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President

Braden C. Allman

fortworthfedsoc@gmail.com

President

Chris Knight

America 250: Interpreting our Founding Documents—A Discussion on Corpus Linguistics
Register
Nov 9 2026
Monday 12:00 p.m. CST    

America 250: Interpreting our Founding Documents—A Discussion on Corpus Linguistics

Fort Worth, TX
Speakers:
James Heilpern • Brantley Starr
Sponsors:
Fort Worth Lawyer Chapter
  • In-Person Event
2026 SCOTUS Round-Up - Fort Worth
This event has concluded.
Oct 26 2026
Monday 12:00 p.m. CST    

2026 SCOTUS Round-Up - Fort Worth

Fort Worth Lawyer Chapter

City Club of Fort Worth
301 Commerce Street
Fort Worth, TX 76102
Speakers:
Stephen J. Hammer
Sponsors:
Fort Worth Lawyer Chapter
  • In-Person Event
A View from In-House: Corporate America, Public Service, and the Law
This event has concluded.
Sep 29 2026
Tuesday 12:00 p.m. CST    

A View from In-House: Corporate America, Public Service, and the Law

Fort Worth Lawyer Chapter

City Club of Fort Worth
301 Commerce Street
Fort Worth, TX 76102
Speakers:
Charbel J. Barakat
Sponsors:
Fort Worth Lawyer Chapter
  • In-Person Event
2026 Texas Chapters Conference
This event has concluded.
Sep 18 2026
Friday 5:30 p.m. CST
CLE 4.75 hours

2026 Texas Chapters Conference

Arlington, TX
Sponsors:
Dallas Lawyer Chapter • Houston Lawyer Chapter • Austin Lawyer Chapter • Fort Worth Lawyer Chapter • Amarillo Lawyer Chapter • San Antonio Lawyer Chapter • Tyler Lawyer Chapter • Texas Young Lawyer Chapter • Dallas Young Lawyer Chapter • El Paso Lawyer Chapter
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Speaker Information
James Heilpern

James Heilpern

President and Chairman of the Board, Judicial Education Institute

Biography

James Heilpern is President and Chairman of the Board of the Judicial Education Institute, a
501(c)(3) organization that provides high quality judicial education seminars to judges
nationwide. He specializes in helping judges harness new technology to improve the
interpretive process. In the last three years alone, he has trained approximately 250 judges
from at least 50 different jurisdictions, as well as hundreds of practicing attorneys, on
topics related artificial intelligence, corpus linguistics, and statutory interpretation. He also
serves as counsel at the law firm Schaerr-Jaffe, where he regularly represents clients at all
three levels of the federal judiciary, as well as before state supreme courts. He was part of
the team the represented the state of Georgia in Texas v. Pennsylvania, et. al., successfully
persuading the Supreme Court to dismiss Texas’ last-ditch effort to overturn the results of
the 2020 presidential election. Heilpern’s scholarship has been cited by the Second
Circuit, the DDC, and the Virginia Supreme Court, as well as dozens of times in the merits
and amicus briefs of Trump v. Anderson. He is a Research Fellow at the Georgetown Center
for the Constitution, and previously served as a Senior Fellow at the BYU Law School; as
General Counsel of an ed-tech start up; and as a strategic advisor to an artificial
intelligence company. He graduated magna cum laude from the BYU Law School and with
highest honors and with distinction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He
previously clerked from Judge Edith Clement on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth
Circuit and Judge Robert H. Cleland on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of
Michigan.

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Speaker Information
Brantley Starr

Brantley Starr

District Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas

Biography

Judge Brantley Starr was appointed to United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas in August 2019. Before his appointment, Judge Starr was the Deputy First Assistant Attorney General of Texas. Prior to that appointment, he served as Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel. From 2011 to 2015, Judge Starr served as career staff attorney to Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman. From 2008 to 2011, he practiced at King & Spalding, LLP. He served in the Office of the Solicitor General from 2006 to 2008. Prior to that, Judge Starr clerked for then-Justice Don Willett on the Texas Supreme Court after serving at the Office of the Attorney General. Judge Starr received his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law and his bachelor of arts degree from Abilene Christian University in 2001. Judge Starr has taught the Origins of the Constitution Class at the University of Texas law, Texas A&M law, and SMU law.

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Speaker Information
Stephen J. Hammer

Stephen J. Hammer

Associate, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

Biography

Stephen Hammer is a litigation associate in the Dallas office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

Before joining the firm, Mr. Hammer served as a law clerk to Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. of the Supreme Court of the United States, Judge Gregory G. Katsas of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Mr. Hammer graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he served as managing editor of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy.  Before law school, Mr. Hammer served as an infantry officer in the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army.  His military decorations include the Bronze Star.  Mr. Hammer received an M.Phil. in theology from the University of Oxford, where he studied on a Rhodes scholarship.  He received an A.B. summa cum laude in classics from Princeton University and graduated as Latin salutatorian.

Mr. Hammer is a member of the Texas and District of Columbia bars.

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Speaker Information
Charbel J. Barakat

Charbel J. Barakat

Vice President and Counsel for Public Policy, D.R. Horton, Inc.

Biography

Charbel J Barakat is Vice President and Counsel for Public Policy, with D.R. Horton, Inc., the nation's largest homebuilder, where he coordinates the company’s interactions with federal and state governments.


Previously, for over 10 years, he served as Chief Counsel for the company’s Florida, Gulf Coast, and Mid-Atlantic Regions. During that time, he oversaw legal affairs for an area that included 9 states and 2,000+ employees.


He was formerly associated with Akerman LLP in Miami and Milbank LLP in New York City, where he specialized in complex corporate, real estate, and project finance transactions.
Charbel currently serves as a member of the University of South Florida Board of Trustees and the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, positions to which he was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis in February 2025 and July 2023, respectively.


From July 2023 to February 2025, Charbel served as Vice Chair and acting Chair of the Board of Supervisors for the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (the special district governing Walt Disney World Resort). As acting board chair, he presided over the successful settlement of litigation challenging the District’s governing structure and the subsequent negotiation of a 15-year, $17 billion theme park master development agreement.


He previously served on the board of directors of the Florida Development Finance Corporation, a state authorized issuer of industrial revenue bonds, and as Chair of the 2nd District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission.


Since 2022, he has served as an advisor to the Board of Directors of the Tampa Hispanic Bar Association.


In 2023, Florida Trend magazine recognized Charbel as one of 11 inaugural “Notable General Counsel” throughout the state. In 2018 and 2019, Charbel was recognized by the Tampa Bay Business Journal as one of the city’s Top Corporate Counsel.


Active in his church and community, Charbel is a member of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, a Catholic order of chivalry dedicated to charitable support of Christians in the Holy Land, and of the Krewe of the Knights of Sant’ Yago, dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of Tampa's rich Latin heritage and culture.


Charbel is a graduate of the New York University School of Law and The Johns Hopkins University. While in law school, he was a founding managing editor of the NYU Journal of Law and Liberty.


In 2018, Charbel became a Jeopardy! champion.


A native Floridian, Charbel lives in Tampa with his wife, Daira, and their three children.

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