If you are interested in submitting a call for papers for the 2024 Annual Meeting, please review the description, contact information, and deadlines below.
Section on Agricultural & Food Law:“Whose Food System Is It Anyway? The Role of Corporations and Government in Shaping What We Eat”
The Association of American Law Schools’ (AALS) Section on Agricultural & Food Law is pleased to announce this call for presentation proposals for the section’s main program panel during the AALS 2024 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., January 3-6, 2024.
The panel, entitled “Whose Food System Is It Anyway? The Role of Corporations and Government in Shaping What We Eat,” will explore corporate influence on our food systems and the role of law and democracy in providing accountability and transparency around our food systems. It will take place on Saturday, January 6, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. (ET), in person.
The topic is intended to be broad and could include presentations related to corporate influence over and/or government oversight of: ·
- Agricultural biotechnology
- Agricultural land ownership
- Agricultural production
- Agricultural subsidies
- Competition and consolidation
- Emerging technologies
- Environmental impacts of food production
- Farmed animal welfare
- Food distribution
- Food labeling
- Food safety
- Hydroponic food production
- Nutrition
- Organic food production
- Worker health and safety
- Zoonotic disease risks
SUBMIT A PROPOSAL
To propose a presentation for this panel, please submit a short abstract (no more than 500 words) and bio (no more than 200 words) at https://bit.ly/WhoseFoodSystem by 5:00 p.m. (ET) on Thursday, August 31, 2023.
Panelists will be selected by members of the section’s Executive Committee. The selected presenters will be notified in September. Speakers are responsible for paying their own registration fees, travel, and lodging.
Please direct questions to the section chair, Delci Winders, at [email protected].
Section on Civil Procedure: Best Article Award
The Civil Procedure Section of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) wishes to recognize excellence in legal scholarship by full-time untenured faculty members at AALS member and affiliate schools.
Nominations and Eligibility:
- Nominations should be directed to the chair of the section or to a member of the award selection committee and received no later than September 1, 2023. Self-nominations are welcome.
- Eligible articles are those in the field of Civil Procedure (defined broadly) that were published between May 1, 2022-May 1, 2023.
- Eligible authors are those who, as of May 1, 2023, were untenured full-time faculty members (including VAPs, fellows and junior clinical faculty) at AALS member or affiliate schools.
- Co-written articles are eligible only if all authors meet the eligibility criteria described above.
Selection Process:
- The best article will be chosen by an award selection committee made up of at least 4 members of the executive committee.
- From the articles nominated, the award selection committee will select the top three articles: one will be named the best article, and the others will be awarded honorable mentions.
Announcement and Ceremony:
- Following receipt of AALS approval, the chair will announce the award and the runners-up at the section meeting in January 2024.
Section on Clinical Legal Education: Collaborating to Defend Democracy in Communities Under Attack
AALS Section on Clinical Legal Education Call for Presenters at the 2024 AALS Annual Meeting
Title: Collaborating to Defend Democracy in Communities Under Attack
Program Summary: This program will highlight the work of panelists who are collaborating across clinical and non-clinical spaces to defend communities under attack across the country.
The goals of this program are twofold: (1) to highlight the importance of collaboration across the academy when attempting to tackle pressing issues facing vulnerable communities targeted by oppressive laws and policies; and (2) to take a deep dive into the ever-expanding attacks on these communities by featuring collaborators who are responding to these attacks in real time and strategizing around how law school clinics, externship programs, and non-clinical faculty can best support these communities.
Potential areas of interest for the panel include, but are not limited to: • Reproductive rights • Transgender rights
- Divisive Concepts Laws (including how law schools in states with such laws can comply with ABA Standard 303)
- Racial justice
- Police accountability
- Immigrant rights
- Voting rights
- Protest, organizing, and activism • Affirmative action
- Property rights/the affordable housing crisis
- Surveillance and ethical technology
Instructions for Submission: We invite proposals from individuals or groups of collaborators working in any of the identified areas or in areas that potential panelists believe fit within the program theme. Submissions should include an abstract of no more than 500 words, including a description of how the panelist(s) collaborate across clinical and non-clinical spaces to respond to one or more communities under attack. Please also include names, contact information, number of years teaching, and any prior AALS presentations and the year given for each panelist. We welcome proposals from faculty, fellows, first-time presenters, and those new to the academy. In the spirit of clinical legal education, please include in the abstract a proposed interactive component to incorporate into the presentation. All panelists are responsible for paying their own annual meeting registration fee and travel expenses, unless they have applied and secured funding pursuant to the Clinical Legal Education Section’s Funding Guidelines or otherwise. Please submit proposals to Allison Freedman ([email protected]) and Anne Gordon ([email protected]) by July 15, 2023. We look forward to your submissions!
Section on Constitutional Law: Reviving Article V: A Structural Approach to Defending Democracy
The Section on Constitutional Law invites submissions for the Section’s Article V panel on amending the U.S. Constitution, to be held at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Association of the American Law Schools (AALS), on January 3-6, 2024, in Washington, D.C.
Entitled “Reviving Article V: A Structural Approach to Defending Democracy,” this panel is the Section’s primary program. Panelists will discuss the constitutional amendment process in the United States, with a focus on whether Article V remains relevant today in our constitutional structure despite its prolonged disuse.
Eligibility
All full-time faculty at AALS member law schools, including fellows and VAPs, are eligible for consideration. The Section especially encourages submissions from pre-tenure, clinical, and tenured faculty members who diversify the legal academy through demographic, geographic, viewpoint, seniority, and school type.
Submissions
Interested faculty should submit an abstract no longer than 500 words to the Section Chair, Professor Meg Penrose, at [email protected] no later than 5:00 p.m. CST on Friday, August 25, 2023. Please indicate “Article V Submission – 2024 AALS Annual Meeting” both in the subject line of your email and at the top of your abstract. Abstracts should include your name and institutional affiliation, and may be supplemented by a statement expressing how your participation will diversify the panel discussion.
Publication
The Section will not publish selected papers. Panelists are encouraged to seek publication through other avenues.
Questions
All questions should be directed to the Section Chair.
Decisional Process
Panelists will be selected by members of the Executive Committee using a blind selection process. However, the Section reserves the right to balance its panels, if necessary, to comply with the AALS principles of diversity. The Section is committed to adhering to all AALS policies in the selection process.
Selected panelists will be notified by late September. If selected, panelists are responsible for the costs incurred in participating in the panel, including registration fees for the AALS Annual Meeting in addition to accommodation and travel expenses.
Section on Constitutional Law: Teaching Stare Decisis – From the Warren Court (and Before) to the Roberts Court (and Beyond)
The Section on Constitutional Law invites submissions for the Section’s Pedagogy Program on stare decisis, to be held at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Association of the American Law Schools (AALS), on January 3-6, 2024, in Washington, D.C.
Entitled “Teaching Stare Decisis – From the Warren Court (and Before) to the Roberts Court (and Beyond),” this program seeks to present a robust discussion on stare decisis. The panel’s mandate is broad and seeks to discuss history, precedent, and the decisional process relating to stare decisis.
Eligibility
All full-time faculty at AALS member law schools, including fellows and VAPs, are eligible for consideration. The Section especially encourages submissions from pre-tenure, clinical, and tenured faculty members who diversify the legal academy through demographic, geographic, viewpoint, seniority, and school type.
