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2025 National Student Symposium

March 7 — 8, 2025
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The Michigan Law Federalist Society will host the 44th National Student Symposium on March 7–8, 2025, with a keynote dinner at world-renowned Michigan Stadium (“The Big House”). Check back soon for more details and registration information! Click here to learn more.

 

 

Congress: Reviving the Impetuous Vortex

hosted at the
University of Michigan Law School
Hutchins Hall
625 S State St
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Friday, March 7 – Saturday, March 8, 2025


The Michigan Law Federalist Society will host the 44th annual National Student Symposium on March 7 and 8, 2025. In recent terms, the Supreme Court has pushed back against what it views as executive usurpation of agency power and has cleared the way for Congress to once again exert more political control. This Symposium will explore whether–and to what extent–Congress should seize and exercise this latent authority to legislate.

  • Opening Debate: TBA
  • Panel I: How We Got Here: The Supreme Court’s “Anti-Administrativist” Turn
  • Panel II: Congress and the Constitution: The Separation of Powers in Action
  • Panel III: Congress and the Administrative State: Prospects for Regulatory Reform
  • Debate: Presidential Power and Congress’s Response
  • Panel IV: Congress and Court Reform: Jurisdiction Stripping, Court Packing, and Beyond 

 

Symposium Registration

Student Symposium Registration ONLY (includes all events except the Saturday night reception and banquet):

  • $15 (student members)
  • $100 (non-student members)

Banquet Registration (This does not include “Student Symposium Registration.” You must also register for the “Student Symposium Registration” if you’d like to attend the panels/Friday night reception, Saturday breakfast and lunch. “Banquet Registration” includes Saturday night reception):

  • $85 (student members)
  • $200 (non-student members)

Note: Please indicate whether you will need a vegetarian meal. Otherwise, the banquet meal defaults to beef. 

Travel

50% TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENT (TRAVEL ONLY—does not include hotel)
Please submit AFTER the symposium concludes

FOR DUES-PAYING STUDENT MEMBERS. 

Reimbursement Form
https://fedsoc.org/travelscholarship 

Join or Renew Your $5 Student Membership:
https://fedsoc.org/join

 

Traveling from Detroit Metropolitan Airport to Ann Arbor

Michigan Law is roughly a 25-minute drive from Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW). There are two efficient ways to get to Ann Arbor from DTW. The first is the Michigan Flyer bus which makes frequent trips from DTW to downtown Ann Arbor. The second is through ridesharing.

Traveling to Ann Arbor by train

The Amtrak Wolverine makes three daily trips between Chicago and Detroit, stopping directly in Ann Arbor. This is a fantastic option for our Chicago (Union Station), South Bend (pick up the train in Niles), and Detroit friends.

Getting Around in Ann Arbor

Information on transportation from hotels to Michigan Law forthcoming. Transportation to the Big House for the Closing Banquet will be provided.

 

Accommodation

We strongly recommend booking your hotel as early as possible to ensure rooms are available and rates are low.

Airbnb

Bell Tower Hotel (0.4 miles)

Exhibit A2 Hotel (0.6 miles)

Fairfield Inn (2.5 miles)

Graduate by Hilton (0.2 miles)

Hampton Inn West (2.9 miles)

Sonesta ES Suites (2.9 miles)

Stone Chalet Bed and Breakfast (1.0 miles)

Wyndham Garden (3.0 miles)

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3:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Registration

2025 National Student Symposium

   
Michigan Law Hutchins Hall
625 S State St
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

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Description

Symposium volunteers will greet you at the entrance to Hutchins Hall within the Law Quad.

5:30 p.m. - 5:45 p.m.
Welcome and Opening Remarks

2025 National Student Symposium

   
Hutchins Hall 100 Auditorium
Michigan Law Hutchins Hall
625 S State St
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

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Description

Featuring:

  • Welcome: Katherine Slivensky, President, Michigan Law Chapter
  • Opening Remarks: Kyle D. Logue, Interim Dean, University of Michigan Law School

Speakers

5:45 p.m. - 6:45 p.m.
Opening Debate (TBA)

2025 National Student Symposium

   
Hutchins Hall 100 Auditorium
Michigan Law Hutchins Hall
625 S State St
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

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7:00 p.m. - 8:45 p.m.
Panel I: How We Got Here – The Supreme Court’s “Anti-Administrativist” Turn?

2025 National Student Symposium

   
Hutchins Hall 100 Auditorium
Michigan Law Hutchins Hall
625 S State St
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

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Description

Featuring:

  • Prof. Jeffrey Pojanowski, Biolchini Family Professor of Law, Notre Dame Law School
  • Prof. Jennifer L. Mascott, Director of the Separation of Powers Institute and Associate Professor of Law, The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law
  • Prof. Nina A. Mendelson, Joseph L. Sax Collegiate Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Environmental and Energy Law Program, University of Michigan Law School
  • Prof. Thomas W. Merrill, Charles Evans Hughes Professor of Law, Columbia Law School
  • Prof. Aaron Nielson, Solicitor General of Texas and Professor of Law, Brigham Young University Law School
  • Moderator: Hon. Chad A. Readler, Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

 

Speakers

8:45 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Cocktail Reception

2025 National Student Symposium

   
Robert B. Aikens Commons
Michigan Law Hutchins Hall
625 S State St
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

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8:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Registration

2025 National Student Symposium

   
Hutchins Hall, First Floor
Michigan Law Hutchins Hall
625 S State St
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

