Circuit Court Judge, State of Tennessee, 21st Judicial District
Judge Woodruff has served as the Division I Circuit Judge of Tennessee’s 21st Judicial District since his election in 2014. The 21st is one of Tennessee’s busiest judicial districts and each judge sits as a chancellor, criminal and civil circuit court judge. Prior to redistricting in 2022, the 21st Judicial District had the largest ratio of population per judge of any of Tennessee’s 31 judicial districts. Today, the 21st remains in the top tier of that statistic. He was re-elected in 2022 without opposition.
Before becoming a judge, Woody was a partner in the litigation group at Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP, where he represented clients in state and federal trial and appellate courtrooms in a nationwide practice focusing on the healthcare and financial services industries. From 2004 through 2007, he was the lead lawyer of the team representing the State of Tennessee in litigation against the Maddox Foundation. This bitter interstate legal battle concluded with a settlement returning $55 million to Tennessee reviving the charitable foundation originally established by Nashville philanthropists Dan and Margaret Maddox.
Woody began his legal career as an officer in the US Army JAG Corps. During his six years of active duty, he tried to verdict more than 100 contested cases involving military justice, administrative law and federal tort claims actions. In 1986, he successfully represented a military intelligence agent charged with financial crimes related to covert activities and stemming from a sweeping criminal investigation into the official actions of high-ranking commissioned officers. His client was the first defendant tried, and only defendant to be acquitted. Following active duty, Woody served as a JAG in the US Army Reserve and retired at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
He earned his JD degree in 1981 from the University of Alabama School of Law. In law school, he was the recipient of the Dean M. Leigh Harrison Award, the Hugo Black Award, and was a member of the Order of the Coif, among other honors. He has published scholarly articles in various legal periodicals, as well as newspaper columns and blogs on college football. He has been an adjunct professor at the Belmont University School of Law, and is an active member of the Tenn. John Marshall Chapter, American Inns of Court and the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy.
Judge, Tennessee 5th Judicial District, Blount County Circuit Court
David R. Duggan, Blount County circuit judge, is the author of the book, Alcoa: A Century in Words and Pictures. He also co-authored Alcoa and Maryville in Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America series. He is Alcoa city historian, a former Blount County Library board chair, and lay representative, a Sunday School teacher, and church historian at Alcoa First Methodist Church. He serves as lay leader of the MidSouth Annual Conference of the Global Methodist Church (GMC), and he is a member of the GMC’s global Ecumenical Relations Commission. He chaired the City of Alcoa’s 75th Anniversary and Centennial Committees. Named to the Daily Times Alumni Wall of Fame in 2010, he received the Blount Historic Trust Champion Award in 2015. He also received, in 2018, a Community History Award, and in 2022 an Award of Distinction, from the East Tennessee Historical Society. He is president and a director of the Faith and Family Coalition, Inc. He serves as a member of the executive committee of the Knoxville chapter of the Federalist Society. Duggan also serves on the Mr. P Foundation board. Alcoa High School’s lyceum is named in his honor.
Circuit Court Judge of the Tenth Judicial District, State of Tennessee
Judge Andrew Mark Freiberg is a Circuit Court Judge for criminal matters in the Tenth Judicial District in Tennessee, covering the counties of Bradley, McMinn, Monroe, and Polk. He was elected to the court in 2014 and was reelected to office in 2022.
Judge Freiberg received his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2001, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Criminal Justice. He received his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 2004. From 2004-2011, he was a Prosecutor in the District Attorney’s Office, 10th Judicial District, Tennessee, and from 2011-2014, prior to his election, he was a litigation attorney in a local law firm. He has also served part-time as an Adjunct Professor at Tennessee Wesleyan University.
As a judge, he has presided over criminal jurisdiction matters throughout Southeast Tennessee having adjudicated over eleven thousand felony jury trials, motion hearings and pleas involving the criminally accused. He has served with distinction as the presiding Judge for the Tenth Judicial Recovery Court, which is a judicially monitored, intensive out-patient treatment program for non-violent offenders seeking to overcome addiction and mental illness. He also founded a successful Mental Health Court rehabilitation program for the Tenth Judicial District serving the mentally ill convicted of non-violent offenses.
