Volume Seven

The Honorable Edwin Meese, III is the Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow in Public Policy and Chairman of the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation.  He was the 75th Attorney General of the United States from 1985-1988 and Counselor to the President from 1981-1985.  In addition to being a member of President Reagan's Cabinet, General Meese was also a member of the National Security Council and the Chairman of the Domestic Policy Council and the National Drug Policy Board.  Before coming to Washington, D.C., he served as  Executive Assistant and Chief of Staff to Governor Reagan from 1969-1974 and Legal Affairs Secretary from 1967-1968.

General Meese is the author and editor of several books, including The Heritage Guide to the Constitution (Regnery, 2005); Leadership, Ethics and Policing (Prentice Hall, 2004); Making America Safer (Heritage, 1997); and With Reagan: The Inside Story (Regnery Gateway, 1992).

A full biography of General Meese may be found here.

Professor Paula Franzese is the Peter W. Rodino Professor of Law at Seton Hall University School of Law where she teaches courses in Property and Commercial Law.  She is one of the nation's leading experts on government ethics and has served as Special Ethics Counsel to the Governor of New Jersey, Chair of the State Ethics Commission, and Vice-Chair of the Election Law Enforcement Commission.  Professor Franzese has written extensively on state and local government ethics reform and co-authored the Uniform Ethics Code with the late Justice Daniel J. O'Hern of the Supreme Court of New Jersey.  She has received numerous academic and professional honors, including the National Council on Governmental Ethics Law Award.  Professor Franzese has been named Top Law Professor in New Jersey by the New Jersey Law Journal and is a nine-time recipient of the student body's Professor of the Year Award.

A full biography of Professor Franzese may be found here.

Professor David Opderbeck is an Associate Professor of Law at Seton Hall University School of Law where he teaches courses in Intellectual Property and Torts and is the Director of the Gibbons Institute of Law, Science, & Technology.  He has been published in numerous law journals over the last decade and hosted or spoken at many conferences and lectures related to cybersecurity and computer crimes.  Prior to joining the faculty of Seton Hall Law, Professor Opderbeck was a partner in the Intellectual Property and Trade Regulation practice group at McCarter & English, LLP.

A full biography of Professor Opderbeck may be found here.

Professor Michael Baldassare is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Seton Hall University School of Law where he teaches courses in Criminal Procedure and Criminal Sentencing.  He is a partner at Baldassare & Mara, LLC, a prominent criminal defense firm in New Jersey.  Professor Baldassare has argued several cases of first impression before the Supreme Court of New Jersey and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and is the Secretary-Treasurer of the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey.

A full biography of Professor Baldassare may be found here.

Professor Matt Troiano is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Seton Hall University School of Law where he teaches a course in Appellate Advocacy and is an Assistant Prosecutor in the Major Crimes Unit at the Morris County Prosecutor's Office.  Prior to this, he was in the Special Victim's Unit at the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office and served as a law clerk to the Honorable Michael Casale of the Superior Court of New Jersey.

Ross Garber is a partner at Shipman & Goodwin LLP and Co-Chair of the firm's Government Investigations and White Collar Criminal Defense team.  He has represented corporations and individuals being investigated by federal and state prosecutors and securities, banking, and insurance regulators.  Mr. Garber has served as Chief Counsel to two Governors of Connecticut and recently represented the governors of two states in impeachment proceedings before their respective state legislatures.

A full biography of Mr. Garber may be found here.

Professor Lee Vartan is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Seton Hall University School of Law where he teaches courses in cybersecurity and computer crimes.  He also serves as Counsel to the Governor of New Jersey.  Professor Vartan is a former Assistant United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, where he prosecuted computer crimes, mortgage fraud, gun trafficking, identity theft, child exploitation offenses, tax violations, and drug crimes.  Prior to joining the United States Attorney's Office, he was an associate at both Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman LLP and Dewey & Le Boeuf LLP.

Paul Larkin is the Senior Legal Research Fellow in the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation and directs the Overcriminalization Project at the Foundation.  He has served as an assistant to the Solicitor General, argued twenty-seven cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, and worked as counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee and Verizon Communications.

A full biography of Mr. Larkin may be found here.

James Copland is the Director of the Center for Legal Policy at the Manhattan Institute where he focuses on how to improve the civil and criminal justice system.  He has been published in the Wall Street Journal, the National Law Journal, and USA Today.  Mr. Copland has also appeared on Fox News, MSNBC, C-SPAN, and NPR.  Last month, he testified before the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the House Judiciary Committee.

A full biography of Mr. Copland may be found here.

Andrew Grossman is a Visiting Legal Fellow in the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation and an associate at Baker & Hostetler LLP.  His research focuses on the constitutional separation of powers, including the limits of federal authority.  Mr. Grossman has drafted or contributed to several certiorari petitions and briefs filed with the Supreme Court of the United States; provided legal commentary on Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, and NPR; and testified before both houses of Congress.

A full biography of Mr. Grossman may be found here.

Robyn Mar is a Supervisor at The Bronx Defenders, a non-profit organization providing free legal representation to residents of the Bronx.  She has extensive experience defending juveniles accused of crimes and has taught legal research skills to inmates in New York State prisons.

A full biography of Ms. Mar may be found here.