Federal Bar Association

Webinar: Legal Writing: Striving for Clarity
2025-09-25 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York)
**Program hosted in (ET) Time Zone**
The Honorable Robert E. Bacharach of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit will share a judge’s perspective on legal writing. The program is designed to help attendees enhance the clarity in their legal writing. To enhance clarity, attendees will learn tools to provide context before detail. Attendees will also gain practical strategies to help readers relate new content to information that was previously provided.
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Presented by the Federal Bar Association’s Judiciary Division /Federal Judicial Law Clerk Committee

Presenters

HONORABLE ROBERT E. BACHARACH Judge Bacharach has served for over twelve years as a United States Circuit Judge for the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.
He graduated with High Honors from the University of Oklahoma with a B.A. in History and the Tom Lottinville Award for the Best Essay submitted in the History Department. He obtained his Juris Doctorate from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis in 1985, where he graduated order of the coif and was awarded the Breckenridge Scholarship for the second highest grade average in his senior year of law school. In law school at Washington University, he also served as the Developments Editor of the Washington University Law Quarterly (now named the Washington University Law Review) and was awarded the Mary Collier Hitchcock Prize for writing for the best Note (student article) in the law review.
Upon graduation from law school, Judge Bacharach clerked from 1985 to 1987 for Judge William J. Holloway, Jr., who was then the Chief Judge of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. After completing this clerkship, Judge Bacharach practiced civil litigation at Crowe & Dunlevy in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma from 1987 to 1999. He then served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the Western District of Oklahoma until 2013, when he was appointed to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Judge Bacharach is the author of Legal Writing: A Judge’s Perspective on the Science and Rhetoric of the Written Word, published by ABA Press. He has also authored “Section 1983 and the Availability of a Federal Forum: A Reappraisal of the Police Brutality Cases,” 16 Memphis State University Law Review 353 (1986); “Section 1983 and an Administrative Exhaustion Requirement,” 40 Oklahoma Law Review 407 (1987); “Motions in Limine in Oklahoma State and Federal Courts,” 24 Oklahoma City University Law Review 113 (1999); “Dirks v. SEC=s Footnote Fourteen: Horizontal and Vertical Reach,” 62 Washington University Law Quarterly 477 (1984); and “Post-Trial Juror Interviews by the Press: The Fifth Circuit=s Approach,” 62 Washington University Law Quarterly 783 (1985). In addition, he and Professor Lyn Entzeroth (now Dean Emeritus of Tulsa University School of Law) coauthored “Judicial Advocacy in Pro Se Litigation: A Return to Neutrality,” 42 Indiana Law Review 19 (2009).
Judge Bacharach is the recipient of the national Federal Bar Association’s Earl W. Kintner Award, the Oklahoma Bar Association’s Award of Judicial Excellence, and the Washington University School of Law Distinguished Alumni Award.

Registration

Register Now!

Live Broadcast | FBA Member: $0
Live Broadcast | Nonmember: $95
On-Demand Broadcast | FBA Member: $50
On-Demand Broadcast | Nonmember: $95

CLE
Please note: CLE for this webinar has not been pre-approved.
MyLaw and the FBA will seek 1.0 General CLE credit hours in 60-minute states, and 1.2 General CLE credit hours in 50-minute states.
Posted credit hours are estimated and subject to respective state approval and rounding rules. CLE qualifications vary by state/jurisdiction.
For questions regarding this program, please contact MyLaw CLE by email: registration@mylawcle.com or phone: 877-406-8636.

