Professor of Law, Stanford Law School
Orin S. Kerr is a Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, where he teaches and writes in the areas of criminal procedure and computer crime law. Kerr earned mechanical engineering degrees from Princeton University and Stanford University before graduating with a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a former law clerk to Justice Anthony M. Kennedy at the United States Supreme Court and Judge Leonard I. Garth of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
President and Executive Director, Electronic Privacy Information Center
Marc Rotenberg is President and Executive Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) in Washington, DC. He teaches information privacy law at Georgetown University Law Center and frequently testifies before Congress on emerging privacy and civil liberties issues. He testified before the 9-11 Commission on "Security and Liberty: Protecting Privacy, Preventing Terrorism." He has served on several national and international advisory panels, including the expert panels on Cryptography Policy and Computer Security for the OECD, the Legal Experts on Cyberspace Law for UNESCO, and the Countering Spam program of the ITU. He chairs the ABA Committee on Privacy and Information Protection. He is a founding board member and former Chair of the Public Interest Registry, which manages the .ORG domain. He is editor of "The Privacy Law Sourcebook," and co-editor of "Information Privacy Law" (Aspen Publishing 2006) and "Litigation Under the Federal Open Government Laws" (EPIC 2010). He is a graduate of Harvard College and Stanford Law School. He served as Counsel to Senator Patrick J. Leahy on the Senate Judiciary Committee after graduation from law school. He is the recipient of several awards, including the World Technology Award in Law, the American Lawyer Award for Top Lawyers Under 45, the Norbert Weiner Award for Social and Professional Responsibility, and the Vicennial medal from Georgetown University.
Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel, Ryan LLC
John Smith is the Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel at Ryan, LLC. Based at Ryan’s global headquarters in Dallas, Texas, John Smith brings more than 20 years of experience as a proven leader in the legal, business, and national security communities, including all three branches of the United States Government.
Prior to joining Ryan, Mr. Smith spent 12 years in Texas and Virginia at Raytheon Technologies, an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation. He pioneered roles as the company’s first cybersecurity lawyer and first privacy lawyer. During the last seven years, as a divisional Vice President and General Counsel, Mr. Smith led the legal departments of the two Raytheon divisions focused primarily on services.
Before Raytheon, Mr. Smith served as Associate Counsel to U.S. President George W. Bush. He was the lead lawyer for the White House Homeland Security Council staff. He began his legal career by clerking for Judge Samuel Alito, a few years before Alito’s elevation to the U.S. Supreme Court, and then by practicing at the international law firm of Covington & Burling.
Mr. Smith served a decade as a U.S. Army reservist and two years as a missionary in Ukraine and Russia, a few years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He graduated with high honors from both Princeton University and Brigham Young University Law School.
Partner, Steptoe & Johnson LLP
Michael A. Vatis is a partner in the New York office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP. His practice focuses on Internet, e-commerce, and technology matters, providing legal advice and strategic counsel on matters involving privacy, security, encryption, intelligence, law enforcement, Internet gambling, and international regulation of Internet content. He also is an experienced appellate litigator, representing clients before the US Supreme Court and federal courts of appeals.
Mr. Vatis has spent most of his career addressing cutting edge issues at the intersection of law, policy, and technology. He was the founding director of the National Infrastructure Protection Center at the FBI, the first government organization responsible for detecting, warning of, and responding to cyber attacks, including computer crimes, cyber terrorism, cyber espionage, and information warfare. Before that, Mr. Vatis served as Associate Deputy Attorney General and Deputy Director of the Executive Office for National Security in the Department of Justice, where he advised the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General and coordinated the Department’s activities involving counterterrorism, intelligence, encryption, and cyber crime. In that capacity, he also helped lead the development of the nation’s first policies regarding critical infrastructure protection. Mr. Vatis served as Special Counsel at the Department of Defense, where he handled sensitive legal and policy issues for the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense and the General Counsel, receiving the Secretary of Defense Award for Excellence.
After leaving the government in 2001, Mr. Vatis served as the first Director of the Institute for Security Technology Studies at Dartmouth, a federally funded counterterrorism and cyber security research institute. He was simultaneously the founding Chairman of the Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection (I3P). I3P, a consortium of leading cyber security research organizations, worked with industry, government, and academia to develop a comprehensive research and development agenda to improve the security of the nation’s computer and communications networks. Mr. Vatis also served as the Executive Director of the Markle Task Force on National Security in the Information Age, a highly influential group of technology company executives, former government officials, and civil libertarians that recommended ways the government could more effectively use information and technology to combat terrorism while preserving civil liberties. Mr. Vatis was the principal author of the group’s second report, whose recommendations were adopted by the 9/11 Commission and included in the 2004 Intelligence Reform Act.
