Federal Bar Association

DC & Maryland Chapters: The 4th Annual Government Enforcement & Investigations Seminar 4 Hours CLE
2024-02-06 09:45 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse, 333 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC, 20001
The D.C. and Maryland Chapters and Federal Litigation Section
of the Federal Bar Association
present
The 4th Annual Government Enforcement & Investigations Seminar (4 Hours of CLE)
featuring
Keynote: The Hon. Thomas B. Griffith & Benjamin L. Ginsberg
discussing their July 2022 report “Lost, Not Stolen”
Public Corruption Cases in 2024
Crypto & Sanctions: The New Frontier
– and –
A View from the (Chief Judge’s) Bench:
A conversation with the Hon. James K. Bredar, the Hon. James E.
Boasberg, the Hon. Royce C. Lamberth & the Hon. Beryl A. Howell
February 6, 2024
9:45 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse
Ceremonial Courtroom
333 Constitution Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001
Includes 4 Hours of CLE, Lunch, and Post-Conference Reception
Questions? Contact Tom Barnard tbarnard( a t )bakerdonelson.com
or Eric Nitz enitz( a t )mololamken.com

Intellectual Property Law Section: Art and Fashion Law Conference
2024-02-15 - 2024-02-16 | Dunnington, Bartholow & Miller LLP, 230 Park Avenue, 21st Floor, New York, NY, 10169, United States
The Art & Fashion Law Conference returns to in-person programming this year in New York City, bringing two global industries into one compelling program. Experts in litigation, employment law, data privacy, intellectual property and product liability will collaborate for panels at the advanced and primer levels. The conference is designed for attorneys and non-attorneys who are interested in the intersection of art, fashion, and the law. Take advantage of this niche program and the 10% discounted Early Bird rate by registering online by January 14, 2024. Single day and full conference registration tickets are available. Conference attendees will be invited to a cocktail reception on February 15, 2024 to mingle and network with conference faculty and fellow attendees. The conference is exclusively available in-person. There is no hybrid streaming available. Use this LINK to register.
February 15, 2024 – 9:00 am to 5:00 pm – Art Law Conference (5 CLE)
February 16, 2024 – 9:00 am to 5:00 pm – Fashion Law Conference (5 CLE)
Additional Information
Looking for Recommendations?
Sponsored by the FBA Intellectual Property Law Section, the FBA Southern District of New York Chapter, and the FBA Federal Litigation Section

Registration Rates

SINGLE DAY-REGISTRATION RATES

Early Bird Registration
(ON OR BEFORE 1/14/24)
Standard Registration
(AFTER 1/14/24)

Sustaining FBA Members
$355
$395

FBA Members
$337.50
$375

Nonmembers
$445
$495

Gov/Academic
$265
$295

Law Student/Observation
$135
$150

FULL CONFERENCE-REGISTRATION RATES (2 days)

Sustaining FBA Members
$508.50
$565

FBA Members
$535
$595

Nonmembers
$625
$695

Gov/Academic
$355
$395

Law Student/Observation
$225
$250

[Register Online]

CLE

CLE Credit will only be issued for New York.
Attendees can receive up to 10.0 General CLE credits in New York.
Attendees outside of NY may contact their respective jurisdictions to determine if they can claim credit independently.
Attendees will be responsible to check in/out of programming onsite to meet New York attendance requirements. Certificates will be issued via email following the event.
For any questions regarding CLE matters, please email TCarter@Dunnington.com.

Email Communication Policy
By registering for this event, you agree to receive email communications from the Federal Bar Association and affiliated sponsors of the program concerning event details, Continuing Legal Education certification, programming changes, upcoming events, surveys, and post-event communications.

If you have any questions regarding this program, please contact Grace Patt at GPatt@Dunnington.com.

Webinar: Betting On Yourself: Attorneys Under 40 Making Big Moves
2024-03-06 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York)
This joint CLE webinar from the Federal Litigation Section and Younger Lawyers Division features attorneys who made big swings in their respective federal practices before the age of 40. Panelists Davida Brook, a partner at Susman Godfrey L.L.P.’s Los Angeles office, and Miangel Cody, founder and lead counsel at The Decarceration Collective in Chicago, will speak about their career paths–including high profile cases. Discussions topics will include how these distinguished attorneys navigated high-impact litigation in very different fields and what pushed them to bet on themselves to get where they are now.
Presented by the Federal Litigation Section and the Younger Lawyers Division.
Register Now
For questions regarding this program, please contact MyLaw CLE by email: registration@mylawcle.com or phone: 877-406-8636.

About the Presenters
Davida Brook, Partner, Susman Godfrey L.L.P.
Davida Brook is a high-demand trial lawyer who is frequently brought in to help companies and individuals tackle their thorniest legal disputes. In 2023, acting as co-lead counsel, Ms. Brook and her team secured a historic $787.5 million settlement to resolve Dominion Voting System’s massive defamation lawsuit against Fox New Network over allegations that Fox made false statements that Dominion rigged the 2020 presidential election. Ms. Brook currently serves as co-lead counsel to the New York Timesin a groundbreaking copyright infringement action against Microsoft and OpenAI alleging that the companies illegally used millions of its articles to train ChatGBT. Ms. Brook also serves as co-lead counsel in a class action against PornHub parent company, MindGeek, over allegations that MindGeek violated federal sex trafficking and child pornography laws. Ms. Brook and her team recently certified an international class of tens of thousands of victims whose images were uploaded to MindGeek’s websites. Among other industry recognitions, Ms. Brook has repeatedly been named one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California and Top Women Lawyers in California (Daily Journal) and one of the nation’s 500 Leading Litigators (Lawdragon).
MiAngel Cody, Founder, Decarceration Collective
MiAngel Cody is nationally recognized for her dedicated defense of men and women sentenced to life in federal prison. She is the founder of the Decarceration Collective, a woman-powered law firm fighting to free people sentenced to life in prison for drugs and to end the laws that put the there. MiAngel has defended hundreds of people in federal court and won freedom for over 40 life-sentenced prisoners. Her victories include 6 successful commutations from the President of the United States. During her historic #90DaysOfFreedom Campaign, in three short months, MiAngel and her team won freedom for 17 federal prisoners unfairly sentenced to life without parole for drugs. MiAngel began her legal career as a law clerk to Federal Judge Myron H. Thompson of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. She then clerked for Federal Appeals Judge Ann Williams (Ret.) of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Registration
[Register Here]

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

For questions regarding this program, please contact MyLaw CLE by email: registration@mylawcle.com or phone: 877-406-8636.

(!) 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.

