Mr. Shackelford is a constitutional scholar who has argued before the United States Supreme Court, testified before the U.S. House and Senate on constitutional issues, and has won three state landmark First Amendment and religious liberty cases in the past few years alone. He was recently named one of the 25 greatest Texas lawyers of the past quarter-century by Texas Lawyer, and is the recipient of the prestigious William Bentley Ball Award for Life and Religious Freedom Defense for his leadership and pioneering work protecting religious freedom.

Jeff Mateer is the Chief Legal Officer of First Liberty Institute, where he serves as a member of the executive leadership team and oversees and directs First Liberty’s legal operations, including its litigation, media/communications, and external affairs teams. He rejoined First Liberty Institute in October 2020 after serving as First Assistant Attorney General of Texas from March 2016 through October 2020.

Jeff has served in the legal field for over 30 years, and in addition to having received an A-V rating by Martindale-Hubbell, Jeff has been honored as a Texas Rising Star and Texas Super Lawyer. He received his undergraduate education at Dickinson College, where he graduated with honors in 1987, and his legal education at Southern Methodist University, where he graduated with honors in 1990. While in law school, he served as an editor of the law review. He is licensed to practice law by the state of Texas and is admitted to practice before all Texas State and Federal District Courts, the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 9th and 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.

On Nov. 5, Americans from coast-to-coast chose to return Former President Donald Trump to the White House. First Liberty President, CEO & Chief Counsel Kelly Shackelford discusses how the forthcoming Trump administration can protect religious ...

By: The Editorial Board - wsj.com - November 6, 2024 Stocks stage a relief rally as investors foresee fewer taxes and less regulation. Investors seemed to love the election result, as the Dow Jones Industrial ...

By: Dan McLaughlin - nationalreview.com - November 7, 2024 Democrats made a lot of bad choices that drove voters away. That’s how ordinary Americans ended up bringing back Donald Trump. There’s a lot of incredulity this ...

By: The Editorial Board - wsj.com - November 6, 2024 Voters on Tuesday repudiated the results of progressive policies. If Democrats want some sage counsel on how to recover from their electoral drubbing on Tuesday, ...

By: Mark Davis - star-telegram.com - November 6, 2024 He’s not the monster you’ve been told. And can’t we all agree we need a better border and stronger economy? | Opinion As Donald Trump prepares ...

By: Leah Barkoukis - townhall.com - November 07, 2024  Donald Trump was propelled to his historic victory early Wednesday morning in part by pulling support from groups traditionally aligned with Democrats. While he won majority ...

By: Miranda Devine - nypost.com - November 07, 2024  The people have spoken and delivered a thumping victory to Donald Trump, repudiating all the lawfare, sabotage and demonization he’s endured over the past eight years. A comfortable ...