Webinar: Common Issues and Best Practices Regarding Federal Subject Matter Jurisdiction and FRCP 12(b)(1)
2025-10-29 12:00 - 13:00
**Program hosted in (ET) Time Zone**
Wait, Are We Even in the Right Place? Common Issues and Best Practices Regarding Federal Subject Matter Jurisdiction and FRCP 12(b)(1)
Because federal courts have limited jurisdiction, the issue of subject matter jurisdiction must be assessed by the parties and court at the earliest stage of litigation. This panel will explore common issues that arise when assessing subject matter jurisdiction and best practices for arguing for or against the existence of subject matter jurisdiction. The target audience includes law students considering clerkships, current judicial clerks, and young litigators.
Register Now!
Presented by the FBA’s Judiciary Division‘s Federal Judicial Law Clerk Committee

Presenters

Constantine P. Economides, Founding Partner, Dynamis LLP (Moderator)
Constantine has wide-ranging litigation experience, with expertise in securities, cryptoasset, international, and class action litigation. Over the past fourteen years, he has represented litigants in some of the most notable fraud-based disputes in United States history.
As a former judicial clerk to Judge William P. Dimitrouleas of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Constantine assisted the Judge in adjudicating over 100 civil cases. Before founding Dynamis, Constantine was a partner in an elite litigation boutique and also worked with large national firms in New York and Florida on numerous matters involving securities, international, and class action litigation.  He represented the Securities Investor Protection Corporation as part of the team that recovered over $11 billion on behalf of the victims of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.  He also recovered funds on behalf of investors defrauded by failed blood-testing company Theranos, Inc. and its infamous founder, Elizabeth Holmes.
Constantine currently represents an array of clients in complex domestic and international disputes involving cryptoassets, securities, and commercial contracts.
Additionally, Constantine recently became an arbitrator for Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”), and in recognition of his work with securities litigation and class action litigation, he has been named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Magazine for 2016 – 2022.
Constantine is the co-founder and co-chair of the Federal Bar Association’s Federal Judicial Law Clerk Committee, which is designed to marshal and provide professional opportunities for the national network of current and former federal judicial clerks.

Lou Mulligan, Dean, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law
Lumen “Lou” Mulligan joined the UMKC Law faculty in 2023 where he proudly serves as the dean and professor of law.  A native Kansas Citian, Dean Mulligan is an award-winning classroom instructor, teaching doctrinal and simulation courses as well as supervising clinics.  He is also a prolific scholar.  He has authored, or co-authored, five books and treatises and numerous articles, focusing on civil procedure.  Indeed, the state and federal courts cited Dean Mulligan’s writings more than 80 times in 2022 alone, and he was awarded the 2017 Civil Procedure Article of the Year by the American Association of Law Schools.  Before taking on the decanal role at UMKC, Dean Mulligan held numerous administrative posts at other institutions, including interim vice provost for faculty affairs, associate dean for faculty, and center director.
Dean Mulligan’s legal experience includes co-founding Stowell & Mulligan, P.A., working as a litigation associate attorney at a large Kansas City-based law firm, and serving as a judicial clerk on the United States Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.  Prior to joining UMKC School of Law, Dean Mulligan maintained a small practice representing clients in state and federal courts during his time in the academy.
In addition to his roles in the academy and in legal practice, Dean Mulligan serves as a senior fellow at the Rodel Leadership Institute – Judicial Project, a research fellow for the Council on Criminal Justice – Veterans Initiative, a member of the Kansas Judicial Council – Civil Rules Advisory Committee, and as a leader in other non-partisan organizations.
Dean Mulligan earned his J.D. (magna cum laude, Order of the Coif), from the University of Michigan Law School. He holds an M.A. in philosophy from the University of Colorado and a B.A. with honors from the University of Kansas.  Prior to UMKC School of Law, Dean Mulligan was on faculty at the University of Kansas Law School, Michigan State University College of Law, and the University of Michigan School of Business.