While attending law school at UT, Judge Freiberg met his wife, Crystal Freiberg, with whom he shares two amazing children, Archer and Berkley Freiberg. He is a member of First Lutheran Church in Cleveland, Tennessee where he has served as both President and Vice-President. He is also a member of the Federalist Society, Heritage Foundation, NRA, National Association of Drug Court Professionals, and Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks. He is also an avid sports fan and a fanatic of the Green Bay Packers and the Tennessee Vols.
Circuit Court Judge, State of Tennessee
A West Tennessee native, Judge Jimmy Turner graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Administration. He graduated from Nashville School of Law in 2011. As an attorney, his practice focused on criminal defense, domestic relations and personal injury litigation representing both plaintiffs and defendants. He also served as the City Attorney for Eagleville, Tennessee. In 2021, Judge Turner was appointed by Governor Bill Lee as Circuit Court Judge for the 16th Judicial District. He presides over a criminal docket. Judge Turner and his wife Erin reside in Lascassas, Tennessee with their two sons, Hudson and Harrison.
Justice, Tennessee Supreme Court
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam appointed Mary L. Wagner of Memphis as Circuit Court Judge, Division VII, for the 30th Judicial District on October 24, 2016. Wagner was elected to this judgeship in August 2018.
“With her extensive background in Shelby County, Mary Wagner is well prepared for a seat on the circuit court in the 30th Judicial District,” Haslam said. “We are fortunate to have someone with her experience, and we are pleased to announce this appointment.”
Prior to her appointment Wagner practiced with the Memphis law firm Rice, Amundsen & Caperton PLLC, where she had a general civil litigation practice. While at the firm, she taught at the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis from 2012-2014 as an adjunct professor, teaching second-year law students advanced skills in legal writing and oral advocacy and first-year students legal writing, research and analysis.
Before joining Rice, Amundsen & Caperton, Wagner practiced with a regional insurance defense firm. She served as a law clerk from 2009-2010 for Judge Steven Stafford of the Tennessee Court of Appeals, law clerk for Judge Robert L. Childers in the Shelby County Circuit Court from 2008-2009 and worked as an extern in 2008 with the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Western District of Tennessee. Wagner was a research assistant in 2007 for Prof. Andrew McClurg during law school.
Wagner received her law degree from the University of Memphis in 2009 graduating magna cum laude, 4th in her class. While in law school, Wagner served as a Notes Editor for the University of Memphis Law Review. She received a bachelor’s degree in 2006 from the University of Colorado, majoring in political science.
Throughout her career, Wagner has been active in the legal community. She is a member of the Tennessee, Mississippi and Memphis Bar Associations. She serves on various committees and board for these associations. In 2018, Wagner was elected as a Fellow of the Memphis Bar Foundation. Also, in 2018, Wagner was selected as one of the Twelve Most Outstanding Women, Honoring Women in the Judicial System by the Memphis Inter-Denominational Fellowship Inc. Wagner is also active in the Tennessee Judicial Conference, where she served as Secretary and currently serves on the Tennessee Pattern Jury Instruction Committee and Legislation Committee. Wagner is also a member of the Tennessee Trial Judges Association. In 2019, Wagner received the Chancellor Charles A. Round Memorial Award for Outstanding Judge of the Year from the Young Lawyers’ Division of the Memphis Bar Association.
Judge Wagner has also been appointed by the Tennessee Supreme Court as special judge for the Tennessee Worker’s Compensation Appeals Panel and as a member of a Three-Judge panel in a constitutional case.
Associate Justice, United States Supreme Court
The Honorable Amy Coney Barrett is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Donald Trump and was confirmed on October 27, 2020. She is the fifth woman to serve on the Court.
