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2024 Florida Chapters Conference

February 2 — 3, 2024

Registration is now closed

Join us on February 2-3, 2024 for the 10th Annual Florida Chapters Conference!

Banquet Speakers

 

CONFERENCE PRICING

  • Student Members: $300
  • Government Employees: $350
  • Members: $400
  • Non-Members: $600
  • Guest Banquet Ticket: $200
  • Dessert Reception (not included in conference tickets):
    • $75 Adult
    • $50 Child - children under two years of age are free

Dietary restrictions or allergies? Please notify [email protected]

 

CLE

We have been approved for 10.5 hours of General CLE in Florida.

Certification Credits

State and Federal Government and Administrative Practice - 10.5

Civil Trial - 10.5

Florida CJE credit expected. 

 

HOTEL ACCOMODATIONS

Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center

Reservations can be made HERE.

The deadline to reserve a room is Wednesday, January 10th, 2024. Rooms are available on a first come, first serve basis and will likely sell out before the deadline.

Limited rooms remaining. 

 

SPONSORSHIPS

If you are intersted in sponsoring the Federalist Society's activity in Florida, please reach out to Abbie Kepto at [email protected].

 

SEATING REQUESTS

Please direct all seating requests for the banquet to Abbie Kepto at [email protected].

 

CANCELLATIONS AND REFUNDS

The deadline to receive a refund is 5:00 p.m. on Monday, January 29, 2024. No refunds will be given after the deadline has passed.

 

GOLF OUTING

We are pleased to offer a group golf outing on Friday morning prior to the start of the conference. We have partnered with Celebration Golf Club, located 5 minutes from the Gaylord. Click HERE for more information and to sign up. 

 

 This event is closed to the press.

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1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Registration

2024 Florida Chapters Conference

   
Gaylord Palms Resort
6000 W Osceola Pkwy
Kissimmee, FL 34746

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2:45 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Welcome Remarks

2024 Florida Chapters Conference

   
Gaylord Palms Resort
6000 W Osceola Pkwy
Kissimmee, FL 34746

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3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Panel I: What is General Common Law and How do Originalist/Textualist Judges Use It?

2024 Florida Chapters Conference

   
Gaylord Palms Resort
6000 W Osceola Pkwy
Kissimmee, FL 34746

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Event Video

Description

Justice Antonin Scalia succeeded in making textualism the predominant method of legal interpretation. But now that an increasing number of jurists are committed to that method, the question of how to do it well has acquired an even greater urgency. However, there are fundamental disagreements. According to Professor Will Baude, textualists risk arriving at “incomplete or misleading answers to important questions about the law” unless they learn to “supplement” plain text with “unwritten law, law that governs both interpretation and background principles against which interpretation takes place.” Is this “unwritten” law simply the canons of construction as articulated by the Supreme Court, pre-Erie General Law, the Natural Law, the Anglo-American legal tradition, the common law of the States, or something else? The answer certainly has important implications for judges, and it might vary depending on whether a litigant is in a federal or state forum, or whether the text to be interpreted is a statute, constitution, or a private-law matter like a contract. For textualists, determining if, when, and how these unwritten sources of law should be consulted are among the most pressing issues of the day. Panelists will consider these questions from their various perspectives from academia and from the bench.

 

Featuring:

  • Prof. Akhil Reed Amar, Sterling Professor of Law, Yale Law School
  • Prof. Emily Bremer, Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame School of Law
  • Prof. Robert Leider, Assistant Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
  • Hon. Amul Thapar, U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
  • Moderator: Hon. Barbara Lagoa, U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit 

Speakers

4:45 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Panel II: Amending the Florida Constitution: Ballot Initiatives and Judicial Review

2024 Florida Chapters Conference

   
Gaylord Palms Resort
6000 W Osceola Pkwy
Kissimmee, FL 34746

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Event Video

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Description

The citizen-initiative process allows the People of Florida to propose amendments to the state constitution, subject to Supreme Court review. But what is the appropriate scope of judicial review of such ballot initiatives? Does the single-subject rule enable outcome-driven judicial decision-making? This panel will discuss these questions and others in the context of the Adult Personal Use of Marijuana and the Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion initiatives.

Featuring:

  • Daniel Bell, Chief Deputy Solicitor General, Office of Florida Attorney General
  • Anastasia Boden, Director, Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute
  • Hon. Alan Lawson, Shareholder, Lawson Huck Gonzalez PLLC
  • Prof. Jonathan Marshfield, Associate Professor of Law, University of Florida Levin College of Law
  • Moderator: Hon. Anne-Leigh Gaylord Moe, Judge, Thirteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida

Speakers

6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Cocktail Reception

2024 Florida Chapters Conference

   
Gaylord Palms Resort
6000 W Osceola Pkwy
Kissimmee, FL 34746

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7:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Banquet Dinner

2024 Florida Chapters Conference

   
Osceola CD
Gaylord Palms Resort
6000 W Osceola Pkwy
Kissimmee, FL 34746

Event Video

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Description

Perspectives on the Role of the Nation’s Chief Legal Officer

A Conversation with Three U.S. Attorneys General

 

Featuring:

