The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit association of 179 law schools. Its members enroll most of the nation’s law students and produce the majority of the country’s lawyers and judges, as well as many of its lawmakers.

The mission of AALS is to uphold and advance excellence in legal education. In support of this mission, AALS promotes the core values of excellence in teaching and scholarship, academic freedom, and diversity, including diversity of backgrounds and viewpoints, while seeking to improve the legal profession, to foster justice, and to serve our many communities–local, national, and international.

Founded in 1900, AALS also serves as the learned society for the more than 9,000 law faculty at its member schools, and provides them with extensive professional development opportunities, including the AALS Annual Meeting which draws thousands of professors, deans and administrators. Faculty and deans from AALS member schools actively participate in over 100 volunteer-led sections that present programs, provide mentoring for new faculty, and serve as a resource for discussions on important legal issues from antitrust, dispute resolution and, taxation to civil rights, criminal justice, and international law. Each year, the association also hosts a faculty recruitment conference, a workshop for new law teachers, a conference on clinical legal education, and manages an online faculty appointments register.

The association’s website features the latest news and current issues related to legal education and showcases outstanding faculty and innovative programs at AALS member schools. In addition, AALS unites the legal community and public through its social media pages including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.

The AALS is a member of the American Council on Education, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Consortium of Social Science Associations, and the National Humanities Alliance. The AALS also participates in joint projects with the American Bar Association Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, the Law School Admission Council, the National Association for Law Placement, AccessLex, the National Conference of Bar Examiners, and the Conference of Chief Justices.