February 7, 2011 — U.S. Attorney Timothy Heaphy of the Western District of Virginia will deliver the keynote address at the 12th Annual Conference on Public Service and the Law, to be held Feb. 11-12 at the University of Virginia School of Law.

Heaphy, a 1991 graduate of the Law School, will make his remarks Feb. 11 at 5 p.m. in the Purcell Reading Room. The conference is open to the public, and parking in Law School lots is open to visitors after 2 p.m. Friday and all day Saturday.

Several Virginia legislators who are U.Va. law alumni, including state Sens. John S. Edwards and Donald McEachin, Del. Scott Surovell and House Speaker William Howell, will gather to discuss their role as public servants on Feb. 12 at 10:45 a.m. in Caplin Pavilion.

Founded by U.Va. law students 12 years ago, the Conference on Public Service and the Law brings together students, faculty, attorneys and policymakers to explore public interest issues facing today's legal community and related career paths for young attorneys. This year's conference includes panels examining litigation designed to make social change; the First Amendment rights of pharmacists and doctors; human rights and the bullying of gay, lesbian and transgender students. Career panels will focus on women in public interest and public interest in the private sector.

Past conferences have drawn hundreds of law students and close to 100 panelists from across the country. Keynote speakers have included former Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, the late U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, ACLU President Nadine Strossen, U.S. Supreme Court Justices Stephen Breyer and Samuel Alito, and then-Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, now Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. 

The conference schedule:

Feb. 11

• 2-7 p.m. Registration (Clay Hall Reception Desk)

• 3:30-4:45 p.m.: Impact Litigation (Withers-Brown Hall room 102) 
Moderator: James E. Ryan, William L. Matheson & Robert M. Morgenthau Distinguished Professor of Law; F. Palmer Weber Research Professor of Civil Liberties and Human Rights; director, Program in Law and Public Service, U.Va.

Panelists: Caleb Jaffe, senior attorney, Southern Environmental Law Center; Rebecca Glenberg, legal director, ACLU of Virginia; Allison M. Lefrak, litigation director, Human Rights USA

• 5-6 p.m. Keynote Address: U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Heaphy (Purcell Reading Room)

• 6 p.m. Reception (Clay Hall)

• 7-9 p.m. Dinner (Caplin Pavilion)

Feb. 12

• 8:45 a.m.-9:30 a.m. Registration and Breakfast (Withers-Brown Lounge)

• 9:30-10:30 a.m. Concurrent Sessions

Can the President Order the Assassination of Citizens? (Withers-Brown Hall room 126)
Sponsored by Virginia Law Veterans
Moderator: Saikrishna Prakash, David Lurton Massee, Jr., Professor of Law; Sullivan & Cromwell Professor of Law, U.Va.

Panelists: U.S. Army Major Jeremy Marsh, associate professor and vice chair, International and Operational Law Department, Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School; Frederick Schauer, David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professor of Law, U.Va.

Conscience Protections: Smart Medicine or Dereliction of Duty?  (Withers-Brown Hall room 128)
Sponsored by Virginia Law Advocates for Life
Moderator: Douglas Laycock, Armistead M. Dobie Professor of Law, Horace W. Goldsmith Research Professor of Law, Professor of Religious Studies, U.Va.

Panelists: Matt Bowman, legal counsel, Alliance Defense Fund and member, Life Litigation Project; John Brehany, executive director and ethicist, Catholic Medical Association; John Bruchalski, founder, Tepayac Family Center, and chairman, Divine Mercy Care.

Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs (Withers-Brown Hall room 103)
Moderator: Peter Grossi, lecturer, U.Va. School of Law; senior counsel and former chair, litigation group, Arnold & Porter

Panelists: Leslie Kendrick, associate professor of law, U.Va.; Jeff Francer, assistant general counsel, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America; David Nelson, former congressional investigator, Project on Government Oversight

• 10:45 a.m.-12 p.m. Public Service as Public Servants: Virginia State Legislators (Caplin Pavilion)
Moderator: Caleb Nelson, Emerson G. Spies Distinguished Professor of Law, Class of 1966 Research Professor of Law, U.Va.

Panelists: House Speaker William J. Howell, 28th District;

Sen. John S. Edwards, 21st District; Sen. Donald McEachin, 9th District; Del. Bill Janis, 56th District; Del. David Toscano , 57th District;

Del. Scott Surovell, 44th District.

• 12:15-1 p.m. Lunch (Withers-Brown Lounge)

• 1-2 p.m. Concurrent Sessions

LGBT Bullying in Schools (Withers-Brown room 101) 
Moderator: Angela Ciolfi, lecturer, U.Va. School of Law, and legal director, JustChildren Program, Legal Aid Justice Center

Panelists: Whitney Pellegrino, trial attorney, Civil Rights Division, Educational Opportunities Section, U.S. Department of Justice; Dewey Cornell, professor of education, U.Va. Curry School of Education, and director, U.Va. Youth Violence Project; and a representative from ROSMY (Richmond Organization for Sexual Minority Youth), a source of supportive services for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth ages 14 to 20.

Property Rights as Human Rights (Withers-Brown room 103) 
Moderator: Deena Hurwitz, associate professor of law, general faculty, and director, International Human Rights Law Clinic and Human Rights Program, U.Va.

Panelists: Brenda Castaneda, attorney, Civil Advocacy Program, Legal Aid Justice Center; Amanda Doyle, attorney, Hogal Lovells, Northern Virginia office; former fellow, International Justice Mission; Andrea Pestone Capellan, Social Justice Fellow, Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights

Women in Public Interest (Withers-Brown room 105)
Sponsored by Virginia Law Women
Moderator: Anne Coughlin, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., Professor of Law; Joel B. Piassick Research Professor of Law, U.Va.

Panelists: Karen Minatelli, managing attorney, Legal Aid Justice Center, Falls Church; Reggie L. Oldak, senior counsel, National Women's Law Center; Michelle Lapointe, staff attorney, Immigrant Justice Project, Southern Poverty Law Center; Geri Greenspan, pro bono associate, Hunton & Williams, Charlottesville

• 2-3 p.m. Public Service in the Private Sector (Withers-Brown room 128)
Moderator: Kevin M. Donovan, senior assistant dean for career services, U.Va. School of Law

Panelists: Jeremy Byrum, associate, McGuireWoods, Richmond; Jim Kelley, partner, Morgan Lewis & Bockius, Washington, D.C.; Kelly Voss, pro bono coordinator, Covington & Burling, Washington, D.C.