Tag: 2015 National Convention

The Courts, the Constitution, and the Disappearing American Dream

The Great Recession of 2008 highlighted a decades-long trend of increased wealth stratification that some say echoes back to America's Gilded Age. The richest 3 percent of families now control more than half the nation's wealth, while the bottom 90 percent control less than a quarter. The Pew Research Center has found that 27 percent of Americans "say the growing gap between the rich and the poor is the greatest threat to the world today." Further, many charge that the Supreme Court has become a defender of business interests at the expense of the individual. What does the Constitution have to say about economic power and inequality and what role can courts play in this debate? How has the ongoing assault on unions impacted wealth distribution, and how can collective bargaining be strengthened? What other policies and legal means can help shore up the American dream of equal opportunity? 
 
Speakers:
  • Robert Borosage, Founder and President, Institute for America's Future
  • David Bernstein, George Mason University Foundation Professor, George Mason University School of Law
  • Heather Boushey, Executive Director and Chief Economist, Washington Center of Equitable Growth
  • William Forbath, Associate Dean for Research, Lloyd M Bentsen Chair in Law, University of Texas School of Law
  • Sophia Lee, Professor of Law and History, University of Pennsylvania Law School 
  • Ted Shaw, Julius L. Chambers Distinguished Professor of Law; Director, Center for Civil Rights, University of North Carolina School of Law
  • Ganesh Sitaraman, Assistant Professor of Law, Vanderbilt Law School, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress

Standing Up for the Unpopular: The Perils and Rewards of Representing Disfavored Clients

A lawyer has a duty to zealously advocate on behalf of his or her clients, yet lawyers who represent unpopular clients can be lauded as champions of justice or unfairly vilified as accomplices to monsters. In our adversarial system, how can we guarantee justice for all if fear of reprisal chills attorney participation in controversial causes? In what contexts do criticisms of attorney representations arise, and are there an discernible patterns? What must be done to educate the bar and the public about the principles fundamental to our system of justice: all people and entities are entitled to representation, and such representations are not an endorsement of a client's view or conduct? How can controversial cases enrich a lawyer's practice and does it pose any risks? 
 
Speakers:
  • Ari Melber, Chief Legal Correspondent and Co-Host of "The Cycle" MSNBC
  • Debo Adegbile, Partner, WilmerHale
  • Pardiss Kebriaei, Senior Staff Attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights
  • Burt Neuborne, Norman Dorsen Professor of Civil Liberties, New York University School of Law; Founding Legal Director, Brennan Center for Justice

Nora Gay Interview

ACS interviews Nora Gay, president of the ACS Texas School of Law Student Chapter, at the 2015 ACS National Convention.

William Forbath Interview

ACS interviews William Forbath, Associate Dean for Research and Lloyd M. Rentsen Chair in Law at the University of Texas School of Law, on the Constitution and economic inequality at the 2015 ACS National Convention.

Erwin Chemerinsky Interview

ACS interviews Erwin Chemerinsky,, Founding Dean, Distinguished Professor of Law and Raymond Pryke Professor of First Amendment Law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, about his views on the Supreme Court at the 2015 ACS National Convention.