SPEAKERS

Will Consovoy, Consovoy McCarthy PLLC

William S. Consovoy is a partner at Consovoy McCarthy Park PLLC. Mr. Consovoy assists clients on a broad range of litigation and appellate issues primarily before the Supreme Court of the United States and federal appellate and district courts, as well as before federal agencies. Mr. Consovoy has represented clients in constitutional cases involving, among other issues, the First Amendment, the Second Amendment, the Fourth Amendment, the Tenth Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause, and the Commerce Clause. Mr. Consovoy also has represented clients in complex litigation and regulatory disputes involving the Voting Rights Act, the Federal Arbitration Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, the Communications Act, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, ERISA, and the Civil Rights Act of 1965.  Mr. Consovoy is a former law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Judge Edith H. Jones of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the 17th Judicial Circuit of Virginia. Mr. Consovoy is a member of the Edward Coke Appellate Inn of Court and was named by Law360 as a “rising star” in appellate law for 2013. Since 2011, Mr. Consovoy has been the co-director of the George Mason University School of Law Supreme Court Clinic. He previously taught an advanced constitutional law seminar at Mason Law. Mr. Consovoy earned his BA from Monmouth University, and his JD magna cum laude from George Mason University School of Law.  

Kannon Shanmugam, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP 

Kannon Shanmugam is widely recognized as one of the nation's top appellate lawyers. Kannon serves as Chair of the Supreme Court and Appellate Practice Group and managing partner of the Washington office. He was named 2021 Appellate Litigator of the Year by Benchmark Litigation. Kannon has argued 32 cases before the Supreme Court, including four cases in the recent 2020-2021 term. Beyond the Supreme Court, he has argued dozens of appeals in courts across the country, including arguments in all thirteen federal courts of appeals and in numerous state courts. Mr. Shanmugam is a former law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and Judge J. Michael Luttig of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He received his AB from Harvard University, MLitt from Oxford University, and JD from Harvard Law School.  

Jeffrey Wall, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

Jeff Wall is a partner in the Sullivan & Cromwell’s Litigation Group and the head of its Supreme Court and Appellate Practice. Mr. Wall is the former Acting Solicitor General of the United States. He has argued 30 cases in the Supreme Court in a number of areas, including securities, class actions, arbitration, intellectual property, taxation, labor and employment, bankruptcy, preemption, the False Claims Act, the First Amendment, and criminal law and procedure. Mr. Wall has briefed and argued numerous cases before federal and state courts of appeals and administrative agencies. In addition to his appellate experience, Mr. Wall has represented clients in a range of complex civil and criminal matters at the trial level, including as lead counsel in a successful federal criminal trial. He often counsels clients on strategic legal issues arising from litigation, legislation, or governmental oversight or investigation. Before rejoining Sullivan & Cromwell, Mr. Wall served in the Office of the Solicitor General as the Principal Deputy for four years, twice leading the office as the Acting Solicitor General from March to September 2017 and again from July 2020 to January 2021. Mr. Wall also served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General from 2008 to 2013.Following law school, Mr. Wall clerked for Associate Justice Clarence Thomas of the U.S. Supreme Court, and Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He has taught courses in law school on administrative law and federal jurisdiction. He is a member and former officer of the Edward Coke Appellate Inn of Court, a member of the Supreme Court Historical Society, and a former member of the Advisory Committee on Procedures for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. 

Paul J. Larkin Jr., The Heritage Foundation

Paul J. Larkin, Jr., is the John, Barbara, and Victoria Rumpel Senior Legal Research Fellow in the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. Larkin works on criminal justice policy, drug policy, and regulatory policy. Before joining Heritage in September 2011, Larkin held various positions with the federal government in Washington, D.C. At the U.S. Department of Justice from 1984 to 1993, Paul served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General and argued 27 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. He also was an attorney in the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section. In 1996-1997, Larkin served as Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee and head of the Crime Unit for Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), then the panel’s chairman. He worked in the Environmental Protection Agency from 1998 to 2004 as a special agent for criminal enforcement, eventually becoming Special Agent-in-Charge and serving as Acting Director of the EPA Criminal Investigation Division in 2004. His honors include the Secretary of Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service, which he received in 1994 for representing the military before the Supreme Court. In the private sector, he worked at two top law firms in Washington, D.C., and as assistant general counsel for Verizon Communications from 2004 to 2009. Larkin received his law degree in 1980 from Stanford Law School, where he was a published member of the Stanford Law Review. He clerked for Judge Robert H. Bork of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. In 2010, he received a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from George Washington University. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., where he graduated summa cum laude with honors in philosophy. 

