<b>Conference Brief. </b>Executive Overreach in the Legal System: Summary of Findings from an Expert Roundtable

<p dir="ltr">On May 12, 2025, the University of Notre Dame’s Kellogg Institute for International Studies convened the third panel of the <b>Global Democracy Conference </b><b>(GDC)</b>, which examined the judiciary’s role in confronting executive overreach. The panel, chaired by Daniel Brinks (University of Texas, Austin), featured legal scholars and practitioners Diane Desierto (University of Notre Dame), Benjamín García Holgado (University of Delaware), Diana Kapiszewski (Georgetown University), and Julio Ríos Figueroa (Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México). Panelists explored how authoritarian-minded executives capture or bypass judicial institutions, and the circumstances under which judges and legal professionals can act as bulwarks against democratic erosion. This brief distills their contributions, along with insights from the broader conference, into guidance for legal advocates and funders seeking to defend judicial independence and the rule of law.</p>