Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission
Paul S. Atkins was sworn into office as the 34th Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 21, 2025, after being nominated by President Donald J. Trump on January 20, 2025, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 9, 2025.
Prior to returning to the SEC, Chairman Atkins was most recently chief executive of Patomak Global Partners, a company he founded in 2009. Chairman Atkins helped lead efforts to develop best practices for the digital asset sector. He served as an independent director and non-executive chairman of the board of BATS Global Markets, Inc. from 2012 to 2015.
Chairman Atkins was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as a Commissioner of the SEC from 2002 to 2008. During his tenure, he advocated for transparency, consistency, and the use of cost-benefit analysis at the agency. Chairman Atkins also represented the SEC at meetings of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets and the U.S.-EU Transatlantic Economic Council. From 2009 to 2010, he was appointed a member of the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Before serving as an SEC Commissioner, Chairman Atkins was a consultant on securities and investment management industry matters, especially regarding issues of strategy, regulatory compliance, risk management, new product development, and organizational control.
From 1990 to 1994, Chairman Atkins served on the staff of two chairmen of the SEC, Richard C. Breeden and Arthur Levitt, ultimately as chief of staff and counselor, respectively. He received the SEC’s 1992 Law and Policy Award for work regarding corporate governance matters.
Chairman Atkins began his career as a lawyer in New York, focusing on a wide range of corporate transactions for U.S. and foreign clients, including public and private securities offerings and mergers and acquisitions. He was resident for 2½ years in his firm's Paris office and admitted as conseil juridique in France.
A member of the New York and Florida bars, Chairman Atkins received his J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1983 and was Senior Student Writing Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review. He received his A.B., Phi Beta Kappa, from Wofford College in 1980.
Originally from Lillington, North Carolina, Chairman Atkins grew up in Tampa, Florida. He and his wife Sarah have three sons.
Commissioner, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Elad L. Roisman was appointed by President Donald J. Trump to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and was sworn into office on September 11, 2018. Mr. Roisman was designated Acting Chairman of the Commission by President Trump on December 23, 2020, effective December 24, 2020.
Commissioner Roisman joined the SEC from the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, where he served as Chief Counsel. In that role, and as Securities Counsel on the Committee, he advised multiple Committee Chairmen as well as members of the Committee, on securities, financial regulation, and international financial matters. Commissioner Roisman worked on drafting several pieces of legislation that became law and played an integral role in the drafting and negotiation of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act.
Before working in the Senate, he served as Counsel to SEC Commissioner Daniel M. Gallagher, focusing on enforcement and policy relating to the U.S. equity and fixed income markets, the asset management industry, and international regulation of capital markets. Prior to joining the SEC, he held positions as a Chief Counsel at NYSE Euronext and as an associate at the law firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP in New York.
Commissioner Roisman earned his bachelor’s degree in History at Cornell University and his juris doctorate at the Boston University School of Law.
Former Chief Justice, Delaware Supreme Court; Of Counsel, Potter Anderson
Myron T. Steele is of counsel in the firm's Corporate Litigation Group. He is the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Delaware.
Previously, he served as a Judge of the Superior Court and a Vice Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery after eighteen years in private litigation practice. He has presided over major corporate litigation and LLC and limited partner governance disputes, and writes frequently on issues of corporate document interpretation and corporate governance.
Chief Justice Steele has published over 400 opinions resolving disputes among members of limited liability companies, and limited partnerships, and between shareholders and management of both publicly traded and close corporations. He speaks and writes frequently on issues of corporate document interpretation and corporate governance. His thesis for the LL.M. degree, Judicial Scrutiny of Fiduciary Duties in Delaware Limited Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies, focused on the application of common law fiduciary duties within the contractual framework of alternative business organizations. It was published in the Delaware Journal of Corporate Law (32 Del. J. Corp. L. 1 (2007)). The November 2005 issue of The Business Lawyer included an article he co-authored with Sean J. Griffith entitled On Corporate Law Federalism: Threatening the Thaumatrope (61 Bus. Law. 1 (2005)). He co-authored an article with J.W. Verret entitled Delaware’s Guidance: Ensuring Equity for the Modern Witenagemot published in the Fall 2007 issue of the Virginia Law & Business Review (2 Va. L. & Bus. Rev. 188 (2007)). That article formed the basis for a keynote speech to the Business Law Section at the 2007 ABA Annual Meeting.
