ATHUL ACHARYA is the Executive Director of Public Accountability, a nonprofit civil-rights law firm focused on reforming qualified immunity and related doctrines. He regularly litigates issues related to freedom of speech, excessive force, prisoners' rights, and the doctrines governing the federal courts. Before entering private practice, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Milan D. Smith, Jr., on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the Honorable Michael H. Simon on the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. Mr. Acharya earned a JD magna cum laude from Duke University School of Law.  

JESSIE ALLOWAY is the Solicitor General, Civil Appeals in the Alaska Department of Law. She oversees the Department’s civil appellate practice and regularly appears before the Ninth Circuit and the Alaska Supreme Court. Before joining the appellate section, Jessie represented state agencies in state and federal court on complex civil litigation primarily focusing on natural resource matters but also litigating federal and state constitutional questions. Immediately after law school, she clerked for Ninth Circuit Judge Richard C. Tallman for three years and then served as a trial attorney in the Environmental Crimes Section of the Department of Justice. Jessie graduated from the University of Montana law school with high honors. 

MERRY JEAN CHAN, CHAIR is the Appellate Chief in the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California, where she oversees all briefing and argument at the Ninth Circuit in criminal cases from the district. She has been at the USAO since clerking for Second Circuit Judge Jon O. Newman, after receiving her J.D. with honors from NYU School of Law, where she served as the Senior Articles Editor of the Law Review. She received her A.B. with high honors from Harvard University. She has taught as an adjunct professor at University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, and University of San Francisco School of Law, and is on the Ninth Circuit’s Advisory Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure through the end of 2025.

TANIA M. CULBERTSON is an Appellate Assistant United States Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Washington in Seattle. She has practiced criminal appellate law at the Department of Justice since 2021, and for a total of six years before that served as a Career Law Clerk and FISA Law Clerk to Judge Richard C. Tallman on the Ninth Circuit. She has also worked as an associate at Pacifica Law Group and at Susman Godfrey, and before law school spent nine years as a marketing and advertising manager in Austin, Texas. Tania is a graduate of Yale University and The University of Texas School of Law, where she graduated with Honors and was an editor of the Texas Law Review.

JOHN E. CUTLER is a shareholder at Parsons Behle & Latimer in Idaho Falls, ID and a past chair of the Idaho State Bar Appellate Practice Section. John has been recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star for Appellate Practice since 2023. Prior to joining Parsons, John clerked for the Honorable N. Randy Smith of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the Honorable Thomas R. Lee former Associate Chief Justice of the Utah Supreme Court, and the Honorable Jill N. Parrish of the United States District Court for the District of Utah. John is a graduate of Brigham Young University and the University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law.

DONNA LEE ELM has a small solo practice doing appellate work for the 9th Circuit and trial/habeas work for the districts of Arizona and Alaska. Barred in 1988, she was an AFPD in the Phoenix Federal Public Defender Office from 2002-2008, and then appointed as the Federal Defender for the Middle District of Florida until 2020. She was appointed by the Chief Justice to the Criminal Rules Committee, served on the steering committee to manage President Obama's clemency initiative, and took 3 cases to the U.S. Supreme Court. She teaches and publishes widely, and currently is a member of the American Law Institute and is vice-chair of the ABA Criminal Justice Magazine’s editorial board.

IAN FEIN is a Deputy Solicitor General in the California Department of Justice. Before that, he served as Senior Counsel for Litigation Strategy at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and worked in the appellate practice group at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. Ian clerked for Justice Elena Kagan, D.C. Circuit Judge Judith Rogers, and Ninth Circuit Judge William Fletcher. He has a J.D. and B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.

RAPH GRAYBILL is a shareholder with Graybill Law Firm, PC, a Montana trial practice founded in 1920. He focuses on constitutional claims, litigation against government entities, and individual damages claims. Since 2021, Graybill’s clients have obtained injunctive relief against over a dozen new statutes in Montana on constitutional grounds. Graybill previously served as Chief Legal Counsel to the Governor of Montana. He began his career as an attorney at Susman Godfrey, LLP and served as a law clerk to Judge Sidney R. Thomas of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Graybill was the 2020 Democratic nominee for Montana Attorney General and the 2024 Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Montana. He is a recipient of the Montana Trial Lawyers Association’s Public Service Award and its Appellate Advocacy Award. Graybill is a graduate of Yale Law School, Columbia University, and the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar.  

