Webinar: The Quagmire of Qualified Immunity: A Practical Guide for Law Clerks and Advocates

The doctrine of qualified immunity is complex, controversial, and ever-changing.  It can be a quagmire for new practitioners and for law clerks helping to evaluate qualified immunity motions.  Judge Carlton Reeves, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Mississippi and author of Jamison v. McClendon, a recent, highly cited qualified immunity opinion, and Kyle Kaiser, Assistant Utah Attorney General and former federal law clerk, will offer a practical guide to those new the area of law, or those who might just need a little refresher.

Panelists will cover:

• A comparison of qualified immunity with other immunities and doctrines applicable to constitutional and civil rights lawsuits;
• A brief history of the doctrine;
• Recent Supreme Court and other case law updates;
• Some practical considerations when drafting, responding to, or reviewing a qualified immunity motion; and
• Thoughts about the future of the doctrine.

Presented by the Civil Rights Law Section
Co-Sponsored by the Federal Judicial Law Clerk Committee of the Judiciary Division

Registration for this event is now closed.

About the Speakers

Kyle Kaiser, Assistant Utah Attorney General and Senior Trial Attorney, Utah Attorney General’s Office

Kyle Kaiser is an Assistant Attorney General and Senior Trial Counsel in the Litigation Division of the Utah Attorney General’s Office.  He has been with the office since July 2011.  Kyle is also appointed as a judge pro tempore for the Salt Lake City Justice Court, presiding over civil small claims matters.

Kyle’s practice centers on defending claims of constitutional or civil rights violations brought against the State of Utah, its agents, agencies, and subdivisions, and Utah colleges and school districts.  Before working for the Utah AG’s Office, Kyle was employed as Staff Attorney for Justice Dale Wainwright of the Supreme Court of Texas.  Before that, Kyle was a litigation and intellectual property associate with the law firm of Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A. in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and served as a law clerk for Richard Dorr, United States District Judge for the Western District of Missouri, in Springfield.

Kyle received his J.D., with high distinction, from the University of Iowa College of Law in 2003, where he was Senior Managing Editor of the Iowa Law Review, was awarded the Hancher-Finkbine Medallion, and was inducted into Order of the Coif.  Kyle received his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Drake University, summa cum laude, in 2000.

Away from work, Kyle enjoys spending time with his wife Pearl, their daughter Cora, and their cat Milo; camping around Utah in a 1983 Chevy RV; competing in pub trivia events (mostly virtually this year); playing percussion with the local community band and piano in the privacy of his own home; and judging mock trial competitions.

Hon. Carlton W. Reeves, U.S. District Court Judge, Southern District of Mississippi

Hon. Carlton W. Reeves, a native of Yazoo City, Mississippi, assumed office on December 30, 2010. Immediately prior to his nomination by President Barack Obama, Judge Reeves was engaged in the private practice of law with Pigott Reeves Johnson, P.A., a law firm he co-founded in 2001. The focus of his practice was state and federal litigation where he represented individuals, public institutions, and private businesses.

Judge Reeves’s career began as law clerk to Justice Reuben V. Anderson of the Mississippi Supreme Court. He also served as staff attorney to the court, and then was an associate with the Phelps Dunbar law firm (1991-95) before serving as Assistant United States Attorney, Chief of the Civil Division for the Southern District of Mississippi (1995-2001).

A 1986 graduate of Jackson State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, and the University of Virginia School of Law (1989), Judge Reeves is a former President of the Magnolia Bar Association and Magnolia Bar Foundation. Judge Reeves has been awarded the Magnolia Bar’s highest honor, the R. Jess Brown Award, and received the Mississippi Bar’s Curtis E. Coker Access to Justice Award and the Hind County Pro Bono Award. He was named Distinguished Jurist of the Year (2014-15) by the Mississippi Association of Justice and received the Mississippi State University Department of Political Science & Public Administration and the Pre-Law Society Distinguished Jurist Award (2016). Judge Reeves received the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Law in 2019.

Registration

Registration for this event will close Tuesday, November 16 at 2 PM ET.

Registration Fees

• FBA Member: $0
• Nonmember: $75

Registration for this event is now closed.

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Cancellation Policy: No refunds will be made for cancellations received after the close of business on November 10, 2021. No-shows will be billed. Substitutions may be made at any time upon notification. Please contact Ariel White at awhite@fedbar.org with cancellation and/or substitution requests.

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CLE

CLE: 1 CLE Credit (60min state) / 1.2 CLE Credit (50min state)

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If you have any questions regarding this program, please contact Ariel White, Program Coordinator, at awhite@fedbar.org