Program Highlights
Associate Deans and Clinical Program Directors Workshop
The Associate Deans and Clinical Law Program Directors Workshop will be held on Saturday, April 26, from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm. There is a separate fee to attend the workshop.
Plenary Session
Chaos, Cacophony, and Clarity: Who We Are and Need to Be
Sunday, April 27, 9 – 10:30 am
Welcome to Baltimore, the home of Thurgood Marshall and Freddie Gray. The experiences of both men—one the iconic civil rights lawyer who became the first Black person to serve as United States Solicitor General and United States Supreme Court Justice; the other who died at 25 years of age after suffering fatal injuries while in the custody of the Baltimore Police Department in April 2015—offer lessons for confronting these chaotic, perilous, and utterly frightening times.
We are living through coordinated and dizzying blitzes of orders, policies, and laws at the federal, state, and local levels that rage against our clients, students, community partners, colleagues, friends, and family members, as well as our universities, law schools, clinics, and other vital institutions. So-called safe spaces are narrowing. All of us feel the weight professionally. Most of us live with the weight personally. The sieges are real.
The opening plenary will focus on us, as lawyers, clinical professors, externship directors, administrators, and members of impacted communities. The panelists will share perspectives on their positions, internally and externally, in this critical moment—of doing the work, teaching (and reaching) students, and, more broadly, building and serving as bricks in the bulwark. They will share insights from their varied practice areas and wealth of experiences.
This opening plenary will not offer answers, but rather strategies and pathways to reinforce our roles and resolve as lawyers and legal educators, anchored in persistence and preservation.
Panelists:
Deborah N. Archer (New York University School of Law and President, ACLU)
Monique L. Dixon (University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law)
Alexi Freeman (University of Denver Sturm College of Law)
Anya Marino (University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law)
Michael Pinard (University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law)
Anita Sinha (American University, Washington College of Law)
David Singleton (University of the District of Columbia, David A. Clarke School of Law)
Awards Luncheon
The luncheon will be held on Sunday, April 27, 12 – 1:45 pm. The Section on Clinical Legal Education M. Shanara Gilbert Award, Ellmann Memorial Clinical Scholarship Award, William Pincus Award, and CLEA Award will be presented, and we will honor new clinicians.
Community Gatherings
Community Gatherings (Monday, April 28, 5 – 6:30 pm) were added to the conference program in recent years. These sessions are an expansion of the working group sessions but are not limited to any specific topic areas. For example, gatherings may be organized by:
- Career phase (mid-level, late-career, administrators)
- State or region
- Affinity groups
- Community service project
- Just for fun
- Another theme of your choice
Conference Schedule at a Glance
Friday, April 25
| 4 – 7 pm | AALS Registration |
Saturday, April 26
| 7:30 am – 7 pm | AALS Registration |
| 8:45 am – 4:30 pm | Associate Deans and Clinical Program Directors Workshop |
| 6 – 7:30 pm | AALS Reception Featuring Clinical Legal Education Posters |
Sunday, April 27
| 7:30 am – 7 pm | AALS Registration |
| 7:30 – 8:30 am | AALS Section on Clinical Legal Education Committees |
| 8:45 – 9 am | Welcome and Introduction |
| 9 – 10:30 am | Plenary Session |
| 10:30 – 10:45 am | Coffee with Colleagues |
| 10:45 – 11:45 am | Concurrent Sessions |
| 12 – 1:45 pm | AALS Luncheon featuring the Section on Clinical Legal Education M. Shanara Gilbert Award, Ellmann Memorial Clinical Scholarship Award, William Pincus Award, and CLEA Award Presentations |
| 2 – 3:30 pm | Working Group Discussions |
| 3:30 – 3:45 pm | Coffee with Colleagues |
| 3:45 – 4:45 pm | Concurrent Sessions |
| 5 – 6 pm | Concurrent Sessions |
| 6:30 – 8:30 pm | University of Baltimore School of Law Reception |
Monday, April 28
| 8 – 9 am | AALS Section on Clinical Legal Education Committee Meetings |
| 8 – 9 am | Contemplative/Meditation/Yoga |
| 9 – 10 am | Concurrent Sessions |
| 10 – 10:15 am | Coffee with Colleagues |
| 10:15 – 11:45 am | Working Group Discussions |
| 12 – 1 pm | Lunch on Your Own |
| 1 – 4:15 pm | Clinicians of Color Workshop |
| 1 – 2 pm | Concurrent Sessions |
| 2:15 – 3:15 pm | Concurrent Sessions |
| 3:15 – 3:30 pm | Coffee with Colleagues |
| 3:30 – 4 pm | Lightning Sessions |
| 4 – 4:30 pm | Lightning Sessions |
| 5 – 6:30 pm | Community Gatherings |
| 6 – 7:30 pm | University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law Reception |
Tuesday, April 29
| 7:30 – 8:30 am | AALS Section on Clinical Legal Education Committees |
| 7:30 – 8:30 am | Contemplative/Meditation/Yoga |
| 8:30 – 10 am | AALS Section on Clinical Legal Education Works-in-Progress Bellow Scholars Program Report on Projects |
| 10 – 10:15 am | Coffee with Colleagues |
| 10:15 – 11:15 am | Concurrent Sessions |
| 11:30 am – 1 pm | Working Group Discussions |
| 1 – 2 pm | Lunch on Your Own |
| 2 – 5:15 pm | Workshops |
| 2 – 3 pm | Concurrent Sessions |
| 3 – 3:15 pm | Coffee with Colleagues |
| 3:15 – 4:15 pm | Concurrent Sessions |