Highlights from the 2025 AALS Conference on Clinical Legal Education

More than 830 legal educators attended the largest-ever AALS Conference on Clinical Legal Education, held April 26-29, 2025 in Baltimore. The meeting’s theme, “Reexamining the Role of Lawyers and the Responsibilities of Clinical Teachers in Society,” reflected on the role of lawyers and legal educators in addressing societal issues and changes that affect the profession.

“I absolutely love clinical education, and I am so delighted to be with all of you at what is the biggest gathering of this conference. I can’t thank you enough for the brave ways you do your work every day,” said Kellye Testy, AALS Executive Director and CEO during a welcome address to attendees. “This association is going to be there for you in every way that we can. You are really in the vortex because you are working at the intersection of the legal profession, our law schools, and communities that depend on your legal services.”

“This is the most wonderful time to be a part of AALS,” said conference planning committee member Sarah Boonin (Suffolk University Law School) before the plenary session. “We gather, we exchange our ideas and our thoughts about our teaching and our practices and our scholarship. And we also gather with our friends in this wonderful and unique community.”

Professor Boonin prepared attendees for the conference’s programs, stating “you are going to enjoy plenary sessions, concurrent sessions, lightning sessions, workshops, poster presentations, coffee hours, community gatherings, working groups, even contemplative sessions where you can find your center. This is an enormous undertaking and like any undertaking of its size, it is truly a team effort.”

The plenary session after the welcome, “Chaos, Cacophony, and Clarity: Who We Are and Need to Be,” focused on the perspectives of public interest lawyers and clinical legal educators in the current environment. Moderated by Michael Pinard (University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law), speakers included Deborah N. Archer (New York University School of Law); Monique L. Dixon (University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law); Alexi Freeman (University of Denver Sturm College of Law); Anya Marino (A4TE); David Singleton (University of the District of Columbia, David A. Clarke School of Law); and Anita Sinha (American University, Washington College of Law).

Programming

During the conference, more than 400 speakers and 125 sessions covered a broad range of topics in clinical legal education, including artificial intelligence, student support and supervision, and developing opportunities for students to serve rural communities. Several programs looked at the role of clinics in problem-solving, improving access to justice, supporting entrepreneurship, and forming student professional identity. Attendees also received support related to scholarship, fund-raising, well-being, collaborations with other clinics, and navigating the clinical teaching market.

At a reception on Saturday evening, attendees presented 19 posters on various projects, courses, and topics related to clinical legal education. The posters were also displayed near exhibit tables throughout the conference.

Since 2002, the AALS Section on Clinical Legal Education has hosted the Bellow Scholars program to support the pioneering work of clinical law professors and provide them with mentorship and opportunities to present. The program was founded to reflect the ideals of Gary Bellow, one of the founders of clinical legal education who played a crucial role in establishing legal services for the underserved.

On Tuesday, the final day of the conference, the 2025-26 Bellow Scholars class delivered empirical research presentations and received feedback from conference attendees and program advisors. Projects explored eliminating cash bail, the pathways of girls in the carceral system, gender bias in criminal trials, and housing stability.

“It’s a highly competitive process where scholars from across the clinical community apply and the projects are selected that meet the mission of the program, which is to facilitate research that stems from work in law clinics and aims to address issues facing client populations served by legal clinics and advances social justice,” Alina Ball (UC Berkeley School of Law), co-chair of the AALS Section on Clinical Legal Education Committee on Lawyering in the Public Interest which oversees the program.

“Fellows are selected at the beginning of the two-year period and then they have multiple opportunities through this conference and the Clinical Writers Workshop to present their work and get feedback from other former Bellow scholars and other experts in the field,” said committee co-chair Lisa Martin (University of South Carolina Joesph F. Rice School of Law).

The conference also featured exhibitors from various legal and technology-related organizations that interacted with participants during breaks in the programing, including:

• American Arbitration Association
• Bloomberg Law
• Clio
• Complete Equity Markets
• Intelligent Video Solutions
• LexisNexis
• Practicing Law Institute

Awards

The conference luncheon and awards ceremony on Sunday honored several faculty members and clinics for their distinguished careers and accomplishments. “I’m pleased this 47^th annual conference and awards luncheon is reflecting on big themes such as the importance of the rule of law, and the role that experiential and clinical legal education have not only on the way we train the next generation of lawyers, but also the impact we have on our communities,” said AALS President Austen Parrish (Dean, UC Berkeley School of Law) at the event. “It’s an honor to be with you today and take time to recognize excellence in clinical legal education.”

The following awards were presented by the AALS Section on Clinical Legal Education:

• The Shanara Gilbert Award, honoring an outstanding clinician with less than 10 years of experience in the field, was presented to Norrinda Brown (Fordham University School of Law).
• The Ellmann Memorial Award for Clinical Scholarship was presented to Jeffrey R. Baker (Pepperdine University, Rick J. Caruso School of Law).
• The William Pincus Award for outstanding contributions to clinical legal education was given to Lisa R. Bliss (Georgia State University College of Law) and Timothy M. Floyd (Mercer University School of Law).
• The Impact on the Externship Field Award was presented to Susan B. Schechter (University of California, Berkeley School of Law).

The Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA) also presented the following awards:

• The Award for Excellence in a Public Interest Case or Project was presented to the Credible Fear Interview Orientation Project at CUNY Law.
• The Award for Outstanding Advocate for Clinical Teachers was presented to Laila Hlass (Tulane University School of Law) and Allison Korn (Duke University School of Law).
  

The 2025 AALS Conference on Clinical Legal Education Planning Committee included:

• Eric Amarante, University of Tennessee College of Law
• Lisa R. Bliss, Georgia State University College of Law, Chair
• Sarah R. Boonin, Suffolk University Law School
• Julie Dahlstrom, Boston University School of Law
• Davida Finger, Loyola University New Orleans College of Law
• Elizabeth Ford, Seattle University School of Law
• Llezlie L. Green, Georgetown University Law Center
• Amanda Rivas, St. Mary’s University School of Law
• Kelly S. Terry, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, William H. Bowen School of Law

AALS thanks the committee for making the conference a success.