The Honorable Bill Barr

William P. Barr served as the 85th Attorney General of the United States of America. From 1994 to 2000, Mr. Barr served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel for GTE Corporation. Mr. Barr then served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Verizon from 2000 to 2008. At both GTE and Verizon, Mr. Barr led the legal, regulatory, and government affairs activities of the companies. After retiring from Verizon in 2008, Mr. Barr advised major corporations on government enforcement matters, as well as regulatory litigation. Mr. Barr served as Of Counsel at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in 2009 and rejoined the firm in 2017. Under President George H.W. Bush, Mr. Barr served as the Deputy Attorney General from 1990 to 1991; the Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Legal Counsel from 1989 to 1990; and the 77th Attorney General of the United States from 1991 to 1993. In 1978, Mr. Barr served as a law clerk under Judge Malcolm Wilkey of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Following his clerkship, Mr. Barr joined the Washington, D.C. office of the law firm of Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge as an associate. He left the firm to work in the White House under President Ronald Reagan from 1982 to 1983 on the domestic policy staff, then returned to the law firm and became a partner in 1985. Mr. Barr received his AB in government from Columbia University in 1971 and his MA in government and Chinese studies in 1973. From 1973 to 1977, he served in the Central Intelligence Agency before receiving his JD from George Washington University Law School in 1977. 

Andrew Kilberg, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP 

Andrew Kilberg is an associate in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Washington, D.C. office.  He practices in the firm’s Litigation Department and is a member of the firm’s Administrative and Regulatory, Appellate and Constitutional Law, Labor and Employment, and Sports Law practice groups. Mr. Kilberg served as Counselor to Secretary Eugene Scalia at the United States Department of Labor from 2019 to 2021.  In that role, he briefed and advised the Secretary and Deputy Secretary on a wide range of matters and led teams on important regulatory and other projects for the Office of the Secretary, including matters concerning environmental, social, and governance investing, proxy voting, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, independent contractor status, apprenticeships, religious accommodation, evidentiary standards and procedures for non-discrimination enforcement actions, and the coronavirus pandemic. Mr. Kilberg received his BA from Princeton University, MPhil from the University of Cambridge, and JD from the University of Virginia.  

Roger King, HR Policy Association 

Roger King is a highly regarded labor relations attorney, whose career spans more than 40 years. Roger recently retired as a partner with Jones Day law firm. He now serves as Senior Labor and Employment counsel for the Association. After graduating from Cornell University Law School, he was a Captain and Legal Services Officer in the United States Air Force, on the Staff of United States Senator Robert Taft, Jr. and, subsequently, was appointed as Professional Staff Counsel to the United States Senate Labor Committee. Roger has testified before both the U.S. Senate and House Labor Committees, is a fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, and serves on the Advocacy Committee of the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Association (ASHHRA) and on the Executive Committee of the Ohio State Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Section Council. He is a nationally recognized author/speaker on employment matters and has represented employers regarding labor and employment issues both before administrative agencies and in federal and state courts. He has represented the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the HR Policy Association (HRPA), the National Manufactures Association (NAM), the American Hospital Association (AHA), and the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) in federal courts regarding numerous labor law issues. 