Kansas and Western District of Missouri Chapter: From Murder to Museums: Current Controversies Over Nazi-Looted Art
2024-04-11 16:15 - 19:30 (America/Chicago) | The Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas
The program will kick off with a panel “introduction to art law” followed by Raymond Dowd’s presentation, which recounts epic legal battles including the seizure of two
stolen Schieles spotted at the Salon+Art Show at the Park Avenue Armory in
November 2015. The seizure and return of the artworks garnered international
headlines upon their restitution to the heirs of Fritz Grunbaum, a Viennese cabaret
artist who was murdered in the Dachau Concentration Camp. The Schieles are now
at Christie’s while Grunbaum’s heirs continue to fight the London art dealers’
appeals.
The presentation traces Abraham Lincoln’s idea of taking the profit out of war
through the Lieber Code Executive Order 100 of April 1863, to the 1899 and 1907
Hague Conventions, to the Nuremberg Trials, demonstrating that returning stolen
property to Holocaust victims is consistent with American ideals and foreign
policy.
Dowd discusses how 1. Confiscatory US tax laws, 2. A fair market value deduction
for artworks donated to museums, and 3. An unwillingness of museums to look gift
horses in the mouth led to the current situation: US museums with large
inventories of unprovenanced works that left Europe after 1933, but were created
prior to 1946. History’s greatest robbery has long been concealed by history’s
greatest murder, Congress passing the HEAR Act of 2016 extended the statute of
limitations for Nazi looted art claims and reaffirmed America’s commitment to
righting an historic wrong.
Key note: Raymond J. Dowd: https://dunnington.com/raymond-j-dowd-2/
Panelists: Professor Michael H. Hoeflich https://law.ku.edu/people/michael-hoeflich
Kelly Anders (in her private capacity – not as a museum representative) https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellylynnanders/
More panelists TBD
Intro To Art Law/Holocaust Art Restitution At KU Spencer Museum Of Art With Raymond Dowd – Chapter for the districts of Kansas & Western Missouri (fedbarkanmo.org)

NDCA Chapter: Storytelling in IP Litigation: How to talk to judges and jurors about complex technical issues
2024-06-11 17:00 - 18:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Robert F. Peckham Federal Building & United States Courthouse, 280 South 1st Street, Ceremonial courtroom, San Jose, CA, 95113, United States
Please join us for views from the bench and prominent practitioners on best practices and common pitfalls when presenting complex technical information in court—whether at trial or pretrial, to judges or juries, in patent cases or in other matters involving complicated scientific, technological, financial or other information not readily accessible to lay audiences.
Speakers

Hon. Beth Labson Freeman
Hon. Susan van Keulen
Hon. Peter Kang
Nikki Vo, Director & Associate General Counsel at Meta
Paul Grewal, General Counsel at Coinbase

Register here.
Event time zone PST

Webinar: Jury Selection in Media-Intensive Cases
2024-08-21 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York)
Two highly respected and experienced trial attorneys (Richard “Dick” Harpootlian, Esq. and Roberta “Robbie” Kaplan, Esq. ) will address Jury Selection in Media-Intensive Cases. This webinar will assist lawyers who have never tried a media-intensive case in preparing for their first voir dire when they do eventually try one. In addition, all lawyers who try cases and pick juries will learn how to utilize principles and lessons learned for jury selection as well as more about the trial process itself.
Presented by the Civil Rights Law Section, the Federal Litigation Section, and the Kansas and Western District of Missouri Chapter.
Register Now!