Kim Browneve ,Career Law Clerk, District Court Southern District of Florida.
Kim Brown Eve is a Career Law Clerk for the Honorable Robert N. Scola, Jr. at the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. She has served in this role since 2016, following six years as Career Law Clerk to Magistrate Judge Barry L. Garber in the same court. Before joining the judiciary, she practiced law as an associate at White & Case LLP in Miami, where she focused on complex commercial litigation.
Kim earned her Juris Doctor, summa cum laude, from the University of Miami School of Law in 2007. She also holds a Master of Science in Oceanography from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, and a Bachelor of Arts in Geology from Columbia College in New York.
Judge Paul Levenson, Magistrate, United States District Court
Magistrate Judge Paul G. Levenson began his service to the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts in June 2022.
He began his legal career as a clerk for Judge Stanley A. Weigel of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Thereafter he worked as an associate at law firms in Washington, D.C., and New York City.
In 1989, he joined the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, where he served for over 24 years. There he started in the Civil Division and later moved to the Criminal Division, working primarily in the Economic Crimes Unit and the Public Corruption Unit. He was Chief of the Economic Crimes Unit from 2007 to 2013.
From 2013 to 2022, Magistrate Judge Levenson was Director of the Boston Regional Office of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
Magistrate Judge Levenson grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Albemarle County, Virginia. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College with a degree in Social Studies, and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. In law school he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review and was head teaching fellow for Professor Archibald Cox.

Registration
Register Now!

Live Broadcast | FBA Member: $0
Live Broadcast | Nonmember: $95
On-Demand Broadcast | FBA Member: $50
On-Demand Broadcast | Nonmember: $95

CLE
Please note: CLE for this webinar has not been pre-approved.
MyLaw and the FBA will seek 1.0 General CLE credit hours in 60-minute states, and 1.2 General CLE credit hours in 50-minute states.
Posted credit hours are estimated and subject to respective state approval and rounding rules. CLE qualifications vary by state/jurisdiction.
For questions regarding this program, please contact MyLaw CLE by email: registration@mylawcle.com or phone: 877-406-8636.

Webinar: Legal Writing: Persuasion Through Clarity, Part II
2026-02-25 12:00 - 13:00
**Program hosted in (ET) Time Zone**
The Honorable Robert E. Bacharach of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit will share a judge’s perspective on legal writing. The program is designed to help attendees enhance the clarity in their legal writing. The program will address empirical studies showing how the use of plain language enhances clarity and will address how strategic chunking of material can enhance clarity.
This webinar builds on the CLE held on September 25, 2025; however, viewing Part I is not essential for participating in this standalone webinar.
Register Now!
Presented by FBA’s Judiciary Division & Federal Judicial Law Clerk Committee

Presenters

Honorable Robert E Bacharach
Judge Bacharach has served for over twelve years as a United States Circuit Judge for the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. He graduated with High Honors from the University of Oklahoma with a B.A. in History and the Tom Lottinville Award for the Best Essay submitted in the History Department. He obtained his Juris Doctorate from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis in 1985, where he graduated order of the coif and was awarded the Breckenridge Scholarship for the second highest grade average in his senior year of law school. In law school at Washington University, he also served as the Developments Editor of the Washington University Law Quarterly (now named the Washington University Law Review) and was awarded the Mary Collier Hitchcock Prize for writing for the best Note (student article) in the law review.
Upon graduation from law school, Judge Bacharach clerked from 1985 to 1987 for Judge William J. Holloway, Jr., who was then the Chief Judge of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. After completing this clerkship, Judge Bacharach practiced civil litigation at Crowe & Dunlevy in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma from 1987 to 1999. He then served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the Western District of Oklahoma until 2013, when he was appointed to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Judge Bacharach is the author of Legal Writing: A Judge’s Perspective on the Science and Rhetoric of the Written Word, published by ABA Press. He has also authored “Section 1983 and the Availability of a Federal Forum: A Reappraisal of the Police Brutality Cases,” 16 Memphis State University Law Review 353 (1986); “Section 1983 and an Administrative Exhaustion Requirement,” 40 Oklahoma Law Review 407 (1987); “Motions in Limine in Oklahoma State and Federal Courts,” 24 Oklahoma City University Law Review 113 (1999); “Dirks v. SEC=s Footnote Fourteen: Horizontal and Vertical Reach,” 62 Washington University Law Quarterly 477 (1984); and “Post-Trial Juror Interviews by the Press: The Fifth Circuit=s Approach,” 62 Washington University Law Quarterly 783 (1985). In addition, he and Professor Lyn Entzeroth (now Dean Emeritus of Tulsa University School of Law) coauthored “Judicial Advocacy in Pro Se Litigation: A Return to Neutrality,” 42 Indiana Law Review 19 (2009).
Judge Bacharach is the recipient of the national Federal Bar Association’s Earl W. Kintner Award, the Oklahoma Bar Association’s Award of Judicial Excellence, and the Washington University School of Law Distinguished Alumni Award.