Justice Barrett earned her J.D., summa cum laude, from Notre Dame, where she was a Kiley Fellow, earned the Hoynes Prize, the Law School’s highest honor, and served as executive editor of the Notre Dame Law Review. She clerked for Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court. As an associate at Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin in Washington, D.C., she litigated constitutional, criminal, and commercial cases in both trial and appellate courts.
In 2002, Justice Barrett joined the faculty of Notre Dame Law School. She continued to teach following her appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in November 2017. Justice Barrett also served by appointment of the Chief Justice on the Advisory Committee for the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure from 2010 to 2016.
Justice Barrett has published widely in the areas of federal courts, constitutional law, and statutory interpretation. Her scholarship in these fields has been published in leading journals, including the Columbia, Virginia, and Texas Law Reviews.
United States District Judge, Middle District of Florida
Judge Berger was raised in Jacksonville, Florida. She received her undergraduate degree from The Florida State University in 1990 and her law degree from The Florida State University College of Law in 1992, where she was a member of Law Review. Judge Berger served as an Assistant State Attorney in the Seventh Judicial Circuit from 1993 – 2000. In January 2001, Judge Berger left the State Attorney’s Office to serve as an Assistant General Counsel to Governor Jeb Bush. Judge Berger served in Governor Bush’s administration from January 2001 until May 2005, when she was appointed by the governor to serve as a Circuit Judge in the Seventh Judicial Circuit. During her service on the circuit court, Judge Berger presided over the civil and probate divisions (2005-2006) and adult felony division (2006-2012) in St. Augustine. She was also the presiding judge of the St. Johns County Adult Drug Court Program (2005-2012).
Judge Berger is currently a member of the St. Johns County Bar Association, the Orange County Bar Association, The Florida Supreme Court Committee on Civil Jury Instructions, the Florida Bar Criminal Procedure Rules Committee, the Florida Bar Appellate Practice Section’s Executive Council, the Dunn Blount Inn of Court, and the Federalist Society. She has prior service on the Florida Bar’s Judicial Administration and Evaluation Committee (2008 – 2013), the Judicial Administration Selection and Tenure Committee (2001-2004), the Florida Supreme Court Subcommittee on Postconviction Relief (2010-2011), the Statewide Diversity Team (2009-2012), and has been a member of both the National Association of Drug Court Professionals and the Florida Association of Drug Court Professionals.
Judge Berger has lectured on a wide range of topics including practicing with professionalism, judicial diversity, the judicial appointment process, effective oral arguments, fundamentals of extradition, capital cases, gender bias in the media, drug court, and drug and alcohol prevention.
Active in her community, Judge Berger served as a member of the St. Johns County Consortium on Substance Abuse as well as the St. Johns County Public Safety Committee. She is a member of the St. Augustine Rotary Club (Paul Harris Fellow) and is a steering committee member of The Marketplace Christian Professional Resources. She volunteers in the schools, has served as a reading mentor, and participates in the PACT Prevention Coalition’s Safe Prom Event. Judge Berger is also an active member of Trinity Episcopal Parish.
Judge Berger and her husband, Larry, live in St. Augustine with their two children.
Judge, The 15th Judicial Circuit of Florida
The Honorable Paige Gillman is a Palm Beach County Court Judge appointed by now Senator Rick Scott in 2018. She currently presides in and is the Administrative Judge for the County Civil Division. Additionally, she serves as the Administrative Judge for the Civil Traffic Division of the Circuit. In June of 2020, Governor Ron Desantis appointed Judge Gillman to the Palm Beach Circuit Court. She will transition to the Circuit bench in January 2021.
Judge Gillman received both her undergraduate and Juris Doctor degrees from the University of Florida. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Gillman served as an Assistant State Attorney in the 19th Judicial Circuit, as a complex commercial and intellectual property litigator with Mracheck Law and finally as Staff Counsel for Allstate, Esurance and Encompass handling a broad range of auto and property matters.
Judge Gillman currently serves on the Florida Bar Small Claims Rules Committee and the Florida Supreme Court Civil Jury Instruction Committee.