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

2025 National Student Symposium

   
Robert B. Aikens Commons
Michigan Law Hutchins Hall
625 S State St
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

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9:00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
Panel II: Congress and the Constitution: The Separation of Powers in Action

2025 National Student Symposium

   
Hutchins Hall 100 Auditorium
Michigan Law Hutchins Hall
625 S State St
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

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Description

Featuring:

  • Justin Amash, former United States Congressman from Michigan
  • Prof. Joshua Chafetz, Agnes Williams Sesquicentennial Professor of Law and Politics, Georgetown University Law Center
  • Prof. Gillian E. Metzger, Harlan Fiske Stone Professor of Constitutional Law, Columbia Law School
  • Prof. Christopher J. Walker, Professor, University of Michigan Law School
  • Amanda H. Neely, Of Counsel, Gibson Dunn and former General Counsel to Senator Rob Portman
  • Moderator: Hon. Robert J. Luck, Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit

     

Speakers

11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Panel III: Congress and the Administrative State: Prospects for Regulatory Reform

2025 National Student Symposium

   
Hutchins Hall 100 Auditorium
Michigan Law Hutchins Hall
625 S State St
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

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Description

Featuring: 

  • Prof. Jonathan H. Adler, Johan Verheij Memorial Professor of Law and Director of the Coleman P. Burke Center for Environmental Law, Case Western Reserve University School of Law
  • Prof. Nicholas Bagley, Thomas G. Long Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School
  • Prof. Emily Bremer, Professor, Notre Dame Law School
  • Prof. Jennifer Nou, Ruth Wyatt Rosenson Professor of Law, University of Chicago Law School
  • Moderator: Hon. Neomi Rao, Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

Speakers

12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Saturday Breakout Session 1: Introduction to the Lawyers Division

2025 National Student Symposium

   
Michigan Law Hutchins Hall
625 S State St
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

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Description

Featuring:

  • Sean Dutton, President, Michigan Lawyers Chapter and Attorney, Kienbaum Hardy Viviano Pelton & Forrest P.L.C.
  • Jeff Gurley, Law Clerk, Judge E. Grady Jolly on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
  • Kellie Majcher, Associate, Hogan Lovells
  • Adam Steinhilber, Assistant Solicitor General of Kansas
  • Eric Walker, Associate, Jones Day
  • Moderator: Lisa Budzynski Ezell, Vice President and Director, Lawyers Chapters, The Federalist Society

Speakers

12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Saturday Breakout Session 2: Becoming an Academic

2025 National Student Symposium

   
Hutchins Hall
Michigan Law Hutchins Hall
625 S State St
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

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Description

Featuring:

  • Prof. Emily Bremer, Professor, Notre Dame Law School
  • Prof. Tara Leigh Grove, Professor and Vinson & Elkins Chair in Law, University of Texas School of Law
  • Prof. Jennifer L. Mascott, Director of the Separation of Powers Institute and Associate Professor of Law, The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law
  • Prof. Christopher J. Walker, Professor, University of Michigan Law School
  • Moderator: Hon. Lee Liberman Otis, Senior Vice President and Director, Faculty Division, The Federalist Society

Speakers

12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Lunch and Breakout Sessions

2025 National Student Symposium

   
Hutchins Hall
Michigan Law Hutchins Hall
625 S State St
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

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Description

Please join us for a boxed lunch, which you may take to Saturday Breakout Session 1 or 2.

2:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Debate: Presidential Power and Congress's Response

2025 National Student Symposium

   
Hutchins Hall 100 Auditorium
Michigan Law Hutchins Hall
625 S State St
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

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Description

Featuring:

  • Prof. Michael W. McConnell, Richard and Frances Mallery Professor and Director of the Constitutional Law Center, Stanford Law School
  • Prof. Julian Davis Mortenson, James G. Phillipp Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School
  • Moderator: Hon. Joan Larsen, Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

Speakers

3:30 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
Panel IV: Congress and Court Reform: Jurisdiction Stripping, Court Packing, and Beyond

2025 National Student Symposium

   
Hutchins Hall 100 Auditorium
Michigan Law Hutchins Hall
625 S State St
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

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Description

Featuring: 

  • Prof. Jamal Greene, Dwight Professor of Law, Columbia Law School
  • Prof. Tara Leigh Grove, Professor and Vinson & Elkins Chair in Law, University of Texas School of Law
  • Prof. Richard Primus, Theodore J. St. Antoine Collegiate Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School
  • Prof. Amanda Tyler, Thomas David & Judith Swope Clark Professor of Constitutional Law, University of California, Berkeley School of Law
  • Prof. Keith E. Whittington, David Boies Professor of Law, Yale Law School
  • Moderator: Hon. Raymond Kethledge, Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

Speakers

5:45 p.m. - 7:15 p.m.
Closing Reception (including Football Locker Room and Field Tours)

2025 National Student Symposium

   
Jack Roth Stadium Club, Michigan Stadium (“The Big House”) and Lloyd Carr Tunnel
Michigan Law Hutchins Hall
625 S State St
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

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Description

This event requires the purchase of a separate “Banquet Registration” ticket.

7:15 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Closing Banquet and Keynote Address (TBA), and Presentation of the Annual Joseph Story Award and Feddie Awards

2025 National Student Symposium

   
Jack Roth Stadium Club, Michigan Stadium (“The Big House”)
Michigan Law
1201 S Main St
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

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Description

Overflow: Hutchins Hall Michigan Law School

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