Submissions
Interested faculty should submit an abstract no longer than 500 words to the Section Chair, Professor Meg Penrose, at [email protected] no later than 5:00 p.m. CST on Friday, August 25, 2023. Please indicate “Stare Decisis Submission – 2024 AALS Annual Meeting” both in the subject line of your email and at the top of your abstract. Abstracts should include your name and institutional affiliation, and may be supplemented by a statement expressing how your participation will diversify the panel discussion.
Publication
The Section will not publish selected papers. Panelists are encouraged to seek publication through other avenues.
Questions
All questions should be directed to the Section Chair.
Decisional Process
Panelists will be selected by members of the Executive Committee using a blind selection process. However, the Section reserves the right to balance its panels, if necessary, to comply with the AALS principles of diversity. The Section is committed to adhering to all AALS policies in the selection process.
Selected panelists will be notified by late September. If selected, panelists are responsible for the costs incurred in participating in the panel, including registration fees for the AALS Annual Meeting in addition to accommodation and travel expenses.
Section on Constitutional Law: The Many Voices of Constitutional Law
The Section on Constitutional Law invites submissions for the Section’s Works-in-Progress program to be held at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Association of the American Law Schools (AALS), on January 3-6, 2024, in Washington, D.C.
This year’s program, entitled “The Many Voices of Constitutional Law,” provides a platform for scholars to discuss works at any stage in the writing process. There is no specific topic or focus area for the works-in-progress panel. Rather, scholars who seek critical feedback for a new or ongoing project are encouraged to apply. Priority will be given to newer scholars – those with less than 7 years of experience in the academy.
Eligibility
All full-time faculty at AALS member law schools, including fellows and VAPs, are eligible for consideration. The Section especially encourages submissions from pre-tenure, clinical, and tenured faculty members who diversify the legal academy through demographic, geographic, viewpoint, seniority, and school type.
Submissions
Interested faculty should submit an abstract no longer than 500 words to the Section Chair, Professor Meg Penrose, at [email protected] no later than 5:00 p.m. CST on Friday, August 25, 2023. Please indicate “Works-in-Progress – 2024 AALS Annual Meeting” both in the subject line of your email and at the top of your abstract.
Abstracts should include your name, institutional affiliation, and state of your project (early formative stage, research completed, or draft completed). Abstracts may be supplemented by a statement expressing how your participation will diversify the panel discussion.
Publication
The Section will not publish selected papers. Panelists are encouraged to seek publication through other avenues.
Questions
All questions should be directed to the Section Chair.
Decisional Process
Members of the Executive Committee, as designated by the Chair, will select the participants. The Section is committed to adhering to all AALS policies in its selection process.
Selected panelists will be notified by late September. If selected, panelists are responsible for the costs incurred in participating in the panel, including registration fees for the AALS Annual Meeting in addition to accommodation and travel expenses.
Section on Creditors’ and Debtors’ Rights: Research Methods in Bankruptcy: A Panel Discussion
The Section on Creditors’ and Debtors’ Rights is pleased to announce a Call for Papers from which presenters will be selected for the section’s program to be held during the AALS 2024 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, January 3-6, 2024, (exact time and date of the panel TBA).
The program is entitled Research Methods in Bankruptcy: A Panel Discussion. The program will focus on current methodological approaches to bankruptcy scholarship, as well as creative and innovative possibilities for future research. Discussion among panelists and audience members will be wide-ranging, spanning quantitative, qualitative, multi-modal, and cross-disciplinary approaches.
Eligible faculty members are invited to submit manuscripts or detailed abstracts that highlight the use of one or more creative and innovative research methodologies to analyze pressing questions in bankruptcy law. Selected Call for Paper participants will join a panel of distinguished scholars who have contributed to the development and refinement of research methodologies in the field of bankruptcy law.
Eligibility
Per AALS policy, only full-time faculty members of AALS member law schools are eligible to submit a paper to a call for papers. The following are ineligible: faculty at fee-paid law schools, international, visiting (without a full-time position at an AALS member law school) and adjunct faculty members, graduate students, and non-law school faculty.
Untenured faculty members and persons who have not had the opportunity to present a paper at an AALS Annual Meeting previously are particularly encouraged to submit papers/abstracts.
Registration fee
The selected Call for Paper participants are responsible for paying their AALS annual meeting registration fee.
Submissions
Eligible faculty members are invited to submit manuscripts or detailed abstracts dealing with any aspect of the foregoing topic. Detailed abstracts should be comprehensive enough to allow the committee to meaningfully evaluate the aims, research methodologies, and likely content of papers proposed.
Papers may be accepted for publication but must not be published prior to the Annual Meeting.
Papers and abstracts must be submitted electronically to: [email protected]. The subject of the email should read: “Submission for AALS Section on Creditors’ and Debtors’ Rights.”
Decisional Process
The initial review of the papers and abstracts will be blind and will be conducted by members of the section’s executive committee. In order to facilitate blind review, please identify yourself and your institutional affiliation only in the cover letter accompanying your manuscript, and not in the manuscript itself. The submitting author is responsible for taking any steps necessary to redact self-identifying text or footnotes. The deadline for submission is August 1, 2023. The authors of the selected papers/abstracts will be notified by August 22, 2023.
Section on Criminal Procedure
The Section on Criminal Procedure is pleased to announce calls for three separate programs the Section will be sponsoring at the next AALS Annual Meeting, which will convene in Washington, DC from January 3-6, 2024. The three programs are “The Future of Miranda in the Roberts Court,” “Criminal Procedure Works in Progress,” and “Criminal Procedure on the Next Gen Bar.” See below for more details about each program, including how to submit a paper or pitch to participate. For any given program, there is a limit of one submission per person, but you should feel free to throw your hat in the ring separately for two or all three programs if you wish. Please share this information widely with list-serves or colleagues who may be interested. For all three calls, the deadline to respond is Friday, July 28, and submissions should be emailed to [email protected].
Call for participants for a panel discussion on the topic of “The Future of Miranda in the Roberts Court”:
Miranda v. Arizona is among the Supreme Court’s most iconic and, for many, celebrated decisions. But Miranda has always had its detractors. Miranda‘s critics gained significant ground in the federal judiciary in recent years, culminating — so far — in the Court’s 2022 decision in Vega v. Tekow, which not only held that Miranda violations cannot furnish the basis for a section 1983 action but also suggested that the Miranda rule lacks firm foundations in constitutional doctrine. Accordingly, the Section on Criminal Procedure is excited to announce this call for participation for a panel discussion on the topic, “The Future of Miranda in the Roberts Court.” Submissions should describe — in no more than 500 words — what aspect or aspects of this topic the participant would like to focus on and any relevant scholarly, lawyerly, or other experiences the participant has that informs their perspective on the topic. Submissions should be emailed to [email protected] by no later than July 28. For more information, please contact Justin Murray at [email protected].
