April 18, 2023 – Views from the Bench with Judges Pittman, Jordan, Brown & Starr

Event: Views from the Bench with Judges Pittman, Jordan, Brown & Starr
Date: Tuesday, April 18, 2023
Time: 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.
Location: Arts District Mansion
CLE Credit: CLE credit is pending

Hon. Mark T. Pittman:  Before taking the federal bench, Judge Pittman served as a Judge on the Second Court of Appeals and the 352nd District Court in Fort Worth.  Before his judicial service, Judge Pittman practiced law at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas in the metroplex, and the U.S. DOJ’s Commercial Division Branch in Washington, D.C.  Judge Pittman also practiced at Kelly Hart & Hallman in Fort Worth.  He received his BA, magna cum laude, from Texas A&M University, and his JD from the University of Texas School of Law.  After law school, he clerked for Judge Eldon Brooks Mahon on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
  
Hon. Sean D. Jordan:  Prior to becoming a judge, Judge Jordan was a partner in the Austin, Texas, office of Jackson Walker, where he served as the Co-Chair of the firm’s Appellate Practice Group.  Before that, Judge Jordan served as Principal Deputy Solicitor General for the State of Texas, representing the State in appeals in both federal and state courts.  He also served in the United States Army as an infantryman and paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division.  Judge Jordan received his BA, summa cum laude, from the University of Texas at Austin and his JD, with Honors, from the University of Texas School of Law.
 
Hon. Ada Brown:  Before joining the federal bench, Judge Brown served as a Judge on the Fifth Court of Appeals and on the Dallas County Criminal District Court in Dallas.  Before joining the state bench, Judge Brown also served as an Assistant District Attorney for Dallas County, where she was a felony prosecutor for the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit.  Judge Brown also practiced at McKool Smith in Dallas and was an adjunct professor of trial advocacy at SMU.  She earned her BA, magna cum laude, from Spelman College, and her JD from Emory University School of Law.
 
Hon. Brantley Starr:  Prior to taking the bench, Judge Starr served as the Deputy First Assistant Attorney General of Texas, from 2016 to 2019, under Jeff Mateer.  Starr also served as a staff attorney to Justice Eva Guzman of the Supreme Court of Texas, and worked as an Assistant Attorney General, Assistant Solicitor General, and Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel, all in the office of the Attorney General of Texas.  Judge Starr also practiced law at King & Spalding in Austin.  Judge Starr received his BA, summa cum laude, from Abilene Christian University, and earned his JD from the University of Texas School of Law.  After graduating from law school, he was a law clerk to then-Justice Don Willett of the Supreme Court of Texas.  

March 9, 2023 – Litigating Second Amendment Cases in a post-Bruen World with Erin Murphy

Event: Litigating Second Amendment Cases in a post-Bruen World with Erin Murphy
Date: Thursday, March 9, 2023
Time: 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.
Location: Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr, P.C., 500 N. Akard St. #3800, Dallas, Texas 75201
CLE Credit: CLE credit is pending

Erin Murphy is a founding partner at Clement & Murphy.  She is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading Supreme Court and appellate advocates.  Erin has argued dozens of cases in appellate and trial courts throughout the country, including the U.S. Supreme Court and nearly all of the federal courts of appeals.

Before launching her current firm, Erin was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis and a partner at Bancroft PLLC.  Erin clerked for Chief Justice John Roberts on the U.S. Supreme Court and for Judge Diane Sykes on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.  She also served as a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General of the United States.  Erin earned her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center—where she now serves as an adjunct professor—and she received her Bachelor of Science from Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism.

Erin represented the petitioners in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen.  In that case, the U.S. Supreme Court was asked whether the Second Amendment allows the government to prohibit ordinary law-abiding citizens from carrying handguns outside the home for self-defense.  The Court held that New York’s proper-cause requirement for obtaining an unrestricted license to carry a concealed firearm violates the Fourteenth Amendment in that it prevents law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.  In light of the Court’s June 2022 opinion, Erin will discuss how courts are dealing with the historical tradition test and the types of laws that are being passed in a post-Bruen world.