Mr. Vatis has been a Senior Fellow at New York University Law School’s Center on Law and Security and a member of numerous expert working groups on counterterrorism, intelligence, and technology issues. He is currently a member of the National Academy of Science/National Research Council Committee on the Policy Consequences and Legal/Ethical Implications of Offensive Information Warfare and served on the Commission on Cyber Security for the 44th Presidency, an independent group of cyber security experts who examined existing and potential cyber security threats and developed recommendations for the US government and private businesses. Mr. Vatis has also regularly testified before congressional committees on counterterrorism, intelligence, and cyber security issues. He is also interviewed frequently on television, radio, and in print media, and has been a guest lecturer at many prestigious law schools and universities and a speaker at industry conferences worldwide.
Fellow, National Security Institute, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
Vince Vitkowsky chaired the Executive Committee of the Federalist Society’s International and National Security Law and Policy Practice Group for over a decade. He is also a Fellow at the National Security Institute of George Mason University Law School. Vince spent 45 years in private practice, primarily in AmLaw 100/200 firms and their spin-offs. His practice included domestic and international commercial arbitration and litigation, as well as cyber risks and liabilities. Vince's current focus is on national security policy, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and counterterrorism. He has often written and spoken on national security and other public policy issues. Among other affiliations, Vince has been an Adjunct Fellow at the Center for Law and Counterterrorism of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a member of the Executive Committee of the American Branch of the International Law Association, and Co-Chair of the Committee on Interventions and Trial Observations of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute. He received his B.A. from Northwestern University and his J.D. from Cornell Law School.
Professor of Law, Stanford Law School
Orin S. Kerr is a Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, where he teaches and writes in the areas of criminal procedure and computer crime law. Kerr earned mechanical engineering degrees from Princeton University and Stanford University before graduating with a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a former law clerk to Justice Anthony M. Kennedy at the United States Supreme Court and Judge Leonard I. Garth of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
President and Executive Director, Electronic Privacy Information Center
Marc Rotenberg is President and Executive Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) in Washington, DC. He teaches information privacy law at Georgetown University Law Center and frequently testifies before Congress on emerging privacy and civil liberties issues. He testified before the 9-11 Commission on "Security and Liberty: Protecting Privacy, Preventing Terrorism." He has served on several national and international advisory panels, including the expert panels on Cryptography Policy and Computer Security for the OECD, the Legal Experts on Cyberspace Law for UNESCO, and the Countering Spam program of the ITU. He chairs the ABA Committee on Privacy and Information Protection. He is a founding board member and former Chair of the Public Interest Registry, which manages the .ORG domain. He is editor of "The Privacy Law Sourcebook," and co-editor of "Information Privacy Law" (Aspen Publishing 2006) and "Litigation Under the Federal Open Government Laws" (EPIC 2010). He is a graduate of Harvard College and Stanford Law School. He served as Counsel to Senator Patrick J. Leahy on the Senate Judiciary Committee after graduation from law school. He is the recipient of several awards, including the World Technology Award in Law, the American Lawyer Award for Top Lawyers Under 45, the Norbert Weiner Award for Social and Professional Responsibility, and the Vicennial medal from Georgetown University.
Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel, Ryan LLC
John Smith is the Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel at Ryan, LLC. Based at Ryan’s global headquarters in Dallas, Texas, John Smith brings more than 20 years of experience as a proven leader in the legal, business, and national security communities, including all three branches of the United States Government.
Prior to joining Ryan, Mr. Smith spent 12 years in Texas and Virginia at Raytheon Technologies, an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation. He pioneered roles as the company’s first cybersecurity lawyer and first privacy lawyer. During the last seven years, as a divisional Vice President and General Counsel, Mr. Smith led the legal departments of the two Raytheon divisions focused primarily on services.
Before Raytheon, Mr. Smith served as Associate Counsel to U.S. President George W. Bush. He was the lead lawyer for the White House Homeland Security Council staff. He began his legal career by clerking for Judge Samuel Alito, a few years before Alito’s elevation to the U.S. Supreme Court, and then by practicing at the international law firm of Covington & Burling.
Mr. Smith served a decade as a U.S. Army reservist and two years as a missionary in Ukraine and Russia, a few years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He graduated with high honors from both Princeton University and Brigham Young University Law School.
Partner, Steptoe & Johnson LLP
Michael A. Vatis is a partner in the New York office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP. His practice focuses on Internet, e-commerce, and technology matters, providing legal advice and strategic counsel on matters involving privacy, security, encryption, intelligence, law enforcement, Internet gambling, and international regulation of Internet content. He also is an experienced appellate litigator, representing clients before the US Supreme Court and federal courts of appeals.
Mr. Vatis has spent most of his career addressing cutting edge issues at the intersection of law, policy, and technology. He was the founding director of the National Infrastructure Protection Center at the FBI, the first government organization responsible for detecting, warning of, and responding to cyber attacks, including computer crimes, cyber terrorism, cyber espionage, and information warfare. Before that, Mr. Vatis served as Associate Deputy Attorney General and Deputy Director of the Executive Office for National Security in the Department of Justice, where he advised the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General and coordinated the Department’s activities involving counterterrorism, intelligence, encryption, and cyber crime. In that capacity, he also helped lead the development of the nation’s first policies regarding critical infrastructure protection. Mr. Vatis served as Special Counsel at the Department of Defense, where he handled sensitive legal and policy issues for the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense and the General Counsel, receiving the Secretary of Defense Award for Excellence.
