Leadership

Robert Weissman is president of Public Citizen.

Weissman is an expert on economic, health care, trade and globalization, intellectual property and regulatory policy, and issues related to corporate responsibility and commercialism. He has written extensively on corporate accountability, access to medicines, corporate influence over the political process, and World Trade Organization and regulation of the financial markets.

Background:

• Director of the corporate accountability organization Essential Action
• Editor, Multinational Monitor, a magazine that tracks corporate actions worldwide
• Public interest attorney at Center for Study of Responsive Law

Media Appearances:

Weissman has appeared on CBS, CNN, PBS, CNBC, NPR and Marketplace Radio, and has been published and quoted in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, USA Today, the Economist, the Financial Times, the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Time Magazine.

Good Government

David Arkush is the director of the Congress Watch division of Public Citizen.

Arkush is an expert in public financing of elections, open government, lobbying and ethics reform, court secrecy, federal preemption of state law and binding mandatory arbitration in consumer contracts.

Read a more detailed bio of David Arkush

Background:

• Staff attorney at Public Justice
• Teaching Fellow and Supervising Attorney in the Appellate Litigation Program at the Georgetown University Law Center
• Fuchsberg Fellow at the Public Citizen Litigation Group
• Clerk for the Honorable R. Lanier Anderson III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• Associate at the private public-interest law firm Adkins, Kelston & Zavez
• Statewide Coordinator of Missouri Voters for Fair Elections

Media Appearances:

Background:

• Senior fellow at Consumers Union
• Associate Editor for Consumerist.com

Christine Hines is consumer and civil justice counsel for Public Citizen. She advocates before Congress and the federal agencies to improve consumer product safety and individuals’ access to court, addressing issues such as the implementation of the national consumer product safety overhaul law, pre-dispute mandatory arbitration, federal preemption/medical device safety legislation and medical liability/patient safety.

• Former reporter and editor at various organizations, including Legal Times, covering food and drug law, personal injury, the business of law, international trade and intellectual property.

• Began career practicing business/insurance litigation at a South Florida law firm.

Craig Holman, PhD is the legislative representative for Public Citizen, serving as the organization’s Capitol Hill lobbyist on ethics, lobbying and campaign finance rules.

Holman is an expert on campaign finance reform, governmental ethics, lobbying practices and the impact of money in politics.

Read a more detailed bio of Craig Holman.

Background:

• Senior Policy Analyst at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law
• Assisted in drafting campaign finance reform legislation
• Author of numerous reports and research projects on the initiative process and the impact of money in politics
• Served as an expert witness or principal researcher in several court cases defending campaign finance laws, including McConnell v. FEC

Media Appearances:

Holman has appeared on CNN, CNBC, Fox News, Pacifica Radio and NPR, and has been quoted in publications such as The National Journal, USA Today, Roll Call, Congressional Quarterly and the Associated Press.

Taylor Lincoln is the research director of the Congress Watch division of Public Citizen.

Lincoln is an expert in issues such as the lobbying campaign against the estate tax, campaign contributions from lobbyists to members of Congress, the electioneering activities of 501 (c) non-profits and the revolving door between the government and K Street.

Read a more detailed bio of Taylor Lincoln.

Background:

• Author and co-author of many of Congress Watch’s ground-breaking reports
• Former reporter for The Federal Paper, the Potomac Tech Journal and the Montgomery Journal

Media Appearances:

Lincoln has been an occasional guest on television and radio stations and has been quoted in publications such as The Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, the Associated Press, BNA, The Philadelphia Inquirer and has had op-eds published in Roll Call.

Background:

• Director of Ohio Attorney General’s federal program in Washington, D.C., with a focus on financial reform, corporate accountability, government accountability, consumer protection and law enforcement
• Received a Juris Doctor and Master in Business Administration from Michigan State University, studying corporate and international law and finance
• Received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Cleveland State University, with a major in finance

Media Appearances:

Mehall has appeared on Good Morning America, The Leslie Marshall Show – a nationally syndicated radio program, The Brad Bannon Show – a radio program in Boston, Your Call – a radio program in San Francisco, and local television news programs in Virginia, Illinois and Michigan.

Health and Safety

Sidney M. Wolfe, MD is the founder and director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group.

