ACS and FedSoc will host
Judge Paul Engelmayer is a United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York. Nominated by President Barack Obama, Judge Engelmayer was confirmed by the Senate on July 26, 2011, and received his commission the following day. Judge Engelmayer earned his Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College and his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. Early in his career, Judge Engelmayer worked as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in New York City before clerking for the Hon. Patricia M. Wald of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1987–1988) and the Hon. Thurgood Marshall of the Supreme Court of the United States (1988–1989). From 1989 to 1999, Judge Engelmayer served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, including roles as Deputy Chief Appellate Attorney and Chief of the Major Crimes Unit. He was also an Assistant to the Solicitor General in the U.S. Department of Justice from 1994 to 1996. Following his government service, Judge Engelmayer practiced law privately in New York City from 2000 until his judicial appointment in 2011.
Judge Britt Cagle Grant is a United States Court of Appeals Judge for the Eleventh Circuit. Judge Grant was nominated by President Donald J. Trump on April 10, 2018. She was confirmed by the Senate on July 31, 2018, and received her commission on August 3, 2018. Judge Grant earned her Bachelor of Arts from Wake Forest University and her Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School. Her early professional experience includes serving in the Office of U.S. Representative Nathan Deal of Georgia as a legislative correspondent and communications director (2000–2001), followed by positions at the White House from 2001 to 2004, including executive assistant to the director of the Domestic Policy Council, special assistant to the director of USA Freedom Corps, and deputy associate director of the Office of Cabinet Affairs. After graduating from law school, Judge Grant clerked for the Hon. Brett Kavanaugh on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (2007–2008) and practiced law privately in Washington, D.C., from 2008 to 2012. She then served in the Office of the Attorney General for the State of Georgia, first as counsel for legal policy (2012–2014) and later as solicitor general (2015–2016). Prior to her appointment to the Eleventh Circuit, Judge Grant served as a Justice on the Supreme Court of Georgia from 2017 to 2018.
Join the ACS Houston Lawyer Chapter for a reception and conversation with ACS’s new president Phil Brest and former United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Alamdar S. Hamdani.
Featuring:
Phil Brest, President, American Constitution Society
Alamdar Hamdani, Partner, Bracewell LLP, Former United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas
Thank you to Steptoe for generously hosting this program.
Prior to joining ACS in January, Phil Brest served as the White House Senior Counsel who directed the Biden administration’s judicial nominations where he helped lead efforts to confirm 235 Article III judges—the most by any Presidential administration in nearly five decades. Before joining the Biden White House, he spent six years working for the Senate Judiciary Committee, most recently as Chief Counsel for Nominations and Senior Advisor to U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill).
Alamdar Hamdani is a highly regarded trial lawyer with decades of national security and white-collar experience, including with sanctions, terrorism, fraud and a variety of other cross-border issues. He joined Bracewell following a 17-year career with the United States Department of Justice. He was most recently the Presidentially-Appointed United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas — an office of 400 employees, including 200 federal prosecutors spread across six offices including Houston and offices along the border between Texas and Mexico
Join lawyers in the community seeking to revive a Memphis Lawyer Chapter for a virtual interest meeting. During the meeting, we will discuss how ACS lawyer chapters function and what a lawyer chapter in Memphis could work towards. Come and learn more about ACS's work to advance democracy and defend the rule of law. All are welcome!
Join us for an in-person panel discussion with members of both the trial and appellate teams from the Bronx District Attorney’s Office. Panelists will discuss their work at different stages of criminal prosecution, offering insight into trial strategy, appellate advocacy, and the coordination between trial and appellate divisions within a major prosecutor’s office.
This event is an excellent opportunity for students interested in criminal law, prosecution, and appellate practice to hear directly from practicing attorneys about career paths, daily responsibilities, and real-world challenges in public service.
April 14, 2026
12:30-2:00 PM
CLJ 125 (Baker Trial Courtroom)
Food will be provided.
Join the University of Texas ACS Student Chapter and the Central Texas Lawyer Chapter for a Conversation with Phil Brest, the current President of ACS. Phil has served as White House Senior Counsel and Chief Counsel for Nominations for the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he led the Senate's confirmation of Justice Jackson to SCOTUS. He will join us to discuss his career path across the legislative and executive branches, as well as in private practice, where he spent several years specializing in white collar criminal investigations.
The Bar Association of San Francisco and the Bay Area Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society invite you to an engaging discussion on judicial service and the appointments process in California. Join Judicial Appointments Secretary Luis Cespedes, Deputy Secretary Adam Hofmann, and members of the San Francisco bench for a candid conversation about what it means to serve as a judge and how to navigate the path to appointment.
This program will provide insight into the judicial appointments process, from application through vetting and selection, and will highlight ongoing efforts to expand and diversify the pool of qualified candidates for the bench.
Featuring:
Hon. Luis Céspedes, Judicial Appointments Secretary, Office of California Governor Gavin Newsom
Adam Hofmann, Deputy Secretary for Judicial Appointments, Office of California Governor Gavin Newsom
Hon. Dawn Payne, Judge, Superior Court of San Francisco County
Hon. Julia V. Cervantes, Judge, Superior Court of San Francisco County
Registration opens at 4:30 p.m.
MCLE will not be offered for this program.
Learn more here!