About the Presenters

Richard A. “Dick” Harpootlian, Owner, Richard A. Harpootlian, P.A.
Richard “Dick” Ara Harpootlian is one of South Carolina’s leading courtroom advocates with 30 years of trial experience as a prosecutor, defense attorney, and civil litigator. Mr. Harpootlian’s dynamic and persuasive advocacy style and record of success has earned him a reputation amongst South Carolina’s legal community as a lawyer who can get results.
Mr. Harpootlian began his career as a prosecutor in the Fifth Circuit Solicitor’s Office. Within two years, he was named Deputy Solicitor and tasked with the administration and supervision of over 20 prosecutors and staff members. As the Fifth Circuit’s chief homicide prosecutor, Mr. Harpootlian personally prosecuted hundreds of murder cases, including 12 death penalty cases.
He defended one of those convictions on appeal before the United States Supreme Court. In 1983, Mr. Harpootlian earned a conviction in the prosecution of Donald “Pee Wee” Gaskins—South Carolina’s most notorious serial killer. Mr. Gaskins was sentenced to death. In 1990, Mr. Harpootlian was elected as Fifth Circuit Solicitor, winning by a margin of almost 2-1. He served from 1991 until 1995. As Solicitor, he personally prosecuted and obtained convictions in a number of high-profile murder, drug, and public corruption cases. In 1991, Mr. Harpootlian prosecuted and convicted ex-University of South Carolina President Jim Holderman for public corruption charges arising from the abuse of his office for personal gain.
For the last 20 years, Mr. Harpootlian’s private practice has earned him state and national recognition for his efforts on behalf of civil litigants and criminal defendants, including a number of multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements, some of which are listed here.
In addition to his law practice, Mr. Harpootlian has been active in South Carolina politics. He was popularly elected and served on Richland County Council from 1986 to 1991. He served as Chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party from 1998 to 2003 and again from 2011 to 2013. During his first tenure as Chair, the Party elected Governor James Hodges, the first candidate to unseat an incumbent South Carolina governor, and five other Democrats to statewide office.
Mr. Harpootlian’s views as a commentator on law and politics are regularly sought by national news programs. He has appeared on 60 Minutes, Good Morning America, ABC Nightly News, NBC Nightly News, Dateline NBC, and various CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, and Fox News broadcasts. He is also frequently quoted in local, state, and national publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, and TIME Magazine.
Mr. Harpootlian has been invited to share his experience with bar colleges as a lecture for the South Carolina Bar Association on topics including class action litigation and criminal defense. For the last 20 years, he has lectured newly barred South Carolina lawyers during the Bridge the Gap Program. He is a former chair of the Criminal Law Section of the South Carolina Bar Association and a past member of the South Carolina Bar Board of Grievance and Discipline. He has served on the South Carolina Chief Justice’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Docketing and he is an adjunct professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law.
Roberta A. “Robbie” Kaplan
A renowned litigator with decades of experience in commercial, higher education, and civil rights litigation, Chambers has described Robbie as “a modern-day legal giant. A towering intellect and a genius in court, with the instincts of a street fighter.” Robbie has the distinction of being probably the only lawyer to have taken the deposition of former president Donald J. Trump twice in two weeks.
Robbie recently led the legal team representing writer E. Jean Carroll in her sexual battery and defamation suits against Donald Trump, securing $5 million and $83.3 million jury verdicts, respectively, on her behalf in cases where both juries reached their verdicts in less than three hours.
Sharon Nelles, head of litigation at Sullivan & Cromwell, is quoted in a profile explaining that Robbie “just sees things from a thousand different angles all at once, it’s hard to keep up with her thought processes. She knows her law cold, she knows the Constitution cold and she’s not afraid, if she sees a problem, to go figure out some law that’s going to allow her to fix it. She’ll find it.” Stephen Gillers, professor at New York University School of Law, told Bloomberg Law that Robbie is “a lawyer that you don’t want to see opposing you.” Another client describes Robbie as someone who “eats bullies for lunch.”
The Washington Post has described Robbie as “a brash and original strategist, with neither a gift for patience nor silence, a crusader for underdogs who has won almost every legal accolade imaginable.” Among the numerous honors and recognitions Robbie has received, she was named to Forbes’ list of “America’s Top 200 Lawyers,” recognized as the 2020 “Attorney of the Year” by the New York Law Journal, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York Law Journal, and has been honored as “Litigator of the Year” by The American Lawyer, “Lawyer of the Year” by Above the Law, and “Most Innovative Lawyer of the Year” by The Financial Times. The Financial Times noted that “the judges had little trouble picking just one of them to win the award for most innovative individual – itself an innovation for the report this year. Robbie Kaplan has been involved in some of the most important legal developments of recent years.” Robbie has consistently been listed as one of the top litigators and top women litigators in the country, as well as one of the top lawyers in New York.
Commercial Litigation
Robbie represents clients in the tech, fintech and financial services industries as both plaintiffs and defendants in their most complex legal challenges, delivering a consistent track record of compelling advocacy, creative arguments, and winning results.
With respect to tech, Robbie succeeded in obtaining a preliminary injunction for Airbnb on Fourth Amendment grounds, blocking a New York City ordinance that would have required Airbnb to turn over massive amounts of data, a prospect that posed significant privacy concerns. See Airbnb, Inc. v. City of New York, 373 F. Supp. 3d 467 (S.D.N.Y. 2019) (Engelmayer, J.). She has also represented Uber in several cases involving significant business and privacy concerns posed by overly intrusive government regulation. Robbie recently secured a major victory for the Center for Countering Digital Hate (“CCDH”) in a lawsuit brought by X Corp. alleging that CCDH violated X’s terms of service in researching the prevalence of hate speech on the platform. As Judge Charles Breyer observed: “Sometimes it is unclear what is driving a litigation, and only by reading between the lines . . . can one attempt to surmise a plaintiff’s true purpose. Other times a complaint is so unabashedly about one thing that there can be no mistaking that purpose. This case represents the latter circumstance.” X Corp. v. Ctr. for Countering Dig. Hate, 23-cv-03836-CRB (N.D. Cal. Mar. 25, 2024)
Robbie has handled a wide variety of cases representing clients on Wall Street and in the financial services sector, including matters involving “Special Purpose Acquisition Companies,” or SPACs, stock analysts’ recommendations, market timing in mutual funds, reinsurance transactions, structured finance transactions and multi-level marketing companies. In the wake of the financial crisis in 2007, Robbie represented Fitch Ratings in many dozens of regulatory investigations and civil litigations in both state and federal court relating to Fitch’s credit ratings of RMBS, CDO, and municipal bond transactions. She recently represented Pershing Square in a case challenging the legitimacy of SPACs.
Robbie recently won at the Appellate Division First Department a motion staying a case in favor of arbitration in connection with litigation brought by Sean Combs against her client Diageo. She currently represents Authentic Brands in its dispute with the former operator of Sports Illustrated as well as Fred Iseman in litigation involving the foundation of his aunt, the painter Helen Frankenthaler.
Robbie has also been honored to represent major law firms in connection with commercial and other disputes.
Higher Education
Robbie has earned a reputation for helping top universities navigate their most pressing legal challenges. She has had the privilege of representing Columbia University for over a decade in a number of cases related to Title IX and alleged gender-based misconduct, winning multiple motions to dismiss. Nungesser v. Columbia Univ., 169 F. Supp. 3d 353 (S.D.N.Y. 2016); Roskin-Frazee v. Columbia Univ., 474 F. Supp. 3d 618 (S.D.N.Y. 2019). Robbie recently secured the dismissal of breach of contract claims in an ongoing litigation against Columbia seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in tuition refunds related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In re Columbia Tuition Refund Action, 20 Civ. 3208, 2021 WL 790638 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 26, 2021) (Furman, J.).
As a result of these and other matters, Robbie has decades of experience dealing with the complex interplay between regulatory investigations and the civil lawsuits that inevitably follow.
She currently represents Columbia in several matters filed under Title VI relating to events on campus since the attacks by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Robbie also recently led the team that secured a dismissal with prejudice of all claims brought by student John Doe against New York University challenging NYU Law Review’s admission policy in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard (Doe v. N.Y. Univ., No. 23 Civ. 10515, 2024 WL 2847368 (S.D.N.Y. May 30, 2024)). When it comes to college sports, in January 2021, Robbie defeated a motion for a preliminary injunction seeking to require Brown University to restore its men’s and women’s squash teams to varsity status. Sterman v. Brown Univ., 513 F. Supp. 3d 243 (D.R.I. 2021). Robbie similarly secured a favorable settlement for Brown in high-profile litigation related to gender proportionality requirements in its athletics programs. Cohen v. Brown Univ., 16 F.4th 935 (1st Cir. 2021). Robbie was chosen by the NCAA to conduct a groundbreaking independent investigation into gender equity issues involving NCAA Division I Championships, including the controversy that arose at the Division I women’s basketball championships in 2021.
Public Interest Matters
Throughout her career, Robbie has always had a deep-seated commitment to using the law to advance the public interest. She is perhaps best known for successfully challenging a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act on behalf of her client Edith Windsor in the landmark case United States v. Windsor. Professor Laurence Tribe of Harvard Law School has observed that he could not “think of any Supreme Court decision in history that has ever created so rapid and broad a lower-court groundswell in a single direction as Windsor.”
In 2017 Robbie filed a high-stakes lawsuit against twenty-four neo-Nazi and white supremacist entities and leaders responsible for organizing the racial- and religious-based violence in Charlottesville in August 2017. In November 2021, after a four-week jury trial, Robbie and her team won a landmark $26 million verdict against the white supremacists and neo-Nazis who conspired to commit racially-motivated violence. Dahlia Lithwick, in her bestselling book Lady Justice (Penguin, 2022), devotes a chapter to Robbie’s work on the Charlottesville case. Robbie is also featured prominently in No Accident, a powerful documentary chronicling the Charlottesville case from beginning to end.
In addition to serving as lead counsel for E. Jean Carroll in her two successful jury trials against Donald Trump, Robbie recently reached a historic settlement agreement with the Florida State Board of Education, Florida Department of Education, and school districts that effectively nullified the most dangerous and discriminatory impacts of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law.
Robbie currently serves as counsel for New York’s Metropolitan Transit Agency in connection with nine separate lawsuits seeking to block, on environmental and constitutional grounds, the first congestion pricing program in the United States.
***
Robbie is the author of the book Then Comes Marriage: United States v. Windsor and the Defeat of DOMA (W.W. Norton), chosen by the L.A. Times as one of the top 10 books of 2015. President Bill Clinton noted that “Then Comes Marriage is a riveting account of a watershed moment in our history, and the strategy, ingenuity, and humanity that made it happen.” Rachel Maddow similarly noted that Robbie’s book “will forever change the understanding of this landmark case―its genesis, its outside-the-box strategy, and its tactical brilliance.”
Robbie holds a J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she has long taught a seminar on advanced civil procedure. She earned her A.B., magna cum laude, from Harvard College.

Moderator: Blake Shuart, Trial Attorney, Hutton and Hutton Law Firm LLC

Blake A. Shuart is a Trial Attorney with Hutton & Hutton Law Firm, L.L.C., based in Wichita, Kansas. Mr. Shuart has an active litigation practice in state and federal courts across the United States, specializing in medical malpractice, products liability, mass torts, civil rights cases and other cases involving catastrophic injury or wrongful death. Mr. Shuart is the incoming President of the Federal Bar Association Chapter for the Districts of Kansas & Western Missouri.

Register Here!

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.

Email Communication Policy
By registering for this event, you agree to receive email communication from the Federal Bar Association and affiliated sponsors of the program concerning event details, Continuing Legal Education certification, programming changes, upcoming events, surveys, and post-event communications.
Recording Disclaimer
By registering for an online FBA program, you agree to the recording of audio and visual content presented during the live event and consent to subsequent use of the recording by the FBA. You agree that the recording is the sole property of the FBA and that the recording may be used by the FBA in any manner in its sole and absolute discretion. This recording may include questions and poll responses provided by you during the live event. If you do not consent to the recording and the FBA’s use of the same, do not register for the event.