ZACH HOWE is the Chief of Staff at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California. He assumed that role in April 2025 after spending nearly seven years in the office’s criminal appeals section. Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 2018, Zach worked as an associate attorney in the appellate practice section at Vinson & Elkins LLP, completed the Simon Karas Fellowship in the Ohio Solicitor General’s Office, and clerked for the Honorable Leslie H. Southwick on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. During his career, Zach has presented oral argument in 53 appeals, including 50 arguments before the Ninth Circuit, and tried 11 cases to jury verdict. Zach received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Texas A&M University and his law degree from Harvard Law School. Outside of work, Zach is active in the San Diego Appellate Inn of Court, where he is the Communications Chair and a member of the Executive Committee.

MICHAEL HUSTON is a partner at Perkins Coie LLP in Phoenix, AZ and the firmwide co-chair of the Appeals, Issues & Strategy practice. Michael is a ranked by Chambers & Partners for nationwide appellate practice, and he regularly assists clients with high stakes appeals in the Supreme Court of the United States, the Ninth Circuit and other U.S. Courts of Appeals, and state appellate courts across the country. He is also sought after for his deep knowledge of administrative law. Before joining Perkins Coie, Michael was an Assistant to the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he represented the federal government before the Supreme Court and advised multiple Solicitors General on all aspects of the federal Government’s litigation strategy. Michael began his career as a law clerk to Chief Justice John G. Roberts and Judge Raymond Kethledge of the Sixth Circuit. He graduated first in his class from the University of Michigan Law School and earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Arizona.  

JAMI JOHNSON is an Assistant Federal Public Defender for the District of Arizona, where she represents indigent defendants primarily in federal criminal appeals. She also serves as member of the Tribal Issues Advisory Group to the United States Sentencing Commission. Previously, she was a litigation associate at the New York office of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. She has also taught criminal procedure and advanced criminal procedure at Arizona State University. Jami graduated summa cum laude from Vanderbilt University and received her J.D. from Yale Law School, where she served as an articles editor of the Yale Law Journal.  

GEOFFREY KEHLMANN is an Associate Clinical Professor of Law at LMU Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. He teaches Legal Research and Writing and directs Loyola’s Ninth Circuit Appellate Clinic and Moot Court Programs. Geoff was an associate at Sidley Austin LLP before serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Harry Pregerson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. After clerking, he taught Appellate Advocacy and coached law students in national appellate advocacy competitions while practicing at Greines, Martin, Stein & Richland LLP. Geoff also taught Legal Research and Writing at UCLA School of Law. He graduated first in his class from LMU Loyola Law School and earned his undergraduate degree from Boston College.

JUDAH LAKIN is a partner at Lakin & Wille LLP, where he focuses on removal defense, appeals, federal court litigation, detention issues, family-based immigration, and the immigration consequences of criminal convictions. Judah is also a lecturer at U.C. Berkeley School of Law, where he supervises law students representing noncitizens before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals through Berkeley Law’s Ninth Circuit Practicum. Prior to starting Lakin & Wille LLP, Judah was an associate at Van Der Hout LLP. Prior to private practice, Judah clerked for the Honorable Richard A. Paez on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and before that, worked at Dolores Street Community Services’ Deportation Defense and Legal Advocacy Program. In addition to his work as an immigration attorney, in 2018, Judah co-founded and now co-directs the Bay Area Immigration Bond Fund—a non-profit project that raises funds for incarcerated individuals who cannot afford their immigration bonds. Judah received his B.A. from Brown University, his M.Ed. from Rhode Island College, and his J.D. from Berkeley Law.

MAXWELL V. PRITT is the leader of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP’s San Francisco office. Max is a trial and appellate litigator who represents plaintiffs and defendants in complex civil and constitutional litigation, with a particular focus on antitrust and unfair competition, class actions, trade secrets and employee mobility, health care, and commercial disputes. Max is a Master Advocate with the National Institute of Trial Lawyers and was recognized by Lawdragon as one of the 500 Leading Litigators in America in 2024 and 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers in 2023. Before joining BSF, Max clerked for now-Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Mary Murguia on the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona and for Ninth Circuit Judge Marsha Berzon. Max is a member of the Judicial Council of California and serves on the Board of Directors of the Marin County Bar Association and Legal Aid of Marin. He is also Chair Emeritus of the Bay Area Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society and has taught at Stanford Law School and UC School of Law, San Francisco as an Adjunct Professor. Max graduated summa cum laude from UC Davis and cum laude from UC School of Law, San Francisco.