After leaving the government in 2001, Mr. Vatis served as the first Director of the Institute for Security Technology Studies at Dartmouth, a federally funded counterterrorism and cyber security research institute. He was simultaneously the founding Chairman of the Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection (I3P). I3P, a consortium of leading cyber security research organizations, worked with industry, government, and academia to develop a comprehensive research and development agenda to improve the security of the nation’s computer and communications networks. Mr. Vatis also served as the Executive Director of the Markle Task Force on National Security in the Information Age, a highly influential group of technology company executives, former government officials, and civil libertarians that recommended ways the government could more effectively use information and technology to combat terrorism while preserving civil liberties. Mr. Vatis was the principal author of the group’s second report, whose recommendations were adopted by the 9/11 Commission and included in the 2004 Intelligence Reform Act.
Mr. Vatis has been a Senior Fellow at New York University Law School’s Center on Law and Security and a member of numerous expert working groups on counterterrorism, intelligence, and technology issues. He is currently a member of the National Academy of Science/National Research Council Committee on the Policy Consequences and Legal/Ethical Implications of Offensive Information Warfare and served on the Commission on Cyber Security for the 44th Presidency, an independent group of cyber security experts who examined existing and potential cyber security threats and developed recommendations for the US government and private businesses. Mr. Vatis has also regularly testified before congressional committees on counterterrorism, intelligence, and cyber security issues. He is also interviewed frequently on television, radio, and in print media, and has been a guest lecturer at many prestigious law schools and universities and a speaker at industry conferences worldwide.
Fellow, National Security Institute, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
Vince Vitkowsky chaired the Executive Committee of the Federalist Society’s International and National Security Law and Policy Practice Group for over a decade. He is also a Fellow at the National Security Institute of George Mason University Law School. Vince spent 45 years in private practice, primarily in AmLaw 100/200 firms and their spin-offs. His practice included domestic and international commercial arbitration and litigation, as well as cyber risks and liabilities. Vince's current focus is on national security policy, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and counterterrorism. He has often written and spoken on national security and other public policy issues. Among other affiliations, Vince has been an Adjunct Fellow at the Center for Law and Counterterrorism of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a member of the Executive Committee of the American Branch of the International Law Association, and Co-Chair of the Committee on Interventions and Trial Observations of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute. He received his B.A. from Northwestern University and his J.D. from Cornell Law School.
Principal, DeGroot Legal
Mr. DeGroot represents businesses in complex litigation, focusing on licensing, insurance, intellectual property, contract disputes, and toxic torts. He has experience in cases involving fraud, breach of contract, unfair competition, patents, business torts, mergers and acquisitions, creditors’ rights, and bankruptcy. He has extensive experience in all aspects of civil litigation, both in federal and state courts, including prejudgment remedies, discovery, trial, appeals, arbitration and mediation.
Mr. DeGroot works with clients in a variety of industries, including financial institutions, insurance, software, construction, semiconductors, and real estate.
Senior Judge, United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
Circuit Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 1986. After receiving his B.S. from Cornell University in 1970, and his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 1973, he clerked on the D.C. Circuit and for Justice Thurgood Marshall on the United States Supreme Court. Thereafter, Judge Ginsburg was a professor at the Harvard Law School, the Deputy Assistant and then Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, as well as the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget. Concurrent with his service as a federal judge, Judge Ginsburg has taught at the University of Chicago Law School and the New York University School of Law. Judge Ginsburg is currently a Professor of Law at the George Mason University and a visiting professor at University College London, Faculty of Laws.
Judge Ginsburg is the Chairman of the International Advisory Board of the Global Antitrust Institute at the Law and Economics Center of the George Mason University School of Law. He also serves on the Advisory Boards of: Competition Policy International; the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy; the Journal of Competition Law and Economics; the Journal of Law, Economics & Policy; the Supreme Court Economic Review; the University of Chicago Law Review; the New York University Journal of Law and Liberty; and, at University College London, both the Centre for Law, Economics and Society and the Jevons Institute for Competition Law and Economics.
In 2020, Judge Ginsburg was the 11th recipient of the John Sherman Award, presented by the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice in recognition of the awardee’s Lifetime Contributions to Antitrust Law and Policy.
In 2014, Judge Ginsburg received the Lifetime Achievement Award given annually by the Global Competition Review.
He is the author or co-author of several books and more than 100 articles on competition and regulation, including, most recently, Growing Convergence: The Limited Role of Antitrust in Standard Essential Patent Disputes, in CPI Antitrust Chronicle, Summer 2021, Vol. 1, No. 2.
Clinical Co-Director and Senior Fellow, Berkman Center for Inter, Harvard Law School
Phil Malone is a Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and the Director of the Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic at the Berkman Center. Phil joined the Center in September, 2004 as a co-director of the Clinical Program; in the years since, he and his clinical colleagues have built the Clinic into one of the leading entities of its kind in the country.