Chicago Chapter: Endless Career Opportunities for Lawyers: An FBA Women’s History Month Panel Discussion
2025-03-19 15:30 - 18:00 (America/New_York) | Greenberg Traurig, 77 West Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL, 60601, United States
Join the Federal Bar Association Chicago Chapter for Endless Career Opportunities for Lawyers: An FBA Women’s History Month Panel Discussion on March 19, 2025, at Greenberg Traurig in Chicago or virtually via Zoom. This engaging event features accomplished female lawyers from various sectors, including law firms, government, academia, and corporate counsel. Panelists will share fundamental insights on how to excel as a lawyer, make smooth career transitions, navigate workplace dynamics, and balance personal and professional responsibilities. The discussion will be moderated by Lisa Kpor, Litigation Counsel at United Airlines, and will offer attendees valuable perspectives on advancing their legal careers.
The event will take place in a hybrid format, allowing both in-person and virtual participation. Attendees can earn 1.5 CLE credits, including 1.0 in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and 0.5 in Mental Health and Substance Abuse (approved in Illinois). Following the panel discussion, an in-person networking reception will provide an opportunity to connect with panelists and fellow legal professionals.
This event is open to all FBA members, non-members, and law students. Law students may join the FBA for FREE online at https://www.fedbar.org/associate-membership/law-students/.
In person attendees are encouraged to bring one or more new or gently used children’s books (K-8) to the event. The books will be collected for the American Dreams Playroom at the Dirksen Federal Building, so every child attending a naturalization ceremony can leave with a book.
To register, please visit: https://www.fedbarchicago.org/events-cle-opportunities/endless-career-opportunities-lawyers-fba-womens-history-month-panel

Pride in ADR (New York)
2025-06-17 17:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Benjamin N Cardozo School of Law, 55 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 10003, United States
Pride in ADR (New York)
Hosted by:
FBA Diversity & Inclusion Committee
FBA ADR and LGBTQ+ Law Sections
FBA Southern District of New York Chapter, and
New York State Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section
You are cordially invited to join the Federal Bar Association for the Second Pride in ADR (New York) Tuesday, June 17, from 5:00–9:00 p.m. ET, hosted in person at Cardozo Law in New York City and available remotely, virtually anywhere in the world. This year’s event will commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Federal Arbitration Act, the 25th Anniversary of Baker v. Vermont and a decade since Obergefell v. Hodges.
Pride in ADR is a celebration of the LGBTQIA+ communities’ availability, visibility, and selection as professionals in the field of alternative dispute resolution and a conversation about some of the challenges which persist as well as those which lay ahead. The Hon. Beth Robinson, U.S. Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, the first lesbian appellate court judge in our Nation’s history, a former Vermont Supreme Court Justice and co-lead counsel in Baker v. Vermont which saw Vermont become the first state to sustain civil unions will keynote this year’s Pride in ADR focused on “Public Policy and Consensus Building as a Form of ADR.” Judge Robinson’s keynote will be followed by a panel discussion on the topic of the existence of an LGBTQIA+ ADR Ecosystem as conducive to the accessibility and selection of LGBTQIA+ arbitrators and mediators.
Presented by the FBA’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee, ADR and LGBTQ+ Law Sections, the Southern District of New York Chapter, and the New York State Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section, this event honors Pride Month by recognizing and celebrating the contributions of LGBTQIA+ professionals in the field of alternative dispute resolution (ADR).
The panel will be followed by cocktails and conversation.
No matter your practice, no matter your location, no matter your sexual orientation, no matter your gender identity, come “out” in-person or online, Tuesday, June 17th, and join us. Show your Pride in ADR!

Venue
The June 17 event will be held in-person at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (55 Fifth Ave, NY, NY 10003). Virtual participation is also available.
Please also join the event hosts for a casual evening with a cash bar at The Stonewall Inn from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Monday, June 16, 2025, in advance of Pride in ADR (New York)!

Registration
Registration has closed for this event.
Registration is free, but space is limited.
For questions about registration, please email the Southern District of New York Chapter at secretary@fbasdny.org or FBA Sections and Divisions at sections@fedbar.org.

About the Presenters
Keynote:

Hon. Beth Robinson, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Beth Robinson has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit since November 2021, and served on the Vermont Supreme Court for the preceding decade. Before she was a judge, Robinson was a partner at Langrock Sperry & Wool in Middlebury and Burlington Vermont, with a focus on workers’ compensation, personal injury, family law, employment, and LGBTQ rights, and then served briefly as Counsel to Governor Peter Shumlin. Robinson is best known for her role as co-counsel in Baker v. State, representing three same-sex couples seeking marriage licenses, and as a leader in the Vermont Freedom to Marry movement from 1994-2010.

Welcome: Christie McGuinness, J.D., Master of Ceremonies
Christie McGuinness is a Litigation Associate in the New York Office of Saul Ewing LLP. Christie focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation with a particular focus on False Claims Act matters. Christie also serves as the President of the Southern District of New York Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, and as the Secretary of the Younger Lawyer’s Division of the Federal Bar Association.

