This year’s Federalist Society Lawyers Convention is being held today through Saturday in Washington DC; the theme is “The Jurisprudence and Legacy of Justice Scalia.” Speakers include Justices Alito and Thomas, plus (it appears) at least nine of the Supreme Court short-listers: Judges Stephen Colloton, Allison Eid, Thomas Hardiman, Raymond Kethledge, Joan Larsen, William Pryor, David Stras, Diane Sykes, and Donald Willett. (via Jonathan Adler at Volokh Conspiracy, who also links to this fun site predicting the nominee — current favorites are Larsen, Sykes and Pryor).
Also speaking are Senators Ted Cruz and Ben Sasse; Governor Nikki Haley; former solicitor general Paul Clement; and too many law professors to count. One thing worth noting is the Society's ability to attract liberal as well as conservative law professors, including for example Akhil Amar (Yale), Rachel Barkow (NYU), William Eskridge (Yale), Abbe Gluck (Yale), Deborah Rhode (Stanford), and Stepehen Vladeck (Texas).
UPDATE: Josh Blackman is polling on who the nominee will be — current leaders are Kethledge, Cruz, Prior, Sykes and Willett.
Posted at 11:30 AM