Time is being reserved in the Annual Meeting schedule for programs devoted to late-breaking legal issues or topics. Faculty members at AALS member law schools who are interested in organizing a 1 ¾ hour panel on a late breaking legal issue or topic will have the opportunity to submit proposals until November 2, 2012 for the 2013 Annual Meeting in New Orleans. Foreign, visiting and adjunct faculty members, graduate students, and fellows are not eligible to submit a proposal.

The purpose of this special "hot topics" slot is to provide a forum for a panel presentation on a timely and important issue of general interest that arises after the deadline for section and other programs.  Hot topic program proposals should only be submitted by individuals or groups of individuals from AALS member law schools and may not be submitted by sections or other organizations.

When developing the proposal you should consider the following:

· Is there a diversity of presenters?

· Is there junior and senior teacher involvement?

The proposed topic should not be one addressed elsewhere in the Annual Meeting program (please review the Annual Meeting website at  www.aals.org/am2013/ for scheduled programs with titles, speakers and descriptions to make sure you are not duplicating an already existing program.) We want to make you aware of two programs already scheduled for the Annual Meeting. One is the AALS Committee on Professional Development Hot Topic Workshop on "Election Integrity and the Right to Vote: Lessons from the 2012 Election" and a Presidential Program on "Law Schools and their Critics"  

Each proposal should contain the following information:

1) the title of the proposed program;

2) a brief description of the program;

3) a confirmed list of panel members; and

4.) an explanation as to why the topic is "hot" and could not be identified prior to March 15, 2012

We are attaching a sample of a successful proposal from the 2012 Annual Meeting to help proposers submit their hot topic proposal - Occupy Wall Street as Transformative Social Movement: Its Meaning and Prospects for the Future

Hot Topic program proposals will be evaluated by the AALS Committee on Special Programs for the Annual Meeting.  Hot Topic program proposals that are selected will be assigned a program time slot by the AALS National Office with attention paid to relevant conflicts. Hot Topic programs selected do not choose their assigned time slot.

AALS will notify proposers of Hot Topic programs of the committee's decisions by December 1.

If no program proposals are chosen for a particular year, the hot topic slots will not otherwise be filled. Proposals may be emailed to hottopic@aals.org .

As of 3/26/2012