Shawn Nolan, Esq. Mr. Nolan is the Chief of the Capital Habeas Unit in the Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He has been a public defender for over 30 years, since his graduation from Temple University Beasley School of Law in 1989. For the majority of his legal career, Mr. Nolan has exclusively handled capital cases. In 1989, he joined the staff of the Philadelphia state public defender office, where he worked as a trial attorney for 13 years. Mr. Nolan began work in the Capital Habeas Unit in 2002, was made a supervisor in the unit in 2006, and was named Assistant Chief of the unit in 2012. He was promoted to Chief of the unit in February 2014 and currently directs the largest Capital Habeas Unit in the country. Mr. Nolan is also an adjunct professor at the Drexel University Kline School of Law in Philadelphia. He has lectured nationally and locally on capital habeas and Guantanamo-related litigation.

Judge Diamond has sat on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania since June 2004. Before becoming a judge, he was in private practice for 21 years, and served as a prosecutor for five years. Judge Diamond is the author of Federal Grand Jury Practice and Procedure (Lexis-Nexis/Matthew Bender). He is a member of the American Law Institute and, from 2009 – 2015, was a member of the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Judge Diamond is a graduate of Columbia University and The University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Mr. Stiegler is the supervisor of the Federal Litigation Unit of the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office, which represents the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in habeas corpus matters in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He serves as the secretary of the board of governors of the Third Circuit Bar Association. He is a lecturer in law teaching appellate advocacy at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. Before joining the District Attorney’s Office, Mr. Stiegler was in private practice focusing on federal appeals and authored a blog about the Third Circuit. He graduated with highest honors from law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and served as a law clerk for the Hon. David Ebel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. In 2021, he was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers.

Magistrate Judge Richard A. Lloret received his B.A. from Rutgers University, with honors, in 1979, and his J.D. from Rutgers-Camden School of Law, with honors, in 1982. He worked as a civil litigator and general practitioner in New Jersey from 1982 to 1991. He joined the U.S. Attorney’s office in Roanoke, Virginia in 1991 and served there as an AUSA and Managing AUSA until 1998. He joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia in 1998, where he served variously as Senior Litigation Counsel, Assistant Director of the Department of Justice’s National Advocacy Center, Deputy Chief of the Violent Crime and Firearms Section, and Chief of the Health Care and Government Fraud Section. He received the Department of Justice’s Director’s Award for superior performance in 2006, and the ATF Director’s Award for outstanding service in 2009. Judge Lloret was appointed to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania as a United States Magistrate Judge in May of 2014.

Ms. Watson is the Director of the Legal Division of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She has served in this capacity for nearly ten years. She joined the Court in 1991 as a Staff Attorney and subsequently served as a Supervisory Staff Attorney and as the Chief Deputy for Legal Affairs. Ms. Watson earned her B.A. from Marquette University and her J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School. Throughout her career, Ms. Watson has served on many national committees for the Judiciary.

Prof. Epstein is Director of Advocacy Programs at Temple Beasley School of Law (Philadelphia). He teaches and writes in the areas of trial advocacy, appellate advocacy, evidence, and criminal law. He has concentrated on issues involving forensic science, the death penalty, eyewitness evidence, and advocacy. Professor Epstein has argued repeatedly in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and has authored or co-authored numerous amicus briefs for that Court.

Luis Felipe Restrepo was born in Medellin, Colombia, was raised in Northern Virginia, and took the oath of United States citizenship on September 7, 1993. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and Tulane Law School and worked as a Defender in Philadelphia in both the local and federal courts before entering private practice in 1993. He was a partner in the firm of Krasner & Restrepo until June of 2006, when he was sworn in as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He has been an adjunct professor at Temple University James E. Beasley Law School since 1993 and an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School from 1997 to 2009, where he was appointed the Irving R. Segal Lecturer in advocacy. His varied publications have appeared in The Legal Intelligencer, The National Law Journal, and the ABA’s Criminal Justice magazine. President Barack Obama nominated Judge Restrepo to be a United States District Court Judge in November of 2012. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 17, 2013, and received his commission on June 19, 2013. In November of 2014 President Obama nominated Judge Restrepo to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, he was confirmed by the Senate on January 11, 2016, and received his commission on January 13, 2016. Judge Restrepo was nominated by President Trump, and more recently, by President Biden to serve on the United States Sentencing Commission. He was confirmed as a Vice-Chair of the United States Sentencing Commission in August of 2022. In 1995 Judge Restrepo received the New American/New Freedom Committee Award from the Balch Institute in Philadelphia “in appreciation for outstanding service to the greater Philadelphia community and the nation.” In 2000, he was awarded the Cesare Beccaria Award by the Criminal Law Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association and the Justinian Society for his commitment to criminal justice issues and teaching services. In 2004, he received the Gideon Award presented by Temple Law School for demonstrating a commitment to ensuring that competent counsel are afforded to the indigent. In 2010 he was awarded “La Justicia” award by the Hispanic Bar Association of Pennsylvania and the Justice William J. Brennan, Jr.
Distinguished Jurist Award by the Philadelphia Bar Association in recognition for his efforts with the Eastern District of Pennsylvania’s federal prisoner Re-Entry Program. In 2014 he was presented with the “Campeones de la Justicia” award by the Latino Law Students Association of Rutgers Law School. Judge Restrepo was recognized by Stetson Law School with the Cornerstone Award in 2017 in recognition for his contribution to protecting the right to a trial by jury and teaching trial advocacy. Al Dia newspaper recognized his public service with the 2018 Hispanic Heritage Award and in 2019 the NACDL presented him with the Champion of Justice Recognition Award. In 2022 Judge Restrepo was inducted into the Tulane Law School Hall of Fame. Judge Restrepo is a past President of the Hispanic Bar Association of Pennsylvania. He has served on numerous boards including the Make a Wish Foundation for Philadelphia and Susquehanna Valley, the Board of Governors of the Philadelphia Bar Association, the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Commission on Judicial Selection and Retention, the Board of Directors of the Defender Association of Philadelphia where he served as Federal Trustee and Secretary of the Board and the Russell Byers Charter School.