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2026 National Lawyers Convention

250 Years of American Exceptionalism

November 12 — 14, 2026

The National Lawyers Convention is now sold out.
Registration is closed.

CELEBRATING 250 YEARS OF

AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM

 

Thursday, November 12 - Saturday, November 14

 

The Mayflower Hotel

1127 Connecticut Ave., NW

Washington, District of Columbia 20036

 

Join the Federalist Society for the 2026 National Lawyers Convention, a three-day experience featuring a new schedule, engaging programming, and many of the Convention traditions our attendees know and love.

This year’s Convention, themed “250 Years of American Exceptionalism,” will explore the ideas, institutions, and principles that have shaped our republic. The program will feature thought-provoking panels, fireside chats, the Bork Memorial Lecture, the Rosenkranz Debate, the Twenty-Fifth Annual Olson Memorial Lecture, and the 2026 Antonin Scalia Memorial Dinner.

The Convention will be held at the historic Mayflower Hotel, with the Antonin Scalia Memorial Dinner at the Marriott Marquis Washington, DC. Join us in Washington for conversation, debate, and fellowship.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Members: September 1

Registration opens Tuesday, September 1 to all active Federalist Society members. 

 

The National Lawyers Convention is now sold out.

2026 ANTONIN SCALIA MEMORIAL DINNER

Thursday, November 12

Join us for the 2026 Antonin Scalia Memorial Dinner as we honor Justice Scalia’s legacy and the enduring pledge of our Founders: "Our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

The Marriott Marquis Washington, DC
901 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20001

 

The Antonin Scalia Memorial Dinner is now sold out.

 

LODGING

Washington, D.C., hotels fill quickly during the fall conference season, so we recommend making your reservation as soon as possible. To reserve a room at The Mayflower Hotel, for a special room rate of $274 per night:

 

To reserve by phone call: 1-888-236-2427 or 202-347-3000. Inquire about the special rate of $274 per night offered to Federalist Society Convention registrants. Specify "Federalist Society" when contacting The Mayflower by phone. Cutoff Date: October 19, unless rooms sell out sooner.

Tempo by Hilton Washington DC Downtown
1776 K Street NW
Washington, DC 20006

 

To reserve by phone call: 1-202-738-4250. Cutoff Date: October 13, unless rooms sell out sooner.

 
 
 
 

CONVENTION FEES

The National Lawyers Convention is now sold out and registration is closed.

All-Inclusive Package* - SOLD OUT  
Private Sector
Non-Member		 $1075
Private Sector
Active Member		 $675
Government/Non-Profit/Faculty
Non-Member		 $1075
Government/Non-Profit/Faculty
Active Member		 $475
Student
Active Member		 $400


*The All-Inclusive Package includes all three days of sessions, CLE, the 25th Annual Barbara K. Olson Memorial Lecture and Reception, and the 2026 Antonin Scalia Memorial Dinner. CLE materials will be available electronically. A hardcopy of materials can be provided upon request after the Convention, make sure to request CLE Materials in hardcopy form on the CLE sign-in form during the Convention.

A la Carte** - SOLD OUT  
Single Day Tickets - Thursday; Friday
Non-Member		 $350
Single Day Tickets - Thursday; Friday
Member		  $250
Single Day Tickets - Saturday
Non-Member		  $200
Single Day Tickets - Saturday
Member		 $125
Single Day Tickets - Students
Member		 $35


**Single day tickets includes that day’s sessions, CLE, and lunch. It does not include the 2026 Antonin Scalia Memorial Dinner. CLE materials will be available electronically. A hardcopy of materials can be provided upon request after the Convention, make sure to request CLE Materials in hardcopy form on the CLE sign-in form during the Convention.

2026 Antonin Scalia Memorial Dinner - SOLD OUT  
Antonin Scalia Memorial Dinner
Non-Member		 $500
Antonin Scalia Memorial Dinner
Active Member		    $300

 

CANCELLATION FEE OF $100 AFTER THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15.
NO REFUNDS WILL BE GIVEN AFTER MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9.

 

 The National Lawyers Convention is now sold out and registration is closed.

 

Check back periodically for more information. We can't wait to see you!

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9:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
Welcome Address
   
Washington, DC

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Description

Featuring:

  • Hon. Evan A. Young, Justice, Texas Supreme Court

Speakers

Evan A. Young portrait

Evan A. Young

  • In-Person Event
  • Live Stream
10:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
Panel 1: "When in the Course of Human Events"
   
Washington, DC

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Description

The Declaration of Independence roots its case for revolution in concrete causes. This session will trace the political, intellectual, and economic developments that transformed the colonists’ demands for redress into a movement for independence. What did the colonists believe they were defending, and how did Enlightenment thought, English legal tradition, and colonial practice combine to make independence thinkable? How did this founding experience shape our constitutional tradition? And which “human events” of our own day echo that path from grievance to resolve?

