With conflict rising across the globe and a presidential election this year, the United States is positioned to reevaluate its foreign policy approach to current and future challenges. This panel will examine the role the US should play in global affairs. What should American engagement look like today? This discussion will explore whether the US should recalibrate its grand strategy to effectively address emerging conflicts, technological advancements, and global threats. By evaluating past...

Lunch will be served at 12:00 p.m. with remarks from Prof. Eliot A. Cohen to follow. The address is titled "Can America Remain a Global Power?"

Over the past two years, a series of regional conflicts has resulted in diplomatic tensions and increased conflict. The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has raised concerns about the future of Europe's diplomatic landscape. Additionally, renewed conflict in the Middle East, particularly following the October 7th terror attack, has led to questions about the future of the Israel-Palestine conflict, the threat posed by Iran, and the stability of relations between the West and the...

At the Federal Communications Commission’s November 2023 meeting, the agency approved rules aimed at preventing and eliminating digital discrimination. These rules are a culmination of a controversial multi-year proceeding, kicked off by Section 60506 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. In this webinar, a panel of experts will discuss policies and issues underlying the FCC’s rules, challenges that companies may face in compliance with the rules, as well as the issues before...

Join us for a closing banquet and the Arthur N. Rupe Debate, entitled "Resolved: The Separation of Powers is a Dangerous, Extraconstitutional Maxim." Special code on nametag required for admission. Featuring: Prof. Noah Feldman, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law and Director, Julis-Rabinowitz Program on Jewish and Israeli Law, Harvard Law School Prof. Michael W. McConnell, Richard and Frances Mallery Professor and Director of the Constitutional Law Center, Stanford Law School Moderator:...

Suppose we don’t like how our governmental powers are separated. Perhaps we think the executive branch has too much power. Or perhaps we think that it is doing more than the original meaning of “the executive power” would suggest, but we think that is a good thing. What are the legitimate methods of constitutional change in our republic? Must we amend the Constitution? How should an originalist approach these questions? Featuring: Prof. Sherif Girgis, Associate Professor of Law, University...

New presidential administrations start with a flurry of administrative actions. These fresh rules, guidelines, and procedures in turn face judicial scrutiny from the moment they are finalized. Oversight from the judiciary can keep agencies accountable and within the bounds of the law. But when judges get the final say on everything the executive does, policies can take years—even decades—to implement and can fluctuate wildly with the ebbs and flows of litigation. Has something gone awry with...

Many critics of modern administrative law want a world where Congress does more things, and the executive does less—which would lead to relative stability across administrations. Simultaneously, many also want their vote in presidential elections to have meaningful policy consequences. Between these two competing intuitions lies a tension at the heart of much contemporary political strife, which, of course, has a great deal to do with who controls Congress and who controls the White...

Professor Cass Sunstein and Judge Raymond Kethledge will open the symposium with a fireside chat exploring the conceptual question of why states choose to separate powers along with the relationship between the separation of powers and the rule of law. Featuring Hon. Raymond M. Kethledge, Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School Prof. Cass R. Sunstein, Robert Walmsley University Professor, Harvard Law School

Featuring: Hon. Joseph Deters, Justice, Supreme Court of Ohio Hon. Michael Donnelly, Justice, Supreme Court of Ohio Hon. Lisa Forbes, Judge, 8th District Court of Appeals, State of Ohio Hon. Daniel Hawkins, Judge, Franklin County Court Hon. Megan Shanahan, Judge, Hamilton County Court Hon. Melody Stewart, Justice, Supreme Court of Ohio Moderator: Professor Chris Walker, University of Michigan Law School

Zionism: An Indigenous People’s Fight for its Ancient Homeland Judge Altman led us on a journey from 1208 BC (when the Merneptah Stele, the first extra-biblical mention of the People of Israel, was composed) to Israel's current war with Hamas. Along the way, Judge Altman showed that Jews are indigenous to the land of Israel, that Jews have lived in (and often ruled) the land of Israel for thousands of years, and that the State of Israel is a legitimate sovereign over the lands it now governs....

Perspectives on the Role of the Nation’s Chief Legal Officer A Conversation with Three U.S. Attorneys General Featuring: Hon. John Ashcroft, Former U.S Attorney General (2001-2005) Hon. William P. Barr, Former U.S Attorney General (1991-1993 and 2019-2020) Hon. Jeff Sessions, Former U.S Attorney General (2017-2018) Moderator: Beth Williams, Board Member, U.S. Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board; former Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy

Lawmakers and courts have been reforming Florida’s tort and insurance laws for decades. From expansion of insurance bad faith and contraction of comparative fault in the 1990’s, to restrictions on medical malpractice suits in the 2000’s, to changes in tort and insurance litigation in the 2020’s, the legal landscape shifted dramatically. This panel will examine the latest reforms in the context of recent history, and it will debate where Florida policy should go from here. Featuring: Kansas...