Wolfe is an expert on issues of drug safety, health care policy, Food and Drug Administration and hospital oversight, OSHA, medical devices, Medicare and Medicaid and doctor discipline.

Background:

• Member of the Food and Drug Administration's Drug Safety and Risk Management Committee since August 2008
• Researcher at the National Institutes of Health specializing in aspects of blood-clotting and alcoholism
• Adjunct Professor of Internal Medicine at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Media Appearances:

Wolfe has appeared on CNBC, CBS, NPR, ABC, NBC, PBS and Fox News, and has been quoted in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post.

Energy

Tyson Slocum is the director of the Energy Program at Public Citizen.

Slocum is an expert in issues dealing with regulation and deregulation of energy markets, the impact of mergers and lax regulations over electricity, petroleum and natural gas and federal energy legislation.

Read a more detailed bio of Tyson Slocum.

Background:

• Member of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee since May 2009
• Policy Analyst at Citizens for Tax Justice

Media Appearances:

Slocum has appeared on CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, Fox News and Comedy Central's "Colbert Report," and has been quoted in publications such as Forbes, CNNMoney.com, The Hill, The New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, the Associated Press and The Los Angeles Times.

Allison Fisher is an organizer with the Energy Program at Public Citizen.

Fisher is an expert in engaging and organizing communities to challenge dirty energy sources at the local and state level and on issues such as the relapse of nuclear energy.

Background:

• Master’s degree in Macro Social Work (Community Organizing) from the University of Connecticut
• B.A. in International Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Rural Youth at Risk Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala

Media Appearances:

Trade

Lori M. Wallach has been director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch division since 1995.

Wallach is an expert on the operations and outcomes of trade policies such as NAFTA, WTO, CAFTA and more. She is steeped in the domestic and international politics of current trade negotiations and disputes. Wallach works closely with Congress and civil society, scholars, and activists in the U.S and developing countries to foster the growing debate about implications of different models of globalization on jobs, off-shoring, wages, the environment, public health and food safety; equality and social justice and democratically accountable governance.

Read a more detailed bio of Lori Wallach.

Background:

• Author of numerous articles and books, most recently Whose Trade Organization?
• Founder and board member of Citizens Trade Campaign
• Prior to law school, Wallach worked for a member of the U.S. House of Representatives

Media Appearances:

Wallach has appeared on CNN, NPR, ABC, CNBC, Fox News, PBS, Bloomberg TV, BBC and C-SPAN, and has been quoted publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, USA Today, BNA, and The National Journal.

Todd Tucker is the research director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch division.

Tucker is an expert on the legal, economic and political implications of the WTO, NAFTA, CAFTA and other trade agreements, and also on U.S. foreign policy issues.

Read a more detailed bio of Todd Tucker.

Background:

• Co-author of "The Rise and Fall of Fast Track Trade Authority"
• Analyst at the Center for Economic and Policy Research

Media Appearances:

Tucker has appeared on, been cited and published by radio, print and Internet outlets such as CNN, NPR, Fox News, C-SPAN's Washington Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, The Nation magazine, Foreign Policy in Focus, and others.

Legal Issues

Allison Zieve is the director for the Litigation Group at Public Citizen.

Zieve is an expert in issues such as public health litigation, regulatory law, open government, federal preemption, class action abuse and the First Amendment.

Read a more detailed bio of Allison Zieve.

Background:

• Staff attorney at Public Citizen Litigation Group since 1994
• Has argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and numerous federal appellate and trial courts
• Published articles on FDA regulation, tobacco, preemption and the Freedom of Information Act

Media Appearances:

Zieve has been quoted in publications such as The Chicago Tribune, The Hill, Legal Times, Newsday, The New York Times, The National Law Journal, The Houston Chronicle, The Los Angeles Times and The San Francisco Chronicle.

Greg Beck is an attorney for the Litigation Group at Public Citizen.

Beck is an expert in issues of protecting the rights of consumers on the Internet, free speech, intellectual property and consumer rights.

Read a more detailed bio of Greg Beck.

