump’s first term. His previous government appointments also include service at the U.S. Department of Labor, liaison to the Administrative Conference of the U.S., and liaison to the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Prior to returning to government service, Westhill was President and General Counsel of a nonprofit civil rights organization.
Westhill has testified on civil rights matters before Congress, federal agencies, and as an expert witness in federal court. He has spoken hundreds of times at college campuses, conferences, and on radio and TV programs, and he is frequently quoted in print publications, and his writing has appeared in numerous national outlets. A U.S. Navy veteran, Westhill earned his BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his JD from the University of Florida.
Partner, Schaerr | Jaffe LLP
Erik Jaffe has been involved in appeals on a broad range of legal issues, including First Amendment challenges to campaign finance reform, Commerce Clause challenges to Health Care Reform and other federal legislation, Equal Protection Clause challenges to affirmative action in education, First Amendment challenges to school vouchers, Fifth Amendment challenges to takings of property, Second Amendment challenges to restrictions on gun ownership, and a wide variety of cases involving patents, copyrights, ERISA, securities fraud, federal preemption, environmental regulation, and other state and federal constitutional and statutory matters. He has represented businesses and non-profit groups, Judges, Senators, former government officials, Nobel Prize winners, and a broad cross-section of private individuals. Mr. Jaffe has been involved in over 120 Supreme Court matters, including filing over 30 cert. petitions, representing half-a-dozen parties on the merits, and filing over 70 amicus briefs at both the cert. and merits stages.
A 1990 graduate of the Columbia University School of Law, Mr. Jaffe was a law clerk to Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1990 to 1991. Following that clerkship he spent five years in litigation practice with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Williams & Connolly. In the summer of 1996 he left Williams & Connolly to clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. At the end of that clerkship he started his own practice, and he was a sole practitioner from 1997 to 2018. He joined the firm of Schaerr | Jaffe LLP in 2018.
Partner, Schaerr | Jaffe LLP
Erik Jaffe has been involved in appeals on a broad range of legal issues, including First Amendment challenges to campaign finance reform, Commerce Clause challenges to Health Care Reform and other federal legislation, Equal Protection Clause challenges to affirmative action in education, First Amendment challenges to school vouchers, Fifth Amendment challenges to takings of property, Second Amendment challenges to restrictions on gun ownership, and a wide variety of cases involving patents, copyrights, ERISA, securities fraud, federal preemption, environmental regulation, and other state and federal constitutional and statutory matters. He has represented businesses and non-profit groups, Judges, Senators, former government officials, Nobel Prize winners, and a broad cross-section of private individuals. Mr. Jaffe has been involved in over 120 Supreme Court matters, including filing over 30 cert. petitions, representing half-a-dozen parties on the merits, and filing over 70 amicus briefs at both the cert. and merits stages.
A 1990 graduate of the Columbia University School of Law, Mr. Jaffe was a law clerk to Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1990 to 1991. Following that clerkship he spent five years in litigation practice with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Williams & Connolly. In the summer of 1996 he left Williams & Connolly to clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. At the end of that clerkship he started his own practice, and he was a sole practitioner from 1997 to 2018. He joined the firm of Schaerr | Jaffe LLP in 2018.
Executive Vice President, The Federalist Society
Dean Reuter is Executive Vice President at the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies. He has served in two federal government agency Offices of the Inspector General, as Counsel to the Inspector General and Deputy Inspector General, responsible for policing the use of federal funds granted and contracted through those agencies. As such, he helped conduct and oversee criminal investigations across the country. He is the principal author of the non-fiction book, The Hidden Nazi: The Untold Story of America's Deal with the Devil, and editor of Liberty’s Nemesis: The Unchecked Expansion of the State and Confronting Terror: 9/11 and the Future of American National Security. He was appointed by the President and served as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service, and recently served as an appointee on the U.S. Commission on Presidential Scholars. He is a graduate of Hood College (BA with Honors) and the University of Maryland School of Law.
Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law, University of California at Berkeley; Senior Research Fellow, School of Civic Leadership, Civitas Institute, University of Texas at Austin; Nonresident Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
John Yoo is the Emanuel Heller Professor of Law. He is also Distinguished Visiting Scholar, School of Civic Leadership and Senior Research Fellow, Civitas Institute, at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
His most recent book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Supreme Court, co-authored with Robert Delahunty, was published in 2023. Professor Yoo’s other books include Defender-in-Chief: Trump’s Fight for Presidential Power; Striking Power: How Cyber, Robots, and Space Weapons Change the Rules for War, Point of Attack: Preventive War, International Law, and Global Welfare, and Crisis and Command: A History of Executive Power from George Washington to George Bush.
Professor Yoo has published more than 100 articles in academic journals on subjects including national security, constitutional law, international law, and the Supreme Court. He also regularly contributes to the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and National Review, among others.
Professor Yoo has served in all three branches of government. He was an official in the U.S. Department of Justice, where he worked on national security and terrorism issues after the 9/11 attacks. He served as general counsel of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. He has been a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and federal appeals Judge Laurence Silberman. He has been a visiting professor at Seoul National University in South Korea, the Interdisciplinary Center in Israel, Keio University in Japan, Trento University in Italy, the University of Chicago, and the Free University of Amsterdam.