Featuring:

  • Dr. Nicholas Cole, Senior Research Fellow, Pembroke College, University of Oxford; Director, the Quill Project
  • Prof. David M. Schizer, Dean Emeritus and Harvey R. Miller Professor of Law & Economics, Columbia Law School
  • Mark W. Smith, Senior Fellow, Ave Maria School of Law and Host of the Four Boxes Diner Second Amendment Channel
  • Prof. Ilan Wurman, Professor, University of Minnesota Law School
  • (Moderator) Hon. Lisa Branch, Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit

Speakers

Lisa Branch portrait

Lisa Branch

Nicholas Cole portrait

Nicholas Cole

David M. Schizer portrait

David M. Schizer

Mark W. Smith portrait

Mark W. Smith

Ilan Wurman portrait

Ilan Wurman

  • In-Person Event
  • Live Stream
11:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Fireside Chat
   
Washington, DC

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  • In-Person Event
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Lunch & SOC! Side Tables
   
Washington, DC

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  • In-Person Event
1:15 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Panel 2: “One People”
   
Washington, DC

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Description

The Declaration of Independence articulated a civic basis for national identity. Americans are bound together by shared principles—natural rights, self-government, equality before the law—rather than only ancestry or bloodline. This panel will explore how an American identity developed and how it continues to inform modern debates about birthright citizenship, assimilation, birth tourism, asylum, and immigration reform. 

Featuring:

  • Elle Rogers Bernstein, General Counsel, United States Senator Jim Banks
  • Prof. Richard A. Epstein, Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law and Director, Classical Liberal Institute, New York University School of Law; Director, Classical Liberal Institute, Civitas Institute University of Texas at Austin
  • Gene P. Hamilton, President and Co-Founder, America First Legal Foundation
  • Prof. John C. Yoo, Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law, University of California at Berkeley; Thomas Smith Senior Research Fellow, Civitas Institute, University of Texas at Austin
  • (Moderator) Hon. Patrick J. Bumatay, Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Speakers

Elle Rogers Bernstein portrait

Elle Rogers Bernstein

Patrick J. Bumatay portrait

Patrick J. Bumatay

Richard A. Epstein portrait

Richard A. Epstein

Gene P. Hamilton portrait

Gene P. Hamilton

John C. Yoo portrait

John C. Yoo

  • In-Person Event
  • Live Stream
2:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
Networking Break
   
Washington, DC

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  • In-Person Event
2:45 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
18th Annual Rosenkranz Debate
   
Washington, DC

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  • In-Person Event
5:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Reception Registration Opens
   
Washington, DC

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  • In-Person Event
5:30 p.m. - 7:15 p.m.
2026 Lawyers Convention Reception
   
Washington, DC

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  • In-Person Event
7:15 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
2026 Antonin Scalia Memorial Dinner “Our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor”
   
Washington, DC

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  • In-Person Event
10:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Closing Reception
   
Washington, DC

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  • In-Person Event
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10:15 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Panel 3: "A Long Train of Abuses and Usurpations"
   
Washington, DC

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Description

The Declaration of Independence presented a lengthy indictment of King George III, accusing the Crown of abuses ranging from imposing taxes without consent and restricting trade to quartering troops and depriving colonists of trial by jury. Many of these grievances helped shape the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, which established structural safeguards and protections for individual liberty intended to prevent similar abuses of government power.

Two hundred and fifty years later, how effectively have those constitutional safeguards addressed the Founders’ concerns? Have modern exercises of government power given rise to a new "long train of abuses and usurpations"? This panel will examine the Declaration’s charges against the Crown, the constitutional responses they inspired, and the modern controversies that still test them.

Featuring:

  • Martine Cicconi, Partner, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
  • Grant Starrett, Multifamily Real Estate Investor
  • (Moderator) Hon. Sarah Keeton Campbell, Justice, Supreme Court of Tennessee

Speakers

Sarah Keeton Campbell portrait

Sarah Keeton Campbell

Martine Cicconi portrait

Martine Cicconi

Grant Starrett portrait

Grant Starrett

  • In-Person Event
  • Live Stream
11:45 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Hon. Robert H. Bork Memorial Lecture: "Consent of the Governed"
   
Washington, DC

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Description

Featuring:

  • Joe Lonsdale, Founder and Managing Partner, 8VC
  • Hon. Amul R. Thapar, Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit

Speakers

Joe Lonsdale portrait

Joe Lonsdale

Amul R. Thapar portrait

Amul R. Thapar

  • In-Person Event
  • Live Stream
12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Lunch
   
Washington, DC

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  • In-Person Event
1:45 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Panel 4: "The Laws of Nature and of Nature's God"
   
Washington, DC

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Description

The Declaration of Independence appealed to “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” and proclaimed that all men are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” Under this conception, rights preceded government, whose purpose was to secure them. But the Constitution does not expressly enumerate every right that might follow from that premise, raising enduring questions about the relationship between natural law and constitutional law.

What role, if any, should the Declaration’s appeal to natural rights play in constitutional interpretation? Did the Founders envision a judiciary empowered to protect rights beyond those expressly enumerated in the Constitution? What role should the Ninth Amendment, the Privileges or Immunities Clause, and the Due Process Clauses play in identifying and protecting such rights? And how can courts distinguish the enforcement of preexisting rights from the imposition of judges’ own moral or political judgments? This panel will examine the Founders’ understanding of natural rights and its implications for the judicial protection of individual liberty today.

