I am an equity member at
Jackson Kelly PLLC, where I lead the firm’s intellectual property and licensing practice group. I represent governmental entities, public officials, businesses, and corporations, with a practice that often centers on intellectual property, constitutional law, separation of powers, and the limits of executive authority. I also serve as an Adjunct Scholar at the
Cato Institute, focusing on constitutional structure, executive power, and federalism.
My constitutional work blends scholarship with litigation. In 2020, I co-authored an article in the
Indiana Law Review with Abby DeMare,
urging stronger legislative checks on executive emergency powers. I later served as co-counsel in a civil suit against the State of Indiana and Governor Eric Holcomb, challenging pandemic-era executive orders as exceeding constitutional authority. After the challenged orders were rescinded, the case was dismissed as moot.
In 2025, I organized and co-authored a
high-profile amici curiae brief in V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump and Learning Resources v. Trump, federal cases contesting President Donald Trump’s tariff and import-tax program. The brief brought together a bipartisan coalition of constitutional scholars, former judges, and senior public officials, including Steven Calabresi, Michael McConnell, Richard Epstein, former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, former U.S. Senators George Allen, John Danforth, and Chuck Hagel, and leading academics Harold Koh, Alan Sykes, and Gerard Magliocca. Often called the “McConnell/Claybourn brief,” it argued that the Republic’s durability rests not only on elections but on faithful adherence to the Constitution’s structural limits on executive power. I expanded on these themes in an op-ed for
The Wall Street Journal. Courts at both the district and appellate levels relied on these arguments in overturning the tariffs.
Alongside my constitutional practice, I advise clients on trademark clearance, registration, and portfolio strategy; draft and negotiate licensing agreements; counsel on copyright protection and infringement; and handle disputes before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in federal court.
World IP Review recognized me as a “Leader” in trademark law. My clients range from startups to Fortune 500 companies.
I also counsel municipalities on finance, tax abatements, economic development, public-private partnerships, infrastructure, regulatory compliance, zoning and land use, ethics, and public records. My commercial work includes mergers and acquisitions, strategic partnerships, contract negotiations, corporate governance, and litigation strategy.