Professor Yoo supervises the Public Law and Policy Program and the California Constitution Center. He also serves on the boards of the Pacific Legal Foundation, the Federalist Society’s Separation of Powers and Federalism Division, the Universidad Cientifica del Sur Law School, and the Asia-Pacific Law Institute at Seoul National University. He is a winner of the Federalist Society’s Paul Bator award and been the Edwin Meese III Originalism Lecturer at the Heritage Foundation.
Professor Yoo graduated from Yale Law School and summa cum laude from Harvard College.
Judicial Law Clerk, 31st Circuit Court of Virginia
Peter is a legal professional, receiving his J.D. in 2024 from the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. He has experience in both the public and private sectors, having worked as a crime analyst for Memphis Police Department, and a geographic information systems analyst for Geomni, a private aerial imaging firm. He also has experience in historical and geopolitical research and analysis, including a peer-reviewed essay on U.S.-Pakistani relations during the Soviet-Afghan War, published in BYU's journal for undergraduate historical research. He is an American patriot and wants to use his analytical skill to serve his nation and community.
Honor Law Graduate Attorney, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Judicial Law Clerk, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
Leo O'Malley graduated, with honors, from the University of Notre Dame School of Law, where he served as a Showcase Team Oralist on the Moot Court Board and the Director of the 2022-23 Religious Freedom Tournament. He recently completed a clerkship with Justice Janine Kern of the South Dakota Supreme Court and is currently clerking on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. He will go on to clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit during the 2027-28 term.
A National Merit Scholarship Recipient, Leo previously graduated summa cum laude from Wheaton College, IL in 2020, with a BS in Applied Mathematics and a BM in Organ Performance. While in high school, Leo performed on classical violin at a competitive level, being recognized at numerous local and national music competitions and participating in the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras and the Midwest Young Artists Conservatory. In his free time, Leo enjoys reading fantasy novels and experiencing historical architecture. His passion lies in finding innovative and pragmatic solutions to the political, economic, and societal issues facing America in the 21st Century.
Devon Westhill is the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The U.S. Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s nomination of Westhill on October 7, 2025.
Westhill returns to the USDA where he previously headed the civil rights office as Deputy Assistant Secretary in President Trump’s first term. His previous government appointments also include service at the U.S. Department of Labor, liaison to the Administrative Conference of the U.S., and liaison to the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Prior to returning to government service, Westhill was President and General Counsel of a nonprofit civil rights organization.
Westhill has testified on civil rights matters before Congress, federal agencies, and as an expert witness in federal court. He has spoken hundreds of times at college campuses, conferences, and on radio and TV programs, and he is frequently quoted in print publications, and his writing has appeared in numerous national outlets. A U.S. Navy veteran, Westhill earned his BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his JD from the University of Florida.
Partner, Schaerr | Jaffe LLP
Erik Jaffe has been involved in appeals on a broad range of legal issues, including First Amendment challenges to campaign finance reform, Commerce Clause challenges to Health Care Reform and other federal legislation, Equal Protection Clause challenges to affirmative action in education, First Amendment challenges to school vouchers, Fifth Amendment challenges to takings of property, Second Amendment challenges to restrictions on gun ownership, and a wide variety of cases involving patents, copyrights, ERISA, securities fraud, federal preemption, environmental regulation, and other state and federal constitutional and statutory matters. He has represented businesses and non-profit groups, Judges, Senators, former government officials, Nobel Prize winners, and a broad cross-section of private individuals. Mr. Jaffe has been involved in over 120 Supreme Court matters, including filing over 30 cert. petitions, representing half-a-dozen parties on the merits, and filing over 70 amicus briefs at both the cert. and merits stages.
A 1990 graduate of the Columbia University School of Law, Mr. Jaffe was a law clerk to Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1990 to 1991. Following that clerkship he spent five years in litigation practice with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Williams & Connolly. In the summer of 1996 he left Williams & Connolly to clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. At the end of that clerkship he started his own practice, and he was a sole practitioner from 1997 to 2018. He joined the firm of Schaerr | Jaffe LLP in 2018.
Litigation Update: The Future of the Corporate Transparency Act
Thomas Lee
The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) is a sweeping federal statute requiring individuals with significant interests...
Press Briefing: Trump's New Executive Orders
Topics
A Day to Celebrate Equality Under the Law and to Ponder Executive Power
Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Inauguration Day! Below, please find a roundup of...
Topics
Parting Shots: The FTC’s Outgoing Leadership Expands Antitrust Exemptions for Labor Activity to Independent Contractors
Earlier this week, the Federal Trade Commission issued new enforcement guidance on “protected labor activity”...
New Voices in Civil Rights: How Universities are Responding to SFFA
Peter Abernathy, Samuel Gellen, Leo O'Malley, Anthony Pericolo, Devon Westhill
Institutions of higher education released demographic data for their first classes admitted after the Supreme...
New Voices in Civil Rights: How Universities are Responding to SFFA
Peter Abernathy, Samuel Gellen, Leo O'Malley, Anthony Pericolo, Devon Westhill
Institutions of higher education released demographic data for their first classes admitted after the Supreme...
New Voices in Civil Rights: How Universities are Responding to SFFA
Courthouse Steps Oral Argument: Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton
Erik S. Jaffe
Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton concerns Texas Law H.B. 1181, and what precedent should...
Courthouse Steps Oral Argument: Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton
Erik S. Jaffe
Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton concerns Texas Law H.B. 1181, and what precedent should...
Courthouse Steps Oral Argument: Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton