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ATL Party Crash: The Federalist Society Annual Dinner (Part 2)

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This post is a continuation of our prior post, ATL Party Crash: The Federalist Society Annual Dinner (Part 1). It consists of additional pictures from the 2006 Annual Dinner of the Federalist Society, which took place last Thursday, at the Marriott Wardman Park.

The Fed Soc banquet is like Oscars night for the legal conservative establishment. The cavernous ballroom was packed with celebrity judges, lawyers, and legal academics, simply too numerous to mention here. Everywhere you turned, you saw a boldface name.

The evening’s two biggest stars were undoubtedly the two justices of the U.S. Supreme Court: Justice Antonin Scalia, honored for his twenty years of service to the Court, and Justice Samuel Alito, who delivered the keynote address for the evening.

Our photographs — with numbering continued from the eariler post, law-review style — appear after the jump.

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8. At the podium and on the screen: David M. McIntosh, vice-chairman and founding director of the Federalist Society.

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9. At left: A banquet waiter, or a member of the James Madison Club? Your guess is as good as ours.

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10. Per the menu: “Per and Chocolate Bouche with Hazelnut Meringue and Chocolate Cup filled with Chocolate Pear Puree.”

It tasted as delicious as it looked. We finished every last bite, including the white-chocolate coin with the Madison silhouette.

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11. Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., who was a witty and warm keynote speaker. (Yeah, this picture is pretty craptacular; but the other ones we took were even worse.)

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12. The high-powered and well-connected, Kevin O’Scannlain, of DLA Piper (and formerly of the Senate Judiciary Committee), and his beautiful and brainy wife, Dawn O’Scannlain. (She works for Boeing, and she’s a rocket scientist — literally.)

Kevin is the son of Ninth Circuit Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain. Kevin and Dawn’s wedding, which took place earlier this year, was attended by numerous federal judicial celebrities — including Judge O’Scannlain’s good friend, Justice Antonin Scalia.

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13. A trio of handsome legal geniuses: Professor Orin Kerr (OT 2003/Kennedy), of the George Washington University Law School, currently visiting at the University of Chicago; Brett Gerry (OT 2000/Kennedy), of the Justice Department’s new National Security Division; and Brent McIntosh, of the White House Counsel’s office.

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14. Assistant Attorney General Rachel L. Brand (OT 2002/Kennedy), head of the DOJ’s influential Office of Legal Policy. She is also the reigning Prom Queen of the Federalist Fiesta. (We don’t know the identity of the gentleman pictured with her.)

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15. AAG Rachel Brand and Ted Ullyot (OT 1995/Scalia). The red stripes in his necktie pick up the red of her dress.

Red, of course, is Brand’s signature color: red. As the Washington Post wrote of Ms. Brand, who figured prominently in the televised confirmation hearings of Justice Alito: “Who was that striking lady in red?”

Not every woman can pull off such a bold color. But then again, not every woman is as fantastic as Rachel Brand!

(Rachel Brand’s equally high-powered husband: Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Cohn, recently promoted to oversee Civil Appellate.)

Earlier: ATL Party Crash: The Federalist Society Annual Dinner (Part 1)

Comments

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1 Posted by Anon | Permalink Monday, November 20, 2006 8:15 PM

Unidentified gentleman in Picture #15 is Ted Ullyot (OT 1995?/Scalia), former Gonzales chief of staff, and whose multi-million dollar real estate purchase was recently profiled in the August 2006 Washingtonian.

Since Ullyot was at Table #36, it appears that our intrepid reporter covered the gamut from Table #36 to Table #38 with his photography.

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2 Posted by Gunner | Permalink Tuesday, November 21, 2006 3:43 PM

It's not really a party crash if you're a card-carrying member.

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3 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, November 21, 2006 3:56 PM

Right... I assume Mr. Lat paid the registration fees and didn't seize the microphone for a rant against "rolling back the clock."

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4 Posted by David Lat | Permalink Tuesday, November 21, 2006 4:08 PM

Well, it was kind of a party crash. I didn't buy a ticket for the annual dinner in advance, and I showed up at the last minute. But that said, I was seated at a table where I was made to feel most welcome (the DLA Piper table -- I thank the firm again for its hospitality).

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5 Posted by SanFranciscoJim | Permalink Friday, June 29, 2007 7:50 PM

And today Ms. Brand resigned, making her the seventh member of the Justice Department to leave under a cloud.

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