Phil came to the Berkman Center after a little over 20 years as a federal prosecutor with theAntitrust Divisionof the U.S. Department of Justice, where he directed numerous civil and criminal investigations and prosecutions. Most of his DOJ experience over the past 10 years focused on high-technology industries, the Internet and computer software and hardware. Beginning in 1996 Phil was lead counsel in the DOJ's investigations of Microsoft, and he was the primary career counsel, along with outside counsel David Boies, in the trial ofU.S. v. Microsoft Corp.(D.D.C). Before leaving the Justice Department he was one of the lead lawyers in the government's antitrust case against Oracle Corp. Phil first became involved with the Berkman Center during the 2001-2003 academic years when he was the Victor H. Kramer Fellow at HLS. His research then focused on legal approaches to encouraging and preserving innovation in high-tech industries, evolving competition policy in the computer industry, and the use of technology in discovery and litigation.
Phil graduated long ago fromHarvard Collegeand the University of Arizona College of Law. When he is not at the Berkman Center he can often be found around Harvard'sQuincy House, where he and his wife Luci are resident tutors and kids Celia and Zulie are resident entertainment.
Partner, Rule Garza Howley LLP
Rick began his career in the 1980s in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, becoming the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Division from 1986-89 – the youngest person ever to be confirmed by the Senate to that position. Over the last 30+ years since leaving the Division, Rick has led the antitrust practices at several leading D.C. and New York firms including Covington & Burling and Paul, Weiss.
During his time in private practice, Rick has represented major multi-national companies and executives in virtually every industry – from, among others, agricultural and animal health (Monsanto, Elanco) to energy (ExxonMobil) to defense contractors (Northrop Grumman, United Technologies) to professional sports (NFL, NBA, MLB) to technology platforms (Microsoft, Nuance) to pharmaceutical manufacturers (Eli Lilly, Pfizer) to health insurers (Cigna). (For a complete list of industry experience, click here.)
Rick has represented his clients before the Antitrust Division, the Federal Trade Commission, State Attorneys General and major foreign antitrust regulators in connection with many of the most notable merger investigations, including Exxon’s merger with Mobil, US Airways’ merger with American Airlines, and Cigna’s acquisition of Express Scripts. At the same time, Rick has represented clients in some of most prominent government investigations of the last quarter century, including leading the team that settled the Government’s monopolization case against Microsoft and defending international companies and executives in major antitrust criminal investigations.
For four decades, Rick has been at the forefront of antitrust law and is uniquely capable of advising clients on the antitrust regulatory environment affecting the way they do business globally. As agencies and rules have evolved, he has helped clients to understand the dynamic legal framework, to assess the legal risk and rewards associated with a range of competitive strategies, and to work with government bodies to take advantage of, and ensure appropriate compliance with, the regulations governing the clients’ chosen strategy.
Principal, DeGroot Legal
Mr. DeGroot represents businesses in complex litigation, focusing on licensing, insurance, intellectual property, contract disputes, and toxic torts. He has experience in cases involving fraud, breach of contract, unfair competition, patents, business torts, mergers and acquisitions, creditors’ rights, and bankruptcy. He has extensive experience in all aspects of civil litigation, both in federal and state courts, including prejudgment remedies, discovery, trial, appeals, arbitration and mediation.
Mr. DeGroot works with clients in a variety of industries, including financial institutions, insurance, software, construction, semiconductors, and real estate.
Senior Judge, United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
Circuit Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 1986. After receiving his B.S. from Cornell University in 1970, and his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 1973, he clerked on the D.C. Circuit and for Justice Thurgood Marshall on the United States Supreme Court. Thereafter, Judge Ginsburg was a professor at the Harvard Law School, the Deputy Assistant and then Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, as well as the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget. Concurrent with his service as a federal judge, Judge Ginsburg has taught at the University of Chicago Law School and the New York University School of Law. Judge Ginsburg is currently a Professor of Law at the George Mason University and a visiting professor at University College London, Faculty of Laws.
Judge Ginsburg is the Chairman of the International Advisory Board of the Global Antitrust Institute at the Law and Economics Center of the George Mason University School of Law. He also serves on the Advisory Boards of: Competition Policy International; the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy; the Journal of Competition Law and Economics; the Journal of Law, Economics & Policy; the Supreme Court Economic Review; the University of Chicago Law Review; the New York University Journal of Law and Liberty; and, at University College London, both the Centre for Law, Economics and Society and the Jevons Institute for Competition Law and Economics.
In 2020, Judge Ginsburg was the 11th recipient of the John Sherman Award, presented by the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice in recognition of the awardee’s Lifetime Contributions to Antitrust Law and Policy.
In 2014, Judge Ginsburg received the Lifetime Achievement Award given annually by the Global Competition Review.
He is the author or co-author of several books and more than 100 articles on competition and regulation, including, most recently, Growing Convergence: The Limited Role of Antitrust in Standard Essential Patent Disputes, in CPI Antitrust Chronicle, Summer 2021, Vol. 1, No. 2.
Clinical Co-Director and Senior Fellow, Berkman Center for Inter, Harvard Law School
Phil Malone is a Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and the Director of the Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic at the Berkman Center. Phil joined the Center in September, 2004 as a co-director of the Clinical Program; in the years since, he and his clinical colleagues have built the Clinic into one of the leading entities of its kind in the country.