February 22, 2023 – The New Originalist Majority with Carrie Severino

Event: The New Originalist Majority with Carrie Severino
Date: Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Time: 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.
Location: Belo Mansion, 2101 Ross Ave., Dallas, Texas 75201
CLE Credit: CLE credit is pending

Carrie Campbell Severino is the president of the Judicial Crisis Network, and co-author with Mollie Hemingway of the bestselling book Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Court.  As a go-to expert on the confirmation process, Mrs. Severino has been extensively quoted in the media.  She regularly appears on television, including FOX, CNN, MSNBC, C-SPAN, and ABC’s This Week.

Mrs. Severino writes and speaks on a wide range of judicial issues, including the constitutional limits on government, the federal nomination process, and state judicial selection.  She has testified before Congress on constitutional questions and briefed Senators on judicial nominations, and regularly files briefs in high-profile Supreme Court cases.  She was a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and to Judge David B. Sentelle of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and is a graduate of Harvard Law School (J.D.), Duke University (B.A., Biology), and Michigan State University (M.A., Linguistics).

February 8, 2023 – A Conversation about State Constitutional Law with Chief Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton and Justice Evan A. Young

Event: A Conversation about State Constitutional Law with Chief Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton and Justice Evan A. Young
Date: Wednesday, February 8, 2023
Time: 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.
Location: Belo Mansion, 2101 Ross Ave., Dallas, Texas 75201
CLE Credit: CLE credit is pending

State constitutions are a vital, yet often underappreciated, element of America’s legal system—providing valuable lessons for both the protection of individual liberties and the separation of powers.  Please join us for a conversation about the importance of state constitutional law, featuring Chief Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and Justice Evan A. Young of the Texas Supreme Court.

Chief Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton:  The Honorable Jeffrey S. Sutton assumed the position of Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on Saturday, May 1, 2021.  He succeeded Judge R. Guy Cole, Jr., who had served in the role since 2014.  Chief Judge Sutton, whose chambers are in Columbus, Ohio, is the eighteenth judge of the court to serve in this capacity.
 
Chief Judge Sutton was nominated to the court by President George Walker Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate in April 2003.  He earned his law degree from The Ohio State University College of Law in 1990 and subsequently clerked for the Honorable Thomas Meskill of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, as well as two Supreme Court Justices, the Honorable Lewis F. Powell, Jr., and the Honorable Antonin Scalia.  Chief Judge Sutton was in private practice in Columbus from 1992 to 1995 and 1998 to 2003, and served as Solicitor General of Ohio from 1995 to 1998.  He has also served as an adjunct professor of law at the Ohio State University College of Law and as a visiting lecturer at Harvard Law School.
 
Chief Judge Sutton has authored books and articles on a wide variety of topics, including two recent books on the importance of state constitutional law—51 Imperfect Solutions: States and the Making of American Constitutional Law and Who Decides: States As Laboratories of Constitutional Experimentation.  Before his confirmation to the court, he argued twelve cases in the United States Supreme Court and numerous cases in the state supreme courts and the federal courts of appeal.  He served as the Chair of the Judicial Conference of the United States Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure from 2012 to 2016, and served as the Chair of the Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules.  In 2006, Judge Sutton was elected to the American Law Institute, and in 2017 he was elected to its Council.
 
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit maintains appellate jurisdiction over nine district courts in the states of Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee.  The court is authorized a complement of sixteen active judges and is headquartered at the Potter Stewart United States Courthouse, located in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Justice Evan A. Young:  Evan Young is a Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas.  After law school, he clerked for Judge Wilkinson at the Fourth Circuit and Justice Scalia at the Supreme Court.  He then served as Counsel to the Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice under Attorneys General Gonzales and Mukasey.  While on the Attorney General’s staff, he accepted a detail to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad where he was the Deputy Rule of Law Coordinator.  In that position he worked to assist the Iraqi government in its efforts to strengthen its legal regime, including, for example, its courts and prison system.  He returned to Texas in 2009 and entered private practice, which focused on trial and appellate litigation.  He argued cases before both the Supreme Court of the United States and the Supreme Court of Texas, as well as many federal and state appellate courts.  He left private practice on November 10, 2021, when he was sworn into office by Governor Greg Abbott.  Justice Young was elected to a full term in November 2022.

