Law Student Event: Fall 2026 Legal Intensive
The Premier One-Day Public Interest Law Program
Hosted in Arlington, VA at IJ’s Headquarters Office
Saturday, November 7, 2026
Casebooks give you the holding but at IJ’s upcoming Legal Intensive, we’ll give you everything that comes before it. Over a single immersive day at our Arlington headquarters, IJ attorneys will walk you through how a constitutional case actually gets built. We’ll discuss the strategy behind a filing, the judgment calls along the way, the clients whose lives are on the line, and the long road from complaint to the Supreme Court lectern. You’ll see the work up close, and then try some of it yourself.
And the timing is hard to beat. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear three IJ cases this term, two of them argued the week after the Intensive!
What to Expect
- The theme of this year’s Legal Intensive will highlight how IJ attorneys build and litigate constitutional cases, the strategy behind getting a petition granted, and the decisions they make along the way. You’ll also hear from IJ clients about what it’s actually like to be part of a case at the trial, appellate, or Supreme Court level.
- Walk away with behind-the-scenes insight on how to advance a case on the state and federal level and what steps to take when you see something in the headlines that you want to change through litigation.
- Learn how to put public interest litigation strategies into practice in our practitioner breakout sessions where we use a mock IJ case to decide what legal claims to bring, and develop a discovery and media strategy.
- If you’re a law student interested in constitutional law, public interest litigation, or using the courts to change the law, this is a chance to learn from attorneys who do it every day.
Meet our speakers
Patrick Jaicomo is a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, where he focuses on government accountability and constitutional rights. He leads IJ’s Project on Immunity and Accountability and has argued twice before the U.S. Supreme Court, most recently winning Martin v. United States.
Bobbi Taylor is an attorney at the Institute for Justice, where she focuses on property rights and government accountability. She litigates IJ’s challenges to bogus blight designations, including a recent win vacating the blight designation of properties in Perth Amboy, New Jersey.
Dan King is the assistant director of media relations at the Institute for Justice, where he shapes press strategy across the firm’s litigation and advocacy work. He is the media lead for IJ’s activism efforts and for IJ’s Plate Privacy Project.
Are you interested in attending but live outside of the DC area? This event is open to law students nationwide!
This event is open to law students across the country. We know not everyone will be a walk or a train ride away from our Arlington, VA office, so we are pleased to cover travel and lodging expenses for students that aren’t local. Come spend your weekend with us!