1. Addison Gills ’27L Selected as 2026 Founders’ Fellow of The Philadelphia Society

Addison Gills '27L Selected as 2026 Founders' Fellow of The Philadelphia Society Gills previously participated as a General Fellow with the Society, which is dedicated to the discussion of economic, political, and social issues fundamental to a free society.

By Law Communications
February 3, 2026

Addison Gills '27L has been selected as a Founders' Fellow for The Philadelphia Society's Spring 2026 meeting. He is one of only 12 rising leaders selected for this fellowship, which engages graduate students and young professionals in the study of the intellectual foundations of a free and ordered society.

As a Fellow, Addison will travel to Tampa, Florida, in April to participate in a private Socratic colloquium with leading experts in the liberty movement. The fellowship recognizes academic excellence and leadership potential in the field. This distinction builds upon his previous participation as a General Fellow at the Society's Fall 2025 meeting.

Founded in 1964 by Don Lipsett alongside Milton Friedman, William F. Buckley Jr., Ed Feulner, and Frank Meyer, The Philadelphia Society is a prestigious membership organization dedicated to the discussion of economic, political, and social issues fundamental to a free society.

Gills is a second-year law student from Cartersville, Virginia. He attended Hampden-Sydney College for his undergraduate degree, where he majored in economics. He also holds an M.S. in economics from Virginia Commonwealth University.

At W&L Law, Gills serves as a junior editor for the German Law Journal and is a Law School Associate at the Manhattan Institute, where he works under Ilya Shapiro and Jim Copland on constitutional and regulatory policy. He was a Philadelphia Society General Fellow in Fall 2025, will be a Summer Associate at Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald, L.L.P. in Summer 2026 focusing on government contract litigation, and will extern full-time in Fall 2026 for Judge Ryan T. Holte of the United States Court of Federal Claims.

Before law school, Gills advised on renewable energy transitions and infrastructure strategy for projects across Africa and the United States, worked with early-stage startups on digital-infrastructure initiatives, and served as a graduate research assistant at Stanford University's Psychophysiology Laboratory. He has also held civic leadership roles on the Commonwealth of Virginia's Workforce Development Board and the State Fair of Virginia's Youth Development Board.

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