  • Hon. John Ashcroft, Former U.S Attorney General (2001-2005)
  • Hon. William P. Barr, Former U.S Attorney General (1991-1993 and 2019-2020)
  • Hon. Jeff Sessions, Former U.S Attorney General (2017-2018)
  • Moderator: Beth Williams, Board Member, U.S. Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board; former Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy 

Speakers

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8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
Breakfast

2024 Florida Chapters Conference

   
Gaylord Palms Resort
6000 W Osceola Pkwy
Kissimmee, FL 34746

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8:15 a.m. - 9:15 a.m.
Young Lawyers Special Session: Making Winning Arguments

2024 Florida Chapters Conference

   
Gaylord Palms Resort
6000 W Osceola Pkwy
Kissimmee, FL 34746

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Event Video

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Description

The state and federal bench has transformed in recent years, with more textualist/originalist judges appointed or elected. These changes are influencing how advocates should prepare to make winning arguments. A panel of jurists and leading litigators will offer their best advice to young advocates in making successful oral arguments and incorporating originalism and textualism into their briefs. They will offer their perspectives on how litigation tactics might change, if at all, at the appellate or trial court levels. They will also discuss why litigators play such a key role in encouraging textualist and originalist decisions.

Featuring:

  • Whitney Hermandorfer, Director of Strategic Litigation Unit and Assistant Solicitor General, Office of the Tennessee Attorney General
  • Hon. Bobby Long, Judge, 1st District Court of Appeal, Florida
  • Hon. Jay Mitchell, Associate Justice, Alabama Supreme Court
  • Ed Wenger, Partner, Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak PLLC
  • Moderator: Hon. Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida 

Speakers

9:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
Panel III: Race in Admissions: How SFFA v. Harvard and SFFA v. UNC are Changing Higher Education and the Legal Profession

2024 Florida Chapters Conference

   
Gaylord Palms Resort
6000 W Osceola Pkwy
Kissimmee, FL 34746

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Event Video

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Description

The panel will discuss how these decisions are transforming the admissions process in higher education and the impact on the legal profession.  Included in the discussion will be the response from academia, the permissible limits of the use of race in admissions after these decisions, and what impact this is expected to have on corporate America and the legal profession. 

Featuring:

  • Prof. Tracey Maclin, Raymond & Miriam Ehrlich Chair in US Constitutional Law , University of Florida Levin College of Law
  • Cameron Norris, Partner, Consovoy McCarthy PLLC
  • Devon Westhill, President and General Counsel, Center for Equal Opportunity
  • Moderator: Hon. Meredith Sasso, Justice, Florida Supreme Court

Speakers

11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Panel IV: Florida’s Tort and Insurance Reform: Past, Present, and Future
   
Gaylord Palms Resort
6000 W Osceola Pkwy
Kissimmee, FL 34746

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Event Video

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Description

Lawmakers and courts have been reforming Florida’s tort and insurance laws for decades.  From expansion of insurance bad faith and contraction of comparative fault in the 1990’s, to restrictions on medical malpractice suits in the 2000’s, to changes in tort and insurance litigation in the 2020’s, the legal landscape shifted dramatically.  This panel will examine the latest reforms in the context of recent history, and it will debate where Florida policy should go from here.

Featuring:

  • Kansas R. Gooden, Shareholder & Practice Group Leader, Boyd & Jenerette, PA
  • Fred Karlinsky, Shareholder and Global Co-chair, Greenberg Traurig
  • William Large, President, Florida Justice Reform Institute
  • Hon. Paul Renner, Speaker, Florida House of Representatives
  • Prof. Jay Tidmarsh, Judge James J. Clynes, Jr. Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame Law School
  • Moderator: Pat Kilbane, Partner, General Counsel & Wealth Advisor, Ullmann Wealth Partners, President of Jacksonville Lawyers Chapter

Speakers

12:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Luncheon & Remarks

2024 Florida Chapters Conference

   
Gaylord Palms Resort
6000 W Osceola Pkwy
Kissimmee, FL 34746

Event Video

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Description

Zionism: An Indigenous People’s Fight for its Ancient Homeland

Judge Altman led us on a journey from 1208 BC (when the Merneptah Stele, the first extra-biblical mention of the People of Israel, was composed) to Israel's current war with Hamas. Along the way, Judge Altman showed that Jews are indigenous to the land of Israel, that Jews have lived in (and often ruled) the land of Israel for thousands of years, and that the State of Israel is a legitimate sovereign over the lands it now governs. Judge Altman also addressed--and refuted--claims that Israel is an apartheid state, that Gaza was in any way occupied by Israel on October 7, and that Jews have obstructed the establishment of a Palestinian state. Finally, Judge Altman explained that Israel's military response to the horrific terror attacks of October 7 was (and remains) proportional under international law.

Featuring:

  • Hon. Roy K. Altman, U.S District Court for the Southern District of Florida

Speakers

6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Dessert Reception

2024 Florida Chapters Conference

   
Universal Studios
6000 Universal Boulevard
Orlando, FL 32819

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Description

Dessert reception and VIP viewing of the 2024 Mardi Gras Parade!
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