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2009 Keynotes

Please check back soon for the 2010 Keynote Speakers.

Robert Bauer
General Counsel, Obama for America
Partner, Perkins Coie

Robert Bauer is the Chair of the Political Law Group of Perkins Coie LLP. In Bob's 30 years of practice, he has provided counseling and representation on matters involving regulation of political activity before the courts and administrative agencies of national party committees, candidates, political committees, individuals, federal officeholders, corporations and trade associations, and tax-exempt groups.

Bob is the author of several books — United States Federal Election Law (1982, 1984), Soft Money Hard Law: A Guide to the New Campaign Finance Law  (2002) and More Soft Money Hard Law: The Second Edition of the Guide to the New Campaign Finance Law  (2004) — and numerous articles. He also serves on the National Advisory Board of Journal of Law and Politics. In 2000, he received the prestigious "Burton Award for Legal Achievement" for his legal writing. Bob is a 1976 graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was named Hardy Dillard Fellow in legal writing.

Bob is currently counsel to Obama for America and the Democratic Senatorial and Congressional Campaign Committees, and has served as co-counsel to the New Hampshire State Senate in the trial of Chief Justice David A. Brock (2000); general counsel to the Bill Bradley for President Committee (1999-2000); and counsel to the Democratic Leader in the trial of President William Jefferson Clinton (1999). He has co-authored numerous bipartisan reports, including "Report of Counsel to the Senate Rules and Administration Committee in the Matter of the United States Senate Seat From Louisiana" in the 105th Congress of the United States (March 27, 1997); "Campaign Finance Reform," A Report to the Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the United States Senate (March 6, 1990); and "The Presidential Election Process in the Philippines" (1986), a bipartisan report prepared at the request of the Chairman and Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Bob is also the author of the Weblog, www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com, on which he writes about campaign finance and other issues of interest to the political community.

David Boies
Chairman
Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP

Born: Sycamore, Illinois, March 11, 1941

Education: University of Redlands (1960-62); Northwestern University, B.S., 1964; Yale University, LL.B., magna cum laude, 1966; New York University, LL.M, 1967.

Position:  Chairman of the law firm of Boies, Schiller and Flexner LLP. The firm has offices in New York, Washington D.C., California, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, and New Jersey.

Public Service:   Mr. Boies served as Chief Counsel and Staff Director of the United States Senate Antitrust Subcommittee in 1978 and Chief Counsel and Staff Director of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee in 1979. In 1991-1993 Mr. Boies was counsel to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in its litigation to recover losses for failed savings and loan associations, and in 1998-2000 Mr. Boies served as Special Trial Counsel for the United States Department of Justice in its antitrust suit against Microsoft. Mr. Boies also served as the lead counsel for former Vice-President Al Gore in connection with litigation relating to the 2000 election Florida vote count.  Mr. Boies has taught courses at New York University Law School and Cardozo Law School. 

Publications:  Mr. Boies is the author of numerous publications including Courting Justice, published by Miramax in 2004 and Public Control of Business (co-authored with Paul Verkuil), published by Little Brown in 1977.

Member:   Phi Beta Kappa; New York Bar (1967); Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers; Fellow, International Academy of Trial Lawyers.

Awards:  Mr. Boies is the recipient of LL.D.s from the University of Redlands (2000) and New York Law School (2007).  His awards include the Milton Gould Award for Outstanding Oral Advocacy, the Pinnacle Award from the International Dyslexia Association, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the LD Access Foundation, the Outstanding Learning Disabled Achievers Award from the Lab School of Washington, and the William Brennan Award from the University of Virginia (2000).  Mr. Boies was named the Antitrust Lawyer of the Year by the New York Bar Association (2003); the Lawyer of the Year by the National Law Journal (1999 and 2000); and the Commercial Litigator of the Year by Who=s Who International (2005 and 2008).

Dick Thornburgh
Of Counsel, K&L Gates
Former U.S. Attorney General
Former Governor of Pennsylvania

Dick Thornburgh served as Governor of Pennsylvania, Attorney General of the United States under two presidents and the highest-ranking American at the United Nations during a public career which spanned over 25 years.