Featuring:

  • Prof. Hadley P. Arkes, Founder and Director, James Wilson Institute on Natural Rights & the American Founding
  • Ryan L. Bangert, Senior Vice President, Strategic Initiatives & Special Counsel to the President, Alliance Defending Freedom
  • Prof. Stephanie Barclay, Professor of Law and Faculty Director for the Georgetown Center for the Constitution, Georgetown University Law Center
  • Prof. Kurt T. Lash, E. Claiborne Robins Distinguished Chair in Law, University of Richmond School of Law
  • (Moderator) Hon. Stuart Kyle Duncan, Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit

Speakers

Hadley P. Arkes portrait

Hadley P. Arkes

Ryan L. Bangert portrait

Ryan L. Bangert

Stephanie Barclay portrait

Stephanie Barclay

Stuart Kyle Duncan portrait

Stuart Kyle Duncan

Kurt T. Lash portrait

Kurt T. Lash

  • In-Person Event
3:15 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Panel 5: "Free and Independent States"
   
Washington, DC

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Description

Featuring:

  • Jeremy Feigenbaum, Partner, Jenner & Block LLP
  • Prof. Brittney Lane Kubisch, Associate Professor of Law, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law
  • Katherine Robertson, Chief Counsel, Alabama Attorney General's Office
  • Oramel H. Skinner, III, Executive Director, Alliance For Consumers; President & CEO, American Juris Link
  • Eric Wessan, Solicitor General, Iowa Office of the Attorney General
  • (Moderator) Hon. Justin D. Smith, Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit

Speakers

Jeremy Feigenbaum portrait

Jeremy Feigenbaum

Brittney Lane Kubisch portrait

Brittney Lane Kubisch

Katherine Robertson portrait

Katherine Robertson

O.H. Skinner portrait

O.H. Skinner

Justin D. Smith portrait

Justin D. Smith

Eric Wessan portrait

Eric Wessan

  • In-Person Event
  • Live Stream
4:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Networking Break
   
Washington, DC

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  • In-Person Event
5:00 p.m. - 5:45 p.m.
25th Annual Barbara K. Olson Memorial Lecture
   
Washington, DC

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  • In-Person Event
5:45 p.m. - 6:45 p.m.
Reception
   
Washington, DC

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  • In-Person Event
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9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.
Panel 6: "He Has Made Judges Dependent on His Will Alone"
   
Washington, DC

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Description

The Declaration of Independence condemned a king who made judges “dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.” The Framers’ answer was Article III, with its life tenure and salary protection. That independence is under pressure again, from several directions. Some are familiar matters of structure and politics: term limits, a binding ethics code, jurisdiction stripping, and court expansion. Others are graver: swatting, doxxing, and death threats against judges and their families. How should the bench, the bar, and the political branches answer intimidation and violence while protecting legitimate criticism of the courts? Are the structural reforms faithful to the founding design or departures from it? And where does fair criticism end and corrosion of the rule of law begin?

Featuring:

  • Prof. Tara Leigh Grove, Vinson & Elkins Chair in Law, University of Texas at Austin School of Law
  • Catherine L. Hanaway, Attorney General, Missouri
  • Carrie Campbell Severino, President, JCN
  • Prof. Jonathan R. Turley, J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law; Director of the Environmental Law Advocacy Center; Executive Director, Project for Older Prisoners, The George Washington University Law School
  • (Moderator) Hon. Gregory G. Katsas, Judge, United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit

Speakers

Tara Leigh Grove portrait

Tara Leigh Grove

Catherine L. Hanaway portrait

Catherine L. Hanaway

Gregory G. Katsas portrait

Gregory G. Katsas

Carrie Campbell Severino portrait

Carrie Campbell Severino

Jonathan R. Turley portrait

Jonathan R. Turley

  • In-Person Event
  • Live Stream
10:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
Panel 7: "Sent Hither Swarms of Officers to Harass Our People, and Eat Out Their Substance"
   
Washington, DC

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Description

Featuring:

  • Reeve T. Bull, Policy Director, Fulcrum Foundation
  • GianCarlo Canaparo, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Policy, United States Department of Justice
  • May Mailman, Director, Independent Women's Law Center; Owner, MPL Strategies
  • (Moderator) Hon. Steven J. Menashi, Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit

Speakers

Reeve T. Bull portrait

Reeve T. Bull

GianCarlo Canaparo portrait

GianCarlo Canaparo

May Mailman portrait

May Mailman

Steven J. Menashi portrait

Steven J. Menashi

  • In-Person Event
  • Live Stream
11:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Lunch
   
Washington, DC

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  • In-Person Event
12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Panel 8: "The Pursuit of Happiness"
   
Washington, DC

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  • In-Person Event
  • Live Stream
1:45 p.m. - 2:15 p.m.
Closing Address
   
Washington, DC

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  • In-Person Event
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