Marquette University Law School will host the 2026 Hallows Lecture, “Unstated: How Three Implicit Legal Ideas Have Sidelined Congress and Empowered the President and the Courts,” on Monday, March 2, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Lubar Center. The lecture will be delivered by Thomas W. Merrill, Charles Evans Hughes Professor of Law at Columbia University.
A reception will follow from 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The event is free, but registration is required. RSVP by Monday, Feb. 23. This lecture qualifies for one CLE credit.
Merrill will argue that certain legal ideas have shifted power away from Congress. It will also explain how recognizing and debating these topics is a first step toward restoring balance among the branches of government.
Merrill is among the nation’s most widely cited legal scholars, with expertise spanning constitutional, administrative, environmental and property law. His recent books include “The Chevron Doctrine: Its Rise and Fall, and the Future of the Administrative State” (Harvard University Press, 2022). He previously served as deputy solicitor general of the United States from 1987 to 1990, during which time he argued 12 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. He also practiced law at Sidley & Austin and remains active in the legal profession.
The Hallows Lecture honors E. Harold Hallows, a Milwaukee lawyer who served on the Marquette Law School faculty from 1930 to 1958 and as a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1958 to 1974, including his final six years as chief justice.
