Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
On December 23, 2020, Katherine A. Crytzer was sworn in as a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee following confirmation by the United States Senate. Judge Crytzer sits in Knoxville, Tennessee. Prior to her confirmation, Judge Crytzer served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy in Washington, D.C., where she provided legal and policy advice to the Assistant Attorney General and Department of Justice Leadership. Before joining the Department of Justice’s Main Office, Judge Crytzer served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky. In advance of entering public service, Judge Crytzer was a litigator at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. She began her legal career as a law clerk to The Honorable Raymond W. Gruender on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Judge Crytzer earned her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia School of Law and her Bachelor of Science, summa cum laude, from Middle Tennessee State University.
Professor of Law, Belmont University College of Law
Don Cochran teaches Evidence, Trial Advocacy and Criminal Law courses. Prior to joining Belmont’s faculty, he served as the Presidentially appointed, Senate confirmed United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee from September 2017 to February 2021. Prior to becoming U.S. Attorney, he was a law professor at Belmont University College of Law and the Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama where he taught courses in criminal procedure, evidence, criminal law, and trial advocacy. From 1998 to 2002 Professor Cochran was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Alabama. During that time, Professor Cochran prosecuted criminal cases involving white collar crimes, public corruption, and violent crimes, including successful prosecution of the final defendant charged with the historic 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama that killed four girls. Professor Cochran began his prosecutorial career in the District Attorney’s Office in Birmingham where he prosecuted homicides, sexual assaults, and other violent crimes. Professor Cochran clerked for Judge Julie E. Carnes of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt Law School.
Professor Cochran teaches Evidence Law, Trial Advocacy, and Criminal Law at Belmont Law.
Associate Deputy Attorney General, United States Department of Justice
Steve Cook currently serves as Associate Deputy Attorney General in the United States Department of Justice. In March of 2017, he was appointed to serve as the Deputy Attorney General’s point person on the Task Force for Crime Reduction and Public Safety—a task force created at the direction of the President to develop a nationwide strategy to reduce crime. He now serves as the Director of Law Enforcement Affairs for the U.S. Department of Justice. Prior to his current appointment, he served as the chief of the Criminal Division in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee where he had been an Assistant United States Attorney for 30 years. During those 30 years, he worked in the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force; the General Crimes Section handling white-collar crime, fraud, and public corruption; and was the deputy criminal chief in the Narcotics and Violent Crime Section. In those positions, he received dozens of awards and letters of commendation including the Directors Award for Superior Performance in connection with his work prosecuting violent gang members. He is also the immediate past president of the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys.
Prior to coming to the United States Attorney’s Office, Mr. Cook clerked for a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and before that worked as a deputy sheriff and then as a police officer for seven years in Knoxville, Tennessee. Mr. Cook earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Tennessee in 1984, with high honors, and was a member of the Tennessee Law Review.
Mr. Cook was chosen as one of The Politico’s 50 in 2017 for his work on national criminal justice issues. He has testified multiple times before Congress in connection with proposed criminal justice legislation including bills involving the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and sentencing reform. He has appeared as a guest on numerous radio and television programs with regional and national audiences (including the O’Reilly Factor and Sean Hannity Show) and has appeared as a frequent panelist on forums and discussion panels (including programs hosted by the Washington Post, Atlantic Magazine, and Hastings Law Journal).
Finally, Mr. Cook has served as a speaker or instructor at hundreds of events across the country ranging from events with international audiences to local police training.
Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
On December 23, 2020, Katherine A. Crytzer was sworn in as a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee following confirmation by the United States Senate. Judge Crytzer sits in Knoxville, Tennessee. Prior to her confirmation, Judge Crytzer served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy in Washington, D.C., where she provided legal and policy advice to the Assistant Attorney General and Department of Justice Leadership. Before joining the Department of Justice’s Main Office, Judge Crytzer served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky. In advance of entering public service, Judge Crytzer was a litigator at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. She began her legal career as a law clerk to The Honorable Raymond W. Gruender on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Judge Crytzer earned her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia School of Law and her Bachelor of Science, summa cum laude, from Middle Tennessee State University.
Attorney General of Tennessee
Jonathan Skrmetti was sworn in to an eight-year term as Tennessee’s Attorney General and Reporter on September 1, 2022.
Prior to his current role, General Skrmetti served as Chief Counsel to Governor Bill Lee and as Chief Deputy Attorney General to his predecessor, Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery.
