National Affairs Columnist, National Review
John Fund is National Affairs Columnist for National Review magazine and a on-air analyst on the Fox News Channel. He is considered a notable expert on American politics and the nexus between politics and economics.
He previously served as a columnist and editorial board member for The Wall Street Journal. He is the author of several books, including Who's Counting: Bow Fraudsters and Bureaucrats Put Your Vote At Risk (Encounter Books, 2012); Stealing Elections: How Voter Fraud Threatens Our Democracy (Encounter Books, 2008) and The Dangers of Regulation Through Litigation (ATRA Press, 2008). He worked as a research analyst for the California Legislature in Sacramento before beginning his journalism career as a reporter for the syndicated columnists Rowland Evans and Robert Novak.
Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill, called him "the Tom Paine of the modern Congressional reform movement." He has won awards from the Institute for Justice, The School Choice Aliance and the Warren Brooks award for journalistic excellence from the American Legislative Exchange Council.
Stone Hilton, Founding Partner
A founding partner of Stone Hilton, Judd Stone is well respected both in Texas and across the nation as an insightful and tenacious appellate litigator. A lifelong Texan, Judd has argued dozens of appeals in both federal and state court, including arguing eight cases before the United States Supreme Court.
Judd began his legal career clerking for United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and Fifth Circuit Chief Judge Edith H. Jones. With a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law where he graduated first in his class, Judd's academic and professional credentials place him among the most distinguished lawyers in the profession. At the helm of countless major legal battles and emergency appeals for the State of Texas, Judd's deep understanding of the law and persuasive advocacy have been instrumental in shaping legal precedents. His tenure as the Solicitor General of Texas is a testament to his expertise and the trust placed in him by high-ranking state officials. Judd's strategic prowess extends beyond the courtroom; his advisory roles have made him a respected figure among policymakers.
His contributions to Stone Hilton and the legal community are characterized by his meticulous approach to cases, his acumen as a counselor, and his unwavering commitment to justice. As a partner at Stone Hilton, Judd continues to apply his formidable talents to advocate for his clients with the utmost dedication and to uphold the pillars of integrity and excellence that the firm stands for.
Partner, Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP
Misha leads Troutman Peppers' national appellate and Supreme Court practice. Most recently, he successfully obtained orders from the Supreme Court blocking an unconstitutional restriction on places of worship, as well as overturning a lower court order that had blocked several state election laws. He has also argued and prevailed before the Supreme Court in Gill v. Whitford, one of the most significant redistricting cases in decades, as well as Murr v. Wisconsin, a high-stakes regulatory taking case.
Before joining Troutman, Misha served as Solicitor General of the State of Wisconsin. Misha previously served as a law clerk for the Honorable Anthony M. Kennedy of the Supreme Court, Janice Rogers Brown of the D.C. Circuit, and Alex Kozinski of the 9th Circuit. He graduated from Georgetown University Law Center, where he was President of the Federalist Society Chapter.
Solicitor General, West Virginia
Officer, Fredrikson & Byron, P.A.
Delanie is an officer of Fredrikson & Byrun where she helps clients navigate the complexities of government regulation. She has worked with a variety of state and federal agencies and specializes in energy and environmental permitting, regulation and litigation.
Delanie has particular expertise permitting large, energy-generating facilities including wind, solar and battery systems, and can assist through all stages of the process—from preliminary due diligence and application preparation to post-permit litigation.
Her previous roles with the Wisconsin Public Service Commission and as Chief of Staff at the Wisconsin Department of Justice, combined with her technical experience as a mechanical engineer in the energy and manufacturing industries, uniquely equip her to be an effective legal partner. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School.
Executive Vice President, Government Relations, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce
Scott Manley joined WMC in 2005 after serving more than ten years as a policy advisor in the Wisconsin State Senate, where he focused his policy work in the areas of environment, natural resources, taxation and the judiciary. While serving as Chief of Staff to Senator Cathy Stepp, Manley assisted in WMC’s effort to draft and negotiate the Job Creation Act (Act 118).
Scott serves as chief lobbyist for WMC, and oversees the government relations program by directing a team of lobbyists and policy experts. Together they work with legislators and state agency officials to advance WMC’s agenda to make Wisconsin the most competitive state in the nation for jobs and business. He also manages WMC’s issue advocacy program, as well as the Association’s political action efforts. Manley previously represented WMC on environmental and energy policies.
Manley currently serves as Vice President of the Wisconsin Civil Justice Council, which promotes fairness and transparency in Wisconsin’s legal system through policy advocacy. He also serves as Vice Chairman of the Great Lakes Legal Foundation, an organization that seeks to advance economic growth by holding government regulators accountable to the law. He was also appointed by Governor Scott Walker’s Administration to represent business perspectives on the Wisconsin Unemployment Insurance Advisory Council.
Scott graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Partner, Michael Bst & Friedrich LLP
For more than 30 years, Todd has helped numerous clients remain in compliance with all aspects of the complex and dynamic suite of environmental laws, with a particular focus on Clean Air Act regulation. His extensive knowledge of and experience includes obtaining environmental permits, planning future activities to minimize the expense of regulation, litigation involving all manner of environmental regulation, and the defense of allegations that a company may have violated environmental laws.
