Thomas M. Fisher has served as an Indiana Deputy Attorney General since February 2001 and was named Indiana's first Solicitor General in July 2005. In that role, he handles high-profile litigation for the State, defends state statutes against constitutional attack, advises the Attorney General on a range of legal policy issues, and manages the State’s U.S. Supreme Court docket. A two-time recipient of the National Association of Attorneys General Best Brief Award for excellence in U.S. Supreme Court brief writing, Fisher has argued four times before the High Court. His U.S. Supreme Court practice has also included authorship of dozens of cert-stage and merits-stage amicus curiae briefs on a wide range of issues, including jury impeachment, federal preemption, legislative prayer, public Ten Commandments displays, the definition of marriage, abortion regulation, right to trial by jury, habeas corpus, and federal taxpayer standing, among many others. In addition, Fisher has argued dozens of important and high-profile cases before both the Indiana Supreme Court and the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, including successful defenses of Indiana’s choice scholarship program, its popular telephone privacy laws, and its alcohol distribution regulations. Other argued cases have included constitutional defense of abortion regulations, parental rights laws, judicial speech canons, Medicaid statutes, the definition of marriage, state toll road leasing, and public school funding, among many other subjects. In 2018, Fisher was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers.

Scott G. Stewart serves as Solicitor General for the State of Mississippi. In that role, he is the State’s lead advocate for appellate litigation. He directly handles appeals for the State, oversees the State’s appellate litigation and strategy, and facilitates the State’s involvement in amicus curiae briefs. Scott Stewart comes to the Attorney General’s Office from his position as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice. In that role, Stewart defended many of the United States’ most important policies and presented more than 40 oral arguments in the federal courts of appeals. Before that, Stewart served in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel and worked in private practice as a litigator. He served as a law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court of the United States and to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Stewart graduated from Princeton University and Stanford Law School.

This convening is open to all invitees who are compliant with UChicago vaccination requirements and, because of ongoing health risks, particularly to the unvaccinated, participants are expected to adopt the risk mitigation measures (masking and social distancing, etc.) appropriate to their vaccination status as advised by public health officials or to their individual vulnerabilities as advised by a medical professional. Public convening may not be safe for all and carries a risk for contracting COVID-19, particularly for those unvaccinated. Participants will not know the vaccination status of others and should follow appropriate risk mitigation measures.

This is a mask-optional convening. We strongly encourage unvaccinated individuals and those preferring to wear masks to do so.