General Counsel & Wealth Advisor, Ullmann Wealth Partners
Patrick Kilbane is the General Counsel and a Wealth Advisor for Ullmann Wealth Partners headquartered in Jacksonville Beach, FL. Ullmann Wealth Partners is an independent wealth management firm that manages half a billion dollars of client assets in custody at Fidelity. Before joining Ullmann Wealth Partners, Pat was a Shareholder at Gray Robinson, P.A. where he had a thriving specialty litigation practice. Pat was recognized multiple times by Florida Trend and Super Lawyers Magazine for his skills and professionalism.
Pat serves the Northeast Florida Region in several roles. He’s received five gubernatorial appointments to the Judicial Nominating Commission for Florida’s Fourth Judicial Circuit and the Jacksonville Aviation Authority Board of Directors. His fellow board members elected him Chairman of both boards. Further, Pat is the President of the Jacksonville Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society. In 2014-2015, Pat was elected President of the Young Lawyers Section of the Jacksonville Bar Association.
In 2005, Pat received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Notre Dame. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree, summa cum laude, from Adrian College, where he earned the full-ride, merit-based Dawson Scholarship and was named the Outstanding Graduate by faculty vote for the Class of 2002.
Associate Justice, United States Supreme Court
The Honorable Amy Coney Barrett is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Donald Trump and was confirmed on October 27, 2020. She is the fifth woman to serve on the Court.
Justice Barrett earned her J.D., summa cum laude, from Notre Dame, where she was a Kiley Fellow, earned the Hoynes Prize, the Law School’s highest honor, and served as executive editor of the Notre Dame Law Review. She clerked for Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court. As an associate at Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin in Washington, D.C., she litigated constitutional, criminal, and commercial cases in both trial and appellate courts.
In 2002, Justice Barrett joined the faculty of Notre Dame Law School. She continued to teach following her appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in November 2017. Justice Barrett also served by appointment of the Chief Justice on the Advisory Committee for the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure from 2010 to 2016.
Justice Barrett has published widely in the areas of federal courts, constitutional law, and statutory interpretation. Her scholarship in these fields has been published in leading journals, including the Columbia, Virginia, and Texas Law Reviews.
United States District Judge, Middle District of Florida
Judge Berger was raised in Jacksonville, Florida. She received her undergraduate degree from The Florida State University in 1990 and her law degree from The Florida State University College of Law in 1992, where she was a member of Law Review. Judge Berger served as an Assistant State Attorney in the Seventh Judicial Circuit from 1993 – 2000. In January 2001, Judge Berger left the State Attorney’s Office to serve as an Assistant General Counsel to Governor Jeb Bush. Judge Berger served in Governor Bush’s administration from January 2001 until May 2005, when she was appointed by the governor to serve as a Circuit Judge in the Seventh Judicial Circuit. During her service on the circuit court, Judge Berger presided over the civil and probate divisions (2005-2006) and adult felony division (2006-2012) in St. Augustine. She was also the presiding judge of the St. Johns County Adult Drug Court Program (2005-2012).
Judge Berger is currently a member of the St. Johns County Bar Association, the Orange County Bar Association, The Florida Supreme Court Committee on Civil Jury Instructions, the Florida Bar Criminal Procedure Rules Committee, the Florida Bar Appellate Practice Section’s Executive Council, the Dunn Blount Inn of Court, and the Federalist Society. She has prior service on the Florida Bar’s Judicial Administration and Evaluation Committee (2008 – 2013), the Judicial Administration Selection and Tenure Committee (2001-2004), the Florida Supreme Court Subcommittee on Postconviction Relief (2010-2011), the Statewide Diversity Team (2009-2012), and has been a member of both the National Association of Drug Court Professionals and the Florida Association of Drug Court Professionals.
Judge Berger has lectured on a wide range of topics including practicing with professionalism, judicial diversity, the judicial appointment process, effective oral arguments, fundamentals of extradition, capital cases, gender bias in the media, drug court, and drug and alcohol prevention.