Marty Rouse
Marty Rouse was recently Vice President for Outreach and Engagement for the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund. He served as National Field Director for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) from 2004-2020. He was recruited to HRC after heading MassEquality, the group that led the political fight to protect the marriage equality decision in Massachusetts. Marty spearheaded HRC’s efforts to build and flex the political muscle of the LGBTQ community across the US, playing pivotal roles in winning marriage equality in Hawaii, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, and Washington states before marriage equality was secured nationwide by the US Supreme Court in 2015. He also led HRC’s successful effort to build grassroots support to repeal the discriminatory ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ military policy.
Marty was born and raised on Long Island. He was the State LGBT Director of Bill Clinton for President, worked on LGBTQ issues under NYC Mayor David Dinkins and Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger. In 1996, the White House sent Marty to Vermont to run President Clinton’s re-election there. Over several years Marty helped elect dozens of fair-minded state legislators in the Green Mountain State.
In the Clinton Administration, Marty worked for Fair Housing Assistant Secretary Roberta Achtenberg (our nation’s first openly LGBTQ+ Senate confirmed political appointee). At the US Dept. of Health and Human Services, Marty worked under Cabinet Secretary Donna E. Shalala where he helped bring attention to the health disparities experienced by LGBT people.
Marty graduated from the State University of New York at Stony Brook which included one year at Tübingen University, Germany. He currently runs his own political consulting firm, Catamount Consulting. Clients have included the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA).
Marty resides in the DC suburb of North Bethesda, Maryland and is always in search of the perfect frozen margarita.
Seth Rosen, Chief Development Officer, The American LGBTQ+ Museum
Seth Rosen (he/him) is an attorney and seasoned fundraiser with over 20 years of experience raising funds for progressive human and civil rights nonprofits.
As a senior at Brandeis University, Seth spent a year at GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) as an intake volunteer. Answering countless questions from members of the LGBTQ+ community, Seth saw how a small, dedicated staff tackled enormous problems and helped thousands of people obtain the equality they deserved. The experience was life-changing. It opened his eyes to the effectiveness of strategic advocacy and the power of perseverance. Seth’s commitment to social justice and public service led him to law school and civil rights litigation. Since then, Seth has gained considerable expertise in nonprofit law and fundraising. He’s held leadership positions at major national and international organizations, including Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Amnesty International USA, GMHC, Lambda Legal, and the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association.
Seth received his JD from New York Law School and his MPA. from New York University. Seth and his husband, Dr. Jacob Goertz, reside in New York City with their two sons. Seth is an avid marathon and ultra-marathon runner and can often be found in Central Park, running miles or enjoying time with his family.
William (Bill) Crosby, Jr., J.D., Featured Panelist
William (Bill) Crosby, Jr. is Senior Vice President, Associate General Counsel and Managing Attorney at Interpublic Group, a New York based advertising and marketing company with over 50,000 employees worldwide. At Interpublic, where he has been since 2002, Bill oversees global litigation, manages the Latin American legal operations, and serves as the chief of staff for the global legal department. He was an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell from 1993 until 1995, and at Kay, Collyer & Boose (now defunct) from 1995 until 2002. He started serving as a commercial arbitrator in 2009 and has since presided over hundreds of domestic and international disputes involving a variety of contractual and intellectual property issues. Bill is a Fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators, a Director of the AAA-ICDR, a Director of NYIAC, Chair of the AAA-ICDR Council, Incoming Chair of the NYSBA Dispute Resolution Section for the 2025-26 term, and is a former Director of the LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York. He speaks regularly on arbitration related issues (from the in-house and the arbitrator perspectives), as well as on litigation and compliance issues. Bill is a 1990 graduate of Yale College and a 1993 graduate of Stanford Law School.
Dr. Kabir Duggal, Featured Panelist
Dr. Kabir Duggal is a Senior Fellow and Advisor at the Center for International Commercial and Investment Arbitration at Columbia Law School (CICIA) and an attorney in Arnold and Porter’s New York office, focusing on international arbitration and public international law matters, serving both as arbitrator and mediator. He is recognized as a “Chartered Arbitrator” (the highest ranking for arbitrators) by both the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Asian Institute of Alternative Dispute Resolution. He also frequently serves as an expert on international arbitration and public international law matters. Dr. Duggal is also a Lecturer-in-Law at Columbia Law School, an adjunct Professor at Fordham Law School, and a Course Director and a Faculty Member for the Columbia Law School-Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Comprehensive Course on International Arbitration. He also acts as a Consultant for the United Nations Office of the High Representative for Least Developed Countries (UN-OHRLLS) on the creation of a novel “Investment Support Program.” Dr. Duggal works closely with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) as an expert. He has also conducted training and capacity-building sessions for several Governments on public international law and dispute resolution matters. He has published over 60 articles and has spoken at over 400 arbitration events all over the world. He is a graduate of the University of Mumbai, University of Oxford (DHL-Times of India Scholar), NYU School of Law (Hauser Global Scholar), Leiden Law School (2019 CEPANI Academic Prize), and is currently pursuing an SJD Degree from Harvard Law School. Dr. Duggal is admitted to practice law in New York, District of Columbia, England & Wales (as a Barrister), and in India. His LinkedIn profile is available here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/duggalkabir/
Yasmine Lahlou, J.D., Featured Panelist
Yasmine Lahlou, J.D., is a Partner at Chaffetz Lindsey in New York. Fluent in English, French and Italian, Yasmine Lahlou has over 25 years of experience in international arbitration and litigation and has been with Chaffetz Lindsey since 2009. Initially trained in Paris and admitted in New York, Yasmine is experienced in civil and common law systems. Yasmine has represented clients in arbitration proceedings conducted under the ICC, ICDR, LCIA, UNCITRAL and ad hoc rules. She has acted as a presiding, sole and co‐arbitrator in ICC, SCC, ICDR/AAA, CRCICA and LCIA arbitrations.
Yasmine is a member of the International Court of Arbitration of the ICC and co-chair of the ICC’s Working Group on Expedited Procedure Provisions. For the third year in a row, Yasmine has been named one of 23 “Global Elite Thought Leaders” in North America— a title reserved for the top 2.5% of ranked practitioners considered the “very best by peers and clients, achieving the highest number of recommendations in the research”— by Who’s Who Legal 2025 Arbitration report.
Yasmine was just ranked Band 1 in Award Enforcement by Chambers USA and has been continuously recognized in Chambers, Legal 500 and Latinvex. Yasmine is past co-editor-in-chief of the ICC’s Dispute Resolution Bulletin Editorial Board. Member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR, member of the Advisory Council of Africa Arbitration, and retiring member of the board of directors of ArbitralWomen, she is also a Peer Review Board member of the American Review of International Arbitration (ARIA) at Columbia Law School.
Robyn Weinstein, J.D., Featured Panelist
Robyn Weinstein is the Director of the Cardozo Mediation Clinic and the Associate Director of the Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution. Previously, Robyn was the Alternative Dispute Resolution Administrator for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York (EDNY), where she was a mediator and directed the court’s mediation, arbitration and mediation advocacy programs. Robyn has mediated a wide range of civil disputes including insurance and commercial matters, employment discrimination and labor cases, and civil rights matters involving the police and various corrections facilities. While at the EDNY, she developed a Pilot Mediator Incubator to recruit, mentor and train junior attorneys from diverse backgrounds to serve as mediators on the court’s roster. She also implemented a Trial Ready Rapid Mediation Pilot for civil cases in which trials were delayed due to the pandemic.
Prior to her role at the court, Robyn was the director for the Los Angeles office of Arts Arbitration & Mediation Services of California Lawyers for the Arts and an adjunct clinical professor of mediation at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law. During her time in California, Robyn was elected president of the Southern California Mediation Association in 2015. More recently, Robyn served as the co-chair of the DEI Subcommittee of the New York City Bar Association ADR Committee, where she worked to develop the New York DEI Neutral Directory. Robyn is now chair of the ADR Inclusion Network and is the co-chair of the ABA Dispute Resolution Section Legal Education in Dispute Resolution Committee. Robyn has also written about the hurricane response mediation program developed at the Eastern District of New York, and on the subject of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in the field of dispute resolution.
Robyn received her B.A. from George Washington University, and her J.D. from Cardozo Law School where she was a member of the mediation clinic and a fellow for the Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution. She is a member of the Bar in New York and California and is approved as a Part 146 mediation trainer by the New York State Unified Court System.
Jess Waltman, J.D., Panel Moderator
Jess Waltman joined Gordon Arata in 2023 and represents clients in commercial litigation matters. Prior to joining Gordon Arata, Jess litigated complex pharmaceutical and medical device cases across the country. Jess is admitted to practice in Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas; before the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits; and before the Supreme Court of the United States.
In 2013, Jess graduated from the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College and the Patterson School of Accountancy at the University of Mississippi after being inducted into Phi Kappa Phi and the University of Mississippi Hall of Fame. He graduated from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 2016 and was awarded the “Robert C. Khayat Award for Outstanding Service to the Mississippi Law Journal” by his peers and the 2016 “Outstanding Law Student Award” by the faculty.
Jess served as president of the Young Lawyers Division of the Mississippi Bar from 2022 to 2023, and he was honored as the Mississippi Association for Justice’s 2023 “New Lawyer of the Year”. Jess is a director of the Younger Lawyers Division of the New Orleans Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, and he is an active member of Federal Bar Association’s Diversity Committee and LGBTQ+ Law Section.
Jess is a governor on the Human Rights Campaign’s Board of Governors, and he is active with the New Orleans Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Krewe of Armeinius, the Krewe of King Arthur, and the Krewe of Tucks.
Amy Boyle, J.D., Lead Organizer and Event Host
Amy Boyle is the Managing Partner at MSB Employment Justice in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Within the Federal Bar Association, Amy is the Chair of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section and a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee. She is a Past Chair of the Younger Lawyers Division and Past Member of the Sections and Divisions Council. A frequent speaker on the topics of employment law, discovery, trial, wellness and wellbeing, and diversity and inclusion, Boyle has organized and presented at many FBA events. Aside from her work with the FBA, Boyle is active with the Minnesota Women Lawyers, serving as a Board Member and the Co-Chair of its Equity Committee and Judicial Initiative, and Minnesota NELA.
Amy’s practice involves handling all types of employment matters, with a particular focus on representing women who have experienced sex discrimination, sexual harassment and assault, and retaliation at work and whistleblower clients who have reported illegal workplace practices or companies engaged in deceitful conduct. Amy also represents clients who have found themselves in an untenable work situation, advising and negotiating severance agreements for executive-level employees often leaving long-term employment.
Bryan Branon, J.D., Lead Organizer and Event Host
Bryan J. Branon, J.D., Principal, Branon’s ADR, is an international arbitrator, mediator and business development strategist whose career has focused on the intersection of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and public policy. A former law clerk on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, U.S. Court of International Trade, and intern in the Irish Parliament, Bryan has worked for several leading ADR provider organizations on four continents over 15 years where he helped establish the Afghanistan Centre for Commercial Dispute Resolution, the Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution and the International Mediation Institute. He is a founding member of the Tashkent International Arbitration Centre “45” Steering Committee and previously served as the Ciarb Regional Relationship Manager for the Americas, the first Americas-based employee in its 107-year-history, where he established the Ciarb Americas headquarters and helped found the first Spanish-speaking branch in Ciarb history, Peru.
Bryan frequently lectures, publishes and consults on diversity, equity and inclusion, international ADR systems design, neutral appointments, and ADR strategy, procedure and contract clause considerations. He welcomes arbitrator and mediator appointments, consultancy, speaking, training and publishing inquiries both in the U.S.A. and abroad. Bryan can be reached at Bryan@BranonsADR.com.

