Partner, Bell Giftos St. John LLC
Kevin St. John is a partner with Bell Giftos St. John LLC in Madison, Wisconsin. From 2011 to 2015, he served as Wisconsin’s Deputy Attorney General. Prior to his government service St. John practiced law with the Madison office of Michael Best & Friedrich LLP and the Washington D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. St. John is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and earned his law degree from the University of Chicago.
St. John has contributed to Federalist Society as a speaker and in commentaries on topics including redistricting, free speech, and separation of powers.
Executive Director & Secretary, American Civil Rights Project
Dan Morenoff is the executive director at the American Civil Rights Project and an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
His work focuses on protecting and, where necessary, restoring the primacy of all Americans' shared civil rights against the identitarian alternative.
Before practicing law, Morenoff served on the legislative staff of Sen. Phil Gramm (R-TX). Morenoff holds a B.A. from Columbia College of Columbia University in the City of New York and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. He has also served as an officer or director of several community organizations in Dallas, Texas.
Senior Counsel, Litigation, Defense of Freedom Institute
Don Daugherty is Senior Counsel, Litigation, at the Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies. He previously served as a Senior Counsel at the Institute for Free Speech and the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty. Before that, he was a partner at three of Wisconsin’s largest firms, with nearly 30 years of trial and appellate litigation experience. He has been consistently recognized as among the “Best Lawyers in America,” as well as Wisconsin’s “Super Lawyers.” He received his B.A. from the University of Virginia and his J.D. from Northwestern University Law School. After law school, he served as a clerk to the Honorable Roger J. Miner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Don is on the Board of Advisors for the Milwaukee Lawyers’ Chapter of the Federalist Society, and on the Executive Committee of the Federalist Society’s Litigation Practice Group.
Partner, Foley & Lardner LLP
Ed Burbach is a Partner at Foley & Lardner LLP.
As a focused litigation lawyer, Ed Burbach represents corporations, individuals and governmental entities in matters involving local, state and federal governments – with emphasis on the state of Texas. He has special experience as a Medicaid fraud attorney, with deceptive trade practices, FTC, FOIA litigation /Public Information Act litigation and attorney general opinions. Ed also has nearly 30 years of experience litigating significant government, energy, maritime, insurance, financial services, pharmaceutical, health care provider, retailer, corporate, multistate and class action claims.
Appointed by now-Texas Governor Greg Abbott as his original Deputy Attorney General for Litigation, Ed served as Texas’ lead litigator and directly supervised all of Attorney General Abbott’s 11 civil litigation divisions, including 250 attorneys, over 600 employees and a $35 million budget. Ed also served as Texas’ main litigation liaison with the National Association of Attorneys General during Attorney General Abbott’s first and second terms. Ed maintained a heavy litigation docket representing the state and its leadership in high-profile litigation, such as Medicaid fraud, energy, financial services, environmental, Public Information Act, the historic Texas Tobacco Settlement, school finance, congressional redistricting and election law challenges brought by major political candidates. Upon announcing Ed’s return to private practice Governor Abbott advised:
“For more than three years, Ed Burbach has been a trusted advisor whose expert legal skills and careful management have yielded real results for the State of Texas,” said Attorney General Abbott.
“Under Ed’s leadership, our Consumer Protection Division obtained tens of millions of dollars in restitution for Texas consumers, and our Civil Medicaid Fraud Division uncovered more than a hundred million dollars in fraudulent Medicaid overpayments. Ed also guided the State through its most difficult legal disputes, including lawsuits challenging the Texas tobacco settlement and the state’s school funding plan. We all appreciate Ed’s distinguished service to this agency and wish him well on his return to the private sector.”
Ed’s clients often face costly, multiyear, high-stakes claims. For example, in State of Texas v. Petroleum Wholesale, et al., Ed defended claims brought by the state of Texas alleging $200 million in civil penalties for allegedly misrepresenting the amount of fuel delivered at retail gasoline and diesel pumps in Texas. He also served as lead counsel in the defense of the state Multidistrict Litigation Panel proceeding and as lead counsel in defense of various state purported class action litigation.
Ed serves as the Austin Office Chair for Corporate, and he remains active with the attorney’s general offices throughout the United States.
Co-CEO, Neora
Deborah Heisz is the Co-CEO of Neora, a Texas-based global relationship marketing company offering proprietary age-fighting skincare and wellness products.
With more than 20 years of leadership experience in a variety of roles within the multibillion dollar direct selling industry, Deborah Heisz has successfully built and led strong teams to achieve strategic goals.
Deborah has successfully chaired Neora’s global steering committee and directed the leadership team to position the company for new growth domestically and internationally. Deborah is driven to ensure that Neora continues to move forward as a unique model of positivity, diversity, innovation and integrity in the worldwide direct selling industry.