Active in her community, Judge Berger served as a member of the St. Johns County Consortium on Substance Abuse as well as the St. Johns County Public Safety Committee. She is a member of the St. Augustine Rotary Club (Paul Harris Fellow) and is a steering committee member of The Marketplace Christian Professional Resources. She volunteers in the schools, has served as a reading mentor, and participates in the PACT Prevention Coalition’s Safe Prom Event. Judge Berger is also an active member of Trinity Episcopal Parish.
Judge Berger and her husband, Larry, live in St. Augustine with their two children.
Judge, The 15th Judicial Circuit of Florida
The Honorable Paige Gillman is a Palm Beach County Court Judge appointed by now Senator Rick Scott in 2018. She currently presides in and is the Administrative Judge for the County Civil Division. Additionally, she serves as the Administrative Judge for the Civil Traffic Division of the Circuit. In June of 2020, Governor Ron Desantis appointed Judge Gillman to the Palm Beach Circuit Court. She will transition to the Circuit bench in January 2021.
Judge Gillman received both her undergraduate and Juris Doctor degrees from the University of Florida. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Gillman served as an Assistant State Attorney in the 19th Judicial Circuit, as a complex commercial and intellectual property litigator with Mracheck Law and finally as Staff Counsel for Allstate, Esurance and Encompass handling a broad range of auto and property matters.
Judge Gillman currently serves on the Florida Bar Small Claims Rules Committee and the Florida Supreme Court Civil Jury Instruction Committee.
General Counsel & Wealth Advisor, Ullmann Wealth Partners
Patrick Kilbane is the General Counsel and a Wealth Advisor for Ullmann Wealth Partners headquartered in Jacksonville Beach, FL. Ullmann Wealth Partners is an independent wealth management firm that manages half a billion dollars of client assets in custody at Fidelity. Before joining Ullmann Wealth Partners, Pat was a Shareholder at Gray Robinson, P.A. where he had a thriving specialty litigation practice. Pat was recognized multiple times by Florida Trend and Super Lawyers Magazine for his skills and professionalism.
Pat serves the Northeast Florida Region in several roles. He’s received five gubernatorial appointments to the Judicial Nominating Commission for Florida’s Fourth Judicial Circuit and the Jacksonville Aviation Authority Board of Directors. His fellow board members elected him Chairman of both boards. Further, Pat is the President of the Jacksonville Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society. In 2014-2015, Pat was elected President of the Young Lawyers Section of the Jacksonville Bar Association.
In 2005, Pat received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Notre Dame. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree, summa cum laude, from Adrian College, where he earned the full-ride, merit-based Dawson Scholarship and was named the Outstanding Graduate by faculty vote for the Class of 2002.
Associate Justice, United States Supreme Court
The Honorable Amy Coney Barrett is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Donald Trump and was confirmed on October 27, 2020. She is the fifth woman to serve on the Court.
Justice Barrett earned her J.D., summa cum laude, from Notre Dame, where she was a Kiley Fellow, earned the Hoynes Prize, the Law School’s highest honor, and served as executive editor of the Notre Dame Law Review. She clerked for Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court. As an associate at Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin in Washington, D.C., she litigated constitutional, criminal, and commercial cases in both trial and appellate courts.
In 2002, Justice Barrett joined the faculty of Notre Dame Law School. She continued to teach following her appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in November 2017. Justice Barrett also served by appointment of the Chief Justice on the Advisory Committee for the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure from 2010 to 2016.
Justice Barrett has published widely in the areas of federal courts, constitutional law, and statutory interpretation. Her scholarship in these fields has been published in leading journals, including the Columbia, Virginia, and Texas Law Reviews.
United States District Judge, Middle District of Florida
Judge Berger was raised in Jacksonville, Florida. She received her undergraduate degree from The Florida State University in 1990 and her law degree from The Florida State University College of Law in 1992, where she was a member of Law Review. Judge Berger served as an Assistant State Attorney in the Seventh Judicial Circuit from 1993 – 2000. In January 2001, Judge Berger left the State Attorney’s Office to serve as an Assistant General Counsel to Governor Jeb Bush. Judge Berger served in Governor Bush’s administration from January 2001 until May 2005, when she was appointed by the governor to serve as a Circuit Judge in the Seventh Judicial Circuit. During her service on the circuit court, Judge Berger presided over the civil and probate divisions (2005-2006) and adult felony division (2006-2012) in St. Augustine. She was also the presiding judge of the St. Johns County Adult Drug Court Program (2005-2012).
