News Release
Contact:
Jim Greif
[email protected]
(202) 296-1593
Washington, DC (November 22, 2024) — The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) has announced the winners of the 2025 AALS Scholarly Papers Competition for law school faculty members in the field for five years or fewer. The competition’s selection committee recognized the following outstanding authors and papers:
Christopher Brett Jaeger, Assistant Professor, Baylor University School of Law for the article “The Hand Formula’s Unequal Inputs.”
In the article, Jaeger examines how jurors judge reasonableness. Working from tort theory, he identifies tractable predictions about what influences lay reasonableness judgments, then tests those predictions through a series of original experiments. His findings suggest that both economic and Kantian considerations influence lay judgments of reasonableness.
“As a junior scholar, I am honored and encouraged to know that this research resonates beyond my personal interests,” Jaeger said. “This award has been incredibly motivating as I continue this line of experimental research, and I am thankful to my mentors and colleagues for their ongoing support.”
Christopher D. Hampson, Assistant Professor University of Florida Levin College of Law, for the article “Bankruptcy Fiduciaries.”
In the article, Hampson examines the complex world of fiduciary duties in bankruptcy cases. He challenges whether the proper objective is always to maximize the monetary value of the bankruptcy estate, suggesting that there’s a role for corporate purpose in bankruptcy — especially for nonprofits and social enterprises. The article will be published in an upcoming issue of the Iowa Law Review.
“I feel incredibly honored to receive this award and profoundly grateful to the scholars and colleagues who helped me develop my research,” said Hampson. “Bankruptcy law is both intellectually rewarding and practically significant, because financial distress pushes us to ask hard questions about what we really value. I deeply appreciate the recognition from AALS, and I hope it helps build even more interest in bankruptcy as a field.”
The AALS Committee to Review Scholarly Papers for the 2025 Annual Meeting included distinguished legal scholars from around the country, including:
The competition is now in its 39th year, and the winners will be recognized during a ceremony at the AALS Annual Meeting in San Francisco on January 9, 2025.
About AALS
The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), founded in 1900, is a nonprofit association of 175 member and 19 fee-paid 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 improve and advance legal education. AALS carries out its mission by promoting the core values of excellence in teaching and scholarship, academic freedom, and diversity, including diversity of backgrounds and viewpoints, while seeking to foster justice, and to serve our many communities–local, national, and international. In support of its mission, AALS serves as both the institutional membership organization for law schools, and as the learned society for law faculty.
