How do I become a member of AALS and get listed in The Directory of Law Teachers?
Schools, rather than individuals, are members of the Association. AALS member and fee-paid law schools provide lists of their faculty and professional staff for the AALS database. These lists are referred to as the school Roster, and are usually managed by the dean’s office. When you are added to your school Roster and designated as the dean or a tenured, tenure-track, long-term contract, or emeritus faculty member, you are asked to complete a biographical profile for the DLT.
Additions or changes to the Roster are automatically reflected in the AALS database. Once you are in our database, you may take advantage of all AALS services, including:
- Reduced registration rates for AALS meetings (Annual Meeting, Workshop for New Law Teachers, and the Conference on Clinical Legal Education)
- Membership in an unlimited number of AALS Sections. Sections present programs at the AALS Annual Meeting, provide newsletters for their members, and conduct other activities of interest to their members, such as mentoring programs, exam exchanges, directories, and discussion lists. Others interested in joining a Section may do so as associate members.
- Access to members-only information on the AALS website.
You may make changes to your DLT profile throughout the year at dlt.aals.org. While your online listing will show changes immediately, the information for the printed DLT is collected in the fall of each year.
How much does it cost to be a member?
Schools, rather than individuals, pay AALS membership fees. Some AALS services such as meeting registration, mailing list rentals, services related to the FAR and FRC, and Clinical Section membership have associated fees.
Depending on the circumstance, we may still be able to add you to the AALS database. If you have questions about an AALS meeting, contact AALS Registration. If you have questions about AALS sections, contact AALS Sections. Please note that section members not associated with an AALS member or fee-paid law school are considered “Associate Members.”
May I still take advantage of AALS member services even if I am not listed in the DLT?
Absolutely. Individuals who are listed in their school Roster as adjuncts, fellows, VAPs, short-term contracts, other teachers, or professional staff may still take advantages of AALS’ many services. If you are affiliated with an AALS member or fee-paid law school and are listed on your school’s Roster, and by extension the AALS database, you still have full access to AALS sections, meetings, and the member portal of the website.
Why was I listed in the DLT in the past but am no longer listed?
AALS expanded our DLT categories in 2012. Biographical sketches are no longer divided by “faculty” and “professional staff.” Currently, only full-time faculty (the law school dean, as well as tenured, tenure-track, long-term contract, and emeriti faculty) are listed in the DLT. These designations are made via the school Roster by the law school dean’s office or designated personnel.
I recently changed my name, law school affiliation, or contact information. How do I update my record?
If you have recently changed schools, please contact [email protected] with your name, new school email, title, and the start date of your new affiliation. If you have a change to your name or contact information, please feel free to make these edits directly at dlt.aals.org.
My DLT biography is wrong or doesn’t look like it appeared in the past. How do I fix it?
We recently revised our online data collection platform, and no longer accept updates via paper submission. In doing so, we hope to streamline the process and improve user experience. However, some information might have been lost with the data transfer to the new platform. Please feel free to make edits at dlt.aals.org or reach out to [email protected] with any questions or concerns. You might also notice that the new system automatically lists entries in every category by descending chronological order of end-date, from most recent to least.
How often should I update my DLT biography?
You are welcome to change your biography at any time during the year or whenever changes occur. Please note that data collected for the printed DLT will be collected on an annual basis each fall. Email reminders will be sent out at that time.
I just tried signing into the DLT and I receive an error. How do I log in?
Reasons for errors are varied.
You might receive a ‘Failed login’ error if you have recently changed email addresses, if you are not a full-time faculty member, if you have entered the wrong password, if you are using Google Chrome and have not cleared your cache, or if you accidentally copied an extra space in your username or password. Please contact [email protected] for assistance. We are happy to help.
If you are in the system but have not updated your biography in the last two years, you might encounter an error that says: You need to register your email account and password.
Please contact [email protected] to receive a new confirmation email to enter the new DLT portal. We ask that you register a password even if you have used a password in an AALS system before. Feel free to use the same one you have listed in the past, if applicable.
Click the link in the newest email that says: Please follow this link to register your AALS password and to edit your biographical information.
It will ask you to enter or create a password twice and you’ll be entered into the system.
After you have registered your password, you should be able to sign back in again for any future revisions at dlt.aals.org. Your username will be your school email address or the email address you have provided to your school’s dean’s office.