The National Appellate Court Celebration and Introspective Symposium

On March 18, 2009, an unprecedented gathering of the Circuit's past, present, and future leadership, past Solicitors General, and scholars will reflect on the Circuit’s first 27 years and – more importantly -- what lies ahead. Panelists include Chief Judge Paul R. Michel, Judge Daniel M. Friedman, Judge Pauline Newman, and Judge Randall R. Rader. In addition, Judge S. Jay Plager, Judge Alan D. Lourie, Judge Alvin A. Schall, Judge Richard Linn, Judge Sharon Prost, and Judge Kimberly A. Moore will attend. With increasing national and international focus on the economic significance of intellectual property, the growth of government contracting as a means of implementing government programs, and the importance of international trade, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has grown from the merger of two courts -- the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals and the Court of Claims -- to a tribunal shouldering great oversight responsibility for the most complex and important litigation topics in the federal system.

Established by the Federal Courts Improvement Act of 1982, the Circuit stands unique in the federal appellate sisterhood. In this court, Congress both preserved general experience and assured specificity, pursuing the goal of uniformity in areas of law critical to the function of national governance and economic security. The Circuit hosts a broad array of subject matter areas, including international trade, government contracts, patents, trademarks, certain money claims against the United States, federal personnel, and veterans’ benefits. At the same time, with the legislative design of creating uniformity in these bodies of law, the Circuit’s opinions provide on evolving and specific federal case law backdrop for national governance. The Circuit’s obligations include reviewing cases coming from all federal district courts, the United States Court of Federal Claims, the United States Court of International Trade, and the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. In addition, the Circuit hears appeals from decisions of the United States Merit Systems Protection Board, the Boards of Contract Appeals, the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, and the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board, as well as decisions from the United States International Trade Commission, the Office of Compliance, and the Government Accountability Officer Personnel Appeals Board.

9: 00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. The Court – Giving Texture to the Institution of the Court

· John M. Whealan (moderator) – Associate Dean for Intellectual Property Law Studies - George Washington University Law School

10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. The Complexity -- Views on the Circuit’s Complex Subject Matter from the Solicitors General

· Gregory G. Garre - George Washington University Law School - 44th Solicitor General (2008)

· Theodore B. Olson - Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher - 42nd Solicitor General (2001 – 2004)

· Keynote Speaker, Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Member, Judiciary Committee, U.S. Senate

· Daniel J. Meador (introduction) , James Monroe Professor of Law Emeritus, University of Virginia School of Law

· John Fitzgerald Duffy, Oswald Symister Colclough Research Professor of Law - George Washington University Law School

· John M. Golden, Assistant Professor of Law, University of Texas School of Law

Federal Circuit Bar Association 1620 I Street, NW Suite 900 Washington, D.C. 20006 www.fedcirbar.org