For the last ten years he served as judicial advisor to the Mergers and Acquisitions Committee of the ABA Business Law Section. He also co-authored an article entitled “Freedom of Contract and Default Contractual Duties in Delaware Limited Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies” (46 Am. Bus. L.J. 221 (Summer 2009)) and an essay entitled “The Moral Underpinning of Delaware’s Modern Corporate Fiduciary Duties” (26 Notre Dame J.L. Ethics & Pub. Pol’y 3 (2012)).
Chief Justice Steele served as Adjunct Professor of Law at University of Pennsylvania Law School from 2009–2013; University of Virginia Law School 2010–2017; and Pepperdine University Law School 2010–2014.
Professor Emeritus, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Louisiana State University
In memoriam
Dr. John Baker is Professor Emeritus of Law, and previously the Dale E. Bennett Professor of Law, at Louisiana State University Law School. He is currently Visiting Professor at Peking University School of Transnational Law (via Zoom) and has been Visiting Professor at The Center for the Constitution, Georgetown Law School (2013-2020). He has also been a Visiting Fellow at Oriel College, the University of Oxford (2012-2014) and taught at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford in 2014. Dr. Baker has also been an adjunct Fellow at the Heritage Foundation (Spring, 2008) and a Distinguished Scholar at the Catholic University of America Law School (2011-12). He has taught at Tulane Law School, George Mason Law School, Pepperdine Law School, New York Law School, Hong Kong University, and the University of Dallas, School of Management and also taught and/or lectured in 17 foreign countries. Notable among his foreign visits are the
following: Visiting Professor at the University of Lyon III (France) (1999-2011); Visiting Professor at the Universidad de los Andes, Chile (2012), as a Fulbright Specialist (2006); and a Fulbright Scholar at various universities in the Philippines. Dr. Baker received his J.D., with honors, from the University of Michigan Law School and his B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Dallas. He also earned a Ph.D. in Political Thought from the University of London. Baker has taught over a dozen different subjects, mostly courses in public law. His main areas of interest are Constitutional Law (particularly federalism and separation of powers), Criminal Law, Anti-Terrorism Law, International Law, Health Care Law, Mediation, and Comparative Law.
In addition to law review articles and book chapters, Dr. Baker’s academic publications include Hall's Criminal Law: Cases and Materials (with Benson, Force and George; 5th ed. Michie, 1993); An Introduction to the Law of the United States (ed. with Levasseur; University Press of America, 1992). He has also published on Forbes.com, FoxNews.com, in The Washington Times, and a number of times in The Wall Street Journal. He argues in federal court, including two oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court. For many years, he co-taught courses for the Federalist Society on separation of powers with the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. In September 2016, he co-taught a Supreme Court seminar in China with Justice Samuel Alito. Following law school, he served as a law clerk in federal district court and as an assistant district attorney in New Orleans before joining LSU in 1975. While a professor, he has been as a consultant to USAID, USIA (since rolled into the State Department), the Justice Department, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Separation of Powers, and the Office of Planning in the White House. He served on an ABA Task Force which issued the report, The Federalization of Crime (1998) and later as a consultant to the “Bi-Partisan Task Force on the Over- federalization of Crime” (2012-2014) created by the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime. Dr. Baker was a co-founder of the first iteration (1995) of Stratfor Inc., a global intelligence agency. He co-authored its first book: The Intelligence Edge (with Friedman, Friedman and Chapman; Crown Books/Random House 1997). In 2022, he began a short, weekly video podcast available on YouTube and Rumble, The Baker Brief.
Justice, Supreme Court of Texas
Justice Kyle D. Hawkins was appointed to the Supreme Court of Texas by Governor Greg Abbott in October 2025.
