Director and Associate General Counsel, Tennessee Valley Authority
David Ayliffe serves in TVA’s Office of the General Counsel where he is responsible for directing litigation involving TVA and leading the team that represents TVA in all non-employment litigation in federal trial and appellate courts across the TVA region. An experienced litigator, David has represented TVA as lead counsel in cases at both the trial and appellate level and also has represented TVA in cases before the United States Supreme Court. During his twenty years at TVA, David’s work has extended beyond litigation to include experience with a broad range of issues of legal and strategic significance to TVA.
Prior to joining TVA, David served as a non-commissioned officer in the United States Marine Corps and was honorably discharged in 2003. David earned a Bachelor of Arts in History and German from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and his law degree from the University of Memphis.
David lives in Knoxville with his wife, Ying, and their two children. Outside of work, he is involved in various professional and community organizations. David is a member of the Federalist Society, serving on the Steering Committee for the Knoxville Lawyers Chapter, and he is a member of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Board. He is a graduate of Leadership Knoxville’s class of 2019. David also serves
as an Elder at Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Knoxville.
Deputy Secretary of Energy
James P. Danly was sworn in as Deputy Secretary on June 9, 2025.
Before arriving at the Department, Deputy Secretary Danly was a partner and the Energy Regulatory Group leader at Skadden in Washington, D.C. This followed his service at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, first as the Commission’s general counsel then as the commissioner and chairman.
Deputy Secretary Danly was an officer in the United States Army. He served two tours in Iraq, receiving a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.
A graduate of Yale University, Deputy Secretary Danly earned his J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School. He clerked for Judge Danny J. Boggs of the Sixth Circuit.
Deputy Chief, General Crimes Unit and Acting Appellate Chief, Middle District of Tennessee, Department of Justice
Partner, Cooper & Kirk, PLLC
Clark L. Hildabrand focuses his practice at Cooper & Kirk, PLLC, on constitutional and administrative law and complex commercial litigation. Mr. Hildabrand has briefed and argued cases in both state and federal appellate courts. He clerked for Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and then practiced in the Washington, D.C. office of Sullivan & Cromwell, LLP. Subsequently, he served in the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office, first as Assistant Solicitor General and later as Deputy Chief of Staff & Senior Counsel.
Mr. Hildabrand graduated from Yale Law School and Washington & Lee University, summa cum laude. During college, he studied a year at Worcester College, University of Oxford. At Yale Law School, Mr. Hildabrand was a finalist in the Morris Tyler Moot Court of Appeals, earning the Benjamin N. Cardozo Prize. He also served as an Articles Editor on the Yale Law Journal. Mr. Hildabrand is admitted to the bars of the State of Tennessee and the District of Columbia.
Chancellor Professor, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School of Law
Peltz-Steele received his law degree from Duke University and a bachelor’s in journalism and Spanish from Washington & Lee University. Peltz-Steele has won awards in teaching, research, and public service. He practiced commercial law in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and taught law for more than thirteen years before coming to UMass Law in 2011.
Peltz-Steele is author, co-author, or co-editor of qualitative and quantitative research in law and mass communication in journals and books, of treatises in law and development and access to information, and of textbooks in tort law and freedom of information. He is especially active in international media law and policy, having presented papers on five continents and having published in foreign journals and multinational collaborations. His current research focuses on comparative transparency in the context of development and in the private sector. Peltz-Steele serves in various roles in public service organizations, including the legal education committee of the American Bar Association, International Law Section.
Chancellor Professor, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School of Law
Peltz-Steele received his law degree from Duke University and a bachelor’s in journalism and Spanish from Washington & Lee University. Peltz-Steele has won awards in teaching, research, and public service. He practiced commercial law in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and taught law for more than thirteen years before coming to UMass Law in 2011.
Peltz-Steele is author, co-author, or co-editor of qualitative and quantitative research in law and mass communication in journals and books, of treatises in law and development and access to information, and of textbooks in tort law and freedom of information. He is especially active in international media law and policy, having presented papers on five continents and having published in foreign journals and multinational collaborations. His current research focuses on comparative transparency in the context of development and in the private sector. Peltz-Steele serves in various roles in public service organizations, including the legal education committee of the American Bar Association, International Law Section.
Partner, Wiley Rein, LLP
Megan L. Brown is a partner at Wiley Rein LLP. She has significant litigation, appellate and regulatory experience before state and federal courts and agencies.
Ms. Brown helps businesses respond to federal, state and local regulation and investigations raising administrative law, statutory interpretation, and constitutional issues, including the First Amendment.
Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Battery Council International
Senior Fellow, Center for Energy and Environment, Competitive Enterprise Institute
Marlo Lewis, Jr. is a Senior Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, where he writes on global warming, energy policy, and other public policy issues. Prior to joining CEI in April 2002, he served as Director of External Relations at the Reason Foundation in Los Angeles, California. During the 106th Congress, Marlo served as Staff Director of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Economic Growth, Natural Resources, and Regulatory Affairs.
His interests include the science, economics, and politics of global warming policy; the precautionary principle; environmentalism and religion; and the moral basis of free enterprise. Marlo has been published in The Washington Times, Investors Business Daily, TechCentralStation, National Review, and Interpretation: A Journal of Political Philosophy. He has appeared on various television and radio programs, and his ideas have been featured in radio commentary by Rush Limbaugh and G. Gordon Liddy.
Before joining CEI for his first tenure with the organization in 1993, Marlo served as Research Director for the grassroots organization, Citizens Against Government Waste. Earlier, he was a Staff Consultant to the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Economic Policy and Trade, a Special Assistant at the State Department Bureau of Inter-American Affairs and Bureau of International Organization Affairs, and a Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science at Claremont McKenna College. He holds a Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University and a B.A. in Political Science from Claremont McKenna College.
Partner, Wiley Rein, LLP
Megan L. Brown is a partner at Wiley Rein LLP. She has significant litigation, appellate and regulatory experience before state and federal courts and agencies.
Ms. Brown helps businesses respond to federal, state and local regulation and investigations raising administrative law, statutory interpretation, and constitutional issues, including the First Amendment.
Panel I: Defending Against Strategic Litigation
2024 Tennessee Chapters Conference
Nashville, TNThacker v. Tennessee Valley Authority - Post-Argument SCOTUScast
Richard J. Peltz-Steele
On January 14, 2019, the Supreme Court heard argument in Thacker v. Tennessee Valley Authority,...
Thacker v. Tennessee Valley Authority [SCOTUSbrief]
Richard J. Peltz-Steele
While Gary Thacker is attempting to sue the Tennessee Valley Authority for negligence in a...
Global Warming Nuisance Suits Given a Cool Reception in Court
Megan L. Brown, Roger H. Miksad
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EPA Regulation of Fuel Economy: Congressional Intent or Climate Coup?
Marlo Lewis
Note from the Editor:1 This paper assesses EPA’s rule setting standards for motor vehicle greenhouse...
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Megan L. Brown
On June 20, 2011, the Supreme Court announced its decision in American Electrical Power Company...