Phil came to the Berkman Center after a little over 20 years as a federal prosecutor with theAntitrust Divisionof the U.S. Department of Justice, where he directed numerous civil and criminal investigations and prosecutions. Most of his DOJ experience over the past 10 years focused on high-technology industries, the Internet and computer software and hardware. Beginning in 1996 Phil was lead counsel in the DOJ's investigations of Microsoft, and he was the primary career counsel, along with outside counsel David Boies, in the trial ofU.S. v. Microsoft Corp.(D.D.C). Before leaving the Justice Department he was one of the lead lawyers in the government's antitrust case against Oracle Corp. Phil first became involved with the Berkman Center during the 2001-2003 academic years when he was the Victor H. Kramer Fellow at HLS. His research then focused on legal approaches to encouraging and preserving innovation in high-tech industries, evolving competition policy in the computer industry, and the use of technology in discovery and litigation.
Phil graduated long ago fromHarvard Collegeand the University of Arizona College of Law. When he is not at the Berkman Center he can often be found around Harvard'sQuincy House, where he and his wife Luci are resident tutors and kids Celia and Zulie are resident entertainment.
Partner, Rule Garza Howley LLP
Rick began his career in the 1980s in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, becoming the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Division from 1986-89 – the youngest person ever to be confirmed by the Senate to that position. Over the last 30+ years since leaving the Division, Rick has led the antitrust practices at several leading D.C. and New York firms including Covington & Burling and Paul, Weiss.
During his time in private practice, Rick has represented major multi-national companies and executives in virtually every industry – from, among others, agricultural and animal health (Monsanto, Elanco) to energy (ExxonMobil) to defense contractors (Northrop Grumman, United Technologies) to professional sports (NFL, NBA, MLB) to technology platforms (Microsoft, Nuance) to pharmaceutical manufacturers (Eli Lilly, Pfizer) to health insurers (Cigna). (For a complete list of industry experience, click here.)
Rick has represented his clients before the Antitrust Division, the Federal Trade Commission, State Attorneys General and major foreign antitrust regulators in connection with many of the most notable merger investigations, including Exxon’s merger with Mobil, US Airways’ merger with American Airlines, and Cigna’s acquisition of Express Scripts. At the same time, Rick has represented clients in some of most prominent government investigations of the last quarter century, including leading the team that settled the Government’s monopolization case against Microsoft and defending international companies and executives in major antitrust criminal investigations.
For four decades, Rick has been at the forefront of antitrust law and is uniquely capable of advising clients on the antitrust regulatory environment affecting the way they do business globally. As agencies and rules have evolved, he has helped clients to understand the dynamic legal framework, to assess the legal risk and rewards associated with a range of competitive strategies, and to work with government bodies to take advantage of, and ensure appropriate compliance with, the regulations governing the clients’ chosen strategy.
Senior Fellow, National Review
Bestselling author Andrew C. McCarthy is a contributing editor at National Review, a senior fellow at National Review Institute, and a Fox News contributor. He is a former Chief Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York and led the terrorism prosecution against the “Blind Sheikh” (Omar Abdel Rahman) and eleven other jihadists for conducting a war of urban terrorism against the United States that included the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and a plot to bomb New York City landmarks. During is 20-year career as a prosecutor, he received numerous honors, including the Justice Department’s highest awards. Andy speaks and writes widely on law and national security, radical Islam, politics, and culture. He has testified before Congress as an expert on issues of constitutional law, counterterrorism, and law-enforcement. He is a columnist for The Hill, and his essays and book reviews appear frequently at The New Criterion. His most recent New York Times bestselling book is Ball of Collusion (Encounter Books, 2019), about the Russiagate controversy (an updated version was published in 2020). His other books include Willful Blindness (2008), The Grand Jihad (2010), Spring Fever: The Illusion of Islamic Democracy (2012), and Faithless Execution (2014). He has also written several pamphlets in the Broadside series published by Encounter Books, most recently Islam and Free Speech (2015).
Former United States Attorney General
Michael B. Mukasey is the former Attorney General of the United States, the nation’s chief law enforcement officer. As Attorney General from November 2007 to January 2009, he oversaw the U.S. Department of Justice and advised on critical issues of domestic and international law.
From 1988 to 2006, Judge Mukasey served as a district judge in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, becoming Chief Judge in 2000.
From 1972 to 1976, Judge Mukasey served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and as Chief of the Official Corruption Unit from 1975 to 1976. His practice consisted of criminal litigation on behalf of the government, including investigation and prosecution of narcotics, bank robbery, interstate theft, securities fraud, fraud on the government and bribery. From 1976 to 1987 and from 2006 to 2007 he was in private practice.
Judge Mukasey has received numerous honors, including the Federal Bar Council’s Learned Hand Medal for Excellence in Federal Jurisprudence. He served as Chairman of the Committee on Public Access to Information and Proceedings of the New York Bar Association from 1984 to 1987. He served on the Federal Courts Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York from 1979 to 1982 and its Communications Law Committee from 1983 to 1986. Judge Mukasey was also a part-time lecturer at Columbia School of Law from January 1993 to May 2007, teaching trial advocacy.
