Previous Events

October 2019
The Chapter’s Executive Committee met recently at the Library of Congress to begin planning for the upcoming year. Pictured with the Director of the Law Library, Jane Sanchez, are outgoing Chapter President Ethan Torrey and incoming Chapter President Terence Liley. In the next photo, incoming officers Clayton LaForge, Terence Liley, and Jana Patterson are pictured with the Jane Sanchez.

December 3, 2018 – Nontraditional Legal Careers Luncheon
This panel discussion at the Library of Congress featured three speakers who had nontraditional legal careers beyond appearing in court and drafting wills or contracts. The speakers were: Jen Van Buren, Director in the Office of Career Strategy at Georgetown University Law Center; Robert J. DeSousa, the state director for U.S. Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania; and Mary Levering, a lawyer, librarian and educator who is retired from the Library of Congress.

November 27, 2018 – Capitol Hill Chapter Annual Meeting
The Chapter’s 2018 Annual meeting was held at Tortilla Coast, a Capitol Hill institution. The featured speaker was Beth Nolan, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of The George Washington University. Ms. Nolan expounded on her experience in her current role, in addition to past roles including as Partner at Crowell & Moring, LLP, White House Counsel under President Clinton, and as an attorney in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. We also swore in the Chapter leadership for the upcoming year.

June 25, 2018 – Supreme Court Luncheon with Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
The 2018 Supreme Court luncheon was graced with the presence of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Justice Ginsburg gave brief remarks and then graciously answered questions from the audience. This annual chapter tradition is not to be missed! June 6, 2018 – Tour at the U.S. Institute of Peace
The Chapter took a late afternoon tour of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) in June. The USIP is an independent national institute, founded by Congress and dedicated to the proposition that a world without violent conflict is possible, practical, and essential for U.S. and global security. We first heard from their Counsel and employees about the important role of the USIP, and then toured their beautiful building on the northwestern edge of the National Mall. The tour ended with a beautiful view of the District and neighboring Virginia from the building’s roof deck.

April 23, 2018 – The Role of the General Counsel in Government Institutions: Panel Discussion and Evening Rooftop Reception
The Chapter cosponsored with the DC Bar Association a panel discussion on the role of the general counsel in government institutions, followed by a rooftop deck reception at the DC Bar’s new headquarters. The panel featured Judith Leonard, General Counsel of the Smithsonian Institution; Nancy Robinson Breuer, Secretary and General Counsel of the National Gallery of Art; and Elizabeth Pugh, General Counsel of the Library of Congress. The panel was followed by a rooftop reception at the DC Bar’s new headquarters in the District of Columbia’s Mount Vernon neighborhood.

April 5, 2018 – Chief Justice Marshall: Without Precedent
The Chapter and the DC Bar Association co-sponsored a brown-bag lunch featuring Professor Joel Paul, Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of California Hastings, who spoke about his book Without Precedent: Chief Justice John Marshall and His Times. No member of America’s founding generation had a greater impact on the Constitution and the Supreme Court than Marshall, and no one did more to preserve the delicate unity of the fledgling United States. From our nation’s founding in 1776, and for the next forty years, Marshall was at the center of every political battle. As chief justice of the United States Supreme Court—the longest-serving in history—he established the independence of the judiciary and the supremacy of the Constitution and the federal courts. As the leading Federalist in Virginia, he rivaled his cousin Thomas Jefferson in influence. As a diplomat and secretary of state, he defended American sovereignty against France and Britain, counseled President John Adams, and supervised the construction of Washington, D.C. Professor Paul discussed how a rough-cut frontiersman with little formal education became one of the nation’s preeminent lawyers and politicians and, with cunning, imagination and grace, shaped America’s future.

February 22, 2018 – “The Judge: 26 Machiavellian Lessons”
A lunch break offers time to stimulate your mind with deeper, big picture thinking. In February, the FBA Capitol Hill Chapter joined with the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Law and National Security for a brown bag lunch at Ropes and Gray in Washington, D.C. featuring a dialogue between Chief Judge D. Brooks Smith, U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals, and Professor Ronald Collins, University of Washington Law School, to discuss The Judge: 26 Machiavellian Lessons (Oxford University Press, 2017). Few ethicists would advise policymakers to adhere to the canonical political strategies of Niccolo Machiavelli’s classic, “The Prince,” as judges are expected to work above the realm of politics in the lofty ideals of the law. In the “The Judge,” however, Professor Collins and co-author David Skover argue that Machiavelli can indeed speak to judges, and model their book after “The Prince.” The February brown bag offered chapter members an opportunity to break from the sometimes tedious day-to-day work of attorneys and view the law in a larger, more philosophical way.

January 9, 2018 – Tour of the United States Botanic Garden
The Chapter beat the winter blues with a tour of the United States Botanic Garden. Located at the base of the U.S. Capitol, the USBG is a living plant museum that informs visitors about the importance of plants to the well-being of humans and to earth’s fragile ecosystems. We toured the indoor gardens and galleries with a knowledgeable USBG guide and learned about the diverse plants within the USBG. The tour provided a new perspective on plants that we see and use in our daily lives.