FedSoc Events

There are no federal speech police, but law enforcement is not the only way that executive officials and agencies take aim at disfavored speech and speakers. In recent months, officials have pressed social-media companies to ban those accused of spreading Covid or election-related “misinformation,” announced a task force to investigate parents speaking out at local school-board meeting...

While many Americans take broadband access for granted, in certain predominantly rural areas broadband access remains limited. In addition to private funding, federal and state efforts have spent billions of dollars to address this problem over the years with varying degrees of effectiveness, and there are billions in funding currently flowing out for more broadband projects as a result of pandemi...

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) are the subject of global debate. While proponents see CBDC as a new tool to promote financial stability and inclusion, critics point out that the Federal Reserve would acquire vast new powers to potentially implement a comprehensive government social credit system. In theory, CBDC could be programmed to be used for only designated purposes, on specific items...

Featuring Hon. Michael S. Lee, United States Senate, Utah

Law schools are the gatekeepers of the legal profession and thus wield substantial influence on the law’s future shape. In recent times, law schools have increasingly viewed themselves less as charged with training lawyers to serve their clients’ needs and more as engines of social justice. Is that an appropriate role for law schools? How compatible are the two missions? Does the highl...

This panel discussion will examine public and private education, with a focus on the relationship—and occasional conflicts—between religious liberty and secular values in that setting. Panel members will discuss the likely impact on religious liberty and parental rights of two landmark Supreme Court rulings from the past Term: Kennedy v. Bremerton (the “praying coach” case)...

Supreme Court actions during the 2021-2022 term - opinions, grants and denials of petitions for certiorari, and motions docket orders - captured the attention of the legal community. Emblematic of the trend in judicial analysis was West Virginia v. EPA in which, notwithstanding that every brief cited Chevron for or against deference to the agency’s action, the Court’s opinion never men...

America’s national conversation about firearms is primarily about mass shootings and gun control. Some experts assert that a deeper conversation, however, should include relevant data, the problems of suicide, street and gang crime, and domestic violence. Others point out that we should examine what isn’t being done by local authorities from an enforcement standpoint, as well as how we...

As global crises abound, from pandemics to war, society cries out for myriad new technologies, from healthcare and high tech to manufacturing, energy, environment, and food. This panel will explore how the antitrust and patent systems can best foster competition and innovation in each of these vital areas. What are the key ideas to bear in mind when sculpting these specific legal systems? What are...

Executive branch agencies such as the SEC, CFTC, FTC and others have recently used their regulatory powers to advance ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance criteria) policies that some consider beyond their core missions and outside of their legal authority. For example, the SEC has proposed climate change disclosure rules that are prescriptive as to the actions expected of public companies....

The Roberts Court is recasting the administrative state according to its view of the separation of powers. It is giving the President more authority to fire his subordinates and creating a hierarchical executive where the President and his principal officers have more authority over appointments and decision making. It is forcing the legislature to speak clearly when it wants to vest agencies with...

Lawyers and judges play an important role in a democratic republic like the United States. In Democracy in America, Tocqueville praised the character of America’s lawyers as indispensable to protecting the U.S. Constitution, because their taste for formality would help preserve it against popular passions. Similarly, in Federalist 78 Alexander Hamilton defends judicial review by arguing that...

The 2022 National Lawyers Convention took place Thursday, November 10 through Saturday, November 12 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. Over three days, the Convention featured four Showcase Sessions discussing the Convention Theme of "The Current State of the Legal Profession." Hon. Judge William H. Pryor Jr. gave the opening address. Featuring: Hon. William H. Pryor Jr., U.S. Court of Appe...

In the last decades, American businesses have faced growing challenges from within and without. For years, many “blue states” have adopted policies to encourage or even impose social and environmental requirements on companies. Those companies faced a choice: either adopt and manage multiple policies in different states, or adopt the most inclusive version in order to maintain internal...

The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) is a nonpartisan association founded in 1907 that facilitates interaction among the 56 state and territory attorneys general.” The organization’s website reflects that it, “provides a community for attorneys general and their staff to collaboratively address issues important to their work, as well as training and re...

Alexa Gervasi, Executive Director, Georgetown Center for the Constitution Jennifer Freel, Partner, Jackson Walker Prerak Shah, Of Counsel, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and former Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Johnny Sutton, Partner, Ashcroft Law Firm Moderator: Hon. Wes Hendrix, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas

Ryan Bangert, Senior Counsel and Vice President for Legal Strategy, Alliance Defending Freedom Arif Panju, Managing Attorney, Institute for Justice Becky Ricketts, Counsel, Becket Law Keisha Russell, Counsel, First Liberty Institute Chance Weldon, Senior Attorney and Director of Litigation for the Center for the American Future, Texas Public Policy Foundation Moderator: Hon. Drew Tipton, United St...

Hon. William Barr, Former United States Attorney General and Author, One Damn Thing After Another: Memoirs of an Attorney General Moderator: Will Levi, Partner, Sidley and former Chief of Staff to Attorney General William Barr

CLE credit anticipated. Featuring: Rick Glazier, Executive Director, North Carolina Justice Center Professor Derek Muller, Iowa College of Law Phil Strach, Partner, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP Moderator: Hon. James C. Dever, Judge, United States District Court, Eastern District of North Carolina

CLE credit anticipated. Featuring: Professor John Orth, William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor of Law, UNC School of Law Hon. Stephen Markman, Former Justice, Michigan Supreme Court Andrew Tripp, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, University of North Carolina System Office Ryan Park, Solicitor General, North Carolina Moderator: Hon. Paul Newby, Chief Justice, North Carolina Supreme Court

Featuring: Hon. Thom Tillis, United States Senator Moderator: Hon. Robert T. Numbers, United States Magistrate Judge

Featuring: Hon. Frank D. Whitney, United States District Court, Western District of North Carolina

Featuring: Trey Allen, General Counsel, Administrative Office of the Courts Hon. Richard Dietz, Judge, North Carolina Court of Appeals Hon. Samuel J. Ervin IV, Justice, North Carolina Supreme Court Hon. Lucy Inman, Judge, North Carolina Court of Appeals Moderator: John Hood, President, John William Pope Foundation

Featuring: Hon. William Barr, Former Attorney General of the United States

This extremely contemporary controversy will be the subject of a special debate. Opponents of the independent prosecutor system charge that it violates the doctrine of separation of powers by removing a purely executive function from responsibility to the executive branch, and that it also violates traditional standards of fairness by politicizing criminal prosecution and by creating incentives to...