Justice Hawkins previously served in the U.S. Department of Justice as Counselor to the Solicitor General, where he represented the United States before the U.S. Supreme Court. Previously, he served as the Texas Solicitor General, the state’s chief appellate advocate charged with representing the state, its agencies, and its officers in state and federal appellate courts. Earlier in his career, he served as a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., and for Judge Edith H. Jones of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. As an appellate practitioner, Justice Hawkins argued five cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, nine in the Texas Supreme Court, and dozens more in other federal and state appellate courts.
In addition to his government service, Justice Hawkins served as a partner in the Dallas and Houston offices of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, and he chaired the Texas appellate practice of Lehotsky Keller Cohn LLP, a national litigation boutique. Justice Hawkins has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Texas School of Law.
Justice Hawkins lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and four children.
Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
Edith Jones graduated from Alamo Heights High School, where she was a National Merit Scholar. In 1971, she received her B.A. in Economics from Cornell University, graduating with honors. In 1974, she was awarded her J.D. at the University of Texas Law School, where she was a law review editor and received the Order of the Coif.
Judge Jones was the first female partner at Andrews, Kurth, Campbell & Jones (now Hunton Andrews Kurth) where she practiced various types of litigation and bankruptcy cases. Judge Jones went on the federal bench on June 1, 1985.
Judge Jones served as a former member of the National Bankruptcy Review Commission, and as a member of the Judicial Conference Commission on Bankruptcy Rules. Judge Jones served on the White House Fellows Commission. Judge Jones served on the board of the Sam Houston Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America. She has been a member of the Garland Walker Inn of Court in Houston for more than 20 years and its President for at least ten years. Judge Jones is also on the Board of the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation.
Professor Emeritus, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Louisiana State University
In memoriam
Dr. John Baker is Professor Emeritus of Law, and previously the Dale E. Bennett Professor of Law, at Louisiana State University Law School. He is currently Visiting Professor at Peking University School of Transnational Law (via Zoom) and has been Visiting Professor at The Center for the Constitution, Georgetown Law School (2013-2020). He has also been a Visiting Fellow at Oriel College, the University of Oxford (2012-2014) and taught at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford in 2014. Dr. Baker has also been an adjunct Fellow at the Heritage Foundation (Spring, 2008) and a Distinguished Scholar at the Catholic University of America Law School (2011-12). He has taught at Tulane Law School, George Mason Law School, Pepperdine Law School, New York Law School, Hong Kong University, and the University of Dallas, School of Management and also taught and/or lectured in 17 foreign countries. Notable among his foreign visits are the
following: Visiting Professor at the University of Lyon III (France) (1999-2011); Visiting Professor at the Universidad de los Andes, Chile (2012), as a Fulbright Specialist (2006); and a Fulbright Scholar at various universities in the Philippines. Dr. Baker received his J.D., with honors, from the University of Michigan Law School and his B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Dallas. He also earned a Ph.D. in Political Thought from the University of London. Baker has taught over a dozen different subjects, mostly courses in public law. His main areas of interest are Constitutional Law (particularly federalism and separation of powers), Criminal Law, Anti-Terrorism Law, International Law, Health Care Law, Mediation, and Comparative Law.
In addition to law review articles and book chapters, Dr. Baker’s academic publications include Hall's Criminal Law: Cases and Materials (with Benson, Force and George; 5th ed. Michie, 1993); An Introduction to the Law of the United States (ed. with Levasseur; University Press of America, 1992). He has also published on Forbes.com, FoxNews.com, in The Washington Times, and a number of times in The Wall Street Journal. He argues in federal court, including two oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court. For many years, he co-taught courses for the Federalist Society on separation of powers with the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. In September 2016, he co-taught a Supreme Court seminar in China with Justice Samuel Alito. Following law school, he served as a law clerk in federal district court and as an assistant district attorney in New Orleans before joining LSU in 1975. While a professor, he has been as a consultant to USAID, USIA (since rolled into the State Department), the Justice Department, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Separation of Powers, and the Office of Planning in the White House. He served on an ABA Task Force which issued the report, The Federalization of Crime (1998) and later as a consultant to the “Bi-Partisan Task Force on the Over- federalization of Crime” (2012-2014) created by the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime. Dr. Baker was a co-founder of the first iteration (1995) of Stratfor Inc., a global intelligence agency. He co-authored its first book: The Intelligence Edge (with Friedman, Friedman and Chapman; Crown Books/Random House 1997). In 2022, he began a short, weekly video podcast available on YouTube and Rumble, The Baker Brief.