Sponsors
Thank you to our Champion Sponsor, AAA-ICDR!

Thank you to our Advocate Sponsor, JAMS!

Thank you to our Ally Sponsors, Saul Ewing and the FBA Federal Litigation Section!

Thank you to our national partner, The National LGBTQ+ Bar Association!

Thank you to our local partner, the New York State Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section!

Thank you to the following supporting organizations for their contributions and support:

FBA DC Chapter
FBA International Law Section
FBA New Orleans Chapter
FBA Minnesota Chapter
FBA Younger Lawyers Division
International Association of LGBTQ Judges
New York International Arbitration Centre
The International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution “CPR”

Webinar: Immigration Law in Flux: Key Updates from Courts and Agencies, Enforcement Trends, and the Road Ahead
2025-11-19 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York)
**Program hosted in (ET) time zone**
Advising individual clients on immigration-related matters can be difficult in an ever-shifting environment. This CLE provides attendees a timely and practical overview of the latest developments in U.S. immigration law. Participants will explore recent decisions from the Executive Office for Immigration Review, evolving agency policies and executive actions, and major Supreme Court decisions reshaping the legal landscape. The course will also examine current enforcement trends, the complex intersection of immigration and the criminal justice system, and key employment-related issues affecting noncitizens. Attendees will gain actionable insights to navigate these shifting dynamics and anticipate what lies ahead for practitioners.
Register Now!
Presented by the FBA’s Professional Development Committee, Civil Rights Law Section, Federal Litigation Section, Immigration Law Section, Labor & Employment Section and the Younger Lawyers Division.

Presenters
Moderator: Ira Kurzban is a founder of the law firm of Kurzban, Kurzban, Tetzeli & Pratt, P.A., of Miami, Florida. He is a past-national President and former General Counsel of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and is a Fellow of the American Bar Association. He has litigated over hundred federal cases concerning the rights of aliens, including Jean v. Nelson, Commissioner v. Jean, and McNary v. Haitian Refugee Center, Inc., which he argued before the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Kurzban is an adjunct faculty member in Immigration and Nationality Law at the University of Miami School of Law. He is the author of Kurzban’s Immigration Law Sourcebook, the most widely used two-volume immigration source in the United States in its 19th Edition and he has lectured and otherwise published extensively in the field of immigration law, including articles in the Harvard Law Review and Columbia University Press. Mr. Kurzban has practiced Immigration and Nationality Law for over 40 years and has won numerous awards for his work. He was the first recipient of the Tobias Simon Pro Bono Service Award presented to him by the Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court for his work in protecting Haitian asylum seekers. He was selected as an Honorary Fellow by the University of Pennsylvania Law School for his work on behalf of refugees. He has been the recipient of the Wasserstein Public Interest Fellowship from Harvard Law School and in 2020 he received the Leonard J. Theberge Award for Private International Law from the American Bar Association.
Martin Rosenow is a Miami-based immigration attorney and a partner at Rosenow Taramasco P.A. Inspired by his grandfather, a prominent immigration attorney, Rosenow continues a family legacy in the field, advocating on behalf of clients in a wide range of employment- and family-based immigration matters.

Susan G. Roy began her legal career through the Department of Justice Attorney General Honors Program, as an Attorney Advisor at the Board of Immigration Appeals. She became an Assistant Chief Counsel and National Security Attorney for the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in Newark, NJ. From 2008-2010, she served as an Immigration Judge, also in Newark. Sue then entered private practice and is a solo practitioner specializing in complex criminal immigration cases and federal litigation. Most recently, Sue has become the Managing Attorney for the Seton Hall Law School Center for Social Justice’s Detention, Deportation, and Defense Initiative. Sue is the former Chair of both the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) NJ Chapter and the NJ State Bar Association Immigration Law Section. She is currently the Vice-Chair of the Municipal Court Practice Section and has been a member of the NJSBA Legislative Committee for several years. In 2024, Sue has been awarded the AILA Sam Williamson Mentor Award. In 2023, she received the NJSBA Distinguished Legislative Services Award. Sue has been a guest lecturer at many area law schools, and has taught as an adjunct professor at Rutgers Law School, University of DC Law School, and Mercer County College. She is on the faculty of the Immigration Trial Advocacy College and Vecina, two pro bono organizations that train litigation attorneys in trial advocacy skills. In addition, she has authored articles in the NJ Law Journal and the AILA Law Journal, among others. Sue is a member of the Round Table of Former Immigration Judges, and, through the Round Table, has been involved in over 70 amici briefs before SCOTUS, the federal courts of appeal, the NJ Supreme Court, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and more. As a Round Table member, in 2019, she was awarded the AILA Advocacy Award of the Year. She has been a speaker and/or moderator for many NJSBA conferences, in the areas of immigration, municipal court practice, ethics, LGBTQ+ rights, school law, and more. She has presented at numerous AILA national, regional, and local conferences, as well as the NYSBA, the Federal Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Mercer County Bar Association, the Practicing Law Institute, and many others.
Rebecca Sharpless is a faculty member of the University of Miami School of Law, where she is the founding director of the Immigration Clinic and teaches immigration law. With her clinic students, Professor Sharpless represents indigent noncitizens in removal proceedings and engages in litigation in U.S. district court and before the U.S. courts of appeals. Her award-winning book published by the University of California Press, Shackled: 92 Refugees Imprisoned On ICE Air, examines our immigration enforcement system through the stories of two Somali men who were shackled for two days on a botched 2017 ICE Air flight. Professor Sharpless has received numerous awards and recognition for her work, including the 2025 Swarthmore College Eugene Lang Impact Award, multiple book awards (2024 IPPY bronze, 2024 Foreword Indies bronze, 2024 Readers’ Choice finalist), the 2024 Clinical Legal Education Association Excellence in a Public Interest Case or Project (honorable mention), the 2021 University of Miami’s Provost’s Teaching Award, the 2019 Arthur C. Helton Memorial Human Rights Award (team defense of Somali 92), and the 2018 Elmer Fried Excellence in Teaching Award from the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

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.

