Annual Meeting Highlights

AALS Showcase Speaker Program and Reception
Join us at the inaugural AALS Showcase Speaker program with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White. She joined the SEC in 2013 after decades of experience as a federal prosecutor and securities lawyer. Her presentation will be immediately followed by a reception in her honor on Saturday, January 3, from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

New Law School Teachers Programs: Works-in-Progress and Programs on Pedagogy
Sections are holding works-in-progress programs for junior scholars and programs on pedagogy to assist new law school teachers in the teaching of their courses on both Saturday, January 3, at 5:15 p.m. and Sunday, January 4, at 5:45 p.m.

Association Luncheon
Robert Post, Dean, Yale Law School will speak on “Academic Freedom and Legal Scholarship.” The Luncheon will take place on Sunday, January 4, from 12:30 – 2:00 p.m.

AALS Academic Symposium
AALS is following up the success of its inaugural academic symposium with a second day-long symposium “Congressional Dysfunction and Executive Law Making During the Obama Administration.” This session will address important questions surrounding President Obama’s use of executive power on Monday, January 5, from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

AALS Academic Leadership Program
Also new this year, a program on “The Opportunities of Law School Leadership: Nurturing the Diverse Leaders Our Schools Need for the 21st Century.” This interactive roundtable will discuss the leadership skills required by law schools and methods for developing and nurturing those competencies; it will be held on Sunday, January 4, from 4:00 – 5:45 p.m.

Qualitative and Mixed Methods Workshop
This workshop provides an overview of qualitative methods. No social science background is required. There is an additional registration fee of $90 for the workshop which includes a boxed lunch. Advance registration is required. The workshop will take place Sunday, January 4, from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. and continue on Monday, January 5, from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

AALS Committee Programs
The Committee on Curriculum Issues will hold a program on “Teaching to the New Class” on Sunday, January 4, from 10:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. The Committee on Libraries and Technology will hold a day-long program on “Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide: The Reality of Being a Law Library Director in Times of Great Opportunity and Significant Challenges” on Monday, January 5, from 8:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. The Advisory Committee on Global Engagement will hold a program on “New Challenges and Opportunities in Globalizing Legal Education” on Monday, January 5, from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Speakers of Note
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court
Anita Hill, Senior Advisor to the Provost and Professor of Social Policy, Law and Women’s Studies, Gender, and Sexuality, Brandeis University, Heller School for Social Policy and Management
Harold Hongju Koh, Former Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State
Richard Posner, Judge, U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Chicago

House of Representatives
The AALS House of Representatives will meet on Saturday, January 3, at 5:15 p.m. and again on Sunday, January 4, at 5:45 p.m. Designated faculty representatives from all member law schools are expected to attend the meeting of the House of Representatives. All law school teacher registrants are invited to attend.

Law and Film Series
Join us on Friday, January 2, at 7:30 p.m. for the classic feature film, “Judgment at Nuremburg”(1961). On Sunday, January 4, at 8:00 p.m. the documentary film selection “Hot Coffee” will be shown. These films have been chosen for their cinematic and legal value, identifying film resources for possible classroom instructional purposes, as well as for raising general awareness of law and film.

Exhibit Hall
The AALS Exhibit Hall provides registrants the opportunity to discuss teaching methods and new technologies in legal education with exhibiting companies and view and discuss products that can enhance your teaching and career. The Exhibit Hall also serves as a “Meeting Place” for registrants to exchange ideas and includes a lounge area with coffee, tea, pastries, and refreshments served in the mornings and afternoons. Review the program for the open hours of the Exhibit Hall.

Program Updates
For up-to-date information about the meeting, please visit our frequently updated website at www.aals.org/am2015/. Click on the “program” tab at the top of the page to find the program schedule, and then click on the program name link to see the list of current speakers and program descriptions.