2026 District Conference
Join us on May 7, 2025, at the Renaissance Hotel & Spa in Reno, Nevada, for this year’s premier in-person conference, Bridging the Divide.
This engaging event promises to challenge perspectives and foster meaningful connections across the legal community.
Explore the challenges and opportunities in bridging divides—between legal theories and practical applications, federal and state practices, and diverse perspectives within the judiciary and legal professions. Attendees will engage in discussions on collaborative solutions, inclusivity in the legal system, and innovations shaping the future of federal court practice.
Don’t miss this chance to gain critical insights, exchange ideas, and expand your professional connections.
Schedule
- Day 1 29 April 2026
- Auditorium 1
Conference Chair U.S. Magistrate Judge Brenda Weksler
STATE OF THE CIRCUIT COURT REPORT
U.S. Circuit Judge Bybee
STATE OF THE DISTRICT COURT REPORT
Chief U.S. District Judge Andrew Gordon
STATE OF THE BANKRUPTCY COURT REPORT
Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Natalie Cox
Panelists:
Rene Valladares, Esq.
Professor Lisa Richter
Professor Dan Kapra
15-MINUTE BREAK
Chief U.S. District Judge Andrew Gordon
Professor Joe Ragalia
Professor Stephen Vladeck
Professor of Law
Georgetown University Law Center
Professor Vladeck is a nationally recognized expert on the U.S. Supreme Court and the author of The New York Times bestselling book The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic. He will share his expertise with an in-depth review of the current Supreme Court term, including insights into recent decisions and emerging trends.
This CLE class will provide an overview of key U.S. Supreme Court cases from the most
recent term, highlighting major legal principles and their implications. Topics include
decisions on constitutional rights, statutory interpretation, and administrative authority,
with a focus on areas like voting rights, immigration, and executive power. The course will
review the Court’s approach to balancing individual freedoms with state interests, and the
evolving role of the judiciary in shaping national policy. Participants will gain insights into
how these rulings affect practice areas such as civil rights, business law, and criminal justice,
and explore strategies for staying current with ongoing legal developments.
*** SEPARATE TICKET REQUIRED ***
Please click here to purchase tickets/sponsorships (NVFedBar.org)
- Federal District Court Conference Dinner – Located at the Hideaway Lounge within the Renaissance Hotel, One Lake Street, Reno, Nevada 89501.
- An elegant evening featuring a seated dinner, engaging conversations, and opportunities to connect with legal professionals across the district.
- Please email FBANevada@gmail.com for any questions or for other sponsorship opportunities.
Stephen I. Vladeck is a professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center, and is a nationally recognized expert on the federal courts; the Supreme Court; national security law; and military justice.
Vladeck is author of the New York Times bestselling book, “The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic,” which won the 2023 Writers’ League of Texas Book Award for Non-Fiction and was a finalist for the 2024 ABA Silver Gavel Award for Media and the Arts. Vladeck is also a highly regarded appellate advocate, having argued three cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and over a dozen before various lower federal civilian and military courts. He has received numerous awards for his influential and widely cited legal scholarship, his prolific popular writing, his teaching, and his service to the legal profession—including the 2024 University of Texas President’s Research Impact Award and his selection by the Order of the Coif to serve as its Distinguished Visiting Professor for 2025.
Vladeck is CNN’s Supreme Court analyst and editor and author of “One First,” a popular weekly newsletter about the Supreme Court. Together with Bobby Chesney, Vladeck co-hosts the popular and award-winning “National Security Law Podcast.” He is also a co-author of Aspen Publishers’ leading national security law and counterterrorism law casebooks. And he is a member of the Board of Trustees of EarthJustice—the nation’s premier nonprofit public interest environmental law organization.
Vladeck graduated from Yale Law School in 2004—where he was executive editor of the Yale Law Journal and won the Harlan Fiske Stone Prize for outstanding moot court oralist and shared the Potter Stewart Prize for best moot court team performance. After law school, he clerked for the Honorable Marsha S. Berzon on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the Honorable Rosemary Barkett on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He earned a B.A. summa cum laude with Highest Distinction in History and Mathematics from Amherst College in 2001—where he wrote his senior thesis on “Leipzig’s Shadow: The War Crimes Trials of the First World War and Their Implications from Nuremberg to the Present.” A native New Yorker and hopeless Mets fan, Vladeck lives in the District with his wife, Karen (Founder and Managing Partner of Risepoint Search Partners); their daughters, Madeleine and Sydney; and their eleven-year-old pug, Roxanna.
Stephen I. Vladeck is a professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center, and is a nationally recognized expert on the federal courts; the Supreme Court; national security law; and military justice.
Vladeck is author of the New York Times bestselling book, “The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic,” which won the 2023 Writers’ League of Texas Book Award for Non-Fiction and was a finalist for the 2024 ABA Silver Gavel Award for Media and the Arts. Vladeck is also a highly regarded appellate advocate, having argued three cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and over a dozen before various lower federal civilian and military courts. He has received numerous awards for his influential and widely cited legal scholarship, his prolific popular writing, his teaching, and his service to the legal profession—including the 2024 University of Texas President’s Research Impact Award and his selection by the Order of the Coif to serve as its Distinguished Visiting Professor for 2025.
Vladeck is CNN’s Supreme Court analyst and editor and author of “One First,” a popular weekly newsletter about the Supreme Court. Together with Bobby Chesney, Vladeck co-hosts the popular and award-winning “National Security Law Podcast.” He is also a co-author of Aspen Publishers’ leading national security law and counterterrorism law casebooks. And he is a member of the Board of Trustees of EarthJustice—the nation’s premier nonprofit public interest environmental law organization.
Vladeck graduated from Yale Law School in 2004—where he was executive editor of the Yale Law Journal and won the Harlan Fiske Stone Prize for outstanding moot court oralist and shared the Potter Stewart Prize for best moot court team performance. After law school, he clerked for the Honorable Marsha S. Berzon on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the Honorable Rosemary Barkett on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He earned a B.A. summa cum laude with Highest Distinction in History and Mathematics from Amherst College in 2001—where he wrote his senior thesis on “Leipzig’s Shadow: The War Crimes Trials of the First World War and Their Implications from Nuremberg to the Present.” A native New Yorker and hopeless Mets fan, Vladeck lives in the District with his wife, Karen (Founder and Managing Partner of Risepoint Search Partners); their daughters, Madeleine and Sydney; and their eleven-year-old pug, Roxanna.