Call for papers for “Criminal Procedure Works in Progress” program:
The Section on Criminal Procedure welcomes applications for participation in a Works in Progress panel. We invite faculty of any category or status at any career stage who are working on criminal procedure scholarship to apply. Co-authored projects are welcome, as are those that transcend disciplinary boundaries and/or engage diverse methodologies and perspectives. Priority will be given to scholarly projects that have not yet been accepted for publication. Panelists will be expected to circulate an excerpt of no more than 10 pages of their project to co-panelists in advance of the conference, and to read and provide feedback on the submissions of others. To apply, please submit a summary of no longer than 500 words that describes your project and specifies whether or not it has been accepted for publication. Submissions should be emailed to [email protected] by no later than July 28. For more information, please contact Justin Murray at [email protected].
Call for participants for pedagogy panel on the topic “Criminal Procedure on the Next Gen Bar”:
The Next Gen Bar is expected to launch in July of 2026. The changes in this bar exam are significant, particularly with a new focus on “practical skills and abilities.” Criminal Law and “Constitutional Protections of Accused Persons” will be one of the eight “foundational concepts and principles” on the Next Gen Bar. But, does this mean criminal law and procedure classes can continue with business as usual? Or should we be making changes to how we teach these subjects due to the significant changes in the Next Gen Bar? How does the addition of “foundational skills” impact what students need to know about criminal law and procedure for the Next Gen Bar? This panel will examine what we know about how the Next Gen Bar will test these subjects and what it might mean for criminal law and procedure classes moving forward. We are seeking participants who have started thinking about what changes they might make, or not make, in their own criminal law or procedure courses. We are also very interested in panelists who are thinking more generally about how to make sure students are prepared for this new bar exam, including those teaching in Academic Support and Experiential courses. In submitting your expression of interest, please let us know what you might contribute to the panel. We are interested in practical suggestions. What should criminal law and criminal procedure professors consider changing and/or adding (such as plea bargaining exercises or client interviewing simulations)? We are also interested in discussing how to balance these possible changes with goals beyond bar preparation. Submissions should be emailed to [email protected] by no later than July 28. For more information, please contact Justin Murray at [email protected].
We look forward to reviewing your submissions and engaging with your ideas!
Kindly yours,
Justin Murray
Erin Collins
Cynthia Alkon
AALS Criminal Procedure Section Chair Elect & Executive Committee Members
Section on Defamation and Privacy: Privacy Risks for Vulnerable Populations
The Section on Defamation and Privacy is pleased to announce a panel on Privacy Risks for Vulnerable Populations at the AALS 2024 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. The panel will meet Friday, January 5, at 2p – 3:40p.
Pervasive digital surveillance and data-mining can lead to profiling and civil or criminal implications for those targeted. Susceptible populations include children, employees, and those seeking health care services. Panelists will share their research and discuss the vulnerability of communications on digital platforms and their privacy implications for vulnerable populations. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the effect of new state privacy laws aimed at protecting children, tensions between the rights of parents and children, the FTC’s proposed blanket prohibition on monetizing youth data, sexual orientation and gender identity in education, health and employment contexts, and how generative AI might alter privacy calculations (for instance, with regard to revenge porn and deepfakes).
In addition to invited panelists, up to two panelists will be selected via anonymous submission. Papers should be submitted electronically to Professor Jake Linford at [email protected]. Please remove all identifying information from your submission; the subject line of the cover email should read: “Submission – AALS Privacy Risks for Vulnerable Populations.” The due date for submission is Aug. 18, 2023. The authors of the selected papers will be notified by Sept. 8, 2023. Panelists will be responsible for paying their registration fee and hotel and travel expenses. Please direct inquiries to [email protected].
Section on Defamation and Privacy: Litigation and Revelation at the Intersection of Defamation and Privacy
The Section on Defamation and Privacy is pleased to announce a works-in-progress event on Litigation and Revelation at the Intersection of Defamation and Privacy at the AALS 2024 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. The event will be held Friday, January 5, at 4p – 5:40p.
The recent landmark settlement in the Dominion v. Fox case has revealed the crucial public import litigation plays in revealing important facts. This case has pitted defamation against privacy, bringing to light private communications that disclose the existence or absence of malice. With this framing in mind, we invite works in progress that touch on the public aspects of either privacy or defamation, with special emphasis on the information-producing (or suppressing) aspects of these two areas of law.
Papers should be submitted electronically to Professor Jake Linford at [email protected]. Please remove all identifying information from your submission; the subject line of the cover email should read: “Submission – AALS Defamation and Privacy Works in Progress.” The due date for submission is Aug. 18, 2023. The authors of the selected papers will be notified by Sept. 8, 2023. Participants will be responsible for paying their registration fee and hotel and travel expenses. Please direct inquiries to [email protected].
Section on Disability Law: Reproductive Rights Meets Disability Justice
The AALS Section on Disability Law is hosting a program called “Reproductive Rights Meets Disability Justice” at the AALS 2024 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., January 3-6, 2024.
In 1994, activist Loretta Ross helped define the term Reproductive Justice. According to Ross, Reproductive Justice incapsulates “[t]he right to have a child, the right to not have a child and the right to raise your children.” Since its coining, the phrase has begun to appear in mainstream media and academic journals alike. Today, though, the basic tenets of Reproductive Justice have faced deep challenge. In 2022, the Supreme Court issued Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade. Since then, the list of states limiting or outright banning access to safe and legal abortion has grown dramatically. At the same time, access to safe, non-invasive “abortion pills” have also come under siege in many states. Laws allowing private civil enforcement of abortion bans have also transformed the landscape of access to reproductive health.
In this context, people with disabilities are often under intense pressure not to reproduce or to utilize birth control, and many people with disabilities are excluded from even basic sexual education. Parents with disabilities face the risk that their children will be removed from their care at disproportionate rates.
The main panel will discuss the intersections between reproductive rights and disability justice, exploring how and where these independent areas of law overlap; the effect of the changing reproductive rights landscape on people with disabilities and disability law; the potential tension between disability rights commitments and access to abortion; the extent to which the law acts as both barrier and an avenue to sexual freedom for disabled people; and the legal landscape facing people with disabilities who wish to become parents.
We seek participants to discuss these topics.
Submissions
If you are interested in participating, please send a 400-600 word description of what you would like to discuss. We particularly encourage submissions from junior scholars and members of underrepresented groups in legal academia.
Please send submissions to Sarah Lorr, [email protected], by August 15, 2023.
Selected presenters will be notified by August 31, 2023.
Presenters will be responsible for paying their annual meeting registration fee and other expenses.
Questions
Any inquiries about this Call for Proposals should be submitted to D’Andra Shu at [email protected].
Section on Disability Law: Policing and Surveillance of People with Disabilities 2024 AALS Annual Meeting
The AALS Section on Disability Law is hosting a program called “Policing and Surveillance of People with Disabilities” at the AALS 2024 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., January 3-6, 2024.
After the shooting of Breonna Taylor, the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division began a widescale investigation of the Louisville Metro Police Department’s practices. In its report, issued March 2023, the DOJ concluded that the LMPD violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and “discriminated against people with behavioral health disabilities when responding to them in crisis.” Even when the calls involve no threats of violence or other danger that would warrant a police response, the DOJ found that LMPD officers are the primary responders to these behavioral health issue calls and that LMPD responses are often ineffective or harmful, including ridicule and unwarranted violence.