In addition to her position as Neora’s Co-CEO, Deborah maintains her role as Chief Executive Officer of Live Happy, LLC. Deborah is the co-founder and editorial director of the positive lifestyle magazine Live Happy and the happiness movement. A graduate of Texas Tech University with a bachelor’s degree in English, Deborah also holds an MBA from The University of Dallas.
Professor, University of Illinois College of Law
Robin Fretwell Wilson is the Mildred Van Voorhis Jones Chair in Law at the University of Illinois College of Law.
A scholar in family law, bioethics and law and religion, Professor Wilson has worked extensively on behalf of state and federal law reform efforts in each realm.
Across two decades, she has worked to secure laws protecting the autonomy of patients to decide when they will be used to teach intimate exams to medical students, laws now in place in 22 states—sixteen of which have been enacted since 2019.
Professor Wilson is known for bridging differences in the culture war. In 2015, she spent a month in residence with the Utah legislature, helping Utah state lawmakers to pass anti-discrimination legislation that balances religious liberty and LGBT rights. In 2019, Professor Wilson assisted the governor of Utah to craft regulations banning gay conversion therapy. In 2019, she also aided U.S. Representative Chris Stewart with portions of the “Fairness for All” he introduced in Congress. A member of the American Law Institute and a Fulbright Specialist, Professor Wilson has served as a consultant to the United Arab Emirates’ Judicial Department as they sought to create a parallel court system for the adjudication by expatriates of family law matters using the laws of their home country or of their faith traditions.
Professor Wilson is the author of 20 books, including her 2018 book, Religious Freedom, LGBT Rights, and the Prospects for Common Ground, with Yale University Professor William Eskridge, Jr., which is now in paperback at Cambridge University Press. Her other books include: The Contested Place of Religion in Family Law (Cambridge University Press, 2018, ed.), Reconceiving the Family: Critical Reflections on the American Law Institute’s Principles of the Law of Family Dissolution (Cambridge University Press, 2006, ed.); The Handbook of Children, Culture & Violence (Sage Publications, 2006, with Nancy Dowd and Dorothy Singer, eds.); Same-Sex Marriage and Religious Liberty: Emerging Conflicts (Rowman & Littlefield, 2008, with Douglas Laycock and Anthony Picarello, eds.); Health Law and Bioethics: Cases in Context (Aspen, 2008, with Joan Krause, Sandra Johnson, and Richard Saver, eds.); Domestic Relations: Cases and Materials, 8th edition (Foundation Press, 2017, with Walter Wadlington and Raymond C. O’Brien); and Understanding Family Law, 4th edition (LexisNexis, 2013, with John DeWitt Gregory and Peter N. Swisher). Her articles have appeared in the Boston College Law Review, Cornell Law Review, Emory Law Journal, Illinois Law Review, North Carolina Law Review, San Diego Law Review, U.C. Davis Law Review, and Washington and Lee Law Review, as well as in numerous peer-reviewed journals.
In 2010 and again in 2016, Professor Wilson was ranked among the Top Ten Family Law Scholars in the United States for scholarly impact. She ranks among the Top 10% of Authors in all time downloads on the Social Science Research Network. Professor Wilson’s scholarship has been cited by the Fifth, Seventh and Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Minnesota Court of Appeals, lower federal courts, and the Supreme Courts of Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, and Washington.
Professor Wilson’s work has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic Monthly, U.S. News and World Report, ABA Journal, Chronicle of Higher Education, Chicago Tribune, CNN Headline News, Good Morning America, ABC News, CBS News, Philadelphia Inquirer, Essence Magazine, The American Prospect, People Magazine, The American Conservative, The Australian, and Al Jazeera, among others. She has presented her research across the world, including the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, as well as in Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Chile, China, Israel, Qatar, the Netherlands, Italy, England, Wales, Poland, Spain, Serbia, Japan, Canada, Norway, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Turkey, and France.
Professor Wilson has seven times been honored for her work on innovative laws that respect all persons. In 2007, she received the Citizen’s Legislative Award for her work on changing Virginia’s informed consent law. In 2018, Professor Wilson received the Thomas L. Kane Religious Freedom Award from the J. Reuben Clark Law Society, which is presented annually to an individual who exemplifies the spirit of religious liberty for all and who has contributed in significant ways to the defense of religious freedom in the public square.
In 2018, Professor Wilson was honored as one of the 150 for 150: Celebrating the Accomplishments of Women at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for its sesquicentennial celebration. In 2020, Professor Wilson received the 2020 Larine Y. Cowan Make a Difference Award for Advocacy for LGBTQ Affairs, a university-wide honor given by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Partner, Foley & Lardner LLP
Ed Burbach is a Partner at Foley & Lardner LLP.