ROHIT RAJAN is an Appellate Assistant Federal Public Defender for the District in Nevada. He has worked in the Las Vegas office since 2023. Previously, he worked at the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan in Grand Rapids where he briefed cases before the Sixth Circuit, the Michigan Supreme Court, and the Michigan Court of Appeals. He also clerked for Judge Andrew Hurwitz on the Ninth Circuit and Judge William Shubb on the Eastern District of California. Rohit is a graduate of Arizona State University and Harvard Law School.

BERNA RHODES-FORD is the General Counsel at Nevada State University. Berna has been practicing law since 1996. Her experience is vast and includes higher education, labor and employment, corporate and health care law. She has previously been in-house counsel for Concentra Inc., a national health care company, providing legal advice and serving as chief litigation counsel. Berna clerked on the Ninth Circuit for Judge Johnnie Rawlinson. Berna also brings legislative experience. She served as an intern for Sen. Carol Mosley Braun and legislative assistant and budget manager to Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson. She has also had numerous speaking engagements on a wide variety of workplace, corporate and other legal topics. Ms. Rhodes-Ford earned her bachelor’s degrees from Southern Methodist University and her law degree from the University of Texas School of Law. Ms. Rhodes-Ford is admitted to practice in all state and federal district courts in Nevada and Texas, as well as the Fifth and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals.

KATIE A. RICHARDSON is appellate counsel with the San Diego Office of County Counsel.  Her work focuses on complex federal and state appeals, and major issue litigation in which an appeal is likely.  She has served on the Executive Board of the ABA’s Counsel of Appellate Lawyers and as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Southern California. Before joining the County Counsel’s Office, Katie was in private practice specializing chiefly in appellate litigation.  She obtained her J.D. from American University Washington College of Law and her B.A. from Duke University.  She also has completed two federal judicial clerkships with the Hon. Valerie Baker Fairbank of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and the Hon. Ferdinand F. Fernandez of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

ALEXANDER SAMUELS is the Principal Deputy Solicitor General at the Arizona Attorney General's Office. In that role, he helps oversee all of the Office's civil and criminal appellate work, as well as high-profile civil litigation in state and federal trial courts. He regularly handles cases in the Ninth Circuit and Arizona Supreme Court, and has also argued in the United States Supreme Court. Before joining the Attorney General's Office, Alex worked as an Assistant United States Attorney, with a focus on prosecuting violent crimes in Arizona's tribal communities, and in private practice at Perkins Coie. He served as a law clerk for the Honorable Andrew D. Hurwitz at the Arizona Supreme Court and at the Ninth Circuit. He is a graduate of Arizona State University and Harvard Law School.

ERIC SHUMSKY is a nationally recognized appellate partner in Orrick’s Washington, D.C. office, known for handling high-stakes appeals across a range of industries, with a particular focus on the technology sector. Legal 500 touts Eric as one of “the finest appellate litigators in the nation.” And Reuters, in a report reviewing some 17,000 practitioners, identified Eric as part of an “elite cadre” of 75 lawyers who are “the most influential members of one of the most powerful specialties in America: the business of practicing before the Supreme Court.” Eric has served as appellate counsel to a who’s who of leading companies, including AT&T, DISH Network, Facebook, Genentech, Gilead, KPMG, LG Electronics, LinkedIn, Lyft, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Netflix, Norfolk Southern, Synopsys, Twitter, and Union Carbide. Across an array of industries, Eric has briefed and argued issues including patent and copyright. He has been a primary author of more than 100 briefs in the Supreme Court alone. Eric has particular proficiency in matters of technology and intellectual property. He regularly litigates novel issues concerning the regulation of the internet, including CDA Section 230, computer fraud, takedown notices, and internet domain names. He has been counsel in dozens of patent appeals in the Federal Circuit—litigating patents ranging from semiconductor construction, computer architecture, and genetic sequencing to tobacco curing, keyboard trays, and electrical junction boxes. A former law clerk on the Ninth Circuit and the Central District of California, Eric has extensive experience in the California state and federal appellate courts where tech issues commonly arise.

