AALS Section on Clinical Legal Education

Annual Meeting Programs

2025

Associate Deans for Academic Affairs and Research and Clinical Legal Education Joint Extended Program
- Panel 1
- Panel 2
Balance & Well-Being in Legal Education, Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education and Legal Writing, Reasoning, and Research
Poverty Law, Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education and Pro Bono & Access to Justice
Poverty Law, Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education and Pro Bono & Access to Justice
Pro Bono & Access to Justice, Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education, Poverty Law, and Technology, Law and Legal Education

2024

2023

2022

Main Program
Section on Minority Groups (Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education)
Section on Poverty Law (Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education)
Section on Aging and the Law (Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education)
Section on Leadership (Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education)
Section on Animal Law (Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education)
Section on Civil Rights (Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education)
Section on For the Law School and Pro-Bono & Public Service Opportunities Joint Program (Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education)
Pedagogy
Networking Session
Award Ceremony

2021

Clinical Legal Education, Community Economic Development and Property Law Joint Program
Joint Program Panel 1
Scholarly Presentations
Pro Bono & Public Service Opportunities(Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education)
Women in Legal Education(Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education)
Balance in Legal Education, Clinical Legal Education, and Leadership Joint Pedagogy

2020

2019

Awards

Section of the Year

2018 Winner

William Pincus Award

The purpose of this award is to honor individuals, groups or institutions for effecting an outstanding contribution to the cause of clinical legal education. This award may be announced formally at the AALS annual meeting or at an annual clinical conference or workshop. The criteria for the William Pincus Award shall be based on scholarship, program design and implementation, or other activity beneficial to clinical education or to the advancement of justice.

Shanara Gilbert Award

Designed to honor an “emerging clinician,” the M. Shanara Gilbert Award is for a recent entrant (10 years or fewer) into clinical legal education who has demonstrated some or all of the following qualities:

a commitment to teaching and achieving social justice, particularly in the areas of race and the criminal justice system;
a passion for providing legal services and access to justice to individuals and groups most in need;
service to the cause of clinical legal education or to the AALS Section on Clinical Legal Education;
an interest in international clinical legal education; and
an interest in the beauty of nature (desirable, but not required)

Recipients

Year	Award Name	Recipient	Law School
2023	Ellmann Memorial Clinical Scholarship Award	Anna Carpenter	University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law.
2023	Ellmann Memorial Clinical Scholarship Award	Colleen Shanahan	Columbia Law School
2022	M. Shanara Gilbert Award	Anita Sinha	American University, Washington College of Law
2022	Ellmann Memorial Clinical Scholarship Award	Deborah Archer	New York University, School of Law
2022	Ellmann Memorial Clinical Scholarship Award	Richard J. Wilson	American University, Washington College of Law
2021	William Pincus Award	Susan Bennett	American University, Washington College of Law
2021	William Pincus Award	Nancy Maurer	Albany Law School
2020	Shanara Gilbert Award	Alexis Karteron	Rutgers Law School
2020	William Pincus Award	Paul Tremblay	Boston College Law School
2019	Shanara Gilbert Award	Sara Rogerson	Albany Law School
2019	William Pincus Award	Alexander Scherr	University of Georgia School of Law
2019	William Pincus Award	David Santaroce	University of Michigan Law School
2018	Shanara Gilbert Award	Alina Ball	University of California, Hastings College of the Law
2018	William Pincus Award	Carol Izumi	University of California, Hastings College of the Law
2017	Shanara Gilbert Award	Chi Adanna Mgbako	Fordham University School of Law
2017	William Pincus Award	Frank Askin	Rutgers Law School
2017	William Pincus Award	Thomas F. Geraghty	Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
2016	Shanara Gilbert Award	Perry Moriearty	University of Minnesota Law School
2016	William Pincus Award	Bryan L. Adamson	Seattle University School of Law
2015	Shanara Gilbert Award	JoNel Newman	University of Miami School of Law
2015	William Pincus Award	Ann C. Shalleck	American University, Washington College of Law
2014	Shanara Gilbert Award	Lisa Bliss	Georgia State University College of Law
2014	William Pincus Award	Jeanne Charm	Harvard Law School
2013	Shanara Gilbert Award	Sarah Gerwig-Moore	Mercer University School of Law
2013	William Pincus Award	Phillip G. Schrag	University of California, Los Angeles School of Law
2012	Shanara Gilbert Award	Kimberly Ambrose	University of Washington School of Law
2012	William Pincus Award	Robert R. Kuehn	Washington University School of Law
2011	Shanara Gilbert Award	Nekima Levy-Pounds	University of St. Thomas School of Law
2011	William Pincus Award	Christine Zuni Cruz	University of New Mexico School of Law
2010	Shanara Gilbert Award	Charles Auffant	Rutgers School of Law – Newark
2010	William Pincus Award	Robert Dinerstein	American University, Washington College of Law
2009	Shanara Gilbert Award	Ron Whitener	University of Washington School of Law
2009	William Pincus Award	Margaret Martin Barry	The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law
2008	Shanara Gilbert Award	Kris Henning	Georgetown University Law Center
2008	William Pincus Award	John Elson	Northwestern University Prtizker School of Law
2007	Shanara Gilbert Award	Pam Metzger	Tulane University School of Law
2007	William Pincus Award	Anthony V. Alfieri	University of Miami School of Law
2006	Shanara Gilbert Award	Michael Pinard	University of Maryland School of Law
2006	William Pincus Award	David Binder	University of California, Los Angeles School of Law
2005	Shanara Gilbert Award	Melissa Breger	Albany Law School
2005	William Pincus Award	J. Michael Norwood	University of New Mexico School of Law
2004	Shanara Gilbert Award	Esther Canty-Barnes	Rutgers School of Law – Newark
2004	William Pincus Award	Randy Hertz	New York University School of Law
2003	Shanara Gilbert Award	Beth Lyon	Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law
2003	William Pincus Award	Sandy Ogilvy	The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law
2002	Shanara Gilbert Award	Grady Jessup	North Carolina Central University School of Law
2002	William Pincus Award	Bernida Reagan	East Bay Community Law Center
2002	William Pincus Award	Louise Trubek	University of Wisconsin Law School
2001	Shanara Gilbert Award	Adele Bernhard	Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University
2001	William Pincus Award	Peter A. Joy	Washington University in St. Louis School of Law
2000	William Pincus Award	E. Clinton Bamberger	University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
1999	William Pincus Award	Katherine Shelton Broderick	U.D.C. David A. Clarke School of Law
1998	William Pincus Award	Steve Wizner	Yale Law School
1997	William Pincus Award	Edgar Cahn	U.D.C. David A. Clarke School of Law
1997	William Pincus Award	Jean Cahn	Antioch, posthumously
1996	William Pincus Award	Wally Mlyniec	Georgetown University Law Center
1995	William Pincus Award	Clinical Law Review	N/A
1994	William Pincus Award	Harriet Rabb	Columbia Law School
1993	William Pincus Award	Roy Stuckey	University of South Carolina School of Law
1992	William Pincus Award	Elliott Milstein	American University, Washington College of Law
1991	William Pincus Award	Sue Bryant	City University of New York School of Law
1990	William Pincus Award	Bea Moulton	University of California, Hastings College of Law
1989	William Pincus Award	Gary Palm	University of Chicago, The Law School
1988	William Pincus Award	William Pincus	Unlisted
1987	William Pincus Award	Gary Bellow	Harvard Law School
1986	William Pincus Award	Tony Amsterdam	New York University School of Law
1985	William Pincus Award	Dean Hill Rivkin	University of Tennessee College of Law
1984	William Pincus Award	Robert McKay	Unlisted
1983	William Pincus Award	William Greenhalgh	Georgetown University Law Center
1982	William Pincus Award	Hon. Neil Smith	D. IA
1981	William Pincus Award	David Barnhizer	Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University