As a focused litigation lawyer, Ed Burbach represents corporations, individuals and governmental entities in matters involving local, state and federal governments – with emphasis on the state of Texas. He has special experience as a Medicaid fraud attorney, with deceptive trade practices, FTC, FOIA litigation /Public Information Act litigation and attorney general opinions. Ed also has nearly 30 years of experience litigating significant government, energy, maritime, insurance, financial services, pharmaceutical, health care provider, retailer, corporate, multistate and class action claims.
Appointed by now-Texas Governor Greg Abbott as his original Deputy Attorney General for Litigation, Ed served as Texas’ lead litigator and directly supervised all of Attorney General Abbott’s 11 civil litigation divisions, including 250 attorneys, over 600 employees and a $35 million budget. Ed also served as Texas’ main litigation liaison with the National Association of Attorneys General during Attorney General Abbott’s first and second terms. Ed maintained a heavy litigation docket representing the state and its leadership in high-profile litigation, such as Medicaid fraud, energy, financial services, environmental, Public Information Act, the historic Texas Tobacco Settlement, school finance, congressional redistricting and election law challenges brought by major political candidates. Upon announcing Ed’s return to private practice Governor Abbott advised:
“For more than three years, Ed Burbach has been a trusted advisor whose expert legal skills and careful management have yielded real results for the State of Texas,” said Attorney General Abbott.
“Under Ed’s leadership, our Consumer Protection Division obtained tens of millions of dollars in restitution for Texas consumers, and our Civil Medicaid Fraud Division uncovered more than a hundred million dollars in fraudulent Medicaid overpayments. Ed also guided the State through its most difficult legal disputes, including lawsuits challenging the Texas tobacco settlement and the state’s school funding plan. We all appreciate Ed’s distinguished service to this agency and wish him well on his return to the private sector.”
Ed’s clients often face costly, multiyear, high-stakes claims. For example, in State of Texas v. Petroleum Wholesale, et al., Ed defended claims brought by the state of Texas alleging $200 million in civil penalties for allegedly misrepresenting the amount of fuel delivered at retail gasoline and diesel pumps in Texas. He also served as lead counsel in the defense of the state Multidistrict Litigation Panel proceeding and as lead counsel in defense of various state purported class action litigation.
Ed serves as the Austin Office Chair for Corporate, and he remains active with the attorney’s general offices throughout the United States.
Co-CEO, Neora
Deborah Heisz is the Co-CEO of Neora, a Texas-based global relationship marketing company offering proprietary age-fighting skincare and wellness products.
With more than 20 years of leadership experience in a variety of roles within the multibillion dollar direct selling industry, Deborah Heisz has successfully built and led strong teams to achieve strategic goals.
Deborah has successfully chaired Neora’s global steering committee and directed the leadership team to position the company for new growth domestically and internationally. Deborah is driven to ensure that Neora continues to move forward as a unique model of positivity, diversity, innovation and integrity in the worldwide direct selling industry.
In addition to her position as Neora’s Co-CEO, Deborah maintains her role as Chief Executive Officer of Live Happy, LLC. Deborah is the co-founder and editorial director of the positive lifestyle magazine Live Happy and the happiness movement. A graduate of Texas Tech University with a bachelor’s degree in English, Deborah also holds an MBA from The University of Dallas.
Former Attorney General, State of Arizona
Mark Brnovich served as Arizona's 26th Attorney General from 2015 to 2023. He was first inaugurated in 2015, and again in 2019 after winning re-election. Mark has spent most of his professional life serving as a prosecutor at the local, state, and federal levels. Mark met his wife Susan while they both worked as prosecutors for the Maricopa County Attorney's office. Mark worked in the Gang/Repeat Offender Unit and prosecuted many difficult and high profile cases from 1992 to 1998. He then went on to work as an Assistant Attorney General with the Arizona Attorney General's Office from 1998 to 2003, where he developed an expertise in gambling law. Brnovich later went on to serve as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Arizona where he prosecuted public integrity crimes, as well as crimes occurring in Indian Country.
Brnovich has also been a Judge Pro Tem of Maricopa County Superior Court, a Command Staff Judge Advocate in the U.S. Army National Guard, the Director for Constitutional Government at the Goldwater Institute, and the Director of the Arizona Department of Gaming, a law enforcement agency that investigates illegal gambling activity, as well as working with tribal regulators to ensure the integrity of tribal gaming.
Brnovich is known for restoring public confidence in the office of "Arizona's Top Cop" and for assembling some of the nation's most talented public servants for his administration. Mark argued at the United States Supreme Court in defense of the "one-person, one-vote" principle, was featured on 60 Minutes in defense of capital punishment, and has initiated national public education efforts to combat human sex trafficking.
Brnovich has been recognized by the National Federation of Independent Business as a "Champion of Small Business." and was elected by his bi-partisan colleagues to serve as the Chairman of the Conference of Western Attorneys General.
Mark's wife Susan was recently appointed by the United States Senate to serve as a U.S. District Judge for the District of Arizona. He has two teenage daughters and lives in Phoenix.
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