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2025 Western Chapters Conference

March 28 — 29, 2025
Register

Due to the devastating wildfires in California, The Federalist Society has decided to postpone the Western Chapters Conference to March 28-29, 2025.

If you registered for the January date, you automatically received a refund.

Registration for the  new date is now open!

Registration will not automatically roll over for the March date.

You will need to re-register for the new March date!


Members: $100
Student Members: $50
Non-Members: $150

Dietrary restrictions or allergies? Please notify [email protected].

 

  FRIDAY, MARCH 28
Evening - Tavern Debate

SATURDAY, MARCH 29
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Panelists and Keynote 

 

 

CLE

CLE credit expected.

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Please direct any inquiries to [email protected].

All views and opinions expressed by The Federalist Society or its speakers are not necessarily shared by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Foundation.

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7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Tavern Debate - Co-hosted with the Institute for Justice

2025 Western Chapters Conference

   
Westlake Yacht Club
32119 Lindero Canyon Rd
Westlake Village, CA 91361

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Description

Tavern Debate

co-sponsored by the Institute for Justice and the Los Angeles Lawyers Chapter

If you’re coming to the Federalist Society’s Western Chapters Conference, then please arrive a night early for this fun-filled and stimulating night of debate, witty repartee, and constitutional merriment.
For the third year in a row, and once again in the tradition of the Chicago Lawyers Chapter’s long-beloved Tavern Debates, the Federalist Society and the Institute for Justice’s Center for Judicial Engagement invite you to this Oxford-style Tavern Debate.

All conference attendees are welcome to join us on Friday, January 24, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. at the Westlake Yacht Club, a 15-minute drive from where the conference will take place the next day, for an extemporaneous debate where anyone can speak their mind on the following:


Resolved: Limited government, not right government.

For years conservatives and libertarians have pushed for limited, constitutional government: a federal government which exists to protect our rights and liberties, provide for a common defense, and build a few post roads, but little else. Certainly not to enforce the will of elites or the majority or anyone else upon the unwilling. Our government exists to protect individuals, not the other way around. "That government is best which governs least," as Thoreau wrote. Or per Ronald Reagan: the "nine most terrifying words in the English language" are "I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help." The Constitution created a limited federal government and federal courts to enforce those limits.

And yet, how's that going? How many agencies did George W. Bush eliminate? How much spending have we cut? How long have Thoreau and Reagan been gone? Wickard v. Filburn looks as precedential as ever. There’s finally a majority of originalists on the Supreme Court and all they can manage is rearranging administrative deck chairs. What should conservatives and libertarians do? Stand athwart history, yelling "Stop!"—in obeisance to dead heroes—and lose? Maybe it's time to play to win, to forge a government of our liking. The Constitution’s just a piece of paper. Perhaps we should stop being losers and take our country back!

What do you think? Come have a drink or two while listening to the opening statements for and against, and then let us all know! After hearing all the voices—with the appropriate amount of respectful heckling—we will, at the debate’s conclusion, take a vote on the resolution to settle it once and for all.

The Westlake Yacht Club is located on the way from Los Angeles to Simi Valley, just 4 minutes from the Hyatt Regency Westlake and 15 minutes from the Reagan Library. Conference registration includes entry into the event; food and drink provided.

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9:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
Registration

2025 Western Chapters Conference

   
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
40 Presidential Drive
Simi Valley, CA 93065

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9:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Panel 1: How Can Conservatives Win?

2025 Western Chapters Conference

   
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
40 Presidential Drive
Simi Valley, CA 93065

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Description

Conservatives have always faced questions about both ends and means–what goals should conservatives strive for, and how best can they achieve them? In 1968 and 1976, Ronald Reagan challenged established conservatives on both fronts, and by the end of the 1980s he had redefined conservatism in important ways. Now, 40 years after Reagan’s second term as President began, political and legal conservatives face similar questions. What does victory look like, and how do we get there? This panel will focus on the latter question–a question about methods. In both the political and legal spheres, can conservatives win through persuasion that shapes the culture by changing minds? Or should conservatives adopt a more assertive posture that prioritizes action over debate?

Featuring:

  • Mike Berry, Chief Counsel, Senator Ted Cruz
  • Gregg Nunziata, Executive Director, Society for the Rule of Law
  • Judd Stone, Stone Hilton, Founding Partner
  • Hon. Danielle Forrest, Judge. U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit 

 

Speakers

11:15 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.
Panel 2: Has the Right Lost the Argument for Small Government?

2025 Western Chapters Conference

   
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
40 Presidential Drive
Simi Valley, CA 93065

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Description

One of the chief divisions in the legal right is whether government laws and regulations aimed at reining in actors who collaborate and act as “agents” for the left are “anti-conservative” in that the implementation of these laws and regulations cuts against traditional conservative principles of smaller government. Recent examples of this are laws aimed at regulating social media outlets by governors in red states from censoring conservative speech on their platforms and laws aimed at curbing transgender procedures. Traditional small government conservatives argue that the government should not regulate private businesses or interfere with parental rights. This tension begs the questions as to what “small government” even means and whether it is still a goal the Right should aspire to or whether the Right should accept or lean into “big government” to achieve its legal and policy objectives. This panel will explore the debate amongst members of the Right regarding big and small(er) government and whether the Right should continue to strive for “smaller government” or should instead embrace “big government” policies as a requirement for good governance.

Featuring:

  • Anastasia Boden, Senior Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation
  • Josh Divine, Solicitor General, Missouri Attorney General's Office
  • Eric Tung, Partner, Jones Day Los Angeles
  • Moderator: Hon. Dan Bress, Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Speakers

12:45 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
Luncheon & Fireside Chat on “The Meese Revolution: The Making of a Constitutional Moment”

2025 Western Chapters Conference

   
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
40 Presidential Drive
Simi Valley, CA 93065

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Description

Featuring:

  • Prof. Steven G. Calabresi, Clayton J. and Henry R. Barber Professor of Law, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law

There will be copies of the book available for sale and signature at the conference! 

Speakers

4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Optional Library Tour

2025 Western Chapters Conference

   
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
40 Presidential Drive
Simi Valley, CA 93065

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4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Closing Reception

2025 Western Chapters Conference

   
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
40 Presidential Drive
Simi Valley, CA 93065

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