Louisville is not alone. Police officers, with no expertise in handling mental or behavioral health issues, are routinely dispatched to handle non-violent incidents, such as loitering or disorderly conduct. All too often, these encounters end in violence or incarceration. Disabled people disproportionately experience police violence, including killings. And it’s not limited to those with mental or behavioral disabilities. Police might misinterpret a person with diabetes experiencing low blood sugar as being on drugs or a person with a hearing impairment who cannot understand police commands as being non-compliant. These situations often escalate into violence, including lethal violence. In addition to experiencing more violence in their initial encounters with the police, disabled people are substantially more likely to be arrested and incarcerated than are nondisabled people.
Surveillance programs only exacerbate these negative dynamics. In the name of protection and safety, surveillance is exploding in all sectors of life. Much of this surveillance intersects with policing and disproportionately impacts disabled people. For example, New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s recent plan to deal with homelessness involves increased police surveillance of public spaces. Under Mayor Adam’s plan, if police identify someone they reasonably believe to have a mental illness who cannot appropriately care for themselves, police can forcibly hospitalize the identified person for an evaluation. In the school setting, threat assessment programs intended to identify potential mass shooters often involve increased scrutiny of students with behavioral and mental disabilities, which can lead to expulsion and other negative consequences that facilitate the school-to-prison pipeline for disabled people.
Panelists will discuss how policing and surveillance intersect with disability. They will discuss topics such as how policing practices impact disabled people, emerging practices—including those related to increased surveillance—that will make the problem worse, and possible ways to combat these problems.
We seek participants to discuss these topics.
Submissions
If you are interested in participating, please send a 400-600 word description of what you would like to discuss. We particularly encourage submissions from junior scholars and members of underrepresented groups in legal academia.
Please send submissions to Sarah Lorr, [email protected], by August 15, 2023.
Section on Empirical Study of Legal Education & the Legal Profession: Empirical Perspectives on Professional Identity in the Legal Academy
The AALS Section on the Empirical Study of Legal Education & the Legal Profession is pleased to announce its main program, to be held during the 2024 AALS Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, from January 3-6, 2024. The program is titled, “Empirical Perspectives on Professional Identity in the Legal Academy.”
Program Description
With the passage of and revisions to Standard 303, the American Bar Association has released new requirements for the incorporation of professional identity in law schools. These requirements will have enduring impacts on legal education and the legal profession. But the meaning of “professional identity” is capacious and perhaps somewhat amorphous, encompassing such constructs as expert professionalism and social trustee professionalism—both of which have come under fire, given the increasing automation of legal services and heightened social and political polarization, respectively. This program will examine the many facets of legal professional identity in discussing how our law schools have and should be developing young lawyers in their chosen profession. In doing so, this program will probe the meaning of professional identity and the great need for its incorporation in law schools. The program will focus on empirical scholarship addressing one or more of the following topics: novel operationalizations of legal professional identity; measurement of existing professional identity programming; development of innovative curricular design relating to the formation of professional identity for law students; and efforts to inculcate professional identity within the legal profession.
Up to three panelists will be chosen from this Call for Presentations and will join one or two additional pre-confirmed panelists from academia and/or student services.
Submissions
Please submit a maximum 500 word abstract in Word or PDF to the Chair of the Section on the Empirical Study of Legal Education & the Legal Profession, CJ Ryan ([email protected]), with “AALS Submission: Section on the Empirical Study of Legal Education & the Legal Profession” in the subject line. Submissions must be received by August 13, 2023.
We welcome submissions that address any of the topics described in the Program Description that involve law schools or lawyers. We invite proposals from law faculty, including junior and/or clinical faculty, law school staff, as well as participants who provide diversity and who reflect a variety of law schools. Selected presenters will be announced in September 2023.
Questions
Any inquiries about the Call for Presentations should be submitted to Professor CJ Ryan, University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law ([email protected]).
Section on Employee Benefits Law and Executive Compensation: Emerging Issues in Retirement Equity
The Section on Employee Benefits Law and Executive Compensation is please to announce a Call for Papers or Detailed Abstracts from which one or two additional presenters will be selected for the Section’s program to be held during the AALS 2024 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. on Emerging Issues in Retirement Equity. This program is being co-sponsored by the Sections on Aging and the Law, Minority Groups, and Poverty Law.
Retirement inequity is a function of the structural design of employer sponsored retirement plans. This plan design is the product of a complex labyrinth of federal statutes and regulations that determine who can participate in an employer-sponsored pension plan and the requirements for vesting in employer contributions to the plan or a pension benefit from the plan. Although the SECURE ACT 2.0 of 2022 attempted to address some of these structural barriers, more reforms are needed so that all workers can achieve retirement income security.
Papers or detailed abstracts of forthcoming works that address issues related to retirement equity will be accepted for consideration. Full-length papers should be limited to under 50,000 words. Detailed abstracts should be no more than five pages, single-spaced, in 12-point font with any footnotes in 10-point font. Submissions will be reviewed anonymously by a Committee appointed by the Section Chair. To ensure anonymity, please include a cover letter with your name and contact information with your submission.
Submission
Papers should be submitted electronically to the legal assistant for Professor Colleen E. Medill, Chair of the Section, at [email protected] . Please include in the subject line: EBL Call for Papers. The due date for submissions is September 10, 2023. The author(s) of the selected papers/detailed abstracts will be notified by September 20, 2023. Presenters will be responsible for paying their own conference registration fee and hotel and travel expenses.
Questions
Additional inquiries or questions regarding submission should be sent by email to Professor Colleen E. Medill at the University of Nebraska College of Law at [email protected].
Sections on European Law: New Scholarship in EU Law
The AALS Section on European Law is pleased to announce a Call for Papers for its New Scholarship in European Union Law panel. The session will be held on Wednesday, January 3, 2024, from 3-4:40 p.m. (EST) in Washington, DC. The workshop will bring together up to four authors and senior European law scholars for the purpose of giving participating authors constructive feedback on their scholarship and helping them prepare their work for submission for publication.
Format
Each author will be paired with a senior scholar who will comment on the paper presented. Presentations will be followed by oral comments and, as time permits, further discussion. Senior commentators will be prepared to offer constructive comments at the session and are strongly encouraged to also provide them in writing to the participating author.
Submission procedure
Authors who are interested in participating in the program should send an abstract (or longer summary) or draft-in-progress to the Chair of the Section on European Law (Tracy Kaye, at [email protected] ) by September 1, 2023. The cover email should state the author’s institution, academic status, number of years in current position, and any previous positions in academia. Submitted papers must be “in progress” as of the time of the 2024 Annual Meeting (a paper accepted for publication but still undergoing revision is considered “in progress”). The subject line of the email should read: “Submission—AALS EU Program 2024.” Scholars whose papers are selected for the program will need to submit their draft paper to the Section Chair by December 12, 2023, in order that the assigned commenters will have sufficient time to read the drafts prior to the Annual Meeting. The authors of the accepted papers will be notified by September 20, 2023.
Eligibility
All European Law scholars. Junior and emerging scholars (pre-tenure or teaching for eight or fewer years) are especially encouraged and eligible to submit their papers.
Senior scholars interested in serving as commentators: please email Tracy Kaye at [email protected] by September 1, 2023. Thank you in advance for your generosity.