He received his LL.B. from Yale Law School in 1967 and his B.A. from Columbia College in 1963.
Professor of Law, Stanford Law School
Orin S. Kerr is a Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, where he teaches and writes in the areas of criminal procedure and computer crime law. Kerr earned mechanical engineering degrees from Princeton University and Stanford University before graduating with a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a former law clerk to Justice Anthony M. Kennedy at the United States Supreme Court and Judge Leonard I. Garth of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
President and Executive Director, Electronic Privacy Information Center
Marc Rotenberg is President and Executive Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) in Washington, DC. He teaches information privacy law at Georgetown University Law Center and frequently testifies before Congress on emerging privacy and civil liberties issues. He testified before the 9-11 Commission on "Security and Liberty: Protecting Privacy, Preventing Terrorism." He has served on several national and international advisory panels, including the expert panels on Cryptography Policy and Computer Security for the OECD, the Legal Experts on Cyberspace Law for UNESCO, and the Countering Spam program of the ITU. He chairs the ABA Committee on Privacy and Information Protection. He is a founding board member and former Chair of the Public Interest Registry, which manages the .ORG domain. He is editor of "The Privacy Law Sourcebook," and co-editor of "Information Privacy Law" (Aspen Publishing 2006) and "Litigation Under the Federal Open Government Laws" (EPIC 2010). He is a graduate of Harvard College and Stanford Law School. He served as Counsel to Senator Patrick J. Leahy on the Senate Judiciary Committee after graduation from law school. He is the recipient of several awards, including the World Technology Award in Law, the American Lawyer Award for Top Lawyers Under 45, the Norbert Weiner Award for Social and Professional Responsibility, and the Vicennial medal from Georgetown University.
Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel, Ryan LLC
John Smith is the Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel at Ryan, LLC. Based at Ryan’s global headquarters in Dallas, Texas, John Smith brings more than 20 years of experience as a proven leader in the legal, business, and national security communities, including all three branches of the United States Government.
Prior to joining Ryan, Mr. Smith spent 12 years in Texas and Virginia at Raytheon Technologies, an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation. He pioneered roles as the company’s first cybersecurity lawyer and first privacy lawyer. During the last seven years, as a divisional Vice President and General Counsel, Mr. Smith led the legal departments of the two Raytheon divisions focused primarily on services.
Before Raytheon, Mr. Smith served as Associate Counsel to U.S. President George W. Bush. He was the lead lawyer for the White House Homeland Security Council staff. He began his legal career by clerking for Judge Samuel Alito, a few years before Alito’s elevation to the U.S. Supreme Court, and then by practicing at the international law firm of Covington & Burling.
Mr. Smith served a decade as a U.S. Army reservist and two years as a missionary in Ukraine and Russia, a few years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He graduated with high honors from both Princeton University and Brigham Young University Law School.
Partner, Steptoe & Johnson LLP
Michael A. Vatis is a partner in the New York office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP. His practice focuses on Internet, e-commerce, and technology matters, providing legal advice and strategic counsel on matters involving privacy, security, encryption, intelligence, law enforcement, Internet gambling, and international regulation of Internet content. He also is an experienced appellate litigator, representing clients before the US Supreme Court and federal courts of appeals.
Mr. Vatis has spent most of his career addressing cutting edge issues at the intersection of law, policy, and technology. He was the founding director of the National Infrastructure Protection Center at the FBI, the first government organization responsible for detecting, warning of, and responding to cyber attacks, including computer crimes, cyber terrorism, cyber espionage, and information warfare. Before that, Mr. Vatis served as Associate Deputy Attorney General and Deputy Director of the Executive Office for National Security in the Department of Justice, where he advised the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General and coordinated the Department’s activities involving counterterrorism, intelligence, encryption, and cyber crime. In that capacity, he also helped lead the development of the nation’s first policies regarding critical infrastructure protection. Mr. Vatis served as Special Counsel at the Department of Defense, where he handled sensitive legal and policy issues for the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense and the General Counsel, receiving the Secretary of Defense Award for Excellence.
After leaving the government in 2001, Mr. Vatis served as the first Director of the Institute for Security Technology Studies at Dartmouth, a federally funded counterterrorism and cyber security research institute. He was simultaneously the founding Chairman of the Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection (I3P). I3P, a consortium of leading cyber security research organizations, worked with industry, government, and academia to develop a comprehensive research and development agenda to improve the security of the nation’s computer and communications networks. Mr. Vatis also served as the Executive Director of the Markle Task Force on National Security in the Information Age, a highly influential group of technology company executives, former government officials, and civil libertarians that recommended ways the government could more effectively use information and technology to combat terrorism while preserving civil liberties. Mr. Vatis was the principal author of the group’s second report, whose recommendations were adopted by the 9/11 Commission and included in the 2004 Intelligence Reform Act.
