Founder, President, and General Counsel, Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty
Rick Esenberg is the founder and current President and General Counsel of the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, a rapidly expanding law and policy organization headquartered in Milwaukee. Under Rick’s leadership, WILL has grown into one of the more active state-based think tanks and litigation centers in the country. Rick is a frequent litigator in state and federal courts and nationally recognized scholar and commentator on constitutional law, particularly the First Amendment’s guarantees of freedom of speech and religion. He is one of the leading experts on the Wisconsin Constitution and a frequent advocate before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Rick’s work seeks to advance the rule of law and individual liberty, formed by a robust civil society that forms individual and community character, preserving the wisdom of the past and an openness to the future.
Rick’s commentary has been featured in such outlets as the Wall Street Journal, National Review, Weekly Standard, Real Clear Politics, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Washington Examiner. Formerly on the faculty of Marquette University Law School, his scholarship has appeared in such publications as the Harvard Law Review, Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, Wake Forest Law Review and William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal. Back when they were a thing, he operated a blog called Shark and Shepherd where he tried to suggest something about the duality of man – “the Jungian thing.”
Rick holds a J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review, and a B.A., summa cum laude, in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In addition to service on the Marquette Faculty, he was formerly a litigation partner at Foley & Lardner and General Counsel of an international manufacturing firm headquartered in Wisconsin. He lives in Mequon Wisconsin with his wife Karen, golden retrievers Cooper and Riley and more books than he can find places for.
Partner, Baker & Hostetler LLP
Prior to joining BakerHostetler, Allen spent 15 years at the center of the national debate over political regulation. At the FEC, he worked across party lines to restore a key regulatory player to functioning order after years of neglect and partisan gridlock. Those efforts led to the first adoption of a new regulation in over a decade, reform of the commission’s investigations and interagency practices, and more than 150 Statements of Reasons interpreting the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). Substantively, Allen prioritized developments at the edges of the FEC’s jurisdiction, particularly those cases where federal election rules conflict with broader principles of corporate, administrative, and constitutional law.
Previously, Allen spent nearly a decade representing organizations across the political spectrum in First Amendment challenges to state and federal laws governing civil society. His practice emphasized motions and appeals, including a dozen arguments before federal appellate and state supreme courts, and appearances before regulatory agencies. In addition to purely campaign finance matters, Allen's cases included the first federal lawsuit in decades addressing the constitutional scope of lobbying laws, litigation establishing the standard for constitutional challenges to FECA under that statute’s specialized review procedures and the successful defense of a state attorney general leading to the invalidation of an FEC regulation.
Partner, Graves Garrett Greim LLC
Edward “Eddie” Greim focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation, free speech and election law, and internal investigations and whistleblower claims. He has been recognized for his successful representation of businesses and individuals in commercial litigation while also being named a “go-to” lawyer on policy and constitutional issues.
Eddie was named a Constitutional and Election Law Trailblazer by the National Law Journal in 2020. His free speech and election law practice has included numerous constitutional challenges to election and campaign finance laws; representation of clients in state and federal ethics and campaign finance enforcement actions and investigations; initiative petition drafting and litigation; litigation and advice regarding First Amendment protections for petition circulation; representation of not-for-profit clients before state regulators; litigation of state and federal redistricting issues; and advice on campaign and election law compliance.
Eddie complements his trial work in complex, high-profile commercial and constitutional cases with oral advocacy and briefing in important appeals. Recognized as a Missouri Lawyers Media POWER 30 Appellate Attorney in 2021, he has argued before the Missouri and Kansas supreme courts multiple times, other state appellate courts across the country, and before the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Tenth U.S. Courts of Appeals.
Eddie’s notable work for clients includes:
Recovering substantial compensation and injunctive relief for plaintiffs, in complex multiyear litigation, as lead counsel in the first and only nationwide class action certified against the Internal Revenue Service for violating taxpayer protection statutes when it targeted hundreds of groups based on their political viewpoints.
Successful First Amendment challenge to Missouri’s 2016 campaign finance restrictions.
Successful challenge to a vast, multiyear, secret criminal investigation into Wisconsin political groups and nonprofits, and follow-up challenge to expose role of state ethics board which secretly aided the investigation and was later dissolved by the legislature.
U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief for the National Republican Redistricting Trust in the 2019 Rucho litigation, and federal and state redistricting litigation and advice since 2011.
Challenges under the First Amendment in federal court, and in briefing to the Michigan Supreme Court on state constitutional grounds, to unprecedented emergency powers claimed by Michigan Governor in 2020.
Representation of numerous public officials and private citizens who are subject to “lawfare” attacks based on their political viewpoints or policy objectives.
Oversight of multiple internal investigations.
Eddie received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 2002, where he taught on the Board of Student Advisers, received the Dean’s Award for Leadership, and served as President of the Harvard Catholic Law Students Association. He received two bachelor’s degrees, summa cum laude, in economics and political science from the University of Missouri.
A native of Excelsior Springs, Missouri, Eddie lives in Kansas City with his family. He enjoys Missouri and military history. On many weekends, he can be found with his wife and daughters exploring sites of local interest. He enjoys reading and debating and has given presentations or organized discussions at numerous gatherings, formal and informal, of professional and personal interest.
Deputy Executive Director, Campaign Legal Center
Tara Malloy joined the Campaign Legal Center in November 2006. She litigates a wide range of campaign finance and election law cases in state and federal court, and has expertise in campaign finance, lobbying, and congressional ethics issues.
