2026 LENS Conference
DRAFT AGENDA
LENS 2026 Conference Schedule
31st Annual National Security Law Conference
Thursday, February 26, 2026 (Early Arrival Event)
Conference registration is not required.
Duke Law School, Room 3037
12:30 p.m. "Careers in National Security Law”
- 1:30 p.m.
Moderator: Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap, USAF (Ret.), LENS Executive Director
Panelist: Mr. Hensey A. Fenton III, Deputy General Counsel, Privacy and Digital Governance, COMCAST
Panelist: Mr. Robert DeNault, Legal Counsel, Kalshi Financial Services
Panelist: Secretary Jocelyn Mitnaul Malllette, Department for Military and Veterans Affairs, State of North Carolina (invited)
Panelist: Ms Jennfier S. Zucker. , Co-Chair, Government Contracts Practice, Greenberg Trauig, LLP
Friday, February 27, 2026
Conference registration is required.
7:15 a.m. Registration & continental breakfast
8:00 a.m. Welcome: Dean Kerry Abrams, James B. Duke and Benjamin N. Duke Dean of the School of Law and Professor of Law
8:15 a.m. Administrative Notes: Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap, USAF (Ret.), LENS Executive Director, and Professor of the Practice, Duke Law School
8:20 a.m. Keynote:The Law, War’s Changing Character, and 250 Years of Innovations.”
Introduction: Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap, USAF (Ret.), LENS Executive Director
Speaker: Prof Adam Oler, Associate Dean of Academics, National War College
9:10 a.m. Break
9:20 a.m. “A Fireside Chat with Ben Kasten on Cybersecurity issues.”
Moderator:Prof. Shane Stansbury, Robinson Everett Distinguished Fellow, Duke Law School
Speaker: Mr. Ben Kastan, Senior Counsel, Data Protection and Cybersecurity
Director, Cyber Legal, Visa, Inc.
10:00 a.m. Break
10:15 a.m. “Update on International Criminal Justice.”
Introduction: Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap, USAF (Ret.), LENS Executive Director
Speaker: Prof Mike Newton, Director, International Legal Studies Program, Vanderbilt Law School
11:10 a.m. Break (Get lunches)
11:35 a.m. Working Lunch: “Update on China: Lawfare, Technology, and more”
Introduction: Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap, USAF (Ret.), LENS Executive Director
Speaker: Mr. Dean Cheng, Senior Fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, and author of Cyber Dragon: Inside China's Information Warfare and Cyber Operations
12:10 p.m. Break
12:20 p.m. “National Security and Business.”
Introduction: Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap, USAF (Ret.), LENS Executive Director
Moderator: Prof Robert E. “Bobby” Bishop, associate professor, Duke Law School (invited)
Panelist: Prof Timothy Meyer, Richard Allen/Cravath Distinguished Professor in International Business Law, Duke University School of Law (invited)
Panelist: Ms. Jennfier S. Zucker, Co-Chair, Government Contracts Practice, Greenberg Trauig, LLP
Panelist: Ms. Lala R. Qadir, Senior Director for Technology Security and AI Policy, Microsoft, formerly Chief of Staff to the National Security Division at the White House Office of Science and Technology (invited)
Panelist: Ms. Deborah A. Curtis, Co-Chair of the White Collar Defense & Investigations Practice, Arnold & Porter
1:45 p.m. Break
2:00 p.m. “A Fireside Chat with Dr. Kori Schake on Civil-Military Relations.”
Speaker: Dr. Kori Schake, Senior fellow and director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, and author of “The State and the Soldier: A History of Civil-Military Relations in the United States.”
Discussant: Prof Peter Feaver, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, and Director of the Program in American Grand Strategy, Duke University.
2:50 p.m. Break
3:00 p.m. “Update on Space Law and National Security.”
”
Introduction: Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap, USAF (Ret.), LENS Executive Director
Speaker: Prof Christopher J. Borgen, Co-Director of the Center for International and Comparative Law at St. John's University School of Law; a “core expert” for the “The Woomera Manual on the International Law of Military Space Operations.”
3:50 p.m. Break
4:00 p.m. “The Double Black Box”
Speaker: Dean Ashley Deeks, Vice Dean of the University of Virginia School of Law and author of “The Double Black Box: National Security, Artificial Intelligence, and Struggle for Democratic Accountability.”
5:00 p.m. Day 1 Conference sessions conclude.
5:30 p.m. Conference Networking Reception – Washington Duke Inn
Saturday, Feb 28, 2026
7:15 a.m. Registration & continental breakfast
8:00 a.m. Conference Leadership Speech
Introduction: Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap, USAF (Ret.), LENS Executive Director
Speaker: General Charles “CQ” Brown,USAF (Ret.), former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and currently Executive-in-Residence at Duke University, jointly appointed in the Sanford School of Public Policy and the Pratt School of Engineering, Duke University
9:00 a.m. Break
9:10 a.m. “Current Issues in Naval Warfare.”
Introduction: Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap, USAF (Ret.), LENS Executive Director
Speaker: Prof. Raul “Pete” Pedrozo, Howard S. Levie Professor of the Law of Armed Conflict and professor of International Law in the Stockton Center for International Law at the U.S. Naval War College.
10:00 a.m. Break
10:10 a.m. “Nuclear Weapons & Law of Armed Conflict.”
Introduction: Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap, USAF (Ret.), LENS Executive Director
Speaker: Col Ted Richard, Staff Judge Advocate, US Air Force Academy
11:10 a.m. Shortburst: TBD
Introduction: Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap, USAF (Ret.), LENS Executive Director
Speaker: Prof Gary Corn, Director of the Technology, Law & Security Program and adjunct professor at American University’s Washington College of Law.
11:50 a.m. Break
12:00 p.m. Ethics Presentation (TBD)
Introduction: Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap, USAF (Ret.), LENS Executive Director
Speaker: TBD
12:40 PM. Closing remarks: Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap, USAF (Ret.), LENS Executive Director
12:45 p.m. Conference concludes