Judge Berger is currently a member of the St. Johns County Bar Association, the Orange County Bar Association, The Florida Supreme Court Committee on Civil Jury Instructions, the Florida Bar Criminal Procedure Rules Committee, the Florida Bar Appellate Practice Section’s Executive Council, the Dunn Blount Inn of Court, and the Federalist Society. She has prior service on the Florida Bar’s Judicial Administration and Evaluation Committee (2008 – 2013), the Judicial Administration Selection and Tenure Committee (2001-2004), the Florida Supreme Court Subcommittee on Postconviction Relief (2010-2011), the Statewide Diversity Team (2009-2012), and has been a member of both the National Association of Drug Court Professionals and the Florida Association of Drug Court Professionals.
Judge Berger has lectured on a wide range of topics including practicing with professionalism, judicial diversity, the judicial appointment process, effective oral arguments, fundamentals of extradition, capital cases, gender bias in the media, drug court, and drug and alcohol prevention.
Active in her community, Judge Berger served as a member of the St. Johns County Consortium on Substance Abuse as well as the St. Johns County Public Safety Committee. She is a member of the St. Augustine Rotary Club (Paul Harris Fellow) and is a steering committee member of The Marketplace Christian Professional Resources. She volunteers in the schools, has served as a reading mentor, and participates in the PACT Prevention Coalition’s Safe Prom Event. Judge Berger is also an active member of Trinity Episcopal Parish.
Judge Berger and her husband, Larry, live in St. Augustine with their two children.
Judge, The 15th Judicial Circuit of Florida
The Honorable Paige Gillman is a Palm Beach County Court Judge appointed by now Senator Rick Scott in 2018. She currently presides in and is the Administrative Judge for the County Civil Division. Additionally, she serves as the Administrative Judge for the Civil Traffic Division of the Circuit. In June of 2020, Governor Ron Desantis appointed Judge Gillman to the Palm Beach Circuit Court. She will transition to the Circuit bench in January 2021.
Judge Gillman received both her undergraduate and Juris Doctor degrees from the University of Florida. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Gillman served as an Assistant State Attorney in the 19th Judicial Circuit, as a complex commercial and intellectual property litigator with Mracheck Law and finally as Staff Counsel for Allstate, Esurance and Encompass handling a broad range of auto and property matters.
Judge Gillman currently serves on the Florida Bar Small Claims Rules Committee and the Florida Supreme Court Civil Jury Instruction Committee.
General Counsel & Wealth Advisor, Ullmann Wealth Partners
Patrick Kilbane is the General Counsel and a Wealth Advisor for Ullmann Wealth Partners headquartered in Jacksonville Beach, FL. Ullmann Wealth Partners is an independent wealth management firm that manages half a billion dollars of client assets in custody at Fidelity. Before joining Ullmann Wealth Partners, Pat was a Shareholder at Gray Robinson, P.A. where he had a thriving specialty litigation practice. Pat was recognized multiple times by Florida Trend and Super Lawyers Magazine for his skills and professionalism.
Pat serves the Northeast Florida Region in several roles. He’s received five gubernatorial appointments to the Judicial Nominating Commission for Florida’s Fourth Judicial Circuit and the Jacksonville Aviation Authority Board of Directors. His fellow board members elected him Chairman of both boards. Further, Pat is the President of the Jacksonville Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society. In 2014-2015, Pat was elected President of the Young Lawyers Section of the Jacksonville Bar Association.
In 2005, Pat received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Notre Dame. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree, summa cum laude, from Adrian College, where he earned the full-ride, merit-based Dawson Scholarship and was named the Outstanding Graduate by faculty vote for the Class of 2002.