January 11, 2023 – Should Texas Cities Be Mining Bitcoin? with Mayor Mattie Parker

Event: Should Texas Cities Be Mining Bitcoin?
Date: Wednesday, January 11, 2023
Time: 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.
Location: Belo Mansion, 2101 Ross Ave., Dallas, TX 75201
CLE Credit: CLE credit is pending

The City of Fort Worth is the first city in the United States to mine Bitcoin, desiring to drive technology innovation to the fifth largest city in Texas.

Please join us for a discussion about whether Texas cities should be mining Bitcoin, featuring Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker and Alexandra Harrison Gaiser of River Financial, moderated by Brooke Cook Wilson of Winston & Strawn LLP.

The Honorable Mattie Parker, Mayor of Fort Worth.  Hon. Mattie Parker was elected in June 2021 as the 45th Mayor of Fort Worth.  Leading one of the fastest growing cities in the nation, Parker has set her focus on key issues that move Fort Worth forward including economic development growth, innovative transportation and mobility solutions, quality education opportunities for every student, and building safer, more prosperous communities.  Parker is an attorney with more than seventeen years of experience in national, state and local public affairs, including her service as the chief of staff for Mayor and the Fort Worth City Council.

Alexandra Harrison Gaiser, Director of Regulatory Affairs for River Financial.  River Financial provides Bitcoin mining and investment services for clients.  At River Financial, Alexandra assists in new product strategy and interfaces with regulators.  Prior to joining River Financial, Alexandra served at the U.S. Department of the Treasury in the General Counsel’s office and then as Executive Secretary, working directly with Secretary Mnuchin.  She previously practiced law in Akin Gump’s D.C. office.  Ms. Gaiser holds a B.A. in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from The King’s College and a J.D. from the University of Texas.  She clerked for then-Justice Allison Eid on the Colorado Supreme Court and for Judge Jennifer Elrod on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Brooke Cook Wilson, Litigation Attorney at Winston & Strawn LLP.  Brooke Wilson is a litigator in Winston & Strawn’s Dallas office with significant state and federal litigation experience, at the trial and appellate court level.  Prior to joining Winston, she practiced law at a global law firm in New York City and clerked for Judge Paul B. Matey on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.  Brooke holds a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and a B.A. from UCLA.

December 14, 2022 – New Legal Tools to Combat Emerging Foreign Threats with Carter Burwell

Event: New Legal Tools to Combat Emerging Foreign Threats
Date: Rescheduled for Wednesday, December 14, 2022
Time: 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.
Location: Belo Mansion, 2101 Ross Ave., Dallas, TX 75201
CLE Credit: CLE credit is pending

Carter Burwell is litigation counsel in the Washington, D.C. office of Debevoise & Plimpton.  His practice focuses on white collar criminal defense, government investigations and internal investigations, and national security matters.  Prior to Debevoise, he served as Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Finance Intelligence, Chief Counsel to U.S. Senator John Cornyn, and Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York and Eastern District of Virginia prosecuting national security and international crimes.

Earlier on in his career, Mr. Burwell served as a law clerk to U.S. District Court Judge John Gleeson, now a Debevoise litigation partner, before going on to clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for the Hon. Judge Karen Henderson.  Mr. Burwell was also a litigation associate at another international law firm.

Mr. Burwell received his J.D. from the University Virginia School of Law in 2002, an M.Phil from the University of Cambridge in 1998, and his B.A. from Columbia College in 1996.

November 16, 2022 – Racial Classifications and the Indian Child Welfare Act: Litigating Brackeen v. Haaland with Matthew McGill

Event: Racial Classifications and the Indian Child Welfare Act: Litigating Brackeen v. Haaland
Date: Wednesday, November 16, 2022
Time: 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.
Location: Belo Mansion, 2101 Ross Ave., Dallas, TX 75201
CLE Credit: CLE credit is pending

Matthew D. McGill is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Co-Chair of the firm’s Judgment and Arbitral Award Enforcement and Betting and Gaming practice groups. He also is a member of the firm’s Appellate and Constitutional Law and Sports Law practice groups.

A three-time “Litigator of the Week” (The AmLaw Litigation Daily) Mr. McGill has been ranked by Chambers USA in Nationwide Appellate Law and recognized by The National Law Journal as a “Litigation Trailblazer” for his pioneering work enforcing judgments against foreign sovereigns. In 2020, he successfully negotiated a $335 million resolution of terrorism claims against the Republic of Sudan arising from the 1998 bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Previously, he successfully resolved NML Capital’s multi-billion dollar claims against the Republic of Argentina after what the Financial Times called “the trial of the century in sovereign debt restructuring.” He currently represents clients in public enforcement matters against the governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Pakistan, Spain, and Venezuela.

