Session Details

Sessions Information

January 6, 2017
8:30 am - 10:15 am

Event: 2017 Annual Meeting

Session Type: AALS Discussion Groups

Session Capacity: N/A

Hotel: Hilton San Francisco Union Square

Room: Union Square 5 & 6

Floor: 4th Floor

Discussion Groups provide an in-depth discussion of a topic by a small group of invited discussants selected in advance by the Annual Meeting Program Committee. In addition to the invited discussants, additional discussants were selected through a Call for Participation. There will be limited seating for audience members to observe the discussion groups on a first-come, first-served basis.

Law students and non-lawyers often have a general understanding of how and why the law matters in litigation, civil and human rights, constitutional, and similar issues that are in the public eye. When it comes to transactional law, however, law students, non-lawyers, and perhaps even law school faculty are less clear on the value effective transactional lawyers contribute—that is, why transactional law matters. Still, about half of all law students follow a career path to a practice based in transactional law. In recent years, law school curricula have begun to incorporate increased training and teaching of transactional law, with the growth of transactional law clinical programs and movement toward more experiential learning in doctrinal courses (including new ABA requirements).

This session will convene a diverse group of legal educators from around the U.S. to discuss why transactional law matters and how teaching transactional law skills fits within the broader law school curriculum. Individual participants may elect to publish scholarly papers related to their participation in the discussion.