Each year, the AALS President selects important topics to explore at the AALS Annual Meeting. These President’s Programs allow for in-depth discussion and analysis. AALS President Blake D. Morant, The George Washington Law School, has selected three President’s Programs examining the rule of law and changes to the legal profession for the 2016 Annual Meeting. Deborah L. Rhode, Stanford Law School, and Mildred W. Robinson, University of Virginia School of Law, helped plan the third President’s Program, “Challenges Facing the Legal Profession and Strategies to Address Them.”
Details about the upcoming President’s Programs are included below.
Challenges Facing the Legal Profession and Strategies to Address Them
Thursday, January 7, 10:15 a.m. – Noon
This panel will explore the current challenges facing the American legal profession. The session speakers come to this important discussion with rich backgrounds and perspectives on the crucial issues impacting legal profession. They will discuss the pressures facing lawyers and legal educators, and identify possible reform strategies.
The panel will encourage thinking creatively about how best legal education and the profession can adapt to a complex and changing global market. Taking part in this important conversation are Benjamin H. Barton, University of Tennessee College of Law; Martha L. Minow, Harvard Law School; and Laurel S. Terry, Penn State University, Dickinson Law. Deborah L. Rhode, Stanford Law School, will serve as moderator.
A Conversation with the Honorable Stephen Breyer, U.S. Supreme Court
Thursday, January 7, Noon – 1 p.m.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will join Alan Morrison, The George Washington University Law School, for a stimulating conversation about legal education and the law. They will also discuss Justice Breyer’s upcoming book, “The Court and the World: American Law and the New Global Realities,” which explores the work of the Supreme Court in an increasingly interconnected world. It considers how best to harmonize American law and interests with the laws of other jurisdictions and the expansion of the rule of law generally. Justice Breyer will discuss the growing importance of American jurists taking on the role of “constitutional diplomats” in a fast-changing, global world.
The dialogue format will make for lively discussion on legal education and the role of the law in a world increasingly defined by instant communication and shared problems.
Preparing Professionals: Higher Education’s Responses to the Demands of a Global Marketplace
Saturday, January 9, 10:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Join a candid conversation with industry leaders on how higher education is responding to mounting pressure to graduate students who can compete in a global marketplace. Four higher education leaders will engage in a holistic discussion on the current landscape and the day-to-day challenges administrators face across the academy. Dean Morant will moderate this important discussion, which will include Natalie Kitroeff, Bloomberg Businessweek; Frederick M. Lawrence, Yale Law School; SEALS President Ellen S. Podgor, Stetson University College of Law; and John Sexton, President of New York University.
