FedSoc Events

Statutory administrative law judges (ALJ) located within each agency adjudicate administrative law cases brought by agency enforcement personnel, located in the same building as the judges. These judges do not enjoy tenure during good behavior or an irreducible salary. Their rulings are often appealable only to the administrative agency itself and only later to an Article III Court, and then only on a very deferential standard of judicial review. Civil jury trial is not currently available in administrative law judicial proceedings and the rules of evidence and the burden of proof arguably operate in a manner that favors the agency. This panel will assess the constitutionality of current law and ask whether Congress ought to change the law and, if so, how. Should ALJs have life tenure? Should they be housed separately from their agency?

Prof. Steven G. Calabresi, Clayton J. and Henry R. Barber Professor of Law, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
Prof. Linda D. Jellum, Ellison C. Palmer Professor of Tax Law, Mercer University School of Law
Prof. Jennifer L. Mascott, Assistant Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
Prof. Gillian Metzger, Stanley H. Fuld Professor of Law, Columbia Law School
Moderator: Hon. Edith Jones, United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit

Senator Tom Cotton opened the 2017 National Lawyers Convention on November 16 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. He was introduced by Dean Reuter, Vice President & Director of Practice Groups, The Federalist Society.

Hon. Tom Cotton, United States Senate
Introduction: Mr. Dean A. Reuter, Vice President & Director of Practice Groups, The Federalist Society

Through regulation and enforcement, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, National Labor Relations Board and U.S. Department of Labor can have a significant negative or positive impact on our economy. The Trump Administration had a quick start on addressing regulatory reach by issuing three executive actions in its first month to freeze regulations and reduce regulatory costs. But, the pace of political appointments has meant a slow start to policy changes at the agencies. Join Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta and leaders from the EEOC and NLRB to hear about personnel and policy at their agencies.

Hon. R. Alexander Acosta, Secretary, United States Department of Labor
Hon. Nicholas C. Geale, Chief of Staff and Acting Solicitor, United States Department of Labor
Hon. Victoria A. Lipnic, Commissioner and Acting Chair, United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Hon. Philip A. Miscimarra, Chairman, National Labor Relations Board
Moderator: Hon. John K. Bush, United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit

Many are noting an increased use of antitrust enforcement by foreign governments, particularly in Asia, to regulate intellectual property licensing activity of U.S. companies. The U.S. economy relies on longstanding principles of private markets and competition – are Asian competition authorities using antitrust powers in protectionist ways to devalue U.S. intellectual property to benefit their own government-owned companies and economies? How do foreign enforcement regimes differ in terms of substantive law, and due process? What does all this mean for American business competitiveness and innovation, including U.S. leadership in the development of 5G mobile networks, the Internet of Things, and other critical innovative industries from medical devices to automobiles?

EPA regulatory power, voting rights and redistricting, federal directives regarding transgender persons, the constitutionality of ACA provisions, and seized execution drugs. Texas, often joined by other states, sued the federal government at least forty-eight times during the Obama administration. Suits are currently pending against the Trump Administration pertaining to the Emoluments Clause and environmental policy. This panel examines the role of the states in checking Executive authority in an era of executive action and the administrative state’s regulatory growth. Topics include: Whether and how the Executive Branch has increased its power in recent years, federal interference with state policy choices and core powers, and litigating against Executive overreach. The panel will be moderated by Justice Jeff Brown.
Speakers:

Caitlin Halligan, Partner, Gibson Dunn; Former New York Solicitor General
Scott Keller, Texas Solicitor General
Prof. Ernest Young, Alston & Bird Professor of Law, Duke University
Moderator: Hon. Jeff Brown, Supreme Court of Texas

Keynote: Senator John Cornyn, U.S. Senator, TXIntroduction: Charles Eskridge, Partner, Quinn Emanuel

The greater the power of the Executive, the greater the imperative to adhere to the highest ethical standards in the execution of the Executive’s duties. A proposition likely to garner widespread support in theory; but as they say, the devil is in the details. This panel examines the legal and practical bases from which Executive Branch ethics are derived, as well as the role and function of those ethical standards in executing the Executive’s duties. Topics include: The extent to which the President is bound by ethics laws, the role of White House Counsel in ensuring adherence to ethics standards in the Executive Branch, and the ethics involved in the selection of a Supreme Court nominee and the role of the Executive Branch in the confirmation process. The panel will be moderated by Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod.
Speakers:

Bobby Burchfield, Partner, King & Spalding
Adam White, Research Fellow, Hoover Institution; Director of the Center for Study of the Administrative State at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School
Tobi Young, General Counsel, Staff Secretary, and Secretary of the Board, George W. Bush Presidential Center
Moderator: Hon. Jennifer Elrod, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit

What is the constitutional and statutory scope of the Executive Branch’s power in the area of immigration? And how does the Executive’s enforcement, or lack of enforcement, of immigration law impact states and local cities? This panel is a discussion from federal and state perspectives on the current status of the Executive’s implementation of immigration law and the scope of the Executive Branch’s power and discretion in the area of immigration. Topics include: Prosecutorial discretion in the enforcement of immigration law, the Executive’s statutory and constitutional power to exclude aliens from entry, sanctuary cities and the potential consequences of refusing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, and whether statements made on the campaign trail can be used in determining the legality of an Executive order. The panel will be moderated by Judge Jerry Smith.

Allyson Ho – Partner, Morgan Lewis
Brantley Starr - Deputy First Assistant Attorney General, State of Texas
Andre Segura – Legal Director, American Civil Liberties Union of Texas
Moderator: Hon. Jerry Smith – U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit

On Wednesday, October 4th at noon in the Moot Court Room the GW Federalist Society Chapter will host a timely debate on the Statutory Authority of Sexual Assault inspired by the ongoing discussion of how the Department of Education is pursuing sexual assault cases on college campuses.
Featuring:

Wendy Murphy, Adjunct Professor of Sexual Violence Law at New England Law|Boston
Stuart Taylor, Contributing Editor, National Journal
Moderator: Prof. Renee Lettow Lerner, Donald Phillip Rothschild Research Professor, George Washington University Law School

The Federalist Society and Commonwealth Shakespeare Company presentShakespeare’s Measure by Measure and the Art of Judging.
The Federalist Society, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, and McCarter & English, LLP present their 15th Annual Shakespeare and the Law program featuring a staged reading of Measure by Measure followed by a discussion of the legal and political issues addressed in the play and their application to today's headlines.
Hosted by:

Justice Charles Canady, Florida Supreme Court
Judge Jeffrey Sutton, Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals

Participants Include:

Chief Judge Patti Saris, Massachusetts U.S. District Court
Judge Nathaniel Gorton, Massachusetts U.S. District Court
Judge Timothy Hillman, Massachusetts U.S. District Court
Judge Dennis Saylor IV, Massachusetts U.S. District Court
Judge Douglas Woodlock, Massachusetts U.S. District Court
Judge Rya Zobel, Massachusetts U.S. District Court
Justice Kimberly Budd, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Justice Robert Cordy, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (retired)
Justice, Judith Cowin, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (retired)
Judge William Meade, Massachusetts Appeals Court
Judge Eric Neyman, Massachusetts Appeals Court

Directed by:

Steven Maler, Artistic Director of Commonwealth Shakespeare Company

Produced by:

Daniel J. Kelly, Partner at McCarter & English