2026 Western Chapters Conference

Mar 27 2026

Friday 7:00 p.m. PDT

CLE 1.25 hours

CLE:

1.25 Total hours (including up to 2.50 Ethics hours)

In-Person Event

Simi Valley, CA

This event is not open to the Press.

REGISTRATION NOW CLOSED

2026 Western Chapters Conference

March 27-28, 2026

FRIDAY, MARCH 27
Evening - Tavern Debate

SATURDAY, MARCH 28
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Panelists and Keynote

CONFERENCE PRICING

Student Member: $50

Member: $125

Non-Member: $200

The Tavern Debate is free with purchase of a conference ticket!

CLE

CLE Info

This event has been approved by the California State Bar for
3.75 Total MCLE Hours including 1.25 Elimination of Bias Hours and 1.25 Civility in the Legal Profession Hours

REGISTRATION DEADLINE AND REFUNDS

Registration will close at 5:00 p.m. Eastern on Monday, March 23, 2026. This is also the deadline to receive a refund for a cancellation. No refunds will be given after the deadline has passed.

This event is closed to press.

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

7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Tavern Debate - Co-hosted with the Institute for Justice

2026 Western Chapters Conference

Westlake Village, CA

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Co-sponsored by the Institute for Justice

If you’re coming to the Federalist Society’s Western Chapters Conference, then please arrive a night early for this fun-filled and stimulating evening of debate, witty repartee, and constitutional merriment. For the fourth 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, March 27, 2026 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: That states may ban cultivated meat.

Since the dawn of time human beings have eaten meat. And since 1776, free Americans have raised animals for food. Yet, in our new age some are pushing over those natural rhythms and growing “frankenfoods” in labs—mystery “meats” that aren’t “meat” at all but engineered soybeans, or bugs at best. Plus, they threaten the livelihoods of ranchers and farmers from sea to shining sea. States need to be free to regulate and, if necessary, forbid these signs of the Singularity. And that’s constitutional too. Heck, just a few years ago the Supreme Court said it was OK for California to ban the sale of bacon based on how hogs were treated in other states. If that’s just fine why can’t states like Florida and Texas stand up for their own farmers—and the souls of their consumers? After all, this is America!

But wait, no one is forcing anyone to eat what its producers call “cultivated meat,” are they? People just want more choices, choice that taste like tasty pork chops and buffalo wings but don’t require the slaughter of zillions of animals, often in inhumane conditions. Scientists have made amazing progress in creating these products through old fashioned ingenuity. And if beef, pork, and poultry producers can’t keep up then maybe they can sign their own petition of the candlemakers. The Constitution protects free markets and new ideas. After all, this is America!

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.

In-Person Event

8:45 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.

Registration

2026 Western Chapters Conference

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Continental breakfast will be provided.

In-Person Event

9:30 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.

Opening Remarks

2026 Western Chapters Conference

Simi Valley, CA

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Featuring:

Hon. John W. Holcomb, Judge, U.S. District Court, Central District of California

Speakers

John W. Holcomb

In-Person Event

9:45 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Panel 1 – America 250: What is the American Tradition of Civility in Legal Discourse?

2026 Western Chapters Conference

CLE

Ethics 1.25 hours

Simi Valley, CA

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From the founding to the present, the American constitutional system has relied not only on formal rules and laws but also on norms. How have those constitutional norms changed over time? What roles have lawyers, judges, and citizens played in shaping and reflecting those norms historically, and what roles are they playing today? More specifically, Americans across the political spectrum decry the seeming decline in their fellow citizens’ willingness or ability to resolve their disagreements civilly–one of the core features of our constitutional regime. Is civil disagreement really harder today than before? If so, why? And what does that mean for the present and future of our constitutional system?

Featuring:

Hon. Clint Bolick, Justice, Arizona Supreme Court
Hon. Kenneth Kiyul Lee, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
Prof. Eugene Volokh, Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow, The Hoover Institution, Stanford University; Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus, UCLA School of Law
Prof. Derek Webb, Assistant Professor of Law at the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law
Moderator: Hon. Carlos Bea, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Speakers

Carlos T. Bea

Clint Bolick

Kenneth Kiyul Lee

Eugene Volokh

Derek Webb

In-Person Event

11:15 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Debate – Birthright Citizenship: Constitutional Mandate or Historical Misreading?

2026 Western Chapters Conference

CLE 1.25 hours

Ethics 0 hours

Simi Valley, CA

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The Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment states that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." But what is the proper interpretation of this clause? What does it mean to be "subject to the jurisdiction thereof"? Our experts debate these and other questions.

Featuring:

Prof. John Yoo, Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law, University of California at Berkeley; Distinguished Visiting Scholar, School of Civic Leadership, University of Texas at Austin; Nonresident Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
Prof. Ilan Wurman, Julius E. Davis Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota
Moderator: Hon. Eric Tung, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circui

Speakers

Eric C. Tung

Ilan Wurman

John C. Yoo

In-Person Event

12:45 p.m. - 2:15 p.m.

Lunch & Keynote Address

2026 Western Chapters Conference

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The Law and Democratic Capitalism
Amidst the wars—the deadly wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, the protest wars on our college campuses, and the culture wars in our communities—Viet Dinh offers a reminder of American first principles and ties defense of these principles to the everyday work of lawyers.

Featuring:

Viet Dinh, Principal, Palanquin Companies and Former Chief Legal and Policy Officer, Fox Corporation

Speakers

Viet Dinh

In-Person Event

2:30 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.

Panel 2 – DEI in Corporations: Legal Standards, Public and Private Company Considerations, and Emerging Practices

2026 Western Chapters Conference

CLE

Ethics 1.25 hours

Simi Valley, CA

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In June 2025, the US Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services that all Title VII discrimination claims, regardless of whether they involve majority or minority groups, should be assessed using the same legal standards. Then in August 2025, a 5–4 Supreme Court ruling in National Institutes of Health v. American Public Health Association, allowed the Trump administration to terminate $783 million in NIH grants linked to DEI initiatives. These decisions, among others, raise concerns about the future of federally funded DEI programs and have prompted companies to review their DEI practices to ensure compliance with federal laws, particularly Title VII.

How do public and private sector attorneys navigate this complex and evolving legal environment for DEI initiatives? Our panel explores the current state of the law as it applies to DEI programs within corporations and public agencies. This panel will also explore how companies are navigating shifting political and investor pressures around DEI and ESG initiatives.

What factors are companies considering regarding their current and future DEI programs? And what possible changes are companies considering making to their DEI programs? Can they continue their current programs in light of Ames? Should companies double down, rethink strategies, or retreat in light of recent decisions and political pressures? In so doing, how might business objectives and performance metrics be affected? Does this yield a more results-focused, merit-driven, and balanced path?

Featuring:

James Burnham, General Counsel, xAI and X
Ethan Davis, Vice President, Head of Global Litigation Strategy, Meta Platforms
Hon. Harmeet Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice
Moderator: Prof. Gail Heriot, Professor of Law, University of San Diego School of Law