Unsure what to do about authoritarianism? Come to the Facing the Future: Organizing and Lawyering for Justice conference taking place on January 31 – February 1, 2025 at Harvard Law School. The conference is co-sponsored co-organized by the Systemic Justice Project, the People’s Parity Project, the Law and Political Economy Project, The [F]law, and Civil Rights – Civil Liberties Law Review, with generous support from Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro.

The conference will focus on the future of justice-oriented lawyering in the face of mounting systemic challenges and rising authoritarianism. It aims to provide inspiration, direction, and hope to justice-oriented law students, lawyers, organizers, and scholars who are grappling with the role of the law and what it means to do public interest lawyering in a Trump 2.0 world.

Registration is now closed: bit.ly/FacingtheFutureReg

This page will change often with more details including information on speakers, panels, schedule, offerings, and so on. You can find us at facingthefuture.net.

We have had some exciting developments regarding the conference schedule, leading to some worthwhile delays.

Here is a sample of speakers who will probably or definitely participate (with more to come):

DRAFT SCHEDULE – SUBJECT TO CHANGE

MORE DETAILS TO COME

Facing the Future: Lawyering and Organizing for Justice

Friday January 31, 2025

9:45 am: Registration (pastries and coffee provided)
10:15 am: Welcome Remarks — A Word about “Facing the Future”
10:25 am: Defending Reproductive and Transgender Rights (moderated by Grayce Burns)
- Carrie Flaxman – Democracy Forward
- Alexander Chen -Harvard Law School LGBTQ+ Advocacy Clinic
- Gillian Branstetter – ACLU Communications Strategist
11:20 am: Immigration Lawyering (moderated by Jessenia Class)
- Sabrineh Ardalan– Harvard Law School
- Tiffany Lieu – Harvard Law School
- R. Andrew Free
12:15 pm: Break (lunch provided)
12:30 pm: Government Lawyering (moderated by Troy Brown)
- Jodie Morse – formerly Deputy Associate Attorney General at the Department of Justice (Executive Director of the Reproductive Rights Task Force)
- Saeed Mody – formerly Deputy Associate Attorney General at the Department of Justice (Anti-Hate Crimes Resources Coordinator)
- Jonathan Miller – Public Rights Project
1:25 pm: Adapting Strategies in Response to Trump 2.0 (moderated by Jack Haney)
- Matthew Segal – ACLU – State Supreme Court Initiative
- SangYeob Kim – ACLU of New Hampshire
- Leah Watson– ACLU Racial Justice Program
- Jessie Rossman – ACLU of Massachusetts, Legal Director
2:20 pm: Consumer Protection Lawyering Panel (moderated by Grace Ko)
- Lauren Barnes – Lawyer, formerly Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP
- Sharon McGowan – Public Justice
- Nadine Smith – Equality Florida
3:15 pm: Break – (snacks and coffee provided)
3:30 – 4:15 pm: Labor Lawyering (moderated Holden Hopkins)
- Veena Dubal – University of California Irvine School of Law
- David Seligman – Towards Justice
- Vail Kohnert-Yount – United Auto Workers
4:20 – 5:10 pm: Building Power in an Authoritarian Regime (introduced by Clara Chiu; moderated by Josie Duffy Rice)
- Congresswoman Cori Bush
5:15 – 6:10 pm: Re-empowerment (introduced by Grace Shrestha)
- Rhiannon Hamam – 5-4 Podcast (moderator and panelist)
- Molly Coleman – People’s Parity Project
- Veena Dubal – University of California Irvine School of Law

Saturday February 1, 2025

9:30 am: Registration – (pastries and coffee provided)
9:50 am: Welcome Remarks
10:00 am: The Big Picture (moderated by Christina White)
- Walter Johnson – Harvard University
- Josie Duffy Rice – Writer and podcaster
- Jon Hanson – Harvard Law School
11:00 am: Reparations (moderated by Charkera Ervin)
- Justin Hansford – Howard University Law School, Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center
- Cornell William Brooks – Harvard Kennedy School
- Areva Martin – Martin & Martin LLP
12:00 pm: Break (lunch provided)
12:15 pm: The Role of Legal Media in [an] Eroding Democracy (moderated by David Hernandez)
- Jay Willis – Balls and Strike
- Josie Duffy Rice – Writer and podcaster
- Michael Liroff – 5-4 Podcasat
- Peter Shamshiri – 5-4 Podcast
1:15 pm: Working across Legal Silos (introduced by Danny Finley)
- David Seligman – Towards Justice
- Toby Merrill – formerly at Department of Education.
- Persis Yu – Student Borrower Protection Center
2:15 pm: Unbuilding Walls, Organizing, Solidarity (moderated by Corinne Shanahan)
- Silky Shah – Detention Watch Network
- Astra Taylor – Writer, filmmaker, and organizer
- Jocelyn Simonson – Brooklyn Law School
3:15 pm: Break (snacks and coffee provided)
3:30 pm: The Role of Courts in Authoritarian Movements (introduced by Kevin Kurian; moderated by Jay Willis)
- Alex Aronson – Court Accountability
- Michael Podhorzer – Analyst Institute
- Kim Lane Scheppele – Princeton University
4:30 pm: 5-4 Podcast – “Misinformation and the Court” (Live recording; introduced by Molly Enloe & Molly Hayes)
- Rhiannon Hamam – 5-4 Podcast
- Michael Liroff – 5-4 Podcast
- Peter Shamshiri – 5-4 Podcast

Conference Themes

In this moment, many justice-oriented law students and lawyers are grappling with the role of the law and what it means to do public interest lawyering in 2025. As the country reckons with the full implications of Trump 2.0, our conference will provide space for these urgent conversations, assisted by leading scholars and practitioners.

The conference program will analyze the systemic issues connected to Trump’s second term and challenges facing justice-oriented lawyers of all types – from movement lawyers to impact litigators. Panel discussions will showcase innovative strategies being pioneered by lawyers across different areas of the law and analyze lessons learned.

The conference will engage with the critical questions of what long-term justice-centered organizing should look like? And what role should lawyers play in that future planning? Ultimately the conference strives to provide inspiration, critical reflection and community for advocates seeking to find their place in the fight for democracy and justice.