The panel will discuss how these decisions are transforming the admissions process in higher education and the impact on the legal profession. Included in the discussion will be the response from academia, the permissible limits of the use of race in admissions after these decisions, and what impact this is expected to have on corporate America and the legal profession. Featuring: Prof. Tracey Maclin, Raymond & Miriam Ehrlich Chair in US Constitutional Law , University of Florida Levin...

The state and federal bench has transformed in recent years, with more textualist/originalist judges appointed or elected. These changes are influencing how advocates should prepare to make winning arguments. A panel of jurists and leading litigators will offer their best advice to young advocates in making successful oral arguments and incorporating originalism and textualism into their briefs. They will offer their perspectives on how litigation tactics might change, if at all, at the...

The citizen-initiative process allows the People of Florida to propose amendments to the state constitution, subject to Supreme Court review. But what is the appropriate scope of judicial review of such ballot initiatives? Does the single-subject rule enable outcome-driven judicial decision-making? This panel will discuss these questions and others in the context of the Adult Personal Use of Marijuana and the Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion...

It has been said that American-style split sovereignty provides the people a “double security” for their liberties. And a distinct security too: where the Framers’ primary restraint on the avarice of the United States was the enumeration of its powers, each state is omnipotent and yet typically bound by a thicker conception of the proper ends of government. But these separate sovereigns interact in unique and sometimes puzzling ways that leave the state of the vertical separation of powers in...

Traditionally, education has been seen as instilling the common shared civic values that Americans have held for since the nation’s founding. As the educational establishment has become increasingly more progressive, many states have begun to offer alternatives to traditional public-school education, particularly in the wake of the Covid pandemic when many schools were shut down. This has included laws that allow for educational savings accounts, charter schools, and home-schooling. ...

From the 1960s onward, election lawyers on the political left focused on securing and expanding voting access. Lawyers on the political right focused on ensuring the integrity and accuracy of the voting process. Now, most academic literature suggests that there's fairly little disenfranchisement and fairly little voter fraud. Despite this evidence, the voting process has become increasingly controversial in recent years, with increasing attacks on election integrity and voting access. This...

All levels of the judiciary have faced increased attacks on their independence in recent years. Even trial court judges have faced increased scrutiny, particularly those in single-judge districts and those who have granted nationwide injunctions. “Reform” proposals such as adding justices, term limits, ethics codes, abolishing blue slips, and limiting the Court’s jurisdiction have been proposed by critics to limit the power of the courts. However, these proposals are nothing new: in decades...

Join the DC Young Lawyers Chapter and the George Mason Student Chapter for an evening conversation and reception. Featuring: Prof. Jennifer Mascott, Assistant Professor of Law and Co-Executive Director, C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University Thomas McCarthy, Partner, Consovoy McCarthy PLLC; Adjunct Professor, George Mason University Scalia Law Prof. Todd Zywicki, George Mason University Foundation Professor of Law,...

On Wednesday, November 29, the Harvard Student Chapter held a conversation, produced in partnership with the Harvard Alumni for Free Speech, featuring Prof. Randall Kennedy and Prof. Nadine Strossen to commemorate the 164th anniversary of Frederick Douglass's "Plea for Free Speech in Boston." Featuring: Prof. Randall Kennedy, Michael R. Klein Professor of Law, Harvard Law School Prof. Nadine Strossen, John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law Emerita, New York Law School; Former President,...

Collegiality and the presumption that opposing counsel work together in good faith are bedrocks of the American legal profession, as well as unpopular ideas and clients being able to obtain competent representation and equal access to justice under the law. In recent years, there has been an increase in disruptive activity in law schools. We have seen law students declare ideas "too harmful" for open debate and try to “cancel” or “shame” anyone who challenges their views. We have also seen...

Litigation and legislation involving complex issues regarding gender identity are at the forefront of public interest. States and other authorities face questions about legality, morality, or advisability of treatment for minors. Courts are being asked to adjudicate who can participate in sex-segregated sporting competitions. Advocates on all sides of these complex gender identity issues portray their position as a matter of fairness. When minors are involved all sides claim to seek to...