Before working for the State of Tennessee, General Skrmetti was a partner at Butler Snow LLP in Memphis. His legal career began with nearly a decade as a federal prosecutor. He worked at the Civil Rights Division at Main Justice and then at the Memphis U.S. Attorney’s Office and prosecuted sex traffickers, corrupt government officials, and violent white supremacists. In addition, General Skrmetti taught cyberlaw as an adjunct professor at the University of Memphis.
General Skrmetti earned honors degrees from George Washington University, the University of Oxford, and Harvard Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy. Following law school, Jonathan clerked for Judge Steven Colloton on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He lives in Franklin, Tennessee, with his wife and four children.
Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
On December 23, 2020, Katherine A. Crytzer was sworn in as a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee following confirmation by the United States Senate. Judge Crytzer sits in Knoxville, Tennessee. Prior to her confirmation, Judge Crytzer served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy in Washington, D.C., where she provided legal and policy advice to the Assistant Attorney General and Department of Justice Leadership. Before joining the Department of Justice’s Main Office, Judge Crytzer served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky. In advance of entering public service, Judge Crytzer was a litigator at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. She began her legal career as a law clerk to The Honorable Raymond W. Gruender on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Judge Crytzer earned her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia School of Law and her Bachelor of Science, summa cum laude, from Middle Tennessee State University.
Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
On December 23, 2020, Katherine A. Crytzer was sworn in as a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee following confirmation by the United States Senate. Judge Crytzer sits in Knoxville, Tennessee. Prior to her confirmation, Judge Crytzer served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy in Washington, D.C., where she provided legal and policy advice to the Assistant Attorney General and Department of Justice Leadership. Before joining the Department of Justice’s Main Office, Judge Crytzer served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky. In advance of entering public service, Judge Crytzer was a litigator at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. She began her legal career as a law clerk to The Honorable Raymond W. Gruender on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Judge Crytzer earned her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia School of Law and her Bachelor of Science, summa cum laude, from Middle Tennessee State University.
Supervising Senior Attorney, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)
Conor Fitzpatrick comes to FIRE by way of Detroit, Michigan, where he was a principal at Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone. Conor has extensive litigation experience at the state and federal level. He has first-chaired multiple jury trials and briefed and argued several eight-figure cases on appeal.
Conor also comes to FIRE with a track record of supporting civil liberties and the First Amendment. Before joining FIRE, he taught First Amendment law as an adjunct professor at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. He has extensive experience litigating First Amendment cases pro bono on behalf of the incarcerated: His First Amendment work for inmates includes trying a First Amendment free exercise case to a federal jury, which resulted in a six-figure, mid-trial settlement following his cross examination of the key defendant. In another case, Conor secured a published decision from the Sixth Circuit denying qualified immunity to five prison employees, cementing his client’s First Amendment right to peacefully criticize government employees. Conor’s work on these and other cases earned him the 2018 Richard J. Seryak Award for Pro Bono Service.
When not thinking about the First Amendment, Conor enjoys reading, running, and eating sushi. He also avidly supports Detroit’s sports teams, but he rarely enjoys it.
Senior Counsel, Director of Center for Academic Freedom, Alliance Defending Freedom
Tyson Langhofer serves as senior counsel and director of the Center for Academic Freedom with Alliance Defending Freedom.
Langhofer represents students and faculty at public high schools and colleges in defending their First Amendment rights. For example, in Denton v. Hecht, he successfully defended a Florida State University student after he was removed as Student Senate President simply for sharing his Catholic views in a private group chat. In Cross v. Loudoun County Public Schools, he successfully defended an elementary school gym teacher after the school suspended him for peacefully sharing his views on a proposed policy at a public school board meeting.
Langhofer has extensive experience in civil litigation and constitutional law. Before joining ADF, Langhofer was a partner with Stinson LLP, where he worked as a commercial litigation attorney from 2000 until he joined ADF in 2015.
Langhofer is Peer Review Rated AV® Preeminent in Martindale-Hubbell. He is a sought-after speaker on legal and cultural issues. He regularly comments on free speech issues in television, radio, and print media. He has appeared as a guest and written pieces for numerous major media outlets, including The Washington Post, The Washington Times, USA Today, Townhall, The Federalist, and The Daily Wire.
Langhofer earned his Juris Doctor from Regent University School of Law in 1999, graduating cum laude. Langhofer is admitted to practice in multiple states, the Supreme Court, and numerous federal district and appellate courts.
