Julia Smith Gibbons, from Memphis Tennessee, is currently a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Judge Gibbons received a B.A. from Vanderbilt University and her J.D. from University of Virginia. After her graduation from law school, she clerked for Sixth Circuit Judge William Ernest Miller. She was in private practice from 1976 to 1979 and then became a legal advisor to Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander. She left the Governor's staff in 1981 when she became a Tennessee state trial judge.

Judge Gibbons was appointed in 1983 by President Reagan as a judge for the Federal District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. She served on that court until 2002 when her appointment to the Sixth Circuit by President Bush was confirmed by the U.S. Senate

Judge David R. Herndon, United States District Judge, Southern District of Illinois, graduated from Southern Illinois University School of Law in 1977. His trial practice spanned fourteen years between two firms, the St. Louis firm of Haley, Frederickson, Walsh and Herndon and the Wood River, Illinois firm of Lakin and Herndon, and consisted primarily of the representation of FELA plaintiffs. In 1991, he was appointed to the position of Associate Judge in Madison County, Illinois, where he remained until appointed to the federal bench by President Clinton in 1998. He is a member of the American Bar Association, serving on the Executive Committee of the Federal Trial Judges Division, the Illinois State Bar Association, the Missouri Bar Association, the Madison County Bar Association, the Alton-Wood River- Jerseyville Bar Association, and the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis.

Melvin A. Shiffman, M.D., J.D. received his M.D. degree from Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois in 1957 and his J.D. from Western State University College of Law in Orange, California in 1976.  He has been practicing in the field of general surgery, oncologic surgery (cancer and allied diseases), reconstructive surgery, and cosmetic surgery.  He has been a medical legal consultant in medical malpractice, personal injury cases, and medical board problems.  He is President of the American College of Legal Medicine (2009-2010) and has been Chair of the Section of Surgery at Tustin Hospital and Medical Center, Tustin, California since 2002.   He has edited and authored more than 275 papers, 30 books and 130 chapters in the fields of law and medicine, general surgery, cancer surgery, and cosmetic surgery.  He lectures internationally on cosmetic surgery and legal medicine. His books include “Medical Malpractice: Handling General Surgery Cases” 1990, “Attorneys Guide to Oncology Cases” 1994, “Ethics in Forensic Science and Medicine” 2000, “Autologous Fat Transplantation” 2001, “Medical Jurisprudence for the Physician, Surgeon, and Office Staff” 2002, “Aesthetic Surgery of the Abdominal Wall” 2005, “Liposuction: Principles and Practice” 2006, “Simplified Facial Rejuvenation” 2007, “Breast Augmentation: Principles and Practice” 2009, and “Mastopexy and Breast Reduction: Principles and Practice” 2009.

Jennifer Smith, Associate Professor, Florida A&M University College of Law.  Prior to joining FAMU, Professor Smith was a partner with and chair of the South Florida Health Law Group of Holland & Knight, LLP.  Professor Smith practiced in both the Washington, D.C. and Miami offices of Holland & Knight, representing corporate clients in a variety of litigation matters. In 2002, the Young Lawyers Division of the Washington Bar Association recognized her as “The Young Lawyer of the Year.”  Professor Smith’s research interests include health law, the intersection of the rule of law and the underrepresented, and e-discovery