The Counselors

Join us on April 23, 2024, for this year’s edition of The Counselors: “Resolved: Justices to the U.S. Supreme Court should be appointed for a single, fixed 18 year-term rather than a lifetime appointment.”

The Dole Institute has been proud to present The Counselors program, a cross between a mock trial and a debate, featuring attorneys Ed Duckers and Pedro Irigonegaray, for many years. Beginning in Spring 2022, Duckers and Irigonegaray mentored Dole Institute Student Advisory Board members to conduct research and cross-examine expert witnesses. This year, the Institute is continuing the tradition of student involvement in the program with the addition of two students from the Washburn University School of Law.

This program will be moderated by Braiden Bangalan, SAB member and Discussion Group Coordinator, majoring in global and international studies, political science, and data science.

This program is presented in partnership with the Washburn University School of Law

Affirming Side

Pedro Irigonegaray is an attorney and partner at Irigonegaray, Turney, & Revenaugh. A trial lawyer since 1973, Pedro is a former President of The Kansas Trial Lawyers Association, a Fellow in The American College of Trial Lawyers and a Fellow in The International Academy of Trial Lawyers.

Michael Milov-Cordoba is a counsel in the Brennan Center’s Judiciary Program, where he works on state and federal court reform to ensure that courts uphold democratic values and the rule of law. Prior to joining the Brennan Center, Michael served as a law clerk to the Hon. Alvin W. Thompson of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. Michael received his JD from NYU School of Law, a master’s degree in Political Science from Columbia University, and his bachelor’s degree in Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought from Amherst College.

Lou Mulligan serves as dean at the UMKC Law School, following a long tenure as a member of the KU Law School faculty and service as KU’s vice provost for faculty affairs.  He is also a prolific scholar, with his work regularly cited by the state and federal courts. Additionally, he continues to represent clients and serves the legal profession in organizations such as the Kansas Judicial Council-Civil Rules Committee and the Council on Criminal Justice.

Sarah Vargas, 2L at Washburn University School of Law

Matvey Tabakh, KU junior and SAB member majoring in accounting, on pre-law track

Riley Keiter, KU junior and SAB member majoring in Political Science and minoring in Law & Society

Negating Side

Ed Duckers is partner at Stoel Rives LLP and the head of the firm’s Litigation Practice in California and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. He is a past chair of Stoel Rives’ Food and Agribusiness Industry Team.

Stephen McAllister is the E.S. & Tom W. Hampton Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Kansas School of Law. Prior to joining the faculty in 1993, Stephen McAllister clerked for Justices Byron White and Clarence Thomas at the Supreme Court of the United States and Judge Richard Posner at the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He also was in private practice in the Washington, D.C., office of the Los Angeles law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. From 2018 to 2021, he served as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas.

Shannon Grammel serves as counsel at Lehotsky Keller Cohn LLP, where she represents both private- and public-sector clients at the trial and appellate levels. Prior to joining Lehotsky Keller Cohn, Ms. Grammel served as Deputy Solicitor General of Kansas. Before that, she was a member of the Supreme Court & Appellate group in Latham & Watkins LLP’s Washington D.C. office. Ms. Grammel clerked for Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. She earned her law degree from Stanford Law School, where she was President of the Stanford Law Review.

Caitlin Riffer, 3L at Washburn University School of Law and former SAB member

Nathan Binshtok, KU freshman and SAB member majoring in economics, on a pre-law track

Jaspreet Kaur, KU freshman and SAB member majoring in communications