Bill Messenger, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation 

William Messenger is a staff attorney at the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. He has litigated nearly 100 cases including over a dozen at the Appellate-level on behalf of Foundation-aided employees and other individuals. His cases defend workers’ freedom from compulsory unionism and focus on the First Amendment and other constitutional rights. He has argued twice before the U.S. Supreme Court. Messenger successfully argued Harris v. Quinn in 2014, securing a Supreme Court ruling that requiring homecare providers to pay union fees violated the First Amendment. He briefed and argued Janus in the Supreme Court and leads the Foundation’s post-Janus “task force.” Mr. Messenger has argued many cutting-edge labor law cases including a recent challenge to a Seattle ordinance designed to force ridesharing drivers into compulsory unionism, which is currently before the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. As a recognized expert, he has testified before Congress and has been quoted in numerous media outlets ranging from Fox News to National Public Radio. Messenger graduated cum laude from George Washington University Law School and has been a Foundation staff attorney since 2001. 

Patrick Wright, Mackinac Center for Public Policy 

Patrick Wright is Vice President for Legal Affairs at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, where he directs the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation. He joined the Center in June 2005 after serving for three years as a Michigan Supreme Court commissioner, a post in which he made recommendations to the court concerning which state appeals court cases it should hear. Prior to that, Wright spent four years as an assistant attorney general for the State of Michigan, where he gained significant litigation and appellate advocacy experience. He joined the state Attorney General’s Office after one year as a policy advisor in the Senate Majority Policy Office of the Michigan Senate. Wright also spent two years as a law clerk to Hon. H. Russell Holland, a United States district court judge in Alaska. Wright received his law degree at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He graduated with honors in 1994. He received his undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Michigan in 1990. 

The Honorable William H. Pryor Jr.  

William H. Pryor Jr. serves as Chief Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. In 2013–18, he served on the United States Sentencing Commission and, in 2017–18, as Acting Chair. He regularly teaches as a visiting professor at the University of Alabama School of Law and has taught as an adjunct professor at the Cumberland School of Law of Samford University. He served as Attorney General of Alabama from 1997 to 2004.  When he took office, he was the youngest attorney general in the nation. In his reelection, he received the highest percentage of votes of any statewide candidate. He graduated magna cum laude from Tulane Law School where he finished first in the common-law curriculum and served as editor in chief of the Tulane Law Review. Afterward, he served as a law clerk for Judge John Minor Wisdom of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. 

Christian Adams, Public Interest Legal Foundation 

Christian Adams serves as President and General Counsel of the Public Interest Legal Foundation. He is also the founder of the Election Law Center, PLLC. He served from 2005 to 2010 in the Voting Section at the United States Department of Justice. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Injustice: Exposing the Racial Agenda of the Obama Justice Department which examines the Department’s election and voting rights record.  He litigates election law cases throughout the United States and brought the first private party litigation resulting in the cleanup of corrupted voter rolls under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. He represented multiple presidential campaigns in election litigation. He successfully litigated the landmark case of United States v. Ike Brown in the Southern District of Mississippi, the first case brought under the Voting Rights Act on behalf of a discriminated-against white minority in Noxubee County. He has handled election cases in twenty states and the territory of Guam. He received the Department of Justice award for outstanding service and numerous other Justice Department performance awards. Prior to his time at the Justice Department, he served as General Counsel to the South Carolina Secretary of State. He also serves as legal editor at PJMedia.com, an internet news publication and appears frequently on Fox News and has appeared at National Review, Breitbart, the Washington Examiner, American Spectator, Washington Times and other publications. He has a law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law. 

Mike Thompson, CRC Advisors  

A Senior Vice President at CRC Public Relations since 2003, Mike serves as strategic counsel to a wide variety of clients on communications and advocacy issues while also helping to oversee the company’s advocacy and digital/social media practices. He has worked with Fortune 50 companies, movie studios, associations, advocacy groups, startups, think tanks, political committees and more. Mike has worked with a wide variety of clients some of which include: Chevron, Judicial Crisis Network, Amazon.com, The Heritage Foundation, Paramount Pictures, The Federalist Society, Visa, Tea Party Patriots, EADS North America, Club for Growth, Northrop Grumman, Job Creators Network, US Steel, the Knights of Columbus, the Republican National Committee, and many others. Mike has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Emory University and a JD from the University of Richmond’s TC Williams School of Law.  

