Senior Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation
Brian Hodges is a Senior Attorney at PLF’s Pacific Northwest office in Bellevue, Washington. Brian focuses his practice on defending of the right of individuals to make reasonable use of their property, free of unnecessary and oppressive regulations.
In 2013, Brian second-chaired Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District before the U.S. Supreme Court, a case that placed constitutional limits on the government’s common practice of demanding that landowners fund unrelated public projects in exchange for a permit approval. And in the 2008 case, Citizens’ Alliance for Property Rights v. Sims, Brian successfully challenged a Seattle-area ordinance that required all rural property owners to dedicate at least half their land as conservation areas as a mandatory condition of any new development without any showing that rural development would impact the environment.
Brian graduated from Seattle University of Law in 2001 with honors. After which, he served as a judicial clerk at the Washington State Court of Appeals, then entered private practice where he focused on appellate advocacy for several years before joining PLF in 2006.
Brian came to the liberty movement by an uncommon route: the arts. Brian played guitar and keyboards in several Seattle-area bands before eventually studying music composition and literature at the University of Washington—earning two Bachelor’s Degrees and a Master of Arts. Through that experience, he came to firmly believe that the goal of art—indeed, the goal of any creative ambition—is to maximize individual freedom and expression, tempered by personal responsibility and ownership, rather than outside oversight or arbitrary restriction. Carrying that philosophy into law school naturally led him to fight for individual rights.
Senior Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation
Chris Kieser practices in PLF’s property rights and equality before the law practice groups.
His property rights clients include Cedar Point Nursery, which challenged a California regulation requiring them to allow union organizers to invade their private property, as well as Randall and Kimberley Pavlock, who are fighting back against Indiana’s beachfront land grab along Lake Michigan.
Under equality before the law, Chris represents coalitions of Asian-American parents challenging discriminatory admissions policies for selective K-12 schools in New York City; Montgomery County, Maryland; and Fairfax County, Virginia. He also represents a parent organization in Connecticut challenging a racial quota that prevents many Black and Hispanic students from enrolling at the state’s magnet schools.
Chris has published law review articles in the William & Mary Environmental Law Review and the Federalist Society Review. His op-eds have appeared in the New York Daily News, National Review, The Blaze, the Daily Journal, and SCOTUSblog.
Chris clerked for the Honorable Daniel A. Manion of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the Honorable Thomas D. Schroeder of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. He holds a B.A., cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame, and graduated magna cum laude from Notre Dame Law School in 2013. At Notre Dame, he was an articles editor of the Notre Dame Law Review.
Growing up on Long Island, Chris developed a deep passion for limited government and individual liberty, arguing with his more numerous progressive classmates. This experience made him deeply skeptical that government tinkering at the expense of individual rights ever works, whether it be denying a property owner the use of his land or a student a seat at her desired school because of her race. He chose PLF because it is the national leader in litigation that furthers individual liberty.
When he’s not working, you’re likely to find Chris rooting for the Mets and Fighting Irish or debating some arcane point of law (because apparently that doesn’t happen enough at work).
Chris is currently licensed to practice in California and admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Courts of Appeal for the Second, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits, and the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Central Districts of California, the Northern District of Indiana, and the Northern District of Illinois.
Emeritus Dean and Professor of Law, Lewis & Clark Law School
Professor Huffman joined the law school faculty in 1973, was appointed Acting Dean in 1993 and Dean in 1994, and returned to full time teaching in 2006. Born in Fort Benton, Montana, Jim graduated from Montana State University, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and the University of Chicago Law School. He has been a visiting professor at Auckland University in New Zealand, the University of Oregon, the University of Athens in Greece and Universidad Francisco Marroquin in Guatemala. He was also a fellow at the Humane Studies Institute and a Distinguished Bradley Scholar at the Heritage Foundation. Jim serves on the boards of the National Crime Victims Law Institute, the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment, the Classroom Law Project, and the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation. He is a member and former Chair of the Executive Committee of the Environment and Property Rights Practice Group of the Federalist Society. He is a member of the Montana Bar Association and is admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the United States Supreme Court. He is the author of more than 100 articles and chapters on a wide array of legal topics.
Partner, Arnold & Porter
John Elwood is the head of Arnold & Porter’s Appellate and Supreme Court practice. He has argued before the Supreme Court nine times, and appeared before most of the federal courts of appeals. He has successfully argued cases across a broad cross-section of subjects, with particular experience in environmental law, the False Claims Act, government contracting, and federal criminal law
Mr. Elwood’s work has earned him recognition as one of Washington’s top Supreme Court lawyers (Washingtonian, 2013), as one of “a small group of lawyers” with an “outsized influence at the U.S. Supreme Court” (Reuters, 2014), and as one of the country’s most innovative lawyers (Financial Times, 2014). Chambers USA reports that “[t]he much-admired John Elwood is praised for his advocacy skills” (2013), and describes Mr. Elwood as “phenomenal” (2014), “incredibly talented” (2012), and “a much-loved and widely respected lawyer who is quick on his feet” (2010).