AADIKA SINGH handles appeals and post-conviction motions for the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Alaska. Previously, with the ACLU and Public Rights Project, she litigated civil rights cases to protect and advance the rights of immigrants, detained people and those reentering society, and racial and gender minorities. Aadika served as a law clerk to Justice Bridget McCormack of the Michigan Supreme Court, Judge Gerald McHugh of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and Judge Theodore McKee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School where she was senior editor of the Law Review.

JOCELYN SPERLING is counsel with the Complex Appellate Litigation Group LLP. She handles civil appeals in federal and state courts, and is a certified specialist in appellate law. After law school she clerked for Ninth Circuit Judge Richard A. Paez, and later was a staff attorney for the Court. Jocelyn is past chair of the Committee on Appellate Courts of the California Lawyers Association’s Litigation Section and past chair of the Alameda County Bar Association’s Appellate Section and Judicial Appointments Evaluation Committee. Jocelyn graduated from UCLA School of Law, where she was in the first class of UCLA Law’s Program in Public Interest and Policy, and earned her undergraduate degree from Duke University.

JULIA SPIEGEL is the founder and CEO of GovAct, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that supports governors in championing fundamental freedoms across the country. Prior to founding GovAct, Julia served as deputy legal affairs secretary and senior advisor on reproductive rights to California Governor Gavin Newsom, directing litigation and helping oversee and drive the state’s work on reproductive rights, consumer protection, immigration, and health and human services. Julia also litigated high-impact cases on immigration, voting rights, and other social justice matters as a deputy county counsel in the Santa Clara County Counsel’s Office, served as a senior advisor to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power and a law clerk to Judge M. Margaret McKeown on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and taught courses on foreign affairs and the U.S. Constitution at Stanford Law School and Stanford’s Ford Dorsey Master’s in International Policy Program. Julia has a B.A. from Stanford University, a M.P.P from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, and a J.D. from Yale Law School.

RENE L. VALLADARES is the Federal Public Defender for the District of Nevada. He is an Adjunct Professor at the William S. Boyd School of Law. Rene was the recipient of the 2023 NACDL Champion of Justice Award-Legal Education. Rene is the author of A Defender’s Guide to Federal Evidence (now on its Second Edition) the only evidence practice handbook exclusively for federal criminal defense attorneys. All royalties from the book go toward advancing criminal justice reform.

CORY L. WEBSTER is an Assistant United States Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California. He served on the Ninth Circuit’s Advisory Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure from 2023 through 2025, and he was the Chair of the Orange County Bar Association’s Appellate Law Section in 2024. Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Cory was in private practice, most recently as a partner at Dykema Gossett, where he was an appellate lawyer practicing primarily in the Ninth Circuit and California appellate courts. He completed two federal judicial clerkships, one with Ninth Circuit Judge Consuelo Callahan and the other as a “floater” clerk in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University and Pepperdine University School of Law.

DANIEL WINIK is a member of the Appellate Staff of the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.  He briefs and argues appeals on behalf of the United States, federal agencies, and their officers and employees in appellate courts nationwide.  Before his government service, Daniel practiced in the Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation group of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP and served as a law clerk to Justice Sonia Sotomayor and to Ninth Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt.  He is a member of the Edward Coke Appellate Inn of Court in Washington, D.C., and a graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School.

MATTHEW M. YELOVICH is a partner in litigation at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, focusing on internal and government investigations, complex civil litigation, and appeals. Before joining the firm, Matt served as the Deputy Criminal Chief at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California, where he (alongside the Criminal Chief) oversaw approximately 100 federal prosecutors and 15 supervisors. Before that, Matt was the Office's Appellate Chief, overseeing all briefing and argument at the Ninth Circuit in criminal cases from the district, and directly supervising a section of dedicated appellate AUSAs and paralegals. In his nearly ten years as a federal prosecutor in the Northern and Eastern Districts of California, Matt investigated and prosecuted numerous fraud and related offenses from case opening through trial and appeal, and he has personally briefed and argued various complex issues of first impression at the appellate level. Matt began his career as an associate at a large international law firm in New York, and he clerked for the Hon. Reena Raggi of the Second Circuit. He is a graduate of Columbia Law School and Duke University, and he has taught advanced legal writing and advocacy at Stanford Law School and the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco.

(last revised 12/12/2025)