Mr. Vatis has been a Senior Fellow at New York University Law School’s Center on Law and Security and a member of numerous expert working groups on counterterrorism, intelligence, and technology issues. He is currently a member of the National Academy of Science/National Research Council Committee on the Policy Consequences and Legal/Ethical Implications of Offensive Information Warfare and served on the Commission on Cyber Security for the 44th Presidency, an independent group of cyber security experts who examined existing and potential cyber security threats and developed recommendations for the US government and private businesses. Mr. Vatis has also regularly testified before congressional committees on counterterrorism, intelligence, and cyber security issues. He is also interviewed frequently on television, radio, and in print media, and has been a guest lecturer at many prestigious law schools and universities and a speaker at industry conferences worldwide.
Fellow, National Security Institute, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
Vince Vitkowsky chaired the Executive Committee of the Federalist Society’s International and National Security Law and Policy Practice Group for over a decade. He is also a Fellow at the National Security Institute of George Mason University Law School. Vince spent 45 years in private practice, primarily in AmLaw 100/200 firms and their spin-offs. His practice included domestic and international commercial arbitration and litigation, as well as cyber risks and liabilities. Vince's current focus is on national security policy, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and counterterrorism. He has often written and spoken on national security and other public policy issues. Among other affiliations, Vince has been an Adjunct Fellow at the Center for Law and Counterterrorism of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a member of the Executive Committee of the American Branch of the International Law Association, and Co-Chair of the Committee on Interventions and Trial Observations of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute. He received his B.A. from Northwestern University and his J.D. from Cornell Law School.
Principal, DeGroot Legal
Mr. DeGroot represents businesses in complex litigation, focusing on licensing, insurance, intellectual property, contract disputes, and toxic torts. He has experience in cases involving fraud, breach of contract, unfair competition, patents, business torts, mergers and acquisitions, creditors’ rights, and bankruptcy. He has extensive experience in all aspects of civil litigation, both in federal and state courts, including prejudgment remedies, discovery, trial, appeals, arbitration and mediation.
Mr. DeGroot works with clients in a variety of industries, including financial institutions, insurance, software, construction, semiconductors, and real estate.
Senior Judge, United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
Circuit Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 1986. After receiving his B.S. from Cornell University in 1970, and his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 1973, he clerked on the D.C. Circuit and for Justice Thurgood Marshall on the United States Supreme Court. Thereafter, Judge Ginsburg was a professor at the Harvard Law School, the Deputy Assistant and then Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, as well as the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget. Concurrent with his service as a federal judge, Judge Ginsburg has taught at the University of Chicago Law School and the New York University School of Law. Judge Ginsburg is currently a Professor of Law at the George Mason University and a visiting professor at University College London, Faculty of Laws.
Judge Ginsburg is the Chairman of the International Advisory Board of the Global Antitrust Institute at the Law and Economics Center of the George Mason University School of Law. He also serves on the Advisory Boards of: Competition Policy International; the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy; the Journal of Competition Law and Economics; the Journal of Law, Economics & Policy; the Supreme Court Economic Review; the University of Chicago Law Review; the New York University Journal of Law and Liberty; and, at University College London, both the Centre for Law, Economics and Society and the Jevons Institute for Competition Law and Economics.
In 2020, Judge Ginsburg was the 11th recipient of the John Sherman Award, presented by the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice in recognition of the awardee’s Lifetime Contributions to Antitrust Law and Policy.
In 2014, Judge Ginsburg received the Lifetime Achievement Award given annually by the Global Competition Review.
He is the author or co-author of several books and more than 100 articles on competition and regulation, including, most recently, Growing Convergence: The Limited Role of Antitrust in Standard Essential Patent Disputes, in CPI Antitrust Chronicle, Summer 2021, Vol. 1, No. 2.
Clinical Co-Director and Senior Fellow, Berkman Center for Inter, Harvard Law School
Phil Malone is a Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and the Director of the Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic at the Berkman Center. Phil joined the Center in September, 2004 as a co-director of the Clinical Program; in the years since, he and his clinical colleagues have built the Clinic into one of the leading entities of its kind in the country.
Phil came to the Berkman Center after a little over 20 years as a federal prosecutor with theAntitrust Divisionof the U.S. Department of Justice, where he directed numerous civil and criminal investigations and prosecutions. Most of his DOJ experience over the past 10 years focused on high-technology industries, the Internet and computer software and hardware. Beginning in 1996 Phil was lead counsel in the DOJ's investigations of Microsoft, and he was the primary career counsel, along with outside counsel David Boies, in the trial ofU.S. v. Microsoft Corp.(D.D.C). Before leaving the Justice Department he was one of the lead lawyers in the government's antitrust case against Oracle Corp. Phil first became involved with the Berkman Center during the 2001-2003 academic years when he was the Victor H. Kramer Fellow at HLS. His research then focused on legal approaches to encouraging and preserving innovation in high-tech industries, evolving competition policy in the computer industry, and the use of technology in discovery and litigation.
Phil graduated long ago fromHarvard Collegeand the University of Arizona College of Law. When he is not at the Berkman Center he can often be found around Harvard'sQuincy House, where he and his wife Luci are resident tutors and kids Celia and Zulie are resident entertainment.