On behalf of the Section on European Law
Chair: Tracy A. Kaye, Seton Hall University School of Law
Chair-Elect: Paul Linden-Retek, University at Buffalo School of Law
Secretary: Irene Calboli, Texas A&M School of Law
Executive Committee Members: Kristen Barnes, Syracuse University College of Law Francesca Bignami, The George Washington University Law School Daniela Caruso, Boston University School of Law Peter L. Lindseth, University of Connecticut School of Law Fernanda Giorgia Nicola, American University, Washington College of Law
Vlad Perju, Boston College Law School Paolo Saguato, George Mason University, Antonin Scalia Law School Kim Lane Scheppele, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs Panagiotis T. Tridimas, The Pennsylvania State University – Penn State Law
Sections on Insurance Law and Internet and Computer Law
The Section on Internet and Computer Law is pleased to announce, in collaboration with the Law and Technology Workshop, a Call for Papers from which four presenters will be selected for the section’s special session to be held during the AALS 2024 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. To apply and for more details on the submission process, please visit the Workshop Submissions Form. Submissions are due by July 21, 2023.
Questions
Any inquiries should be submitted to: Blake Reid at Colorado Law, [email protected].
Sections on Internet and Computer Law
The Section on Internet and Computer Law is pleased to announce, in collaboration with the Law and Technology Workshop, a Call for Papers from which four presenters will be selected for the section’s special session to be held during the AALS 2024 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. To apply and for more details on the submission process, please visit the Workshop Submissions Form. Submissions are due by July 21, 2023.
Questions
Any inquiries should be submitted to: Blake Reid at Colorado Law, [email protected].
Sections on Insurance Law and Internet and Computer Law: Emerging Technologies and The Future of Insurance
The AALS Sections on Insurance Law and Internet and Computer Law invite submissions for their co-sponsored program on “Emerging Technologies and The Future of Insurance” at the 2024 AALS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. (January 3–6, 2024). We welcome submissions covering a broad range of issues, including (but not limited to) the implications of integrating new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, into insurance models and the delivery of insurance, as well as the role of insurance in addressing technological risks, including in the fields of cybersecurity, connected devices, autonomous vehicles, and biotechnology and life sciences.
The deadline for submissions is August 16, 2023. To submit, please email an abstract or a draft of an unpublished paper to Da Lin, [email protected]. Please remove all identifying information from your submission; the subject line of the cover email should read: “Submission – AALS Emerging Technologies and Insurance.” Questions may also be directed to Professor Lin.
Section on Jurisprudence: General Jurisprudence and Legal Doctrine
The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Section on Jurisprudence will hold a program titled General Jurisprudence and Legal Doctrine at the 2024 AALS Annual Meeting, which will take place January 3-6, 2024, in Washington, DC. The program will showcase recent work that draws on general jurisprudence to illuminate particular doctrinal issues or whole areas of legal doctrine, as well as work that questions that move. The program’s goal is to foster a critical discussion among the panelists and audience members about the (ir)relevance of general jurisprudence to doctrinal debates.
While the panel will consist primarily of invited speakers, up to two additional panelists will be chosen from this Call for Papers. Only full-time faculty members, fellows, and VAPs at AALS member law schools are eligible. All panelists, including speakers selected from this Call for Papers, will be responsible for paying their own meeting registration fee and travel expenses.
If you would like to be considered for the panel, please send an abstract of no more than 500 words to Matthew Shapiro ([email protected]) by August 21, 2023.
Section on Labor Relations and Employment Law: New and Emerging Voices in Workplace Law
The AALS Section on Employment Discrimination Law and AALS Section on Labor Relations and Employment Law is inviting submissions for a joint program, New and Emerging Voices in Workplace Law, at the AALS 2024 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC January 3-6, 2024.
Overview
This works-in-progress session will give emerging workplace law scholars the opportunity for engagement on a current project with leaders in the field. Each selected scholar will present a work-in-progress and receive comments from an assigned commentator, as well as from an audience of scholars in the field. The session will provide new scholars a supportive environment in which to receive constructive feedback.
Eligibility
Full-time faculty members of AALS member and fee-paid law schools are eligible to submit proposals. This call for papers is targeted at scholars with seven or fewer years of full-time teaching experience. Visitors (not full-time on a different faculty) and fellows are eligible to apply to present at this session.
Submission
Please submit an abstract, précis, and/or introduction of the article that is sufficiently developed to allow the reviewers to evaluate the thesis and proposed execution of the project.
To be considered, proposals should be submitted electronically to Professor Ryan Nelson, South Texas College of Law Houston, at [email protected] and Professor Daiquiri Steele, The University of Alabama School of Law, at [email protected]. Any inquiries about the Call for Papers should be submitted to the Chair of either Section. The deadline for submission is Friday, September 1, 2023.
Selection
Presenters will be selected after review by the Chairs of both sections. Selected authors will be notified by September 22, 2023. Presenters will be responsible for paying their annual meeting registration fee. To facilitate valuable feedback at the session, presenters should provide a substantial draft by December 8, 2023.
Section on Law, Medicine and Health Care: New Voices in Law, Medicine and Health Care
The AALS Section on Law, Medicine and Health Care is pleased to announce a Call for Papers for its Works-in-Progress Program, “New Voices in Law, Medicine and Health Care,” which will take place at the 2024 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.
This program will give junior scholars writing in the area of health law, broadly defined, an opportunity to showcase their work and receive feedback from the community. Scholars at AALS member law schools who have been writing in the field of health law for 8 years or less are eligible.
The format of the session will include brief presentations of papers, followed by comments from a discussant and the audience. Priority will be given to papers that have not yet been accepted for publication. More details will be provided to selected presenters.
Submission
To be considered as a presenter, please submit an abstract of no more than 400 words and a CV or résumé to the program organizers by June 30, 2023, by emailing Chair-Elect Medha D. Makhlouf at [email protected].
Members of the Section on Law, Medicine and Health Care may submit to this panel and separately to the Section’s Main Program (“The End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency: Lessons Learned and the Future of Pandemic Law & Policy”) but can only be selected for one of the two.
Decisional Process
Speakers will be selected by members of the Section’s Executive Committee and will be notified by September 22, 2023. Speakers will be listed by name and paper title in the official program.
Please note that the selected speakers will be responsible for paying their conference registration fee and any hotel or travel expenses.
Please forward this Call for Papers to any faculty who may be interested.
Please contact Medha D. Makhlouf, [email protected], with any questions.
Sections on Law, Medicine and Health Care: The End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency: Lessons Learned and the Future of Pandemic Law & Policy
The AALS Section on Law, Medicine and Health Care is pleased to announce a Call for Papers for its panel, “The End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency: Lessons Learned and the Future of Pandemic Law & Policy,” which will take place at the 2024 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.
The panel is co-sponsored by the Sections on Aging & the Law, Disability Law, and Poverty Law.
The panel will address critical topics arising from the aftermath of the federal Public Health Emergency (PHE) for COVID-19, which ended on May 11, 2023. These topics may include but are not limited to:
• Access to health insurance and health care
• Payment and coverage flexibilities in health insurance, including telehealth
• Liability immunity for health care providers
• FDA emergency use authorization for medical countermeasures
• Doctrinal and legislative developments in emergency powers laws
• Impact on communities disproportionately affected by health disparities
• Readiness for future pandemics and other public health emergencies
• Global public health security
• Developments in other areas of law—e.g., immigration law, international trade law, labor and employment law, and others—related to the end of the PHE
Panelists are also encouraged to address whether legal and policy changes made during the PHE have or have not continued beyond the PHE, and what this says about the future of pandemic law and policy.