Registration
Register Now!

Live Broadcast | FBA Member: $0
Live Broadcast | Nonmember: $95
On-Demand Broadcast | FBA Member: $50
On-Demand Broadcast | Nonmember: $95

CLE
Please note: CLE for this webinar has not been pre-approved.
MyLaw and the FBA will seek 1.0 General CLE credit hours in 60-minute states, and 1.2 General CLE credit hours in 50-minute states.
Posted credit hours are estimated and subject to respective state approval and rounding rules. CLE qualifications vary by state/jurisdiction.
For questions regarding this program, please contact MyLaw CLE by email: registration@mylawcle.com or phone: 877-406-8636.

Webinar: Demystifying Discovery: Fundamental Tools and Tactics for Law Clerks and New Lawyers
2026-04-29 12:00 - 13:00
**Program hosted in (ET) Time Zone**
This CLE course will provide a foundational overview of discovery in federal civil litigation, including the use of interrogatories, requests for production, requests for admission, and depositions. The program offers practical tips for drafting clear discovery requests and responses to minimize objections and disputes in court and also will address tips for navigating discovery disputes that do arise in litigation.
Register Now!
Presented by the FBA’s Judiciary Division & Federal Judicial Law Clerk Committee

Presenters

The Honorable Marty Fulgueira Elfenbein, Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

Marty Fulgueira Elfenbein was sworn in as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Florida on March 11, 2024. Before joining the judiciary, from September 2018 to March 2024, Judge Elfenbein served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Miami, prosecuting cases in the Major Crimes and Economic and Environmental Crimes Sections. In her last year as a prosecutor, she was the Chief of the Collateral Litigation Section, overseeing all post-conviction litigation and filter reviews on a district-wide basis. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, she worked as a law clerk for the Honorable Beth Bloom in the Southern District of Florida. From 2006 to 2016, Judge Elfenbein was an associate and later a partner at Rumberger, Kirk, and Caldwell, P.A. where she focused her federal and state practice in the areas of aviation law, products liability, premises liability, and insurance defense. She earned a degree in newspaper journalism in 2002 and a Juris Doctor degree in 2005, both from the University of Florida.

Matthew Allen, Principal, Miller Canfield Paddock and Stone, P.L.C.
Matthew P. Allen is a litigator and trial lawyer who has tried and arbitrated a wide variety of cases, ranging from felony matters in Detroit’s criminal courts to bet-the[1]company securities and international intellectual property cases. Over the past decade, Matt has been consistently voted by his peers as a leading lawyer in Michigan and the United States by the publications Best Lawyers in America, Michigan Super Lawyers, and Leading Lawyers. Matt has also been selected as a Fellow in the Litigation Counsel of America, an invitation-only trial lawyer honorary society composed of less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers. In addition to his commercial litigation practice, Matt has represented corporations, audit committees, and corporate officers and directors in civil and criminal investigations and enforcement actions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, U.S. Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Federal Election Commission. He has also tried numerous felony bench and jury trials, and conducted felony preliminary examinations, while serving as a Special Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in Wayne County (Detroit) Michigan.