An accomplished appellate advocate, Mr. McGill has participated in 23 cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, prevailing in 17. His oral argument in Brackeen v. Haaland is scheduled for November 9, 2022.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Mr. McGill served as a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice. He clerked for the Hon. Joseph M. McLaughlin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the Hon. John G. Roberts, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Mr. McGill earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from Dartmouth College in 1996. In 2000, he graduated from Stanford Law School, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif.

October 12, 2022 – The Second Founding: Originalism and the Fourteenth Amendment with Ilan Wurman

Event: The Second Founding: Originalism and the Fourteenth Amendment
Date: Wednesday, October 12, 2022
Time: 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.
Location: Belo Mansion, 2101 Ross Ave., Dallas, TX 75201
CLE Credit: CLE credit is pending

The Fourteenth Amendment is now over 150 years old. The Supreme Court has long rejected interpreting that Amendment with its original meaning. But what would an originalist interpretation of the Amendment look like? Would it be unworkable for modern problems? In this talk, Ilan Wurman, associate professor at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, argues not only that we should reclaim the original meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment, but that doing so would lead to many desirable and surprising results. This talk is based on Professor Wurman’s new book, The Second Founding: An Introduction to the Fourteenth Amendment (Cambridge 2020). A limited number of copies will be available for sale at the event.

Professor Ilan Wurman teaches administrative law and constitutional law. He writes on administrative law, separation of powers, and constitutionalism, and his academic writing has appeared or is forthcoming in the Yale Law Journal, the Stanford Law Review, the University of Chicago Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, the Duke Law Journal, and the Texas Law Review among other journals. He is also the author of the book A Debt Against the Living: An Introduction to Originalism (Cambridge 2017).

September 28, 2022 – Against Living Common Goodism with Chief Judge William H. Pryor, Jr.

Event: Against Living Common Goodism
Date: Wednesday, September 28, 2022
Time: 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.
Location: Kirkland & Ellis at Weir’s Plaza, 4550 Travis St., Dallas, TX 75205
CLE Credit: CLE credit is pending

William H. Pryor Jr. serves as Chief Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

In 2013–18, he served on the United States Sentencing Commission and, in 2017–18, served as Acting Chair.

He has taught as a visiting professor at the University of Alabama School of Law and previously taught as an adjunct professor at the Cumberland School of Law of Samford University. 

He served as the 45th Attorney General of Alabama from 1997 to 2004.  When he took office, he was the youngest attorney general in the nation. In his reelection, he received the highest percentage of votes of any statewide candidate.

He graduated magna cum laude from Tulane Law School where he finished first in the common-law curriculum and was editor in chief of the Tulane Law Review. He then served as a law clerk for Judge John Minor Wisdom of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

He is a member of the Tulane Law School Hall of Fame and has received the Defender of the Constitution Award from the Heritage Foundation, the Jurist of the Year Award from the Texas Review of Law & Politics, and the St. Thomas More Award from the St. Thomas More Society of Atlanta. Judge Pryor is also a proud member of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.

August 18, 2022 – Supreme Court Roundup with Kyle Hawkins

Event: Supreme Court Roundup
Date: Thursday, August 18, 2022
Time: 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.
Location: Belo Mansion, 2101 Ross Ave., Dallas, Texas 75201
CLE Credit: CLE credit is pending

Kyle Hawkins is a partner and the chair of the Texas appellate practice at Lehotsky Keller.  Mr. Hawkins previously served as the Solicitor General of Texas.  In that role, he represented the State in high-profile matters before federal and state appellate courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States.  He has presented 30 appellate oral arguments, including four before the United States Supreme Court and 18 before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (including five en banc sittings).  Mr. Hawkins previously practiced law at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, where he was a member of the Appellate and Constitutional Law practice group.  He served as a law clerk to the Hon. Samuel A. Alito, Jr., of the United States Supreme Court, and the Hon. Edith H. Jones, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.  Mr. Hawkins is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School and a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College.