Form of Submission
To be considered as a speaker, please submit an abstract of no more than 400 words and a CV or résumé to the program organizers by June 30, 2023, by emailing Chair-Elect Medha D. Makhlouf at [email protected].
Members of the Section on Law, Medicine and Health Care may submit to this panel and separately to the Section’s Works-in-Progress Program (“New Voices in Law, Medicine and Health Care”) but can only be selected for one of the two.
Selection & Notification
Speakers will be selected by members of the Section’s Executive Committee and will be notified by September 22, 2023. Speakers will be listed by name and paper title in the official program.
Please note that the selected speakers will be responsible for paying their conference registration fee and any hotel or travel expenses.
Please forward this Call for Papers to any faculty who may be interested.
Please contact Medha D. Makhlouf, [email protected], with any questions.
Sections on Law Professors with Disabilities and Allies: Works-in-Progress Session for Junior Scholars
The Section on Law Professors with Disabilities and Allies is pleased to announce a “Works-inProgress Session for Junior Scholars” program during the 2024 AALS Annual Meeting.
Session Description
One of the goals of the Section on Law Professors with Disabilities and Allies is to provide a forum for the recognition and celebration of the accomplishments of law professors with disabilities. This works-in-progress session will bring together junior and senior scholars for the purpose of providing junior scholars with feedback and guidance on their draft papers. Articles, essays, book chapters, and similar that address any area of law and using any methodology are welcome for submission. The session is designed to be a relaxed and productive environment during which junior scholars can receive feedback about their work from law professors with a range of scholarly foci. As such, senior scholars may be assigned papers to comment on that are not directly within their subject matter expertise.
Format
Scholars whose papers are selected will be placed into a roundtable dedicated to the individual papers. Scholars will provide a brief overview of their papers, after which a senior scholars will provide commentary and lead the discussion about each paper. The number of roundtables will be determined based on the number of submissions and the availability of senior scholars.
Submission Procedure
Junior scholars who are interested in participating in the program should send a draft or summary of at least five pages to Professor Pamela Foohey at [email protected] on or before Friday, September 1, 2023. The cover email should state the junior scholar’s institution, tenure status, number of years in their current position, whether the paper has been accepted for publication, and, if not, when the scholar anticipates submitting the paper to law reviews or similar. Please title the email: “Submission—Law Profs with Disabilities and Allies WIP Session.” Junior scholars whose papers are selected for the program will need to submit a draft to the senior scholar commentators by Friday, December 1, 2023. Senior scholars who are interested in serving as discussants should email Professor Pamela Foohey at [email protected] on or before September 1, 2023. Please title the email: “Discussant—Law Profs with Disabilities and Allies WIP Session.” Please include your subject matter expertise; efforts will be made to match junior and senior scholars by subject matter.
Eligibility
Junior scholars at AALS member law schools are eligible to submit papers. “Junior scholars” includes untenured faculty who have been teaching full-time at a law school for ten or fewer years. Per AALS rules, only full-time faculty members and fellows of AALS member law schools are eligible to submit a paper to Sections’ calls for papers. The Committee will give priority to papers that have not yet been accepted for publication. All participants of the session are responsible for paying their own annual meeting registration fees and travel expenses.
Sections on National Security Law: New Perspectives in National Security Law
The Section on National Security Law invites submissions for the Section’s “New Perspectives in National Security Law” program to be held at the 2024 AALS Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) on January 3-6, 2024 in Washington, D.C. We seek papers and worksin-progress on any aspect of national security law, including inter-disciplinary works or papers that explore innovative research methods. We welcome papers and works-in-progress that challenge conventional perspectives on national security. Selected papers will be presented during a panel discussion at the AALS Annual Meeting in January 2024 at a date/time to be announced.
Eligibility:
This call is open to full-time faculty members from AALS member schools, including fellows and VAPs and whether tenured or untenured and regardless of the number of years the individual has been teaching. The Section especially encourages submissions from faculty members who diversify the legal academy through demographic, geographic, viewpoint, seniority, and school type. The Section welcomes both single-authored and co-authored submissions. Only one single-authored submission per author is permitted, though individuals may submit a single-authored piece and a coauthored piece.
Submission Information:
Interested faculty should submit an abstract no longer than 500 words to the Section Chair, Professor Amy Gaudion at [email protected] no later than 5:00 p.m. EST on Friday, September 1, 2023. Please indicate “New Perspectives in National Security Law – 2024 AALS Annual Meeting” in the subject line of your email. Abstracts should include your name, institutional affiliation, and state of your project (early formative stage, research completed, or draft completed). Abstracts may be supplemented by a statement expressing how your participation will diversify the panel discussion.
Review Process
Members of the Executive Committee, as appointed by the Section Chair, will select the participants. The Section is committed to adhering to all AALS policies in its selection process. Authors of selected papers will be notified by mid-October. Selected presenters will be responsible for paying their registration fee, in addition to accommodation and travel expenses.
Publication
The Section will not publish selected papers. Panelists are encouraged to seek publication through other avenues.
Inquiries or Questions.
Please direct any inquiries about the Call for Papers to the Section Chair, Professor Amy C. Gaudion, Penn State Dickinson Law, [email protected] or 717-240-5216.
Sections on Poverty Law: Structural Barriers and Systemic Interventions for Economic and Social Mobility
The AALS Section on Poverty Law is pleased to announce a Call for Proposals for the 2024 Annual Meeting. The 2024 meeting will be from January 3-6, 2024, in Washington, DC. The program descriptions for each of the (I) Main program (500-word proposal), (II) Pedagogy panel (300-word presentation summary), and (III) New Voices program (500-word abstract) are provided below.
Proposals for the main program (500 words) and presentation summaries for the pedagogy program (300 words) are due June 30, 2023. Abstracts for the new voices works-in-progress program (500 words) are due September 1, 2023. All submissions will be accepted via the same Google form.
By submitting a proposal for consideration, you agree to attend the 2024 AALS Annual Meeting Poverty Law Session should your idea be selected for presentation. Presenters will be responsible for paying their own registration fee for the annual meeting and all other associated expenses.
Title: Structural Barriers and Systemic Interventions for Economic and Social Mobility Co-sponsored by: Property Law Section; Clinical Legal Education Section; Section on Critical Theories; Pro Bono & Access to Justice Section; Women in Legal Education Section
Main Program
Co-moderators: Verónica C. Gonzales-Zamora & Tomar Pierson-Brown The American Dream is not a dream. With the crises in national and global economies over the last two decades, social and economic mobility has become stagnant. The cost of housing and higher education in the U.S. has made the traditional routes to economic stability and social mobility unfeasible for many. Student debt and predatory lending continue to stifle the economic prosperity and transfers of wealth for people of color. Systemic factors contributing to inter-generational poverty are largely ignored by policymakers. The American mythology of a meritocracy has perpetuated a narrative that people in lower socio-economic classes are less deserving of government support. Law and policy play a role in perpetuating the myth of “pulling oneself up by their bootstraps.” Biases, attitudes, and prejudices are embedded in policies that promote narratives of self-sufficiency and equal opportunity. Although the pandemic prompted some innovative programs that supported people across classes, for decades there has been little attention paid to creating more sustainable robust social safety nets.
