FedSoc Events

Although many lawyers spend their careers in front of judges, the process by which a judge is elected or appointed can sometimes seem shrouded in mystery. What makes for a good judge? How are they chosen? Are there opportunities Wisconsin lawyers aspiring to the state or federal bench should pursue, or pitfalls they should avoid? A panel of Wisconsin-based judges from a variety of courts joins us...

We’ve grown accustomed to learning about government actions only because an enterprising person or group brought them to light using the Freedom of Information Act. Enacted in 1967 after a decade of debate and Congressional hearings, and most recently amended in 2016, FOIA was intended to correct what some viewed as the Administrative Procedure Act’s tendency toward nondisclosu...

Join us for a Texas-sized BBQ banquet featuring Austin BBQ. Dress in your Texas best! Attire is dressy, but cowboy boots and hats are welcome! *This event requires the purchase of a separate ticket.

Judicial Review has been criticized throughout American history as undemocratic, creating what has been known in the modern era as the counter-majoritarian difficulty. Is the Court in fact counter-majoritarian? To what degree? If so, is it a difficulty? What theories of constitutional interpretation best reconcile judicial review with democracy—originalism or living constitutionalism or some...

The United States is constitutionally not one, but fifty-one, democracies. How can they all fit together? The oldest issue in our republic is the relation between the federal and state governments: where does the democratic decision-making power of one leave off and the other begin? The question remains relevant today on such issues as the proper locus of decisions about abortion. But the relation...

Many aspects of the United States governing structure have been criticized as inconsistent with democracy or at least with majority rule. Elections for the House of Representatives and state legislatures are subject to gerrymandering. The Senate represents large and small states equally and thus unequally weights the voters across the nation. The Electoral College, too, provides electoral advantag...

Democracy begins with elections. But the process for voting in our elections has been increasingly a matter of political contestation. This panel will consider these process issues, including the Voting Rights Act, campaign finance reform, early and mail in- balloting, and eligibility to vote, including that of felons and aliens. The panel will also consider the question of how the decision-making...

There has been much discussion about threats to democracy over the past year. But conceptions of democracy differ. What does democracy entail in our system? Is the U.S. a democracy, a republic, a democratic republic? What does democracy require and what genuinely threatens it? How do we address such threats? Featuring: Moderator: Hon. Edith H. Jones, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Ci...

George Soros has contended that “there is no connection between the election of reform-minded prosecutors and local crime rates.” When considering some of the largest metropolitan cities on the west coast, such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle, do the violent crime and homicide statistics support this claim? Progressive prosecutors have introduced a range of policies, such as...

Many western states are making significant structural changes to their campaign and election laws. Innovations like ranked-choice voting and new campaign financial disclosures rules are taking hold in many states, including California, Washington, Arizona, and Alaska. These changes are having real impact on the ground, as evidenced by the recent primary election in Alaska, where ranked-choice voti...

The rising cost of housing and the regulatory state are some of the major issues affecting real property law in the western states. This panel will examine three critical areas regarding government regulation of real property law: short-term rentals, rezoning for multi-family homes, and environmental regulations in the building of new homes. For short-term rentals, panelists will walk through the...

Featuring: The Honorable Andrew Bailey, Attorney General, State of Missouri Attorney General Bailey will offer remarks on Missouri v. Biden and the First Amendment.

The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs returned the abortion question–whether and how to regulate abortion services–to the States. Many states, including Missouri, now have laws on the books that restrict or prohibit abortion. Dobbs doesn’t end the legal wrangling over abortion—it begins a new chapter that will unfold as litigation arises challenging these state laws....

Our distinguished panel of judges discussed the unique roles of both appellate judges and trial court judges. Topics that were explored include judicial philosophy, the use of originalism in both state and federal courts, the differences in the roles of a trial court judge and an appellate court judge, and the importance of state constitutions in protecting individual liberty. Panelists also discu...

This panel explored the concept of whether what has come to be called “inclusive language," including some of the examples referenced in Kelly Frickleton’s recent Kansas City Counselor article, is something that lawyers have an ethical duty to use under Rule 4-8.4 of the Missouri Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 8.4 of the Kansas Rules, or perhaps under some other provision. We expl...

The panel is sponsored by our Civil Rights practice group and will focus on the issues in, and potential outcome of, Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College. One of the most closely anticipated cases of the coming Supreme Court term involves a challenge to the use of racially preferential undergraduate student admissions practices at Harvard University and t...

The reach of bar associations, including the ABA, extends further than many realize. From evaluating judges, accrediting law schools, disciplining lawyer speech outside of work, to taking political positions, bar associations play a major role in our profession and in American life. Should bar associations focus just on legal practice? Should they continue to be involved in staking out policy posi...

The 2022 National Lawyers Convention will take place November 10-12, 2022 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. The topic of the conference is "The Current State of the Legal Profession." The final day of the conference will feature the fourteenth annual Rosenkranz Debate. RESOLVED: The U.S. Constitution limits the role of state courts and executives in redistricting under Article I, Section 4...

The Biden Administration began with executive orders on an environmental policy agenda, directing a “whole of government” approach to climate change and environmental justice. These policies called for all federal agencies to prioritize regulatory action on equity and climate across numerous economic sectors. And they have, pushing out an economy-transforming regulatory agenda as Congr...

Under the Constitution, two branches of government are formally involved in the selection of federal judges. The President makes the nomination and Senators provide their advice and consent. Yet, the third branch of government often plays a role in that process: federal judges can influence the selection of other judges. This influence can manifest itself in several ways. First, judges can reach u...

In June 2022, the Supreme Court decided the much-anticipated case, New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, requiring courts to follow the text, history and tradition of the Second Amendment in evaluating the constitutionality of modern-day gun control laws. Our panel will discuss what Bruen means for Second Amendment rights, gun control laws, and the landscape of litigation over them...

The 2022 National Lawyers Convention will take place November 10-12, 2022 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. The topic of the conference is "The Current State of the Legal Profession." The conference will conclude with the annual Hon. Robert H. Bork Memorial Lecture, featuring remarks by Judge A. Raymond Randolph. Featuring: Hon. A. Raymond Randolph, U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Colum...

ABA Model Rule of Professional Responsibility 1.2(b) states: “A lawyer's representation of a client, including representation by appointment, does not constitute an endorsement of the client's political, economic, social or moral views or activities.” The comment on the rule further explains: “Legal representation should not be denied to people who are unable to affor...

In February, Russia began a full-scale military action against Ukraine. This war in Ukraine constitutes the latest in a series of incidents since the end of the Cold War in which Russia has sought to reassert authority over former Soviet states. In this case, as in incidents past, Russia has offered a familiar series of purported legal justifications pertaining to the right of self-determination o...

On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court released a 6-3 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The Court overruled Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, holding that the Constitution confers no right to abortion. The Dobbs decision poses critical questions about the Court’s past and future. Is the decision a misguided action or an...