Press Release
Contact:
Jim Greif
[email protected]
(202) 296-1593

Washington, D.C. (December 3, 2018) – The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Committee on Sections has selected the Section on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) as AALS Section of the Year.

The annual award recognizes excellence in member support and other activities that promote AALS core values, which may include annual meeting programming, facilitating outstanding scholarship, providing teaching support and course materials, community/pro bono service, engagement with the bar and bench, mentoring programs, expanding membership and member engagement, creative use of technology, and more.

“The AALS Committee on Sections believed that the Section on Alternative Dispute Resolution stood out as offering its members a varied range of programs and avenues of support and recognition, while additionally emphasizing teaching quality in ADR courses,” said Anita K. Krug, interim-Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Washington Bothell, and Chair of the AALS Committee on Sections.

The AALS Section on Alternative Dispute Resolution was honored for a wide variety of section activities including encouraging excellence in scholarship and teaching through its works-in-progress conferences and its Legal Educators’ Colloquium. The works-in-progress conference offers a supportive environment for feedback and the exchange of ideas designed to improve the scholarship of those attending. Starting this year, the section hosts an award for Best Article of the Year, which recognizes outstanding scholarship in the field.

In addition, the section has developed Annual Meeting programs that appeal to audiences outside of section membership. The section frequently collaborates with other sections as co-sponsors or conducts joint programs to appeal to a wider audience while showcasing the most pressing issues in the field of alternative dispute resolution.

“The AALS Section on Alternative Dispute Resolution is pleased and honored to receive this recognition,” said Ellen E. Deason, chair of the section and professor at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. “Since our section was founded in 1984, it has benefitted from the stewardship of many dedicated leaders. For initiatives in recent years, special thanks go to Andrea Schneider at Marquette, who started our highly regarded annual works-in-progress conference, and Jill Gross of Pace, who introduced our new Best Article of the Year Award. Thanks to AALS for providing a platform for our activities and programming.”

The section will be honored at the Section Officers Breakfast during the Annual Meeting in January. AALS will be seeking nominations for the next Section of the Year award in Spring 2019.

About AALS
The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), founded in 1900, is a 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 its many communities–local, national and international.