Many readers of this Blog may be interested in knowing more about Sheldon Gilbert, the new President of the Federalist Society who will take over from Eugene Meyer on January 2, 2025. Sheldon is a brilliant libertarian conservative who is 44 years old, has four children, and has held leading positions at the Chamber of Commerce litigation team, the Institute for Justice litigation team, the National Constitution Center headed up by Jeff Rosen, and as a senior counsel at Walmart, which recently decided to end its DEI policy. Sheldon is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Sheldon is highly respected by the rising generation of Federalist Society lawyers in their thirties and forties. He is known for being friendly and kind to everyone, and he has a huge number of friends. Sheldon is an originalist who is committed to the rule of law, to the idea of the separation of powers, and to the principle that it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is and not what it should be. He has shown courage and wisdom in his sixteen years of practicing law in the private sector. While in law school, Sheldon created a national religious liberties moot court.
In getting to know Sheldon, I was very impressed by the depth of his commitment to the rule of law, by his brilliance, by his entrepreneurial spirit, by his ability to work well with a wide array of other people of differing viewpoints, and by his willingness to work very hard. Sheldon will work to convert people to join the Federalist Society, which he will also work to build. One of his many strong supporters on the Board of Directors, after his interview with the Board, was 93-year-old former Attorney General Ed Meese who served on the Search Committee that found Sheldon Gilbert.
I am confident that the legal giants who launched the Federalist Society 42 years ago, Judge Robert H. Bork and Justice Antonin Scalia, would have been thrilled with this appointment, as will be Professor Richard Epstein who also helped to launch the Federalist Society in 1982. The co-founders and members of the Board of Directors of the Federalist Society look forward to working together with Sheldon Gilbert in the years ahead.
