The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) is an important accrediting body for law schools and a leading professional organization dedicated to excellence in legal education. In keeping with its tradition of leadership in legal education, members of the Santa Clara Law community participate often in AALS programs and activities.
True to form, Santa Clara Law faculty and administrators figured prominently in the AALS Annual Meeting, which took place virtually last week. AALS President, and President of The College of the Holy Cross, Vincent D. Rougeau (formerly Dean of Boston College Law School), welcomed attendees to the virtual gathering, and shared this year’s theme of “Freedom, Equality and the Common Good.” He thanked participants and attendees for the many ways in which these discussions, legal education, and the law will play instrumental roles in strengthening Democracy and the Rule of Law, now and in the future.
The five day annual meeting honored leading lights in legal education, offered presentations, panel discussions, and small group break-out sessions that covered topics across the law and legal education. This year, Professor Nicholas Serafin was honored for his excellence in scholarship. He received Honorable Mention recognition during the AALS Award Ceremony for his paper, “Redefining the Badges of Slavery”, that considers the proper breadth and interpretation of Section 2 of the 13th Amendment.
Santa Clara Law also had four faculty participating as panelists or presenters. Professor Michael Asimow participated as a commentator on the Administrative Law New Voices program. Professor Tseming Yang served as a panelist for a presentation entitled “The Rising Tide of Climate Torts: Joint Session of Sections on Environmental Law, Natural Resources & Energy Law, and Tort Law” and participated in a workshop sponsored by the Environmental Law Section. Professor Eric Goldman served as a commentator on a paper written by UCLA Assistant Law Professor, Xiyin Tang, during an Intellectual Property section entitled “IP Works in Progress: Emerging Scholars”. Professor and Dean Emeritus, Don Polden, just completed his term as the Chair of the AALS section on Leadership and passed the baton to his successor from the University of Minnesota.
For the coming year, Professor David Sloss has been elected to the Executive Committee for the AALS Section on International Law and Professor Eric Goldman has been elected to the Executive Committee of the AALS Associate Deans section. Dean Kaufman, who will serve on the Planning Committee for the AALS 2023 Annual Meeting and who has led many Conference sessions throughout the years, expressed his great appreciation for the call to professional leadership, which is a part of the fabric of Santa Clara Law: “We are proud to have so many of our faculty leading the profession and contributing to these discussions across the legal education landscape. It is a testament to their impactful scholarship and their dedication to educating the next generation of legal professionals to serve justice and the rule of law. We look forward to having more members of our Santa Clara Law community participating in future AALS programs and providing further contributions to the law and legal education.”