Head of AI Policy, Abundance Institute
Neil Chilson is the Head of AI Policy at the Abundance Institute. Prior to this position, he served as a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Growth and Opportunity. Chilson is a lawyer, computer scientist, and author of the book “Getting Out of Control: Emergent Leadership in a Complex World.”
Chilson was previously the senior research fellow for Technology and Innovation at Stand Together, where he guided efforts to understand and promote the legal and cultural paradigms that best enable people to discover, innovate, and improve all our lives.
Before Stand Together, Chilson was the Chief Technologist at the Federal Trade Commission, where he focused on the economics of privacy and blockchain-related issues. Previously, he was an attorney advisor to Acting FTC Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen. In both roles he advised Chairman Ohlhausen and worked with staff on nearly every major technology-related case, report, workshop, or other FTC proceeding since January 2014. Neil joined the FTC from telecom firm Wilkinson Barker Knauer. Neil is frequently quoted by the press and his work has appeared in numerous news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, USAToday, and Newsweek. Neil has a J.D. from The George Washington Law School, a M.S. in computer science from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and a B.S. in computer science from Harding University.
Senior Policy Analyst for Technology and Innovation, Americans for Prosperity
Billy Easley is Americans for Prosperity’s Senior Policy Analyst for technology and innovation. In this role, he reviews state and federal policy on digital free speech, privacy, government surveillance, autonomous vehicles and related policies. Previously he served as a legislative specialist for the United States Sentencing Commission where he authored a paper on the relationship between age and recidivism among federal prisoners. Billy started his career working for the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and as Senator Rand Paul’s legal counsel for technology and criminal justice policy.
Partner, Steptoe & Johnson LLP
Stewart Baker is a partner in the law firm of Steptoe & Johnson in Washington, D.C. From 2005 to 2009, he was the first Assistant Secretary for Policy at the Department of Homeland Security. His law practice covers cybersecurity, data protection, homeland security, and travel and foreign investment regulation; he has been awarded one patent.
Mr. Baker has been General Counsel of the National Security Agency and General Counsel of the commission that investigated WMD intelligence failures prior to the Iraq war. He is the author of Skating on Stilts, a book on terrorism, cybersecurity, and other technology issues; he also hosts the weekly Cyberlaw Podcast.
UC Foundation Assistant Professor, U.T. Chattanooga
Law and Corporate Social Responsibility
Practice Groups and In-House Counsel Working Group Teleforum
TeleforumTopics
State Fiscal Discipline Protects Our System of Dual Sovereignty
The Framers reached a counterintuitive conclusion when authoring the Constitution: Citizens’ liberties are safer when...
Federalist Papers Book Club: The Federalist [Session 5]
Federalist ##39 and 45 (Compound Republic; limited number of powers)
Federalist Papers Book Club: The Federalist [Session 5]
John S. Baker
Slide deck 1 Federalist Papers Book Club will run weekly on Tuesday evenings for 10...
Deep Dive Episode 163 – Shapers of Cyber Speech: Silicon Valley and American Discourse
Neil Chilson, Billy Easley, Stewart A. Baker
In January, Twitter and Facebook removed President Trump and many of his followers' accounts while...
Topics
Introducing the Freedom of Thought Project
There is a growing divide in this country over how to think about freedom of...
How the Founders’ Natural Law Theory Illuminates the Original Meaning of Free Exercise
Kody Cooper
In Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, the Supreme Court will consider whether Philadelphia’s 2018 policy...
Topics
How to Research the Constitutionality of Impeaching Former Presidents
Recently I’ve pivoted from 38 years of writing books and law review articles to spending...
Third Annual Gregory S. Coleman Memorial Lecture
2021 Texas Chapters Conference
Houston, TXTopics
Groundhog Day: President Biden's China Strategy
On February 2, as Americans observed the quasi-holiday Groundhog Day, the Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer...