As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its founding, Michigan State University College of Law is launching a new speaker series designed to examine one of the nation's enduring questions: How does the Constitution continue to shape American democracy?
The inaugural Leaders in Law series will bring four of the country’s most influential legal thinkers to campus during the 2026-27 academic year.
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Litigating before the Supreme Court in a time of constitutional change
The inaugural Leaders in Law series will bring four of the country’s most influential legal thinkers to campus during the 2026-27 academic year.
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Litigating before the Supreme Court in a time of constitutional change
Cecillia Wang, National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, comes to MSU Law after winning a closely watched birthright citizenship case before the U.S. Supreme Court. In June, the Supreme Court agreed with her position that the 14th Amendment extends to “every free-born person in this land.” On September 1, 2026, Wang will share insights from arguing before the Supreme Court in a time of constitutional change.
For Wang, constitutional law is not an academic exercise. It is the framework within which some of the nation’s most consequential legal disputes unfold.
Wang is National Legal Director of the ACLU, and in April argued a closely watched birthright citizenship case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
In late June, the Court issued a ruling that favored the position advanced by the ACLU, prompting the organization to declare that “the Constitution—not the President—defines who gets to be a citizen.”
In April, Wang argued in support of birthright citizenship before the Supreme Court. In late June, the Court handed down a 6-2 decision agreeing with her.
“This historic decision reaffirms that the Constitution – not the president – defines who gets to be a citizen,” said Wang.
Defending immigrants’ rights is personal for Wang. She told the New York Times in April 2026 that her parents moved to the United States from Taiwan in the late 1960s to attend graduate school. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which lifted race-based quotas on immigration from Asia, allowed her parents that opportunity.
She was born in 1971 in Oregon when her parents were still on student visas, making her a U.S. citizen by birth.
She grew up in Fremont, Calif., and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and Yale Law School.
After clerking for Judge William A. Norris of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Wang served as a law clerk to retired Justice Harry A. Blackmun while working in the chambers of Justice Stephen G. Breyer during the Supreme Court’s 1996–97 term.
As the ACLU’s National Legal Director, Wang oversees more than 200 attorneys and legal professionals. In addition to immigration law, she has worked on cases involving due process, equal protection and civil rights.
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American Democracy at 250
For Wang, constitutional law is not an academic exercise. It is the framework within which some of the nation’s most consequential legal disputes unfold.
Wang is National Legal Director of the ACLU, and in April argued a closely watched birthright citizenship case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
In late June, the Court issued a ruling that favored the position advanced by the ACLU, prompting the organization to declare that “the Constitution—not the President—defines who gets to be a citizen.”
In April, Wang argued in support of birthright citizenship before the Supreme Court. In late June, the Court handed down a 6-2 decision agreeing with her.
“This historic decision reaffirms that the Constitution – not the president – defines who gets to be a citizen,” said Wang.
Defending immigrants’ rights is personal for Wang. She told the New York Times in April 2026 that her parents moved to the United States from Taiwan in the late 1960s to attend graduate school. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which lifted race-based quotas on immigration from Asia, allowed her parents that opportunity.
She was born in 1971 in Oregon when her parents were still on student visas, making her a U.S. citizen by birth.
She grew up in Fremont, Calif., and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and Yale Law School.
After clerking for Judge William A. Norris of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Wang served as a law clerk to retired Justice Harry A. Blackmun while working in the chambers of Justice Stephen G. Breyer during the Supreme Court’s 1996–97 term.
As the ACLU’s National Legal Director, Wang oversees more than 200 attorneys and legal professionals. In addition to immigration law, she has worked on cases involving due process, equal protection and civil rights.
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American Democracy at 250
On October 12, 2026, Professor Richard Pildes of New York University School of Law, one of the nation’s leading experts on the Constitution and the Law of Democracy, will join MSU Law for a conversation on the health of American Democracy on its 250th birthday, and as the nation prepares for a fiercely contested mid-term election. What will be the impact of the dismantling of the Voting Rights Act by the Supreme Court and a new level of gerrymandering by the states? How will this Supreme Court shape the future of our democracy?
Pildes helped create an academic field that scarcely existed when he entered legal scholarship: the law of democracy.
Long before election law became a staple of law school curricula, Pildes recognized that the legal rules governing elections, political parties, redistricting and voting deserved systematic study. His groundbreaking casebook, The Law of Democracy, transformed that idea into a discipline now taught across the country.
His scholarship has become essential reading for judges, lawyers and policymakers wrestling with questions about voting rights, political polarization and the constitutional design of democratic institutions. At the same time, Pildes has remained deeply engaged in practice, successfully arguing cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and advising governments and public officials on election law.
His expertise has also made him one of the country's most sought-after public commentators, helping Americans understand complex constitutional issues during pivotal moments, including the 2000 presidential election litigation.
A former law clerk to Justice Thurgood Marshall, Pildes has been elected into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Law Institute, and has also received recognition as a Guggenheim Fellow and a Carnegie Scholar. President Biden appointed him to the President’s Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States.
At MSU Law, Pildes will explore not simply the outcomes of elections, but the legal architecture that allows democratic institutions to function.
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International Law During the Second Trump Administration
Pildes helped create an academic field that scarcely existed when he entered legal scholarship: the law of democracy.
Long before election law became a staple of law school curricula, Pildes recognized that the legal rules governing elections, political parties, redistricting and voting deserved systematic study. His groundbreaking casebook, The Law of Democracy, transformed that idea into a discipline now taught across the country.
His scholarship has become essential reading for judges, lawyers and policymakers wrestling with questions about voting rights, political polarization and the constitutional design of democratic institutions. At the same time, Pildes has remained deeply engaged in practice, successfully arguing cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and advising governments and public officials on election law.
His expertise has also made him one of the country's most sought-after public commentators, helping Americans understand complex constitutional issues during pivotal moments, including the 2000 presidential election litigation.
A former law clerk to Justice Thurgood Marshall, Pildes has been elected into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Law Institute, and has also received recognition as a Guggenheim Fellow and a Carnegie Scholar. President Biden appointed him to the President’s Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States.
At MSU Law, Pildes will explore not simply the outcomes of elections, but the legal architecture that allows democratic institutions to function.
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International Law During the Second Trump Administration
On February 11, 2027, Professor and former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Harold Hongjui Koh of Yale Law School, will join MSU Law to discuss his forthcoming book on International Law during the second Trump administration. Professor Koh is one of the country’s leading experts in public and private international law, national security law, and human rights, and a vocal critic of the “Imperial Presidency.”
Few legal scholars have moved as comfortably between academia, government service and international diplomacy as Koh.
For more than four decades, Koh has shaped the way lawyers think about international law, human rights and the role of the United States in a changing world. As Legal Adviser to the U.S. Department of State, he guided the government’s legal strategy on some of the most challenging foreign policy issues of the Obama administration. As former dean and now Sterling Professor of International Law at Yale Law School, he has educated generations of lawyers who now serve in governments, courts, and international organizations around the globe.
His scholarship asks a fundamental question: How do international legal norms influence national decision-making, and how should the United States navigate an increasingly interconnected world while remaining faithful to constitutional principles?
Having argued cases before international tribunals, testified before Congress, and authored hundreds of scholarly works, Koh offers students a rare perspective on how law operates across borders as well as within them.
After receiving his J.D. from Harvard Law School, Professor Koh clerked for Judge Malcolm Richard Wilkey of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the United States Supreme Court. He has authored nine books and more than 175 law review articles and legal editorials.
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The Fix: Strategies for Enhancing the Rule of Law
Few legal scholars have moved as comfortably between academia, government service and international diplomacy as Koh.
For more than four decades, Koh has shaped the way lawyers think about international law, human rights and the role of the United States in a changing world. As Legal Adviser to the U.S. Department of State, he guided the government’s legal strategy on some of the most challenging foreign policy issues of the Obama administration. As former dean and now Sterling Professor of International Law at Yale Law School, he has educated generations of lawyers who now serve in governments, courts, and international organizations around the globe.
His scholarship asks a fundamental question: How do international legal norms influence national decision-making, and how should the United States navigate an increasingly interconnected world while remaining faithful to constitutional principles?
Having argued cases before international tribunals, testified before Congress, and authored hundreds of scholarly works, Koh offers students a rare perspective on how law operates across borders as well as within them.
After receiving his J.D. from Harvard Law School, Professor Koh clerked for Judge Malcolm Richard Wilkey of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the United States Supreme Court. He has authored nine books and more than 175 law review articles and legal editorials.
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The Fix: Strategies for Enhancing the Rule of Law
Finally, in Spring 2027, Professor Barbara L. McQuade of the University of Michigan Law School will offer a roadmap to stopping the degradation of American democracy – the topic of her new book, “The Fix” (2026). The recently published book draws on McQuade’s prosecutorial background as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan to detail how politicians weaponize fear, information warfare, and retribution. Alongside this analysis, she outlines practical strategies and reforms that citizens can use to push back, hold leaders accountable, and enhance the rule of law. Registration is forthcoming.
McQuade has built a career around one of the law’s most enduring questions: how do we preserve justice and public trust when democratic institutions are under strain?
A former U.S. attorney, prosecutor, author, and legal analyst, McQuade has spent decades examining the forces that challenge the rule of law — from corruption and national security threats to disinformation and the erosion of public confidence in government.
Today, McQuade brings those experiences to the classroom as a professor from practice at the University of Michigan Law School and to national audiences through her work as a legal analyst for NBC News and MS Now and co-host of the podcast #SistersInLaw.
Her latest book, “The Fix: Saving America from the Corruption of a Mob-Style Government,” draws on her experience leading the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan and explores how legal and civic reforms can strengthen democratic institutions.
McQuade’s perspective is grounded in both scholarship and practice. As the first woman to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, she oversaw complex federal cases involving public corruption, terrorism, civil rights, and health care fraud.
At MSU Law, McQuade will share her roadmap for enhancing our democracy and the rule of law.
These scholars and public servants represent a remarkable group of experts in constitutional law, immigration law, civil rights, election law, international law, and human rights, who have been influencing court decisions, public policy, and education for decades.
Students and faculty across campus are invited to engage directly with these scholars and leaders of the profession during the fireside chats.
The Leaders in Law series is supported by a generous gift from Clarkson Law Firm, P.C.
“This is an extraordinary opportunity for our students to learn from people whose scholarship and advocacy have helped define some of the most important constitutional questions of our time,” Dean Michael Sant’Ambrogio said. “The practice of law requires careful analysis, engagement with different viewpoints, and a deep understanding of the institutions that sustain our constitutional system. These conversations embody those values.”
Launching the series during America’s semi-quincentennial gives it added significance. While the anniversary invites reflection on the nation's founding, it also encourages consideration of the Constitution as a living framework that has evolved through interpretation, legislation, and civic engagement over two and a half centuries.
Together, the programs will address questions that lawyers increasingly confront throughout their careers: How should constitutional principles be applied to contemporary challenges? What role do courts play in protecting democratic institutions?
How do domestic and international legal systems interact in an increasingly interconnected world?
The series also reflects MSU Law’s broader educational philosophy – bringing students into the conversations shaping the legal profession in real time.
Open to the campus community and the public, the Leaders in Law series is expected to draw participants from across disciplines, including political science, public policy, international relations, history, and James Madison College, as well as alumni and members of the profession.
McQuade has built a career around one of the law’s most enduring questions: how do we preserve justice and public trust when democratic institutions are under strain?
A former U.S. attorney, prosecutor, author, and legal analyst, McQuade has spent decades examining the forces that challenge the rule of law — from corruption and national security threats to disinformation and the erosion of public confidence in government.
Today, McQuade brings those experiences to the classroom as a professor from practice at the University of Michigan Law School and to national audiences through her work as a legal analyst for NBC News and MS Now and co-host of the podcast #SistersInLaw.
Her latest book, “The Fix: Saving America from the Corruption of a Mob-Style Government,” draws on her experience leading the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan and explores how legal and civic reforms can strengthen democratic institutions.
McQuade’s perspective is grounded in both scholarship and practice. As the first woman to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, she oversaw complex federal cases involving public corruption, terrorism, civil rights, and health care fraud.
At MSU Law, McQuade will share her roadmap for enhancing our democracy and the rule of law.
These scholars and public servants represent a remarkable group of experts in constitutional law, immigration law, civil rights, election law, international law, and human rights, who have been influencing court decisions, public policy, and education for decades.
Students and faculty across campus are invited to engage directly with these scholars and leaders of the profession during the fireside chats.
The Leaders in Law series is supported by a generous gift from Clarkson Law Firm, P.C.
“This is an extraordinary opportunity for our students to learn from people whose scholarship and advocacy have helped define some of the most important constitutional questions of our time,” Dean Michael Sant’Ambrogio said. “The practice of law requires careful analysis, engagement with different viewpoints, and a deep understanding of the institutions that sustain our constitutional system. These conversations embody those values.”
Launching the series during America’s semi-quincentennial gives it added significance. While the anniversary invites reflection on the nation's founding, it also encourages consideration of the Constitution as a living framework that has evolved through interpretation, legislation, and civic engagement over two and a half centuries.
Together, the programs will address questions that lawyers increasingly confront throughout their careers: How should constitutional principles be applied to contemporary challenges? What role do courts play in protecting democratic institutions?
How do domestic and international legal systems interact in an increasingly interconnected world?
The series also reflects MSU Law’s broader educational philosophy – bringing students into the conversations shaping the legal profession in real time.
Open to the campus community and the public, the Leaders in Law series is expected to draw participants from across disciplines, including political science, public policy, international relations, history, and James Madison College, as well as alumni and members of the profession.
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