Before joining the firm, Mr. Elwood served in senior-level positions in the U.S. Department of Justice. Beginning as an Assistant to the Solicitor General, and continuing with the firm, he has briefed more than 20 merits cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, and has briefed approximately 135 cases at the certiorari stage. As the senior Deputy in the Office of Legal Counsel, he advised the White House and federal agencies on a range of constitutional, statutory, and regulatory issues.
Executive Director, Ohio Dental Association
David J. Owsiany is the executive director of the Ohio Dental Association and a past president of the Columbus Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society.
He has served as CEO of a statewide health care association, president of the Buckeye Institute, chief of policy for the Ohio Department of Insurance, judicial law clerk for the Illinois Appellate Court, and staffer on the United State Senate Judiciary Committee.
Mr. Owsiany has written dozens of articles on legal and public policy issues for various publications, including the University of Toledo Law Review, the Federalist Society's State Court Docket Watch, Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Crain’s Cleveland Business, and Akron Beacon Journal.
Owsiany received his J.D. from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis and B.A. from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Assistant Professor of Law, Emory University School of Law
Alexander "Sasha" Volokh is an assistant professor of law, joining the Emory Law faculty in Fall 2009.
Professor Volokh earned his B.S. from UCLA and his J.D. and Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University. He clerked for Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit and for Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Samuel Alito. Before coming to Emory, he was a visiting associate professor at Georgetown University Law Center and a visiting assistant professor at University of Houston Law Center.
His interests include law and economics, administrative law and the regulatory process, environmental law and policy, and legal history. His current research topics include the private management of government services, medieval law, judicial decisionmaking and statutory interpretation.
Senior Attorney, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
Mr. Byrnes is a senior attorney at the United States Commission on Civil Rights and has served as an attorney to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights in the Department of Education.
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, UpStream Healthcare
William S.W. Chang is the Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary at UpStream Healthcare, having previously served in senior roles at McKesson Corporation and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
At McKesson, Chang was Vice President of Regulatory Policy and Chief Legal Counsel. He led cross-functional teams that focused on enterprise priorities in key regulatory spaces. Chang advised the wide spectrum of McKesson’s businesses, including U.S. pharmaceutical distribution, medical-supply distribution, specialty and independent-community pharmacy, physician-practice management, prescription-technology services, medication access-and-adherence programs, and electronic health records.
At HHS, Chang served as Deputy General Counsel for public health, litigation, and investigations. Chang was one of the lead attorneys supporting Operation Warp Speed, working with public and private partners to build nationwide distribution and administration solutions for COVID-19 vaccines. Chang worked closely with the Deputy Secretary, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the HHS Office of the Inspector General, and the U.S. Department of Justice to reform the Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law in order to facilitate value-based care.
At the Department of Justice, Chang led healthcare-fraud investigations of public and private companies and individuals, and his cases spanned several districts and involved multiple state and federal agencies as well as parallel civil proceedings.
Chang has been repeatedly recognized for his contributions to healthcare. In 2022, he was the National Winner of the American Pharmacists Association Friend of Pharmacy Immunization Champion Award. The award recognized Chang for his extraordinary contributions toward fully enfranchising the pharmacy workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic. For his public-health service, including during the pandemic, Chang received the Assistant Secretary for Health Exceptional Service Medal. The Medal is the highest decoration awarded to a civilian by the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. For his service at the Department of Justice, Chang received numerous accolades. Among those accolades, he twice received the Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service; the HHS Inspector General’s Award for Excellence in Fighting Fraud, Waste, and Abuse; and the Commendation for Demonstrated Excellence from the FBI Director.
Lecturer in Economics, Stanford Graduate School of Business
I spent more than 14 years in economic policy roles advising senior elected officials, including for a time as the senior White House economic advisor to President George W. Bush. As Deputy Director and then Director of the White House National Economic Council, I coordinated economic policy design and implementation for the President.
The last thirteen months of my time in the White House were by far the most intense, helping advise President Bush on his Administration’s response to the financial crisis.
In addition to that work, here are some of the major Presidential policies that I helped design, enact, and implement:
Before working for President Bush I was an aide to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS). I helped him enact economic legislation (and block other legislation) including the 1997 Balanced Budget Act and President Bush’s 2001 tax cut. I came to Senator Lott’s staff from the Senate Budget Committee staff, where I spent two years as a health and retirement economist working for the Chairman, Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM).
