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2025 Texas Chapters Conference

September 19 — 20, 2025

REGISTRATION CLOSED

Please join the Texas Lawyers Chapter for their annual statewide conference! 

 

Friday, September 19 - Saturday, September 20, 2025

AT&T Hotel and Conference Center

1900 University Avenue

Austin, TX 78705

 

CONFERENCE PRICING

Non-Members: $300

Members: $200 

Students: $100  (dues-paying members)

Dinner only: $150  

 

CLE Credit Available!

 

HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS

AT&T Hotel and Conference Center

Rooms can be reserved at the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center with the FedSoc room block rate of $429 per night. To reserve a room online, go to the website below.

https://book.passkey.com/go/FEDSOC0925

The hotel cutoff date for this hotel is Thursday, August 28. Rooms are available on a first come, first serve basis and will likely sell out.

 

DoubleTree Austin - University Area

Rooms can be booked at the rate of $199 per night. To reserve a room, call 1-800-445-8667 and mention The Federalist Society to access the group rate, or book online at the link below.

https://group.doubletree.com/g78acn

The DoubleTree's cutoff date is Monday, August 25. Rooms are available on a first come, first serve basis and will likely sell out. 

 

Please note there is a home game at UT the weekend of the conference, which increased the cost of hotel rooms and limited the amount of available rooms.

 

REGISTRATION DEADLINE AND REFUNDS

Registration will close at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, September 15, 2025. 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.

Bag Policy: Clear plastic, vinyl, or PVC bags no larger than 12" x 6" x 12" or small clutches, wristlets, or wallets no larger than 4.5" x 6.5" are permitted.

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11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Student Luncheon Panel

2025 Texas Chapters Conference

   
University of Texas College of Law
Eidman Courtroom

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Description

Lunch 11:00-11:30am

Program begins right at 12:00pm

Featuring:

  • Hon. Charles Eskridge, Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
  • Hon. Reed O'Connor, Judge, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas
  • Hon. Brantley Starr, Judge, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas
  • Moderator: Prof. John Greil, Clinical Professor, The University of Texas at Austin School of Law

Speakers

5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Opening Reception

2025 Texas Chapters Conference

   
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705

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7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Banquet Dinner & Gregory S. Coleman Memorial Lecture

2025 Texas Chapters Conference

CLE 1 hour
Ethics 0 hours
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705

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8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
Young Lawyers Panel: In-House Counsel Careers

2025 Texas Chapters Conference

   
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705

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Description

Many young lawyers aspire to work in-house for a business at some point in their careers. But the exact role of an in-house lawyer–and how to land an in-house job–is often opaque. Our panelists, reflecting diverse industries and backgrounds, will discuss their career paths and experience working in-house. They’ll share insights on their day-to-day practice and the types of challenges they face working in for-profit corporations. And they’ll advise law students and young lawyers on how to set themselves up on a path to working in-house.

Featuring:

  • Paloma Ahmadi, General Counsel, WorkWhile
  • Caitlin Hawkins, Chief Legal and Development Officer at SPS PoolCare
  • Katie Jo Luningham, Director of Litigation Counsel, Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc.
  • Moderator: Hon. Ada Brown, Judge, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas

Speakers

9:45 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
Opening Remarks

2025 Texas Chapters Conference

   
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705

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Description

Featuring:

  • Hon. Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, District Judge, United States District Court, Northern District of Texas

Speakers

10:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
Panel 1: DOGE & The Deep State: Executive Power in the Trump Administration

2025 Texas Chapters Conference

CLE 1.25 hours
Ethics 0 hours
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705

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Description

The Trump administration 2.0 has taken an unprecedented approach to taking on the federal bureaucracy. Since inauguration in January, the new Department of Government Efficiency has made headlines by aggressively slashing federal agencies’ budgets and workforces. DOGE’s work has been followed by a slew of legal challenges currently moving through the courts that are testing the range of the President’s Article II powers. Do unelected DOGE employees have authority to exercise executive power? Does Article II vest the President with the discretion to cut government spending and roll back civil service protections? And has DOGE been as effective as marketed? This panel will explore these questions and the scope of the President’s power to unilaterally trim down the “deep state.”

 

Featuring:

  • Ben Flowers, Partner, Ashbrook Byrne Kresge LLC
  • Chris Gober, Partner and Chief Executive Officer, LexPolitica
  • Prof. Tara Grove, Vinson & Elkins Chair in Law, The University of Texas at Austin School of Law
  • Prof. Kenneth Rosen, Professor of Law, University of Alabama School of Law
  • Moderator: Hon. Cory Wilson, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit

Speakers

11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.
Panel 2: Educational Freedom Inside & Outside the Public School

2025 Texas Chapters Conference

CLE 1.25 hours
Ethics 0 hours
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705

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Description

Parents’ right to direct the upbringing of their children is fundamental and deeply rooted in our history and tradition. In 2025, educational options abound across the country, both public and private, but what do the Texas and U.S. Constitutions have to say when legislatures support education with public funding? When children attend government-run public schools, how much say do parents have in what happens in the classroom? When it comes to state-funded but independently operated options–like charter schools–do the same constitutional strictures apply? And how can states like Texas provide public education while respecting parental rights and creating innovative educational options and programs? The panel will discuss Texas’s new school choice program and analyze recent court decisions impacting education, particularly where the law intersects with rights of conscience and the First Amendment, and explore the legal contours of parents’ rights to direct their children’s education.

Featuring:

  • Ryan Bangert, Senior Vice President, Strategic Initiatives & Special Counsel to the President, Alliance Defending Freedom
  • Prof. David E. DeMatthews, Ph.D., W.K. Kellogg Endowed Professor of Education Leadership and Director, Cooperative Superintendency Program, The University of Texas at Austin
  • Arif Panju, Managing Attorney, Texas Office, Institute for Justice
  • Becky Ricketts, Senior Counsel, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
  • Moderator: Hon. Jeremy Kernodle, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas

Speakers

12:45 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
Luncheon & Panel 3: Business Court and 15th Court of Appeals

2025 Texas Chapters Conference

CLE 1.25 hours
Ethics 0 hours
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705

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Description

The creation of the Fifteenth Court of Appeals and the Business Court—the biggest change to the Texas judiciary in decades—has ushered in a new era for constitutional and commercial litigation in Texas. The panel will look back on the impact these specialized courts have had in their first year of operation and explain what Texans can expect from them going forward.

  • Hon. Grant Dorfman, Judge, Texas Business Court, Eleventh Division
  • Hon. April Farris, Justice, Texas Fifteenth Court of Appeals
  • Hon. Patrick Sweeten, Judge, Texas Business Court, Third Division
  • Moderator: Hon. Jimmy Blacklock, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Texas

Speakers

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