Vice President for Legal Strategy, Stand Together
Casey Mattox is Vice President for Legal Strategy at Stand Together and Senior Advisor at
Americans for Prosperity. In these roles he advocates for and creates strategies and
partnerships to ensure a constitutionally limited government that protects the civil liberties of all
Americans. Prior to joining Stand Together and AFP Casey’s legal career focused on defending
the First Amendment rights of students, faculty, healthcare workers and religious organizations.
Casey has a J.D. from Boston College School of Law and an undergraduate degree from the
University of Virginia. You can find him on Twitter at @CaseyMattox_ and on LinkedIn at
@Casey-Mattox-ST.
Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation
Caleb Trotter is an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, where he litigates on behalf of individuals and small businesses fighting for their constitutional rights to free speech, economic liberty, and equal protection under the law.
Caleb’s practice at PLF is primarily focused on free speech rights that allow people to pursue the profession of their choice in the manner they see fit. He successfully represented Peggy Fontenot in a challenge to an Oklahoma law that prevented her from truthfully marketing her art as American Indian-made.
Caleb also has taken the lead in fighting for students to participate in school athletics free from oppressive sex-based quotas. He has successfully represented Dmitri Moua, Zachary Greenwald, and Freddie Linden in challenging rules in Minnesota and South Dakota that prohibited them from participating on high school competitive dance teams.
Prior to PLF, Caleb clerked for the Institute for Justice and externed for the public defender’s office in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Before starting his legal career, he worked in real estate, banking, and investments.
Upon witnessing government screw-ups at every level following Hurricane Katrina, and due to absorbing the laissez-faire culture of New Orleans over many years, Caleb came to see the importance of individualism to human flourishing. He was inspired to dedicate his career to advancing liberty through the law after reading story after story in Reason magazine of organizations like PLF fighting to protect individual rights.
Caleb attended law school at Loyola University New Orleans, where he graduated cum laude and served as a member of the Loyola Law Review and moot court program. He also earned a BSM in finance and legal studies in business at Tulane University. He lives in Sacramento with his wife, Ashlee, and cat, Frank. Caleb loves traveling—he’s been to all 50 states—following his beloved Texas Rangers, photography, and Mardi Gras. If you’re ever in PLF’s Sacramento office, be sure to check out his bobblehead collection.
Chair, Stephen Hopkins Center for Civil Rights
Attorney Giovanni D. Cicione is a business attorney with over 25 years of corporate and legal management experience. Since 2019, he has served as general counsel for North American Crane and Rigging, LLC, a regional crane, rigging and heavy hauling business which he helped expand from a New England footprint to a respected east coast regional presence. He previously practiced as a corporate attorney at prominent Rhode Island law firms including Cameron & Mittleman, LLP and Adler Pollock & Sheehan PC, and in his own private practice where he specialized in government affairs, legislative review and drafting, and permitting. Attorney Cicione also served as lead counsel at the RI Economic Development Corporation, where he focused on contract structuring and negotiation, corporate financing and commercial transactions, corporate compliance, brownfields redevelopment, business development and intergovernmental relations.
Attorney Cicione is a founder and current chairman of the Stephen Hopkins Center for Civil Rights, a public interest litigation firm whose mission is to represent citizens, regardless of means, to enforce their constitutional rights to free speech, property and economic liberty. For over a decade the Hopkins Center, under Attorney Cicione’s leadership and direction, has quietly and diligently pursued cases consistent with its mission, resulting in significant awards for its clients and real change in unconstitutional government practices throughout the state.
A 1988 graduate of Cranston High School East, Attorney Cicione graduated from George Mason University and received his law degree from Boston University School of Law. He is a member of the RI Bar, Massachusetts Bar, and the Federal District Court of RI.
In addition to Attorney Cicione’s professional accomplishments, he has served numerous community organizations including roles as senior policy and legal advisor to the RI Center for Freedom and Prosperity, advocate and deputy grand knight to Bishop Hickey Council of Knights of Columbus, and trustee to the RI Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. He has also been very involved with Boy Scouts of America and has served as scoutmaster to Barrington Boy Scout Troop 46, as well as committee chair, treasurer and cubmaster to Nayatt Cub Scout Pack 1.
Clinical Professor of Law, Cornell Law School
William A. Jacobson is a Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Securities Law Clinic.
He is a 1981 graduate of Hamilton College and a 1984 graduate of Harvard Law School. At Harvard he was Senior Editor of the Harvard International Law Journal and Director of Litigation for the Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project.
Prior to joining the Cornell law faculty in 2007, Professor Jacobson had a highly successful civil litigation and arbitration practice in Providence, Rhode Island, concentrating in investment, employment, and business disputes in the securities industry, including many high profile cases reported in leading newspapers and magazines.
