National Office

Have You Seen the New College Blog?

The College’s website now features a Blog, offering Fellows a place to share ideas, perspectives and examples of the work Fellows are doing in their communities and the legal profession. Our latest post highlights the BRIDGE Foundation of Santa Cruz County, a practical approach to access to justice brought to the College’s attention in part by one of our newly inducted Fellows, Heather Rogers.

Have a story, idea or initiative to share? We welcome submissions from Fellows. Visit the Fellow Perspectives Blog to see what’s new and learn more about how you can contribute.

National Office

New Website Feature: Judicial Resources

The Judiciary Committee of the College has launched a new Judicial Resources page on the website. The page is designed to provide judges and other members of the judiciary with an introduction to the College and an accessible overview of its work on issues important to the judiciary and the administration of justice.

National Office

Teaching Abroad: Spring in the Baltics

The International Committee is actively planning for a conference on May 17-21 in Riga, Latvia. Latvia occupies a strategically vital location—the beautiful Baltic Sea to its west, fellow EU and NATO members Estonia and Lithuania to its north and south, Russia to its east, and Belarus to its southeast—while maintaining close economic ties with its European and North American allies. By engaging and building relationships with Latvian attorneys, Fellows will support professional colleagues who are working to strengthen and protect the Rule of Law in a pivotal corner of the world.

The conference is geared toward Latvian litigators. We will cover topics identified by our hosts to be most relevant and valuable to their work, including damages assessment and expert evidence, cyber incident investigation and litigation, cyber insurance disputes, international sanctions and money laundering, and artificial intelligence. Faculty positions for the conference are open to all Fellows.

If interested, please contact Rick Glaser (rick@rickglaser.com) Scott Richardson (snr@snr-law.com), or Kearns Davis (kdavis@brookspierce.com) no later than October 22. Fellows are financially responsible for their travel and hotel accommodations, but the Committee offers scholarships for public interest Fellows including judges, public defenders, and prosecutors. Forms for those scholarships are available on the International Committee page on the ACTL website.

National Office

Civics Education Partnership with the NCC

The National Constitution Center is currently on track to finish September having hosted 51 classes with 1,276 students in 15 different states. As one might expect, The Constitutional Convention was the most popular topic last month.



There are quite a few classes scheduled for October. If any Fellow has availability to either lead or observe one of these sessions, please sign up here or contact Director of Student Programs Kevin Lynch directly at klynch@constitutioncenter.org. 

In the Spotlight

Mitzi Mayfield

Texas Fellow Mitzi Mayfield was elected National Vice President of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and will serve as the National President in 2029. 

In the Spotlight

John A. Day

President John Day recently spoke to first year law students at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as part of the College's Reputation Project. An alumnus of the law school, President John Day was also interviewed in this article.

In the Spotlight

Earl A. Cherniak, K.C.

Ontario Fellow Earl A. Cherniak, K.C. recently published a book: In the Courts: A Counsel's Memoir which depicts his life and career, spanning more than six decades – from 1960 to 2026.

Heritage Committee

DID YOU KNOW

Did you Know that Chancellor-Founder Emil Gumpert drove a black Cadillac with license plate ACTL 1?

Furthering the Mission

General Committees

Boot Camp Trial Training Program: Over the past several months, a number of Fellows have reached out to Committee Chair Jeff Brickman to ask, “Are we free to change the format so long as we accomplish the overall mission of the Boot Camp?” Chair Brickman has given the green light and reports that the “change” has been well received. In September, State Committee Chair Paul Sterbcow and Committee Member Rob Worley put on a successful Boot Camp in New Orleans, which included an enhanced fact pattern and a “new and improved” format for the judge’s panel discussion, as well as extending invitations to a select group of law students. The Committee continues to explore the creation of and/or access to some “civil” fact patterns. Please contact Chair Brickman if you have an interest in putting on a Boot Camp in your city. 



Mentoring: The Committee just completed its fifth year of mentoring federal judicial interns in conjunction with Just-The-Beginning. Approximately 100 interns worked with seventy-nine judges in twenty-four states. The Committee also hosted two seminars, one on Career Opportunities and the other on Professionalism, with valuable assistance from judges and Fellows. The interns commented how much they appreciated the advice, networking opportunities, assistance with resumes and mock trial preparation, and the general professional growth they received, specifically noting that they are looking forward to continuing the relationship with their mentors in the future. The Committee is grateful to the Fellows who participated for their tremendous support of the Mentoring Program; they made a difference in the lives and careers of their interns. If you are interested in mentoring next year, please reach out to Elizabeth Wright, Mentoring Committee Chair, at Elizabeth.Wright@ThompsonHine.com

Furthering the Mission

State and Province Committees

Louisiana: On Friday, September 18, in conjunction with the New Orleans Federal Bar Association, Louisiana hosted a Boot Camp for Trial Lawyers based on the Rosenberg Spy Case. The program has traditionally tried Ethel Rosenberg through demonstration by College Fellows. Instead, we re-tried Julius Rosenberg in the morning and early afternoon, followed by a courtroom technology update and a 90-minute discussion with a five-judge panel on the nuances of trying a jury trial. The program received excellent reviews and was videotaped for future use by the College.

New Jersey: On October 14, the State Committee, along with the District Court Historical Society, will present The Art of the Jury Trial III: Historic Trials in New Jersey Federal Courts. The event will explore landmark trials held in the federal courthouse in Trenton, many involving Fellows of the College. Speakers will share firsthand accounts of these cases, the challenges of presiding over high-profile trials, and the role of trial advocacy in shaping jury decisions. The program will be held with both in-person and livestream options, followed by a reception. For more information, including the registration link, click here.

Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Fellows will be presenting the 9^th Annual Masters in Litigation CLE on Friday, November 20, 2026, at Temple University Beasley School of Law. This program provides 4 hours of CLE, including 1 hour of ethics. This program is a joint presentation of the American College of Trial Lawyers and Temple Law School – a partnership that has made this one of our most well-attended and well-regarded events year after year. It is open to all attorneys so please share this with attorneys in your firm and others who may be interested. Registration opens at 8 am and the CLE seminars are from 9 am to 2 pm. The program provides a boxed lunch. More details and registration materials to come.

Mark Your Calendars

View all upcoming events at www.actl.com/events