As we celebrated Law Day and the award of the Learned Hand Medal for Excellence in Federal Jurisprudence to the Hon. Gerard E. Lynch, U.S. Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, I was reminded of the importance of the rule of law […]
The Winter Meeting
The Winter Bench and Bar Conference, known as the Winter Meeting, was held the first week in February this year at the Four Seasons Resort on the Big Island of Hawaii. I always enjoy the Winter Meeting, especially the opportunity to meet with the judges who attend […]
Council Holds Winter Meeting; George A. Davidson Receives Whitney North Seymour Award
The Federal Bar Council held its annual Winter Bench and Bar Conference at the Four Seasons Resort on the Big Island of Hawaii from January 30 through February 6, 2015. Sharon L. Nelles of Sullivan and Cromwell chaired the meeting, and Second […]
The Worst Supreme Court Decision, Ever!
There are, perhaps, many candidates for the worst decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, ever: Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896), for example, or perhaps, Korematsu v. U.S., 323 U.S. 214 (1944). But there really can only be one that ranks at the very […]
Preempting Avoidance
The Second Circuit’s recent decision in In re Tribune Company Fraudulent Conveyance Litigation confirms that Section 546(e) of the Bankruptcy Code preempts state law fraudulent conveyance actions aimed at securities settlement payments made by a debtor in bankruptcy […]
A Talk with Ron Fierstein
The Intellectual Property Committee of the Federal Bar Council recently hosted Ron Fierstein, the author of A Triumph of Genius: Edwin Land, Polaroid, and the Kodak Patent War, for a lively discussion about his book […]
Judge Block
On December 4, 2015, your editorial headline labeled Brooklyn Federal Judge Frederic Block as a “lunatic.” On December 10, Democrat Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid used the label “racist” to describe a question asked in Court by […]
A Lawyer Reflects on His “Radical” Youth
In the 1970s there were radicals in America. On a recent Sunday I met one of them, my friend, lawyer Earle Tockman, for breakfast in Cobble Hill. Outside the restaurant, […]
From the President
The courts in the Second Circuit have been celebrating a series of special anniversaries and the Federal Bar council and its members have been happy to be a part of the celebrations. On Thursday, March 3, 2016, the Federal Bar Council will honor […]
A Thanksgiving Luncheon to Remember
The Federal Bar Council Thanksgiving Luncheon this year had all the usual events: trumpet welcome; Pledge of Allegiance; welcome by David Kelley, the Luncheon’s chair; introduction of new officers, trustees, and directors by Nominating […]