The Making of a Judge: Perspectives from Federal Judges and the Senate Judiciary Committee
2026-03-27 16:00 - 18:00 (America/New_York) | The Ritz Carlton, Pentagon City, 1250 S Hayes St, Arlington, VA, 22202, United States
About this Event
The Federal Bar Association warmly invites you to join our March 27, 2026 program featuring a conversation between the Senate Judiciary Committee, former White House Senior Counsel, and the federal judiciary on the process of being appointed and confirmed as a federal judge.
This program aims to educate attorneys, aspiring judges, or anyone wishing to better understand the federal judicial selection process. Panelists will offer insight into how judicial candidates are identified and evaluated, the role of negotiations and background investigations, and how the confirmation process unfolds in practice. They will also share candid reflections on challenges associated with this process, lessons learned, and practical advice for prospective candidates—while dispelling common myths about becoming a federal judge. Federal judges will complement this discussion by reflecting on their own pathways to the bench, offering guidance for those considering judicial service.
The program offers CLE credit and will conclude with a reception, offering a rare opportunity to engage directly with judges and key participants in the judicial selection process.
We hope you will join us for this unique opportunity to engage in thoughtful conversation about public service and pathways to the bench.
Presented by the FBA Younger Lawyers Division
Co-Sponsors: FBA Capitol Hill Chapter, FBA District of Columbia Chapter, & FBA Federal Litigation Section

Registration for this program is now closed.

Friday, March 27, 206
Program: 4:00 – 5:00 pm ET
Reception: 5:00 – 6:00 pm ET
Venue:
The Ritz Carlton, Pentagon City
1250 S Hayes St
Arlington, VA 22202

Presenters

Paige Herwig
Paige Herwig served as Senior Counsel and Special Assistant to President Joseph Biden from January 2021 until June 2023, where she led the judicial nominations team under White House Counsels Dana Remus and Stuart Delery; she additionally served as Associate Counsel and Special Assistant to President Barack Obama from 2013 to 2015 as a member of the judicial nominations team.
Ms. Herwig has also served as Deputy General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Commerce; Deputy General Counsel for the Biden-Harris Presidential Transition; Counselor to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch; Deputy General Counsel for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Minority Staff under Ranking Member Senator Dianne Feinstein; Chief Counsel to U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar; and Director of Governance and Strategic Initiatives at Facebook (now Meta). She clerked for Senior Judge Harry T. Edwards of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. She graduated from Yale Law School and Yale College. She is originally from West Des Moines, Iowa.

Caleb Jackson
Caleb Jackson works as Counsel on Senate Judiciary Committee for Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA), where he covers the Senator’s intellectual property, civil rights, criminal justice, voting rights, and judicial nominations portfolio. He previously worked as Counsel on Judiciary Committee for Senator Laphonza Butler (D-CA). Prior to coming to Capitol Hill, he worked at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law on federal policy and at Campaign Legal Center litigating voting rights cases. He began his career at a plaintiff-side labor and employment firm in Washington D.C. representing unions and low wage workers.
Caleb is a summa cum laude graduate of Hampton University, where he served as Student Body Vice President. He is also a graduate of UCLA School of Law, where he specialized in Critical Race Studies and served both as Co-President of the Black Law Students Association and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the National Black Law Journal. While an undergraduate student at Hampton, Caleb interned at CQ Roll Call and ABC News’ Political Unit in Washington D.C. He’s a proud native of Dallas, Texas.

Hon. Karoline Mehalchick
On July 11, 2023, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. nominated Judge Karoline Mehalchick to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. She was confirmed by the Senate on January 31, 2024, commissioned on February 5, and sworn in on February 6. Previously, she served over a decade as a U.S. Magistrate Judge, becoming the first woman to sit in the Scranton vicinage and later serving as Chief Magistrate Judge.
Judge Mehalchick is a graduate of Penn State’s Schreyer Honors College and Tulane Law School. She clerked for Judge Trish Corbett, then practiced at Oliver, Price & Rhodes, where she became a partner in 2008. She will serve as Jurist in Residence at Widener Commonwealth Law School (2025–2027). She has held national judicial leadership roles, including service on the Judicial Conference Committee on Codes of Conduct and the Third Circuit’s Reentry Courts and Workplace Conduct committees. Locally, she helped launch the Prisoner Litigation Settlement Program and presides over the CARE court reentry program.
An active member of the Federal Bar Association, she was sworn in as President of the national organization on September 13, 2025. She is also a Past President of the Middle District Chapter. She also serves on the Ballet Theatre of Scranton board and leads constitutional discussions for students through the National Constitution Center.
Judge Mehalchick has been honored with numerous awards, including the PBA’s Michael K. Smith Excellence in Service Award, the LBA’s Margaret P. Gavin Award, recognition as a “Lawyer on the Fast Track” (2012), and designation as a PBA “Woman Trailblazer” (2020).
Tim Rodriguez
Tim Rodriguez is a litigation associate in Bradley Arant Boult Cummings’ Nashville office. Tim focuses primarily on appeals, class actions, mass torts, and products liability work. Prior to joining Bradley, Tim clerked for the Hon. John Nalbandian of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Before his clerkship, Tim served as Counsel for Nominations for the Senate Judiciary Committee. In that role, Tim advised two Committee Chairmen and a Ranking Member on judicial, executive branch, and other nominations under the Committee’s jurisdiction.
Tim has a J.D. from the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. He also has a B.A. in Journalism and Political Science from the University of Missouri.
Gurpreet Sandhu (Moderator)
Gurpreet Sandhu is a Deputy Attorney General in the California Attorney General’s Office, Correctional Law Section, where she represents the State in high-profile federal class actions, appeals, and individual cases impacting the California prison system. Prior to joining the California Department of Justice, she practiced at the national firm Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP where she defended car manufacturers in product liability litigation, Song Beverly, and tort actions. She has a Bachelor of Law from the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, a Master of Law from the University of California Berkeley School of Law.
Gurpreet serves as a board member of the Federal Bar Association (FBA) Younger Lawyers Division, an executive board member of the FBA California Northern District Chapter, and member of the FBA Government Relations Committee.

Registration
Registration for this program is now closed.
Registration Fees
Private Practice: $100
Public Sector: $75
Law Students: $0
Cancellation Policy
Go to the FBA Online Portal and click on Events > My Registrations to cancel your registration online. Registration Cancellations received by Friday March 20, 2026, are subject to an administrative charge of $50. No cancellation requests will be accepted after Friday, March 20. After the posted cancellation date, registrations may be transferred to another attendee but not refunded. No-shows will be billed. Exceptions to the cancellation deadline will be made for emergencies and valid medical issues submitted with supporting documentation. Contact meetings@fedbar.org with questions or exception requests.

CLE Information
The FBA will seek 1 total CLE credit hours for 60-minute states, and 1.2 total CLE credit hours for 50-minute states.
Posted credit hours are estimates and subject to respective state approval and reporting rules. CLE qualifications vary by state/jurisdiction and the FBA takes every measure to collaborate with presenters to ensure approval. Accrediting agencies typically decide whether a program qualifies for credit in their jurisdiction 4-8 weeks after the program application is submitted. For many live events, credit approval is not received prior to the program. Documentation for self-reporting states will be circulated, upon state bar approval.
The FBA partners with ConferenceAdit LLC to track and report CLE credit for national conferences. Attendees are responsible for uploading their state bar information and tracking attendance through a dedicated webpage, issued in advance of the conference. Attendees will be instructed to check in and out of each panel to timestamp attendance. Approximately two weeks following the conference, personalized certificates will be issued via email.
Learn more about Continuing Legal Education (CLE) operations and reporting.

