The new group’s members say their goal is not to criticize the Federalist Society but to encourage debate about some of the Trump administration’s policies and actions. “This is not a separate organization,” Professor Adler said. “This is not a rump group. This is not a disavowal.”

But the timing of the announcement of the group’s formation, just before the Federalist Society convention, was not a coincidence, Professor Adler added. “This convention has become the most important meeting place for conservative and libertarian lawyers with an interest in politics,” he said. “You go fishing where the fish are.”

Mr. Keisler said it was urgent to have an open debate about the administration’s actions.

“It’s important that people from across the political spectrum speak out about the country’s commitment to the rule of law and the core values underlying it — that the criminal justice system should be nonpartisan and independent, that a free press and public criticism should be encouraged and not attacked,” he said. “These are values that might once have been thought so basic and universally accepted that they didn’t need defending, but that’s no longer clearly the case.”

Conservative critics of the Trump administration have been reluctant to speak out, Professor Kerr said, adding that the new group hopes to change that. “There are a lot of people who are concerned who are keeping quiet,” he said.

That silence may be rooted in careerism and fear of retaliation, Professor Adler said.

“This administration, in nominations, is not interested in people who have been critical of it,” Professor Adler said. “There is a belief that there is an element of vindictiveness in the administration that casts a shadow.”

Marisa C. Maleck, a former law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas, said she hoped the group’s efforts would embolden conservative critics to speak out about Mr. Trump’s actions. “He’s been president for a while now,” she said, “and there hasn’t been anyone willing to put himself out there.”