Judge, Waukesha County Circuit Court
Judge Michael J. Aprahamian serves as a judge on the Waukesha County Circuit Court. Prior to taking the bench in 2014, Judge Aprahamian was a partner at Foley & Lardner LLP, where he was a civil trial lawyer and the firm's partner in charge of ethics training. Prior to joining Foley, he clerked for the Honorable Richard D. Cudahy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He received his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1992 and a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin in 1989.
Deputy Counsel, Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty
Dan Lennington serves as Deputy Counsel at the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), where he directs the Equality Under the Law Project. Started in early 2021, the EUL Project has represented dozens of individuals and businesses nationwide, successfully advocating for race neutrality in both public and private programs.
Before joining WILL, Dan served as Assistant Deputy Attorney General in Wisconsin and Assistant U.S. Attorney in Oklahoma. He is a graduate of Hillsdale College.
Dan can be reached at dan@will-law.org. More information about the EUL Project can be found at www.defendequality.org.
Partner, Perkins Coie
Sopen Shah is an award-winning writer and experienced oral advocate. She has handled appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court, ten federal circuit courts, and the Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Washington, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Idaho Supreme Courts. She won the State Bar of Wisconsin's biennial “Best Brief” award in 2020. In addition, Sopen has argued before the Seventh and Second Circuits, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the California Court of Appeal, and the Washington State Board of Tax Appeals.
Sopen also litigates complex trial court cases across multiple areas such as antitrust, class actions, commercial disputes, constitutional law, corporate governance, environmental law, labor and employment, privacy, and regulation. Cases of particular note include a voting-rights case in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, a multimillion-dollar shareholder-dispute trial in Wisconsin circuit court, and a class action contract dispute in California superior court. She recently prevailed on a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction in the Western District of Washington. Sopen’s appellate experience enables her to anticipate possible outcomes in the early stages of a case.
Before joining the firm, Sopen argued Wisconsin’s high-profile criminal and civil appeals as a state deputy solicitor general. After graduating from Yale Law School, Sopen clerked for the Honorable Debra Ann Livingston, now-chief judge of the Second Circuit, and the Honorable Amul R. Thapar, then of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Before law school, Sopen was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company and a financial analyst at Bloomberg.
Judicial Engagement Fellow, Institute for Justice
President, Center for American Rights
Daniel Suhr serves as president of the Center for American Rights, where he spends every day on the front lines of the fight to preserve our rights and liberties. The Center's mission is to advance free speech, free enterprise, and parental freedom in education through strategic, precedent-setting litigation.
Daniel formerly worked as policy director for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, as chief of staff for Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, and as a law clerk for Judge Diane Sykes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He holds a B.A. and J.D. from Marquette University, and master’s degrees from Georgetown and the University of Missouri.
Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
Judge Hardiman was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on January 9, 2007 and was confirmed by the Senate (95-0) on March 15, 2007. Prior to becoming an appellate judge, Judge Hardiman served as a trial judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania as of November 1, 2003. In 2008, Chief Justice John Roberts appointed Judge Hardiman to the Information Technology Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. Judge Hardiman was appointed Chairman of the IT Committee in 2013 and served in that capacity until September 2021. In 2021 he was appointed by the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts to serve as Chair of the Judiciary IT Security Task Force, which completed its work in fall 2023. Chief Justice Roberts appointed Judge Hardiman to the Board of the Federal Judicial Center to serve from March 2020 until March 2024. As part of his work with the Center, Judge Hardiman now serves as Editor in Chief for the Manual for Complex Civil Litigation, Fifth.
Before entering judicial service, Judge Hardiman handled a wide variety of litigation matters in state and federal trial and appellate courts as a partner at Reed Smith LLP (1999-2003), a partner at Titus & McConomy LLP (1996-1999), and as an associate with its predecessor firm, Cindrich & Titus (1992-1996). Judge Hardiman began his legal career as an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (1990-1992).
A 1987 honors graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Judge Hardiman received his law degree in 1990 from the Georgetown University Law Center, where he served as a Notes and Comments Editor on the Georgetown Law Journal. In 2012, Judge Hardiman was elected as a member of the American Law Institute and was elected to its Council in 2019 and its Executive Committee in 2025. Judge Hardiman regularly teaches a seminar on Advanced Constitutional Law at Duquesne University School of Law and a one-week course entitled “Constitutional Law: the First and Second Amendments” at Georgetown University Law Center.
A native of Waltham, Massachusetts, Judge Hardiman has chambers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He and his wife Lori married in 1992 and have three children.
Partner, Foley & Lardner LLP
Matthew Krueger is a partner in the Government Enforcement Defense and Investigations practice group at Foley & Lardner LLP. Before joining Foley, Matt served as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin after being recommended by a bipartisan nominating commission. As the district’s chief federal law enforcement officer, Matt supervised all criminal and civil litigation involving the United States in 28 counties. He also served for five years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, prosecuting a broad array of federal crimes. Before serving in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Matt practiced trial and appellate litigation at an international law firm in Washington, D.C. He clerked for the Hon. Paul V. Niemeyer on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and served as a Bristow Fellow in the Solicitor General’s Office, helping represent the United States before the Supreme Court. Matt received his J.D., summa cum laude, from the University of Minnesota Law School.
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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