Email Communication Policy
By registering for this event, you agree to receive email communication from the Federal Bar Association and affiliated sponsors of the program concerning event details, Continuing Legal Education certification, programming changes, upcoming events, surveys, and post-event communications.
If you have any questions regarding this program, please contact meetings@fedbar.org

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Webinar: Criminal Sentencing: How to Tell your Client’s Story
2026-04-08 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York)
**Program hosted in (ET) Time Zone**
This one-hour CLE Webinar CLE is aimed at newer prosecutors and defense attorneys who practice at least periodically in the federal courts across the United States. Two renowned criminal attorneys will walk you through each of their perspectives on optimal strategy and presentation at criminal sentencing to truly tell your client’s story to the Judge and obtain the best possible outcome for your client. Our moderator, Judge Richard E.N. Federico of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, will introduce topics for discussion between the panel members aimed at providing an overview of the relevant law, including United States Sentencing Commission Guidelines, an explanation of the process, examples of “dos and don’ts” and case-specific examples from past sentencing hearings.
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Presented by FBA’s Federal Litigation Section, the Younger Lawyers Division & the Kansas and Western District of Missouri Chapter

Presenters

Teny Geragos, Partner, Agnifilo Intrater LLP.
Teny Geragos, a founding partner of Agnifilo Intrater LLP, defends individuals in federal and state criminal cases at both the trial and appellate level. Most recently, Ms. Geragos helped secure an acquittal for Sean Combs for the charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy in the Southern District of New York. Teny is particularly experienced in defending and investigating allegations of sexual misconduct, which involve complex legal issues and emotionally charged situations. She has represented numerous individuals accused of sexual assault, sexual harassment, or other types of sexual misconduct. Teny has also regularly represented victims of sexual assault and violence, helping them navigate the difficulties of reporting to the police, and cooperating with law enforcement investigations. Finally, Teny has led several internal investigations, including in the construction and healthcare industries.
Prior to founding Agnifilo Intrater LLP, Teny was associated with Brafman & Associates, P.C. for approximately eight years, where she successfully defended a wide range of criminal matters including sex assault, securities fraud, wire fraud, public corruption, tax evasion, narcotics, FCPA, and cases that have potentially serious collateral consequences, such as deportation.
Ms. Geragos has been selected as a SuperLawyers Rising Star for five consecutive years and publishes and speaks regularly on various legal topics ranging from “Gag” Orders to Protective Orders to managing electronic discovery.
Ms. Geragos serves on the Board of Directors of the New York Criminal Bar Association.

Dan Webb, Co-executive Chairman, Winston & Strawn LLP, Chicago, Illinois.
Dan is co-executive chairman of Winston & Strawn and one of the most distinguished and sought-after trial lawyers in the United States. He has tried more than 100 jury cases involving a wide variety of claims and been named a fellow of the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers. Notably, Dan achieved international acclaim for his successful prosecution of retired Admiral John Poindexter in the Iran-Contra Affair. He served as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and has served in special prosecutor or similar roles on several occasions, including for the successful prosecution of actor Jussie Smollett in Chicago, for which he was named Am Law’s “Litigator of the Week” in December 2021.
Dan’s trial practice concentrates in the areas of major commercial, civil, regulatory, and white collar criminal cases. Among his jury cases are numerous successful complex commercial and white collar criminal trials, representing, on several occasions, large corporations in jury trials lasting two months or longer.
Dan has spent his entire professional life as a courtroom trial attorney and litigator. As the U.S. Attorney in Chicago, he spearheaded the “Operation Greylord” investigations into judicial corruption in Cook County, Illinois.
He received national attention for his work as lead trial counsel for General Electric, successfully defending it against criminal price-fixing allegations related to industrial diamonds, as well as for his representations of Microsoft Corp. in its antitrust litigation; Philip Morris in its sprawling tobacco-related litigation; and Verizon in obtaining a US$58M verdict in a patent litigation matter.
Dan delivered a historic win for BPI in its defamation action against ABC News relating to a series of reports by ABC News in which its broadcasters referred to BPI’s product in a defamatory way, leading BPI to massive financial losses. With BPI seeking over US$1.9B in actual damages, the case has been widely reported as the “largest” and “one of the most significant” defamation cases in U.S. history. After weeks of putting on witnesses to prove ABC intentionally and knowingly made nearly 200 hundred false statements about BPI and its product and with our team about to put on damages witnesses, the case settled. The settlement vindicated BPI and put the company on the path to recovery.
A team of Winston attorneys, led by Dan, conducted an internal investigation at the New York Stock Exchange related to the compensation of its former Chairman and CEO, Richard A. Grasso. Following Winston’s investigation, summarized in what is now known as the “Webb Report,” the New York Attorney General’s Office sued Grasso for the return of more than US$120M in compensation.
Other successes for clients in securities matters include obtaining favorable settlements for Ernst & Young in a securities class action brought by stockholders of HealthSouth Corp. and for Cisco Systems in a securities class action brought by the Plumbers & Pipefitters National Pension Fund and obtaining summary judgment for Scientific-Atlanta in a securities fraud class action.
On the antitrust front, Dan successfully represented Wyeth (Pfizer) against an antitrust class action relating to its patented potassium chloride product K-Dur®, C.R. Bard against claims of anti-competitive conduct relating to sales contracts with group purchasing organizations for catheters, and Monsanto against the antitrust claims brought by competitor DuPont relating to Monsanto’s patented Roundup Ready® weed killer.
As for other class action experience, one of Dan’s most significant cases was for Philip Morris. He served as lead trial counsel in Engle, et al. v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., et al., the first—and to date, only—class action brought by cigarette smokers for punitive damages to be tried to verdict. He also served as chief trial counsel for Lexecon in another high-profile class action civil trial that resulted from the failure of Lincoln Savings, the S&L institution owned and operated by Charles Keating, Jr.

Hon. Richard E.N. Federico, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit:
Rich Federico began his legal career serving as a Navy Officer in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG). He served on active duty from 2002 to 2015, including tours of duty as a military prosecutor (Norfolk, Virginia), the senior Navy prosecutor for Europe and Southwest Asia (Naples, Italy; Bahrain), defense counsel for Guantanamo detainees charged with war crimes and being tried before military commissions (Washington, DC; Guantanamo Bay, Cuba), and as Officer in Charge of Navy defense offices (Jacksonville, Florida). During these assignments, he also served at sea and led investigation missions to Afghanistan and Korea.
In 2015, Judge Federico left active duty and became an Assistant Federal Public Defender for the District of Oregon (Portland). While in Portland, he tried several high-profile cases in district court, litigated habeas petitions, and argued before the Ninth Circuit. He transferred to the Federal Public Defender for the District of Kansas in 2017, where he served until he received his judicial commission in 2023. Judge Federico continued to serve as a Navy JAG in the Reserves, first as an appellate defense counsel and later as a military judge. He retired from the Navy in July 2024 at the rank of Captain.
Judge Federico was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and received his commission from President Biden to serve as a Circuit Judge in December 2023. He assumed office and joined the Tenth Circuit on December 14, 2023. He is an honors graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center (LL.M., 2012), University of Kansas School of Law (J.D., 2002), and Indiana University School of Journalism (B.A., 1999).

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