Meritocratic assumptions, that people should only have the things they earn, continue to find their way into law and policy around the globe. This program is designed to solicit presenters who can share insights into how law has been both a contributing factor to cyclical poverty and a tool for mitigating economic and social inequality. We are looking for both critical theorists and subject matter experts to lead interactive presentations on why these narratives and the structural barriers they reinforce are so persistent, as well as strategies for sustainable, structural change. Areas of expertise on this theme may include, but are not limited to the following disciplines:
● Sociology, social work (e.g., vulnerability theory)
● Education
● Healthcare, health law, health justice
● Housing
● Economics
● Elder law
● Public benefits law
● Family law/foster care
● Critical legal theory
● Intersectionality
We invite proposals of 500 words or less from individuals or panels of up to 3. The proposal should describe the content, desired format of the presentation, and include the name(s) and contact information of the presenters. Preference will be given to proposals that include at least one person from a non-profit or community space (not just lawyers/law professors) and/or interdisciplinary groups of speakers. We welcome proposals from faculty with diverse experiences and backgrounds.
Please submit proposals by June 30, 2023, here. Any questions about the main program can be directed to Verónica C. Gonzales ([email protected]) and Tomar Pierson-Brown ([email protected]).
Pedagogy Program
Co-moderators: Lauren Katz Smith & Jenna Prochaska As successful constitutional litigation feels further out of reach, national government funding for legal services decreases, and legislative protections for the poor are limited,
law students must be trained and supported in ways that are reflective of the current conditions of poverty law practice. Many who practice and teach in this space, recognize that meaningful legal strategy must be collaborative in nature and approach and designed as partnerships with community organizations and movements. This
session will showcase the creative ways that law faculty are responding to the opportunity to innovate and inspire the next generation of collaborative social justice advocates.
We seek proposals discussing systemic advocacy, intersectional poverty law, and supporting sustainable movements. Submissions should be brief presentation summaries (no more than 300 words) of a technique, assignment, or project that you use to teach collaboration and/or innovation in Poverty Law. Show us the ways that you are innovating in and/or beyond your classroom walls. Each potential speaker may submit only one presentation summary for consideration.
Please submit proposals by June 30, 2023, here. Any questions about the pedagogy program can be directed to Lauren Katz Smith (lau[email protected]) and Jenna Prochaska ([email protected]).
New Voices Program
Co-moderators: Emily Suski, Mira Edmonds, & Jason Parkin
This works-in-progress program will give junior scholars writing in the area of poverty law, broadly defined, an opportunity to showcase their work and receive feedback from the community. Scholars at AALS member law schools who have been writing in the field of poverty law for 8 years or less are eligible; clinical and research faculty alike are encouraged to apply.
The format of the session will include brief (7-10 minute) presentations of papers, followed by Q&A with the audience. Priority will be given to papers that have not yet been accepted for publication. More details will be provided to selected presenters.
Please submit a 500-word abstract for your work-in-progress by September 1, 2023 here. Any questions about the new voices program can be directed to Emily Suski ([email protected]), Mira Edmonds (e[email protected]), and Jason Parkin ([email protected]).
Sections on Real Estate Transactions and Property Law: Corporate Acquisition of Rental Housing & Public Policy Responses
The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Sections on Real Estate Transactions and Property Law are pleased to announce their joint program to be held during the 2024 AALS Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, from January 3-6, 2024. The program is titled Corporate Acquisition of Rental Housing & Public Policy Responses.
This joint program is also co-sponsored by the State and Local Government Law Section, the Community Economic Development Section, and the Clinical Legal Education Section.
Program Description
In recent years, large corporate landlords have been acquiring an increasing share of the U.S. rental housing stock. Data and anecdotal evidence indicate that such owners operate differently than “mom and pop” landlords across a variety of measures, including rent setting, property maintenance, fee collection, and evictions. Some argue that institutional landlords offer advantages related to greater access to capital and efficiencies derived from economies of scale. By contrast, recent developments like algorithm-based rent setting via software deployed by many large corporate owners has raised concerns about rent escalation and even price fixing. This program will analyze the shifting terrain in the rental housing market and consider, where appropriate, public policy responses like rent stabilization, good cause eviction protections, landlord registries, universal access to counsel, and other federal, state, and local interventions.
One or two panelists will be chosen from this Call for Presentations and will join Jessica Shoemaker (Nebraska College of Law), Nicole Summers (Georgetown Law School), Brandon Weiss (moderator, American University Washington College of Law), and one or two additional pre-confirmed panelists from academia, housing advocacy, and/or industry.
Submissions
Please submit a maximum 500 word abstract in Word or PDF to the Real Estate Transactions Section Chair, Brandon Weiss ([email protected]), and the Property Law Section Chair, Jill Fraley ([email protected]), with “AALS Submission: Real Estate Transactions & Property Law” in the subject line. Submissions must be received by August 12, 2023.
We welcome submissions that address any of the topics described in the Program Description that involve law schools or lawyers. We invite proposals from law faculty including junior and/or clinical faculty, as well as participants who provide diversity and who reflect a variety of law schools.
Selected presenters will be announced by no later than September 15, 2023. Per AALS rules, only full-time faculty members and fellows of AALS member law schools are eligible to submit an abstract to Sections’ calls for presentations. All panelists, including speakers selected from this Call for Presentations, are responsible for paying their own annual meeting registration fee and travel expenses.
Questions
Any inquiries about the Call for Presentations should be submitted to Professor Brandon Weiss, American University Washington College of Law ([email protected]), and/or Professor Jill Fraley, Washington and Lee University School of Law ([email protected]).
Section on Scholarship: Methods of Inquiry on Defending Democracy
The AALS Scholarship Section is very pleased to issue this call for papers for a Works in Progress session on “Methods of Inquiry on Defending Democracy” for the upcoming AALS 2024 Annual Meeting. This session aims to provide a platform for sharing ongoing research and scholarly work related to the study of democracy and its various aspects. Aligned with the mission of the Scholarship Section, we enthusiastically invite submissions from scholars, researchers, and practitioners interested in exploring innovative methodologies and approaches to investigating the defense of democracy. The Works in Progress session will provide an opportunity for authors to present and discuss their ongoing research. Each presenter will be allocated a specific time slot to share their work and receive feedback from fellow participants.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to
- Qualitative and quantitative methods in the study of the legal institutions of democracy.
- Comparative analyses of democratic processes.
- Experimental designs and surveys in the study of legal institutions and behavior.
- Case studies and historical analysis of law and democratic institutions.
- Intersectional approaches to democracy and identity politics.
- Methodological challenges in studying democracy in different contexts.
We welcome interdisciplinary submissions that focus on the intersections between law and political science, history, economics, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and related fields. Empirical, experimental, and theoretical contributions are encouraged.
Submission Guidelines
- Abstracts should be a maximum of 300 words.
- Include the title of your work, name(s) of the author(s), institutional affiliation(s), and contact information.
- Please indicate whether your submission is at an early stage or near completion.
- One submission per person is permitted.
- Submissions should be sent to Professor John Linarelli, Chair, AALS Scholarship Section, [email protected].