Prof. Debra M. Strauss, Professor of Business Law, Fairfield University
Debra M. Strauss is a Professor of Business Law at Fairfield University Charles F. Dolan School of Business, where she teaches international law, business law, and applied ethics. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Cornell University and Yale Law School, she clerked for the Honorable Charles L. Brieant, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and practiced commercial litigation at Rogers & Wells (now Clifford Chance LLP). Professor Strauss is the author of Behind the Bench: The Guide to Judicial Clerkships (West Academic Publishing, 3rd ed. 2023), a leading resource on the courts and judicial clerkships. She previously served as the founding Director of Judicial Clerkship Counseling and Programs at Yale Law School and authored the National Judicial Clerkship Study for the American Bar Association and the National Association for Law Placement. She is a founder and officer of the Connecticut Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and serves as Co-Chair of the Federal Judicial Law Clerk Committee of the FBA Judiciary Division. Professor Strauss frequently presents and consults on federal practice and effective advocacy in the courts, including practical guidance on litigation, legal writing, and judicial clerkship success.

Anoosheh Shaikh, Associate, Duane Morris LLP
Anoosheh Shaikh has developed a well-rounded practice focused on complex commercial litigation, securities, and employment litigation. She is well-versed in litigation strategy including managing discovery, drafting motions, and preparing for trial.
Prior to joining Duane Morris, Ms. Shaikh served as law clerk to the Hon. Embry Kidd of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
Ms. Shaikh is a 2022 cum laude graduate of the University of Miami School of Law and a cum laude graduate of The George Washington University. During law school, she was Vice President of the Charles C. Papy Jr. Moot Court Board and member of the International and Comparative Law Review. Additionally, she was inducted into the Order of Barristers National Honors Society for excellence in oral advocacy and brief writing.

Kaitlin Farrell, Partner, Haug Partners
Kaitlin Farrell has extensive patent law experience, focused primarily on patent litigation and pre-lawsuit investigations in matters related to pharmaceuticals, medical devices, chemicals, cosmetics, food/beverage, automotives, and consumer products. Kaitlin has developed significant trial and appellate experience that informs all elements of her litigation and due diligence practice. Kaitlin has experience with a wide range of pharmaceutical products, including treatments for neurological, hematologic, dermatologic, gynecologic, and rare-disease conditions, as well as various extended-release, topical, subcutaneous, and biologic drug formulations. Kaitlin has litigated major patent disputes before the PTAB, the ITC, and in major patent venues across the country. She has also represented clients before U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. She is an active contributor to local, national, and international intellectual property associations. She is a graduate of Notre Dame Law School and Fordham University.

Christina Dines, Law Clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (Moderator)
Christina Dines is presently serving as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Adalberto Jordan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. She previously clerked for the Honorable John L. Sinatra, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York and for Justice John D. Couriel of the Florida Supreme Court, and serves on the Federal Bar Association’s Federal Judicial Law Clerk Committee.
In addition to her clerkships, which have informed her advocacy, Christina has extensive litigation experience. As a senior associate in the Miami office of Baker McKenzie LLP, she was a member of the firm’s Litigation & Government Enforcement Practice Group. She has assisted clients in navigating high-stakes matters involving complex civil disputes, internal and external investigations, and federal civil RICO. She has worked on cases across several state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.
A graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Notre Dame Law School, and a former Division I coxswain, Christina serves on the Notre Dame Monogram Club Board of Directors.

Registration
Register Now!

Live Broadcast | FBA Member: $0
Live Broadcast | Nonmember: $95
On-Demand Broadcast | FBA Member: $50
On-Demand Broadcast | Nonmember: $95

CLE
Please note: CLE for this webinar has not been pre-approved.
MyLaw and the FBA will seek 1.0 General CLE credit hours in 60-minute states, and 1.2 General CLE credit hours in 50-minute states.
Posted credit hours are estimated and subject to respective state approval and rounding rules. CLE qualifications vary by state/jurisdiction.
For questions regarding this program, please contact MyLaw CLE by email: registration@mylawcle.com or phone: 877-406-8636.