Partner, Rule Garza Howley LLP
Rick began his career in the 1980s in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, becoming the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Division from 1986-89 – the youngest person ever to be confirmed by the Senate to that position. Over the last 30+ years since leaving the Division, Rick has led the antitrust practices at several leading D.C. and New York firms including Covington & Burling and Paul, Weiss.
During his time in private practice, Rick has represented major multi-national companies and executives in virtually every industry – from, among others, agricultural and animal health (Monsanto, Elanco) to energy (ExxonMobil) to defense contractors (Northrop Grumman, United Technologies) to professional sports (NFL, NBA, MLB) to technology platforms (Microsoft, Nuance) to pharmaceutical manufacturers (Eli Lilly, Pfizer) to health insurers (Cigna). (For a complete list of industry experience, click here.)
Rick has represented his clients before the Antitrust Division, the Federal Trade Commission, State Attorneys General and major foreign antitrust regulators in connection with many of the most notable merger investigations, including Exxon’s merger with Mobil, US Airways’ merger with American Airlines, and Cigna’s acquisition of Express Scripts. At the same time, Rick has represented clients in some of most prominent government investigations of the last quarter century, including leading the team that settled the Government’s monopolization case against Microsoft and defending international companies and executives in major antitrust criminal investigations.
For four decades, Rick has been at the forefront of antitrust law and is uniquely capable of advising clients on the antitrust regulatory environment affecting the way they do business globally. As agencies and rules have evolved, he has helped clients to understand the dynamic legal framework, to assess the legal risk and rewards associated with a range of competitive strategies, and to work with government bodies to take advantage of, and ensure appropriate compliance with, the regulations governing the clients’ chosen strategy.
President and General Counsel, Public Interest Legal Foundation
J. Christian Adams is the President and General Counsel of the Public Interest Legal Foundation. He served from 2005 to 2010 in the Voting Section at the United States Department of Justice Voting Section. President Trump appointed Adams to the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. President Trump also appointed Adams as a Commissioner to the United States Commission on Civil Rights where he also now serves with a term through 2025. He has been involved in election law lawsuits in 33 states and the territory of Guam. He has represented multiple presidential campaigns in election litigation. He has a law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law. He is a member of the South Carolina and Virginia Bars.
Associate Editor, Washington Times and Senitor Editor, The American Spectator
Senior Fellow, National Review
Bestselling author Andrew C. McCarthy is a contributing editor at National Review, a senior fellow at National Review Institute, and a Fox News contributor. He is a former Chief Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York and led the terrorism prosecution against the “Blind Sheikh” (Omar Abdel Rahman) and eleven other jihadists for conducting a war of urban terrorism against the United States that included the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and a plot to bomb New York City landmarks. During is 20-year career as a prosecutor, he received numerous honors, including the Justice Department’s highest awards. Andy speaks and writes widely on law and national security, radical Islam, politics, and culture. He has testified before Congress as an expert on issues of constitutional law, counterterrorism, and law-enforcement. He is a columnist for The Hill, and his essays and book reviews appear frequently at The New Criterion. His most recent New York Times bestselling book is Ball of Collusion (Encounter Books, 2019), about the Russiagate controversy (an updated version was published in 2020). His other books include Willful Blindness (2008), The Grand Jihad (2010), Spring Fever: The Illusion of Islamic Democracy (2012), and Faithless Execution (2014). He has also written several pamphlets in the Broadside series published by Encounter Books, most recently Islam and Free Speech (2015).
Panel Two: Economic Security
Orin S. Kerr, Marc Rotenberg, John Smith, Michael Vatis, Vincent Vitkowsky
Both President Bush and President Obama directed comprehensive reviews of America's cyber security strategy. The...
Panel Two: Economic Security
Orin S. Kerr, Marc Rotenberg, John Smith, Michael Vatis, Vincent Vitkowsky
Both President Bush and President Obama directed comprehensive reviews of America's cyber security strategy. The...
Panel Two: Economic Security
Cyber Security, National Security and Economic Security
Washington, DCU.S. v. Microsoft, 10 Years Later: Who Won, Who Lost, and Did It Matter?
David DeGroot, Douglas H. Ginsburg, Phil Malone, Charles "Rick" Rule
Ten years ago, Microsoft dominated the personal computer market with its ever-expanding operating system. Today,...
U.S. v. Microsoft, 10 Years Later: Who Won, Who Lost, and Did It Matter?
David DeGroot, Douglas H. Ginsburg, Phil Malone, Charles "Rick" Rule
Ten years ago, Microsoft dominated the personal computer market with its ever-expanding operating system. Today,...
U.S. v. Microsoft, 10 Years Later: Who Won, Who Lost, and Did It Matter?
San Francisco Lawyers Chapter
San Francisco, CA2011 James Madison Award Presentation - Prepared Remarks
Andrew McCarthy, Michael B. Mukasey
On April 25, 2011, the New York City Lawyers Chapter hosted its 25th Anniversary Dinner...
The Justice Department and the New Black Panthers Voting Rights Controversy
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