Decisional Process
All submissions will undergo a peer review process to ensure the quality and relevance of the contributions. Accepted authors will be required to submit a draft paper by November 15, 2023. Discussants will be assigned to read and comment on each paper. We look forward to your contributions and active participation in this stimulating event. Should you have any questions or require further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Section on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues: Legislative Attacks on LGBTQ Equality
Throughout the United States, members of the LGBTQ community are increasingly threatened by legislation aimed at erasing their identity at best and denying them essential civil rights and protections at worst. Accordingly, the Section on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues of the Association of American Law Schools is pleased to announce its main program, “Legislative Attacks on LGBTQ Equality” panel, which will be held in person in Washington D.C. in January 2024.
We welcome presentations in any stage that examine and consider issues broadly related to these issues. Topics may include bans of gender-affirming care for transgender children and adults, curriculum laws restricting coverage of LGBTQ issues in public schools, access to PrEP and other HIV prevention medications, criminalization of drag performances, etc.
Submissions
We welcome submissions from law faculty, staff, and administrators at all stages of their careers. Submissions of abstracts of not more than 500 words are due on or before Monday, August 7, 2023, and should be sent to Michael Higdon at [email protected]. For more information, please do not hesitate to contact Michael Higdon.
Section on Sections on State and Local Government and Community Economic Development
The Community Economic Development Law and State and Local Government Law Sections are pleased to announce a Call for Presentations for a joint program to be held during the AALS 2024 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC from January 3-6, 2024. The program is entitled State and Local Government Responses to Population Changes. This joint session of the Sections on State and Local Government Law and Community Economic Development will be co-sponsored by the Sections on Property, Environmental Law, Natural Resources, and Real Estate Transactions. The program description is below.
Form and length of submission: Please submit a maximum 300 word abstract in Word or PDF to the State and Local Section Chair, Sarah Fox ([email protected]) and Community Economic Development Section Chair, Priya Baskaran ([email protected]) with “AALS Submission: State & LocalCommunity Economic Development” in the subject line. Submissions must be received by August 14, 2023. Consistent with the 2024 AALS conference theme, “Defending Democracy,” we welcome submissions that engage with the problems described in the Program Description below that focus on the questions presented below as well as broader ones regarding trends in and impacts on democracy. We invite proposals from law faculty including junior faculty and clinical faculty as well as participants who provide viewpoint diversity appropriate to the program and who reflect a variety of law schools. Submissions will be reviewed by members of the Executive Committees of both Sections. Preference will be given to abstracts for projects that are substantially complete and that offer novel scholarly insights. Selected presenters will be announced no later than September 15, 2023. By submitting an abstract for consideration, you agree to attend the 2024 AALS Annual Meeting Property and this Joint Session should your idea be selected for presentation. Presenters will be responsible for paying their own registration fee.
Program Description:
Change is coming for state and local governments. The continued effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the possibilities for and rise of remote work, major industry and retail transitions, the unfolding realities of climate change, responses to state and local policies, and many other social, economic, and geographic factors have people on the move. Those dynamics mean population changes for many state and local governments across the country. The impacts from population change for state and local governments raise many questions, including but not limited to:
- How can state and local governments adjust to new financial realities and revenue generation models?
- What changes in state or municipal law might be needed to allow local governments to make needed adjustments?
- What differences in demand for transit, housing, education, and social services are expected, and how can state and local governments meet those challenges?
- How can local governments creatively reimagine the use of real estate for a changed population?
- In parts of the country expected to experience dramatic impacts from high-level climate change, how can and should state and local governments adjust planning to meet those impacts? • How do governments create and respect community amid population entrance or exit?
- What role should equity play in how state and local governments respond to all of the above?
State and local governments have always had to contend with population change. But the set of factors outlined above, and their interrelated impacts, present unique and pressing questions for today. Many important conversations are happening about how to adjust to new growth patterns—and, perhaps even more importantly, how to contend with planning for residential, commercial, and geographic loss as a new reality.
This program will bring together practitioners and scholars from a variety of fields to discuss the concerns facing communities and the new questions that population change will bring for coming years. It will include presentations on population change at the state and local level from policy advocates, lawyers, and scholars, including some drawn from a call for papers. The presentations will be followed by a focused discussion, giving scholars in fields connected to population change an important opportunity to dialogue with those working on the same questions in practice and advocacy.
Inquiries or questions: Any inquiries about the Call for Papers should be submitted to Professor Sarah Fox, Associate Professor of Law, Northern Illinois University College of Law ([email protected]) or Professor Priya Baskaran, American University Washington College of Law ([email protected])
Section on Trusts & Estates: The Strategic Use of Trusts for Wealth Preservation
Trusts can be strategically utilized to achieve different objectives, including asset protection, tax planning, succession planning, philanthropic endeavors, and commercial transactions. Use of trusts to guard and protect wealth has resulted in ever evolving uses of the vehicle, with an increased desire to cloak trusts with a veil of secrecy. The Section of Trusts & Estates of the Association of American Law Schools is pleased to announce its main program, “The Strategic Use of Trusts for Wealth Preservation” panel, which will be held in person in Washington D.C. in January 2024.
We welcome presentations in any stage that examine and consider issues related to trust use for wealth preservation. Topics may include wealth preservation generally, asset protection trusts, offshore trusts, spendthrift trusts, jurisdictional considerations, asset protection strategies, and managing trust assets through processes that include decanting. Examination of this topic is intended to be broad and may include an examination of historically less traditional uses of trusts, for blended families, digital assets, and special needs beneficiaries.
Submissions
We welcome submissions from law faculty, staff, and administrators at all stages of their careers. Submissions are due on or before Monday August 7, 2023, and should be sent to [email protected]. For more information, please do not hesitate to contact Victoria Haneman.
Section on Women in Legal Education: Obstacles to Gender Equality in the Legal Academy
Despite the progress made in recent years, gender inequality remains a pervasive issue in the legal profession, particularly in academia. Women remain underrepresented in influential positions, and face systemic bias, discrimination, harassment, and other obstacles that limit their advancement and overall success. Law schools place a premium on statuses that have largely been defined by and through patriarchies. Visible and invisible status lines and distinctions are perpetuated by a legal academy that voices an often-empty commitment to equity.
We invite proposals for the 2024 AALS WILE Main Program, dedicated to exploring the obstacles that face a diversity of women in the legal academy. We welcome proposals that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:
- The impact of implicit bias and gender stereotypes on hiring, promotion, and tenure decisions in law schools.
- The impact on career advancement and earning potential (or “motherhood tax”) for professional women due to parenting and/or caretaking responsibilities.
- The role of institutional policies and practices in perpetuating inequality, such as implicit curricula, exclusionary practices, and lack of support for work-life balance.
- The experiences of women of color, LGBTQ2S+ women, women with disabilities, and other marginalized groups in the legal academy.
- The effect of gender disparities on teaching, research, and service activities.
- The potential of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to foster a more equitable academic environment.
- The implications of gender inequality for legal education, scholarship, and the legal profession at large.
- The ways in which laws attacking tenure and prohibiting DEI trainings/offices will perpetuate gender inequality.
Submissions
We welcome submissions from law faculty, staff, and administrators at all stages of their careers. Submissions are due on or before Monday July 31, 2023, and should be sent to [email protected]. For more information, please do not hesitate to contact Victoria Haneman (Chair, 2023).