Clinical Law Review

The Clinical Law Review is a semi-annual peer-edited journal devoted to issues of pedagogy and theory concerning clinical and externship education, lawyering, and social justice. The Review seeks to promote the scholarship impact of and synergies in the work of clinical law teachers, externship teachers, and other scholars. The Review is jointly sponsored by the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), the Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA), and New York University School of Law. The Review is edited, administered and financially supported by New York University School of Law and CLEA. The views expressed in the Review are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the sponsoring organizations, the institutions with which the authors are affiliated, or others.

Committee Chairs

Interested in getting more involved in the Clinical Section? Contact a Committee Chair for more information.

Committee	Chairs	Law School
Alternative Dispute Resolution	Mattie Robertson	The University of California College of the Law, San Francisco
Alternative Dispute Resolution	Donna Erez-Navot	University of Florida Levin College of Law
Clinicians of Color	Tameka Lester	Georgia State University College of Law
Clinicians of Color	Sherley Cruz	University of Tennessee College of Law
Communications	Gail Silverstein	University of California, Hastings College of Law
Externships	Nira Geevargis	University of California, Hastings College of Law
Externships	Amanda Rivas	St. Mary’s University School of Law
Interdisciplinary Committee	Colleen Boraca	Northern Illinois University College of Law
	Lucy Johnston-Walsh	The Pennsylvania State University – Penn State Law
	Jennifer Olivia	Seton Hall University School of Law
International Clinical Education	Sarah Paoletti	University of Pennsylvania Law School
International Clinical Education	Gillian Dutton	Seattle University School of Law
Membership, Training, and Outreach
Membership, Training, and Outreach	Katy Ramsey	The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law
Nominations	Emily Suski	University of South Carolina School of Law
Nominations	Amy Pritchard	University of Arkansas (Little Rock) William H. Bowen School of Law
Policy	Kim Connolly	University at Buffalo School of Law, The State University of New York
Scholarship	Kim Thomas	University of Michigan Law School
Technology	Michele Pistone	Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law
Teaching Methodologies	Benjie Louis	Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University
Teaching Methodologies	Jean Phillips	University of Kansas School of Law
Transactional Law Clinics	Lynnise Pantin	Columbia Law School
Transactional Law Clinics	Ted De Barbieri	Albany Law School

Coronavirus Response

The section is committed to assisting clinicians in responding to COVID-19 and its impact on our clients, students and communities. As a first step we have set up a dropbox folder to collect and make available any policy materials folks are generating. We encourage clinicians to add files to this folder and access materials posted by colleagues.