Professor Jacobson has argued cases in numerous federal and state courts, including the Courts of Appeal for the First, Fifth and Sixth Circuits, and the Rhode Island Supreme Court.
Professor Jacobson has a national reputation as a leading practitioner in securities arbitration. He was Treasurer, and is a former member of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association, a professional organization of attorneys dedicated to protecting public investors. He frequently is quoted in national media on issues related to investment fraud and investor protection, and in the past has served as one of a small number of private practice attorneys who trained new arbitrators for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
Professor Jacobson is co-author of the Securities Arbitration Desk Reference (Thomson-Reuters), updated annually.
Professor Jacobson also is the founder and publisher of Legal Insurrection, a popular politics and law website. He is frequently quoted in the media on political and legal topics, has authored many Op-Eds in major publications, and appears on television and radio to discuss politics and the law.
Staff Attorney, Women Against Abuse Inc.
Nicole Levitt is a family law attorney who represents domestic violence victims in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is an active member of the Philadelphia Jewish community and is a founding volunteer of the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values.
Principal, Sharon Fast Gustafson, Attorney at Law, PLC
SHARON FAST GUSTAFSON is the immediate past General Counsel of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), where she enforced Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
Ms. Gustafson graduated with honors from Georgetown Law Center in 1991 and has concentrated her practice in employment law. She worked for four years in the labor and employment law group at Jones, Day in Washington, D.C. Since that time, she has had a broad-based solo practice advising and representing employers and employees in handling all aspects of the employment relationship, in compliance with federal and state workplace laws, and in designing and implementing sound employment policies and practices.
Ms. Gustafson is an experienced litigator in federal and state courts; before administrative agencies, including the EEOC, state and local civil rights offices, and the Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division; and in mediation and arbitration. She is admitted to practice in state and federal courts in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, and in the United States Supreme Court.
Ms. Gustafson successfully litigated a pregnancy discrimination case, Young v. UPS, 575 U.S. 206 (2015), from EEOC intake to a successful outcome at the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2016, she received the Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association’s “Lawyer of the Year” award “in recognition of outstanding dedication to Civil Rights, Equality, and Justice.”
Ms. Gustafson represents both employers and employees in matters relating to employment law.
Of Counsel, Fusion Law, PLLC
Sarah Rafie Pineau has extensive experience in navigating complex employment disputes in a variety of industries. Her practice focuses on all facets of employment law, with an emphasis on wrongful termination, retaliation, and discrimination claims including race, age, disability, and sex discrimination. Sarah also has experience counseling clients on compliance with various state and federal employment statutes.
Sarah previously served as a law clerk to Judge Kathryn H. Vratil of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas, and as an associate at a large law firm.
Sarah received her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where she served on the Executive Board for the Federalist Society and the Law Christian Fellowship. Sarah also received the Bracewell LLP Appellate Advocacy Award for outstanding oral advocacy and was a member of the Journal of Law and Politics.
Prior to law school, Sarah interned for Judge Jennifer W. Elrod of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Sarah graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude with a degree in Political Science from Baylor University.
Partner, Fusion Law, PLLC
Paul is the founding partner of Fusion Law, PLLC. He has extensive experience with state, federal, and global regulators building coalitions and implementing policies to promote innovation in financial services. He is responsible for designing and implementing the first state (Arizona) and federal (CFPB) FinTech sandboxes in the United States. He also designed the CFPB no-action letter and trial disclosure policies. He helped found the first global regulatory innovation coalition (Global Financial Innovation Network) and led the founding of the first U.S. regulatory innovation coalition (American Consumer Financial Innovation Network). He served on the Financial Stability Oversight Council subcommittee on digital assets. He also has drafted state-level laws on blockchain and utility tokens.
Paul also has significant enforcement and litigation experience. He led many multi-state consumer protection enforcement matters as Civil Litigation Division Chief at the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.
Prior to his government service, Paul practiced law in the areas of securities litigation and transactional work for approximately six years at two well-known law firms. He also clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Professor Emeritus of Public Policy, Univ. of Maryland Baltimore County
George R. La Noue is Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Professor Emeritus of Public Policy at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. He has served as a trial expert in twenty cases involving public procurement preferences. For thirty years, he was Director of the Project on Civil Rights and Public Contracts at UMBC which recently contributed 289 public contracting disparity studies to the Library of Congress. He has been a consultant to nine governments and trial expert in thirty cases where the validity of disparity studies was at issue.
Prof. La Noue can be reached by email at glanoue@umbc.edu.
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2025 Tennessee Chapters Conference
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