Professor of Law, University of Florida Levin College of Law
Professor Willis joined the UF Law Faculty in 1981, having taught previously in the New York University Graduate Tax Program. He teaches tax courses in both the J.D. and the Graduate Tax Programs plus Family Law Economics and Accounting and Finance for Lawyers. In the fall of 2013, Professor Willis took a sabbatical from teaching in order to lend his expertise in tax law to Hobby Lobby Stores in its religious liberty fight against the PPACA. To this end, he authored the lead article in volume 65 of the South Carolina Law Review titled: Corporations, Taxes, and Religion: The Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Contraceptive Cases. He is also the lead author for the amicus curiae brief on behalf of Freedom X in support of Hobby Lobby and Conestoga.
Professor Willis is licensed to practice law in Florida, a member of the Louisiana Bar, and a CPA (inactive) in Louisiana. He is a faculty advisor for numerous student groups such as the Christian Legal Society and the Law College Republicans. He has also honorably served as the faculty advisor for the student chapter of the UF Federalist Society since its inception.
Judge, Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal
In April 2023, Judge Jordan E. Pratt was commissioned as a member of the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal following his appointment by Governor Ron DeSantis.
Before joining the court, Judge Pratt worked as senior counsel at First Liberty Institute and served in various roles in state and federal government: as senior counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice, deputy general counsel in the U.S. Small Business Administration, and deputy solicitor general in the Florida Office of the Attorney General. As a deputy solicitor general, he defended significant Florida legislation and executive actions at every level of the state and federal court systems, with successful arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, the Florida Supreme Court, and Florida’s First District Court of Appeal.
Judge Pratt graduated as a co-valedictorian of his undergraduate class at the University of Florida. He then received his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Florida College of Law, where he was a law review editor and president of the school’s Federalist Society and Christian Legal Society chapters. During law school, he interned for the Hon. Jeffrey S. Sutton on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
After his graduation from law school, Judge Pratt served as a law clerk to the Hon. Harvey E. Schlesinger on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Jacksonville Division. He then clerked for the Hon. Jennifer W. Elrod on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Judge Pratt has held several fellowships, including an Olin–Searle Fellowship at Florida State University’s College of Law, and has published scholarship in the Tennessee Law Review, the Nebraska Law Review, and the Mississippi Law Journal. He is a member of the Federalist Society for Law & Public Policy Studies, and he has held several leadership roles in the organization, including service as president of its Tallahassee Lawyers Chapter from 2016 to 2019.
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.
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 1: Matter of First Impression: The Constitution on the Front Lines
2026 Tennessee Chapters Conference
Nashville, TNWe’re All Textualists Now? Implementing a Sound Interpretive Approach on the Trial Court and Beyond
Amy Coney Barrett, Wendy Berger, Paige Kilbane, Patrick J. Kilbane
The Federalist Society's Jacksonville Lawyers Chapter held a virtual panel on August 12, 2020 to...
We’re All Textualists Now? Implementing a Sound Interpretive Approach on the Trial Court and Beyond
Amy Coney Barrett, Wendy Berger, Paige Kilbane, Patrick J. Kilbane
The Federalist Society's Jacksonville Lawyers Chapter held a virtual panel on August 12, 2020 to...
We’re All Textualists Now? Implementing a Sound Interpretive Approach on the Trial Court and Beyond
Jacksonville Lawyers Chapter - Online Event
Florida Supreme Court Upholds Legislature’s Changes to State Pension System
Christine Kimberly Pratt
On January 17, 2013, in Scott v. Williams, 2013 FL 520 (Fla. 2013), the Florida...
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Vacates Trial Court's Denial of a Minor's Application to Obtain an Abortion
Steven J. Willis, Jordan E. Pratt
On December 22, 2011, in a case of first impression,1 the Pennsylvania Supreme Court vacated...
Montoy v. Kansas: An Update
Megan L. Brown
A recent issue of State Court Docket Watch profiled an education finance case pending in...
Litigation over State Education Financing in Kansas
Megan L. Brown
“The history of education since the Industrial Revolution shows a continual struggle between two forces:...