Message from the 2024 Chairs

Dear Colleagues,

With 2024 upon us, we returned to some sense of post-pandemic normalcy, yet we find ourselves in tumultuous times grappling with widening wars, political discord, and retrenchment in the progress towards social justice. Our campuses and the communities we serve are the site of many of these battles. In the face of uncertainty and challenges in the year ahead, we are grateful for the collective courage, compassion and creativity of our clinical community, fueling us to action as we educate our students and fight for justice.

There is a lot happening with respect to clinical legal education. On the one hand, it’s exciting to see the preparation for implementing ABA Standards 303(b) and (c) now bearing fruit. But clinicians at some schools are bearing most of the responsibility for that work, and many are trying to heed the call to educate students about racism and bias amidst a hostile political environment. Additionally, clinical education is more central than ever, to the point where the ABA is contemplating a further increase in experiential course requirements. But that will require a corresponding increase in resources to maintain our pedagogical values. The environment in which we are teaching and representing clients is also rapidly changing. We are trying to understand the impact of the NextGen Bar, alternative licensing pathways, and generative AI on our work.

These are just some of the issues raised by clinicians who attended our Section business meeting at the AALS Annual Meeting in early January. To support our community as we navigate these issues, the Executive Committee identified several priorities for our work over the upcoming year, both at the Executive Committee level and through our committees.

First, we plan to build on the work of our predecessors, Anita and Norrinda, to reinvigorate our committees where needed, and strengthen the relationship between our committees and the Executive Committee, so that committees have the support they need to carry out the priorities of the Section. Some of the committee work is focused on supporting teaching, including the developments in the profession we mentioned above, as well as expanding support for new teachers. Some work is focused on protecting and advancing the status of clinicians within the academy and in a politically divided world, which will happen both through the work of committees and directly through the EC. Moreover, we want to make sure committee chairs and members are recognized for their work to support the Section, both within the Section and within their institutions.

We ask you to consider how you can support the work of the Section through committees. Please take a moment to review the charges of each of the committees and sign up for one or two that interest you, and to indicate your interest in leadership opportunities.

Second, in the spirit of ABA Standard 303(c), we hope to model best practices for DEI in our own organization, developing leadership pathways and a sense of belonging for the diverse range of voices within the clinical community. But we also continue our work externally to support schools and faculty as they are implementing the Standard, looking for ways for clinicians to offer leadership while inviting other parts of the academy into what should be a widespread and shared endeavor.

That dovetails with our final goal, which is to increase the visibility and reach of the Section across the broader clinical and AALS community. We will look for ways to expand our presence at the AALS Annual Meeting and across the academy, to build bridges and develop mutual respect through co-sponsorships and compelling events. We also aim to collaborate with the Clinical Legal Education Association and the Clinical Law Review to determine the best ways we can support clinicians in our respective roles. And we will look for more ways to further build a sense of community among clinicians.

Joining us in our work this year are the other members of the 2024 Executive Committee:

Chair-Elect: Natalie Nanasi (SMU)
Treasurer: Susan Hazeldean (Brooklyn)
Secretary: Julie Dahlstrom (Boston)
Immediate Past Co-Chair: Norrinda Brown Hayat (Fordham)
Immediate Past Co-Chair: Anita Sinha (American)
Member: Anne Gordon (Duke)
Member: Allison Freedman (New Mexico)
Member: Beth Locker (Vermont)
Member: Priya Baskaran (American)
Member: Nira Geevargis (U.C. Law S.F.)

On behalf of the Executive Committee, thank you for the work you do in these uncertain times, with courage and steadiness in support of our clients, students, and colleagues. We look forward to learning together and providing mutual support, including this May in St. Louis.

Be well,

Kele Stewart (Miami) and Sarah Shalf (University of Virginia)

View the Message from 2023 Chairs

Newsletters

Resources

Webinars & Webinar Recordings

Upcoming

Nothing currently scheduled

Past

Innovative Approaches to Rule 303(c)
April 19, 2024
This session was not recorded.

Self-Assessment and Strengths-Based Coaching, Lisa M. Patterson

Teaching Ideas for Incorporating Anti-Racism in In-house Clinics and Externships: Part 2
October 22, 2021

Teaching Ideas for Incorporating Anti-Racism in In-house Clinics and Externships: Part 1
October 8, 2021

Using Data on Race, Poverty and Inequality, Angela B. Cornell
An examination on how data provides insights that can be used to help students understand the systemic nature of discrimination.

What Would You Do?, Richard Frankel
Tools for navigating difficult questions around when and how to speak out.

Moving from the Margins Into the Center, Artika R. Tyner
Social change demands inclusive and deliberate leadership—and a plan to bring it all together. Dr. Tyner will share practical teaching strategies and pedagogical approaches on how law students can take strategic action for justice and equity.

Section on Clinical Legal Education

Purpose