Background:

• Equal Justice Works fellow at Public Citizen from 2005-2007
• Clerk for the Honorable Michael R. Murphy of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
• Former Articles Editor of the University of Illinois Law Review
• Prior to and during law school, Beck worked as a computer programmer

Media Appearances:

Beck has been quoted in publications such as The New York Times, The New York Sun, The Boston Globe, The Cincinnati Post, U.S. News & World Report, The National Law Journal, American Lawyer, and a variety of blogs and online news sources. Beck is a regular contributor to the Consumer Law & Policy Blog.

Deepak Gupta is an attorney for Litigation Group at Public Citizen and directs the Group’s Consumer Justice Project.

Gupta is an expert in issues of consumer and constitutional litigation, particularly those legal issues that have the potential to broadly affect consumers’ rights.

Read a more detailed bio of Deepak Gupta.

Background:

• Alan Morrison Supreme Court Assistance Fellow at Public Citizen
• Clerk for the Honorable Lawrence K. Karlton, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
• Worked on voting rights litigation at the U.S. Department of Justice, church-state litigation at Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and prison reform litigation at the American Civil Liberties Union

Media Appearances:

Gupta has appeared on National Public Radio's All Things Considered and has been quoted in publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, the Detroit News, The New Orleans Times-Picayune, and the New York Law Journal.

Michael Kirkpatrick is a senior attorney for the Litigation Group at Public Citizen.

Kirkpatrick is an expert in constitutional law, civil rights, administrative law, and open government.

Read a more detailed bio of Michael Kirkpatrick.

Background:

• Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University Law Center
• Senior Trial Attorney with the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice
• Attorney with the Farm Worker Division of Texas Rural Legal Aid, Inc.

Media Appearances:

Kirkpatrick has appeared on syndicated radio programs such as Democracy Now, The Connection, All Things Considered, Morning Edition and Voice of America, and has been quoted in publications such as The New York Times, Reuters, The Washington Post, Legal Times, The Los Angeles Times and the New York Law Journal.

Paul Alan Levy is a senior attorney for the Litigation Group at Public Citizen.

Levy is an expert in issues of Internet free speech, removal jurisdiction, and the representation of “lawyers in trouble” from sanctions, contempt findings and the like.

Read a more detailed bio of Paul Levy.

Background:

Media Appearances:

Levy had been quoted in publications such as The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Sun, The Dallas Morning News, Editor & Publisher, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune and The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Scott Nelson is a senior attorney for the Litigation Group at Public Citizen.

Nelson is an expert in issues of access to presidential records, Freedom of Information Act cases, campaign finance law, administrative law, OSHA standards, class action lawsuits and practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Read a more detailed bio of Scott Nelson.

Background:

Media Appearances:

Nelson has been quoted in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The San Francisco Recorder, The Legal Intelligencer, Legal Times, the Chronicle of Higher Education and The Oregonian.

Adina Rosenbaum is an attorney for the Litigation Group at Public Citizen and directs the Group’s Freedom of Information Clearinghouse.

Rosenbaum is an expert in issues dealing with access to records under the Freedom of Information Act, open government, consumer safety and First Amendment rights.

Read a more detailed bio of Adina Rosenbaum.

Background:

• Clerk for the Honorable Martha Craig Daughtrey of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• Former editor of the New York University Law Review

Media Appearances:

Rosenbaum has appeared on NPR and has been quoted in publications such as the Associated Press, University Wire, The Washington Post, Congressional Quarterly, The Washington Times and Legal Times.

Public Citizen Texas

Tom “Smitty” Smith has served as state director of Public Citizen’s Texas Office since 1985.

Smith is an expert in issues dealing with clean air, environmental and energy policy, coal, solar and wind policy, air polluting emissions and all things Texas.

Read a more detailed bio of Tom "Smitty" Smith.

Background:

• Board Member for Clean Water Action
• Board Member for the Texas Wind Power Coalition
• Board Member for Texans for Public Justice
• Board Member for Campaigns for People
• Board Member for the Clean Energy Project of CEERT
• Former Director of the Houston Foodbank

Media Appearances:

Smith has appeared on many local Texas news channels, including CBS 42, KXAN-TV and KVUE-TV, and has been quoted in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Dallas Morning News, The Houston Chronicle, the Associated Press and The Fort Worth Star-Telegram.