I’ve got a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School and a B.A.S. in Math and Political Science from Stanford.
Chief Legal Officer & EVP Strategy and Corporate Affairs, Purdue Pharma L.P.
Marc Kesselman was appointed General Counsel of Purdue Pharma L.P. in July 2018, with responsibility for Purdue’s legal strategy, corporate governance, compliance, and government affairs. He has since been promoted to Chief Legal Officer and EVP Strategy & Corporate Affairs with added oversight of strategy, business development, human resources, security, and communications. Marc joined Purdue Pharma after the company came under intense scrutiny and is helping to engineer a corporate turnaround. Under Marc's leadership, Purdue has secured initial approval of its plan to emerge as a public-minded company dedicated to abating the opioid crisis, responsibly manufacturing and distributing opioid analgesics, and advancing a robust pipeline of non-opioid medicines with the promise of addressing serious medical conditions.
Prior to joining Purdue Pharma, Marc worked for YUM! Brands, Inc. where he served as Chief Legal Officer, Corporate Secretary & Chief Public Policy Officer. In that role, he oversaw all aspects of legal, compliance, regulatory, government affairs, and sustainability agendas for one of the world’s largest restaurant companies, with more than 45,000 restaurants in 135 countries and territories. Marc joined Yum! from Dean Foods where he held a similar role. Previously, he was Senior Vice President & General Counsel at PepsiCo America’s Foods where he oversaw a wide variety of complex commercial, transactional, litigation, regulatory, and government affairs issues relating to PepsiCo's food businesses in North and South America.
From 2006 through 2008, Marc served as General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), where he advised the Secretary of Agriculture and directed all legal activity for the Department. For the previous three years, he served as Deputy General Counsel in the White House Office of Management and Budget, where he handled a variety of regulatory, budgetary and legal policy matters. Marc also worked at the U.S. Department of Justice as Senior Counsel in the Office of Legal Policy and as a Trial Attorney in its Civil Division. His work there earned him the John Marshall Award, the Attorney General’s highest recognition for trial of litigation.
Marc currently serves on the Board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Litigation Center, and the Penn Law Alumni Board of Managers. He has previously served as a Public Member of the Administrative Conference of the United States, on the Board of the Dallas Symphony, on the Campaign Cabinet of the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, and as Chair of the DC Bar Administrative Law Section. He has been named as one of the most influential General Counsel in America by Chambers & Partners, and twice named to the D CEO list of the most influential business leaders in Dallas. In 2023, Marc was named a "Legend in the Law" by the Burton Awards in association with the American Bar Association and the Library of Congress.
Marc holds a JD with honors from the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.A. in Government magna cum laude from Cornell University.
Solicitor General, Attorney General of Texas
William Peterson was appointed by Attorney General Paxton as Solicitor General. Before joining the Office of the Attorney General, Mr. Peterson was a partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. He previous served as a law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court of the United States and Judge Edith Jones of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Mr. Peterson received a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law and an undergraduate degree in Engineering and Applied Sciences from the California Institute of Technology.
Partner, Arnold & Porter
John Elwood is the head of Arnold & Porter’s Appellate and Supreme Court practice. He has argued before the Supreme Court nine times, and appeared before most of the federal courts of appeals. He has successfully argued cases across a broad cross-section of subjects, with particular experience in environmental law, the False Claims Act, government contracting, and federal criminal law
Mr. Elwood’s work has earned him recognition as one of Washington’s top Supreme Court lawyers (Washingtonian, 2013), as one of “a small group of lawyers” with an “outsized influence at the U.S. Supreme Court” (Reuters, 2014), and as one of the country’s most innovative lawyers (Financial Times, 2014). Chambers USA reports that “[t]he much-admired John Elwood is praised for his advocacy skills” (2013), and describes Mr. Elwood as “phenomenal” (2014), “incredibly talented” (2012), and “a much-loved and widely respected lawyer who is quick on his feet” (2010).
Before joining the firm, Mr. Elwood served in senior-level positions in the U.S. Department of Justice. Beginning as an Assistant to the Solicitor General, and continuing with the firm, he has briefed more than 20 merits cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, and has briefed approximately 135 cases at the certiorari stage. As the senior Deputy in the Office of Legal Counsel, he advised the White House and federal agencies on a range of constitutional, statutory, and regulatory issues.
Manhattan Contrarian Award For The Most Transparent Self-Promotion By A Government Agency
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2015 Texas Chapters Conference
Dallas, TXEnvironmental Regulation and Natural Resource Management
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Note from the Editor: The Federalist Society is pleased to present two different perspectives on the North...
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The American Bar Association's Annual Meeting will be taking place from August 7-12 in New...