Next Thursday, January 17, I will be in the Boston area to take part in two events.

D.C. Circuit judge Brett Kavanaugh and I will discuss the judicial-confirmation process in a lunchtime event at Harvard Law School (my not-so-alma mater). The event is sponsored by the law school’s Federalist Society chapter; more information here. (Also, here’s a Weekly Standard article I wrote back in 2006 exposing how lefties on the ABA judicial-evaluations committee tried to sink Kavanaugh’s nomination.)

That evening, I will be taking part in “Shakespeare’s Richard II and the Limits of Executive Power” at the Modern Theatre at Suffolk University. The program has two parts. First, a cast that will include, I believe, five former or current federal judges and former Associate Attorney General Jay Stephens will perform a staged reading of an abridged version of the play. The reading will be directed by the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s artistic director. Then, I and other panelists, with Boyden Gray as moderator, will engage in a discussion, along with the cast members, that connects lines or themes in the play to current or recent controversies.

I’ve never taken part in an event like this before, so I confess to some apprehensions. But I’m comforted by the fact that the organizers clearly know what they’re doing: This is the 12th annual Shakespeare and the Law program, and I’ve heard high praise of previous events. The event is jointly sponsored by the Boston lawyers chapter of the Federalist Society, the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, and the law firm of McCarter & English.