Kent Lassman, Competitive Enterprise Institute 

Kent Lassman is president and CEO at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Lassman oversees strategy for the free market organization, including management of a team of policy, communications, and fundraising staff. Prior to joining CEI, Lassman spent eight years as vice president at a public affairs firm in Washington, DC, counseling clients on campaign approaches to issues ranging from telecommunications to privacy to biotechnology and state licensure. His past experience includes testimony before Congress, state legislatures, and in regulatory proceedings. His research has covered topics as varied as the federal budget and Progressivism in America, as well as electricity and tech policy. Having held positions in nonprofit organizations, on advisory councils, at private firms, and policy organizations, Lassman is a recognized expert in free-market economics and strategic marketing for the principles necessary for individual and economic freedom to flourish. In addition to previous roles in strategy, research, and communications at nonprofit policy organizations including FreedomWorks, Citizens for a Sound Economy, and Progress & Freedom Foundation, from 2003 to 2008, he served on the President’s Advisory Council for the State Policy Network. He was the founding director and on the faculty of the Institute for Regulatory Law & Economics. From 2001 to 2006, he served as an advisor to the Task Force on Telecommunications & Information Technology at the American Legislative Exchange Council. 
 
Lassman holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy and politics from The Catholic University of America, with honors for work on market theory, and a Master of Public Administration degree from North Carolina State University. He is an avid triathlete and serves on the board of Tri Equal, an organization dedicated to fairness, development and gender equality in the sport of triathlon. 
 

Todd Zywicki, Antonin Scalia Law School  

Todd Zywicki is George Mason University Foundation Professor of Law at George Mason University Antonin Scalia School of Law, Senior Fellow of the Cato Institute, and former Executive Director of the GMU Law and Economics Center. In 2020-21 he served as the Chair of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Taskforce on Federal Consumer Financial Law. In 2021 he was inducted into the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers. He served as Chair of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Law & Economics in 2019. From 2003-2004, Professor Zywicki served as the Director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission. In 2009, Professor Zywicki was the recipient of the Institute for Humane Studies 2009 Charles G. Koch Outstanding IHS Alum Award. He served as Co-Editor of the Supreme Court Economic Review from 2006-2017 and as Editor from 2001-2002. He teaches in the area of Bankruptcy, Contracts, Commercial Law, Law & Economics, and Public Choice and the Law. He has also taught at Vanderbilt University Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, Boston College Law School, Mississippi College School of Law, and China University of Political Science and Law. Professor Zywicki clerked for Judge Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and worked as an associate at Alston & Bird in Atlanta, Georgia, where he practiced bankruptcy and commercial law. He received his JD from the University of Virginia, where he was executive editor of the Virginia Tax Review and John M. Olin Scholar in Law and Economics. Professor Zywicki also received an MA in Economics from Clemson University and an AB cum Laude with high honors in his major from Dartmouth College. 

Jenin Younes, New Civil Liberties Alliance 

Jenin Younes is Litigation Counsel for the New Civil Liberties Alliance. Having always been a passionate advocate for individual liberties, Jenin spent the first part of her career as an appellate public defender, providing representation to indigent clients convicted of criminal offenses in New York City.  In this capacity, she briefed and argued countless appeals in New York’s Appellate Division, Second Department, and several cases in the New York State Court of Appeals. She also represented individuals at civil hearings in trial court. After witnessing governments throughout the nation violate human rights and civil liberties in an ostensible effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, Jenin became active in fighting against lockdowns and related policies. She has published numerous essays on the subject with the American Institute for Economic Research. Jenin holds a B.A. from Cornell University and a J.D. from New York University School of Law. 