Elected Governor of Pennsylvania in 1978 and re-elected in 1982, Thornburgh was the first Republican ever to serve two successive terms in that office.  He served as Chair of the Republican Governors Association and was named by his fellow governors as one of the nation's most effective big-state governors in a 1986 Newsweek poll.

During his service as Governor, Thornburgh balanced state budgets for eight consecutive years, reduced both personal and business tax rates, cut the state's record-high indebtedness and left a surplus of $350 million.  Under his leadership, 15,000 unnecessary positions were eliminated from a swollen state bureaucracy and widely recognized economic development, education and welfare reform programs were implemented.  Pennsylvania 's unemployment rate, among the ten highest in the nation when he was elected, was among the ten lowest when he left office.

Following the unprecedented Three Mile Island nuclear accident in 1979, he was described by observers as “one of the few authentic heroes of that episode as a calm voice against panic.”

After his unanimous confirmation by the United States Senate, Thornburgh served three years as Attorney General of the United States (1988-1991) in the cabinets of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.  He mounted an unprecedented attack on white-collar crime as the Department of Justice obtained a record number of convictions of savings and loan and securities officials, defense contractors and corrupt public officials.  Thornburgh established strong ties with law enforcement agencies around the world to help combat drug trafficking, money laundering, terrorism and international white-collar crime.  The Legal Times noted that Thornburgh as Attorney General “built a reputation as one of the most effective champions that prosecutors have ever had.”  He currently chairs a panel of the National Academy of Public Administration examining the transformation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

As Attorney General, Thornburgh played a leading role in the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  He also took vigorous action against racial, religious and ethnic “hate crimes,” and his office mounted a renewed effort to enforce the nation's anti-trust and environmental laws.   In 2002, he received the Wiley E. Branton Award of The Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs in recognition of his “commitment to the civil rights of people with disabilities.”

All told, Thornburgh served in the Justice Department under five Presidents, beginning as United States Attorney in Pittsburgh (1969-1975) and Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division (1975-1977), emphasizing efforts against major drug traffickers, organized crime and corrupt public officials.  In August 2002, he was appointed Examiner in the WorldCom bankruptcy proceedings, the largest ever filed, to report on wrongdoing and malfeasance that led to the company’s downfall.  He was also chosen in 2004 by CBS to conduct an investigation into the 60 Minutes Wednesday segment on President Bush’s service in the Texas Air National Guard.  In 2004, he was named as one of Washington ’s top criminal defense lawyers by Washingtonian magazine.

During his service as Under-Secretary-General at the United Nations (1992-1993), Thornburgh was in charge of personnel, budget and finance matters.  His report to the Secretary-General on reform, restructuring and streamlining efforts designed to make the United Nations peacekeeping, humanitarian and development programs more efficient and cost-effective was widely praised.  He also has served as a consultant to the United Nations and the World Bank on efforts to battle fraud and corruption.

Throughout his career, he has traveled widely, visiting over 40 countries and meeting with leaders from Canada , Mexico , Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Russia , Ukraine , Japan , China , Taiwan , Korea , Cambodia , Australia and Central and South America .  He served as an observer to Russia 's legislative (1993) and presidential (1996) elections, is Chairman of the U.S. Committee for Hong Kong and is a member of the board of advisors of the Russian-American Institute for Law and Economics.

Professional/Civic Activities

  • American Bar Foundation
  • American Judicature Society
  • American Law Institute
  • Council on Foreign Relations
  • National Academy of Public Administration
  • Urban Institute
  • Washington Legal Foundation
  • World Council on Disability

Court Admissions

  • U.S. Supreme Court and courts of Pennsylvania and District of Columbia

Bar Admissions

  • Bar of District of Columbia
  • Bar of Pennsylvania

Education

  • LL.B., University of Pittsburgh School of Law (1957) (Order of the Coif; Case Editor, Law Review)
  • B.E., Yale University (1954)

Achievements

Honorary degrees from 31 other colleges and universities