Ms. Malloy has spoken at conferences and events nationwide on election law and has appeared as a legal expert on various news programs, including on MSNBC, PBS and NPR. She has written articles on campaign finance and ethics issues for various publications, including Politico and the Legal Times, and is frequently quoted in national news publications, including The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Time, and Roll Call.
Ms. Malloy also has extensive experience in practical campaign finance enforcement, having served as an associate counsel at the New York City Campaign Finance Board prior to joining the Legal Center. There, she advised the Board regarding the administration of New York City’s public financing system, represented the Board counsel in state and federal courts on various campaign finance matters, and drafted legislation and implementing rules.
Previously, Tara Malloy worked in the litigation practice at the New York law firm Debevoise & Plimpton. A former Fulbright Scholar, Ms. Malloy is a graduate of Yale Law School and Emory University. Ms. Malloy is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia, the State of New York, the Supreme Court of the United States and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Partner, Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak PLLC
Jason Torchinsky is a partner at Holtzman Vogel Josefiak PLLC, specializing in campaign finance, election law, lobbying disclosure and issue advocacy groups. Politico recently named him one of the “50 Politicos to Watch,” and in 2007, Campaigns and Elections Magazine named him a “Rising Star of Politics.”
In addition to his practice counseling clients on compliance with campaign finance, ethics laws, lobbying disclosure and election laws, Mr. Torchinsky has served as lead counsel in a number of litigation matters. Representative matters in the redistricting area include Louisiana House of Representatives v. Holder (D.D.C.) (Section 5 pre-clearance action), City of Sandy Springs v. Holder (D.D.C.) (Section 5 bailout action), and Fletcher v. Lamone (D. Md.) (challenging Maryland’s Congressional Districting map). In the campaign finance context, he is currently representing clients in Alliance for America’s Future v. State (Nevada Supreme Court) and Van Hollen v. Federal Election Commission (D.D.C.) (Representing intervenor defendants). He has also represented Virginia candidates in recounts and voter registration challenges before various Virginia Circuit Courts.
Mr. Torchinsky frequently lectures on campaign finance redistricting and ethics related subjects and provides commentary to the media on election related matters.
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Torchinsky was Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the United States Department of Justice. During the 2004 election cycle, he served as Deputy General Counsel to Bush-Cheney ’04 and Deputy General Counsel to the 2005 Presidential Inaugural Committee.
He holds a B.A. in Government and Public Policy from the College of William and Mary and a J.D. from the College of William and Mary School of Law. He is a member of the Virginia Bar, the District of Columbia Bar, the Republican National Lawyers Association and the Federalist Society.
Since 1976, Milton L. Chappell has been a staff attorney with the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, a non-profit legsl aid organization located in Springfield, Virginia. During his 38 years of practice, he has specialized in representing nonunion public employees and teachers in litigation before the United States Supreme Court, and other federal and state courts and administrative agencies, against the abuses of compulsory unionism. The litigation has resulted in the establishment of procedures and notices that assist nonunion teachers in reducing the amount of their compulsory union fees the public sector unions spend on political and other non-collective bargaining activities that his clients oppose. In addition to representing clients claiming a political objection to joining or financially supporting a labor union, he has also represented clients claiming a religious objection to unions, as well as defending against numerous union attacks on the Right to Work laws passed in Indiana and Michigan, and Wisconsin’s Act 10, which includes right to work protection for most public employees. Mr. Chappell is an expert in constitutional and labor law, especially the First Amendment. Mr. Chappell has represented clients in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.
Mr. Chappell is a member of the following bars: Maryland, the District of Columbia, United States Supreme Court, United States Courts of Appeals for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 11th, and District of Columbia Circuits, and the United States District Courts for the Districts of Maryland, Northern California, Western Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia. He is the author of “From Abood to Tierney: The Protection on Nonunion Employees in an Agency Shop,” 15 Ohio Northern University Law Review 1 (1988) and “Seeking a New Foundation,” 16 Government Union Review 1 (1995). He is coauthor of “Protecting the Rights of State Employees Against Compulsory Unionism,” California Public Employee Relations 143 (August 2000).
Since 1976, Milton L. Chappell has been a staff attorney with the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, a non-profit legsl aid organization located in Springfield, Virginia. During his 38 years of practice, he has specialized in representing nonunion public employees and teachers in litigation before the United States Supreme Court, and other federal and state courts and administrative agencies, against the abuses of compulsory unionism. The litigation has resulted in the establishment of procedures and notices that assist nonunion teachers in reducing the amount of their compulsory union fees the public sector unions spend on political and other non-collective bargaining activities that his clients oppose. In addition to representing clients claiming a political objection to joining or financially supporting a labor union, he has also represented clients claiming a religious objection to unions, as well as defending against numerous union attacks on the Right to Work laws passed in Indiana and Michigan, and Wisconsin’s Act 10, which includes right to work protection for most public employees. Mr. Chappell is an expert in constitutional and labor law, especially the First Amendment. Mr. Chappell has represented clients in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.
Mr. Chappell is a member of the following bars: Maryland, the District of Columbia, United States Supreme Court, United States Courts of Appeals for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 11th, and District of Columbia Circuits, and the United States District Courts for the Districts of Maryland, Northern California, Western Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia. He is the author of “From Abood to Tierney: The Protection on Nonunion Employees in an Agency Shop,” 15 Ohio Northern University Law Review 1 (1988) and “Seeking a New Foundation,” 16 Government Union Review 1 (1995). He is coauthor of “Protecting the Rights of State Employees Against Compulsory Unionism,” California Public Employee Relations 143 (August 2000).
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