Forum and Symposium

9:30 — 9:45 a.m.

Continental Breakfast

9:45 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

Suzanne M. Endrizzi `96, Assistant Dean, CJEC

10:00 – 11:15 a.m.

Our opening panel highlights a select set of Supreme Court decisions that reshaped American law and everyday life. Looking across different eras, the discussion surfaces recurring constitutional questions and the ways the judiciary has helped define institutional roles, articulate rights, and guide the nation’s legal development over time. Viewed together, these decisions show how foundational questions reappear across American history and how the Court’s work has shaped the country’s responses to those recurring challenges, underscoring the judiciary’s enduring function in clarifying constitutional meaning and supporting the rule of law.

• Moderator: Katherine C. Hughes, Clinical Professor of Law and Affiliated Faculty with the Center for Judicial Events and Clerkships, Fordham University School of Law
• Speakers:
• Hon. Denny Chin, Senior Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; Lawrence W. Pierce Distinguished Jurist in Residence and Co-Director, Center on Asian Americans and the Law, Fordham University School of Law 
• Hon. Claire Eagan, Senior Judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma
• Hon. Reena Raggi, Senior Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
• James Brudney, Professor of Law and Joseph Crowley Chair in Labor and Employment Law 

11:15 – 11:30 a.m.

11:30 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.

While there is general acknowledgment that the rule of law is central to our constitutional democracy, there is disagreement about what that concept means. This panel will discuss the threshold question of what the concept of the rule of law means. Does it mean, for example, respect for final judgments of the Supreme Court, or does it mean respect for all decisions of all courts, or does it mean something in between? Does it simply mean that the parties will comply with the judicial decisions resolving their case, or does it mean a broader respect for precedent, or is there another understanding of the binding scope of decisions? The panel will also discuss why the rule of law is a pillar of our constitutional system, whether it is under threat, and how to ensure its protection in the future.

• Moderator: Dr. William Treanor, Agnes Williams Sesquicentennial Professor of Law and Constitutional History and Dean Emeritus, Georgetown Law and Dean Emeritus, Fordham University School of Law
• Panelists: 
• Hon. Bernice Donald (ret.), U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• Peter Keisler, Former Acting U.S. Attorney General; Washington Litigation Group, Steering Committee
• Hon. Shira Scheindlin (ret.) U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York; Of Counsel, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP

12:45 – 2:00 p.m.

2:00 – 3:15 p.m.

To avoid the temptations of anti-democratic urges, our Founders recognized the importance of vertical and horizontal checks and balances. How have our institutional and normative guardrails fared over the years?

• Moderator: Jerry Goldfeder, Adjunct Professor of Law and Director, Voting Rights and Democracy Project, Fordham University School of Law
• Panelists:
• Hon. J. Michael Luttig (ret.), U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Hon. Kimberly Mueller (ret.), U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, and current Director Bolch Judicial Institute, Duke Law School
• Hon. Loretta Preska, Senior Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

3:15 – 3:30 p.m.

3:30 – 4:45 p.m.

The final panel of this forum takes stock of our American experiment—its ambitions, its ideals, and its contradictions—and asks what lies ahead.  Are there judicial decisions that, say in 100 years’ time, will still have impact?  What judicial methodologies might matter most in the future?  And how is all of this impacting law students? This panel focuses on the importance of the judiciary in the American experiment not just now, but going forward.

• Moderator: I. Bennett Capers, Associate Dean for Research, Stanley D. and Nikki Waxberg Chair, Professor of Law, and Director, Center on Race, Law and Justice, Fordham University School of Law
• Panelists: 
• Hon. Jeremy Fogel (ret.), U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and current Director, Berkeley Judicial Institute, Berkeley Law School 
• Hon. Patty Shwartz, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• Tracy Higgins, Professor of Law, Fordham University School of Law

5:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan (D.C. Cir.) in conversation with Dean Joseph Landau

6:00 – 7:00 p.m.