Ronald Colombo, Hofstra University 

Professor Colombo teaches Business Organizations, Securities Regulation, Contracts, and a seminar in corporate and securities law at Hofstra University’s Maurice A. Deane School of Law. His scholarship has focused largely on securities fraud, financial regulation, and corporate constitutional rights. He is the author of “The First Amendment and the Business Corporation” and “Law of Corporate Officer and Directors”. Professor Colombo has earned the Stessin Prize for Outstanding Scholarly Publication, and has addressed academic and professional associations around the country. He has been quoted in both national and international new media, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Dallas Morning News, Newsday, Bloomberg, and The Daily Beast. His op-eds have been published in The Washington Times, The Christian Science Monitor, The Financial Times, and The Huffington Post. Professor Colombo serves on the editorial review board of the Review of Business, and as an arbitrator for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). From 2013-2015, Professor Colombo served as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs of Hofstra Law School, and, since 2015, has served as the law school’s Associate Dean for Distance Education. Before joining the Hofstra faculty in 2006, Professor Colombo served in the Complex Global Litigation Group of Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc., as vice president and counsel. Prior to that, Professor Colombo practiced as a litigation associate at the New York office of Sullivan & Cromwell. From 2000-2003, Professor Colombo also served on the Committee on Professional and Judicial Ethics of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Professor Colombo graduated, magna cum laude, from NYU School of Law, where he served on the NYU Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. Immediately following graduation, Professor Colombo clerked for Judge Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. 

Josh Blackman, South Texas College of Law Houston 

Josh Blackman is a national thought leader on constitutional law and the United States Supreme Court. Josh’s work was quoted during two presidential impeachment trials. He has testified before Congress and advises federal and state lawmakers. Josh regularly appears on TV, including NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, and the BBC. Josh is also a frequent guest on NPR and other syndicated radio programs. He has published commentaries in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and leading national publications. Since 2012, Josh has served as a professor at the South Texas College of Law Houston. Josh is also an adjunct professor at the Cato Institute. Josh has authored three books. His latest, An Introduction to Constitutional Law, was a top-five bestseller on Amazon. Josh has written more than five dozen law review articles that have been cited nearly a thousand times. Josh was selected by Forbes Magazine for the “30 Under 30” in Law and Policy. Josh is the President of the Harlan Institute, and founded FantasySCOTUS the Internet’s Premier Supreme Court Fantasy League. He blogs at the Volokh Conspiracy and tweets @JoshMBlackman. 

Sarah Parshall Perry 

Sarah Parshall Perry is a Legal Fellow for the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, part of the Institute for Constitutional Government at Heritage, where her work centers on civil rights and the proper role of the courts. Sarah joins Heritage after serving as Senior Counsel to the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education where she focused on policy reform, technical guidance, and the Office for Civil Rights’ (OCR) annual report to Congress. While at OCR, she was appointed by the Acting Assistant Secretary to co-chair the Employment Engagement, Diversity, & Inclusion Council and, in coordination with the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement oversee the hiring of dozens of attorneys for OCR’s 12 regional offices nationwide. Prior to her tenure at the Department of Education, she spent six years at the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. where she was Senior Fellow for Education Reform and later, became the regular substitute host for the “Washington Watch” radio show. Her work at the Family Research Council also included the building and oversight of multiple policy coalitions geared toward the fight against antisemitism in academia, curbing tech censorship, and protecting religious liberty. Before joining FRC, Sarah was in-house counsel and director of development for a Baltimore advertising agency, providing management of all new business transactions from pitch to contract execution for the multi-million-dollar enterprise. She began her practice at the litigation firm of Simms Showers, LLP where her work included Title VII employment discrimination, maritime/admiralty, and False Claims Act (“Qui Tam”) law. Sarah has a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, where she was an editor of the Virginia Journal of International Law, a recipient of the American Jurisprudence award, a Phi Delta Phi honor society member, and a student practitioner in the appellate litigation clinic where she argued before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. She holds a B.S. in Journalism with honors from Liberty University. Her commentary and analysis have appeared at the Washington Times, National Review, Human Events, The Federalist, First Things, and The Stream among many others. 

Ari Fleischer, President, Fleischer Communications 

As former White House press secretary, Ari Fleischer was the primary spokesperson for President Bush. He served as spokesman during the historic presidential recount, September 11th, two wars and the anthrax attack. His best-selling book, Taking Heat, details his years in the White House and reached #7 on The New York Times best-seller list. Since leaving the White House, Ari has run a communications company that helps corporations and sports organizations with their communication and media needs.  He has worked for a variety of major companies and leading sports leagues, teams, schools, and individual athletes as well. He graduated from Middlebury College and lives in Westchester County, New York, with his wife, Becki, and their two children.