Legal Education News & Stories
Search icon Go to www.aals.org

President’s Message: The 2026 AALS Annual Meeting in New Orleans

November 18, 2025
By

January 6-9 | New Orleans, LA 

Austen Parrish

Austen Parrish, AALS President and Dean and Chancellor’s Professor of Law at University of California, Irvine School of Law

I am looking forward to returning to New Orleans for the 2026 Annual Meeting. The meeting will take place in a familiar venue: the Hilton Riverside New Orleans, located just a few blocks from the French Quarter.

Among the many changes to this year’s meeting, one of the most significant is a condensed schedule. Programs begin Tuesday afternoon and conclude Friday morning, allowing for travel and time before classes resume the following Monday at most law schools. We hope this change will allow you to get more from your travel budget: the same great opportunities to develop your scholarship and teaching, with fewer nights in the hotel, in a more affordable host city.

We have extended the early bird registration deadline through November 24. This year in particular, it’s vital that we join in community with faculty, professional staff, deans, and others from every corner of the legal academy–all those who care about legal education–to take stock of the current environment, problem solve, and forge a path forward. I hope you will join us and look forward to seeing you in New Orleans! Visit am.aals.org for details.  

Best wishes for the end of the semester and exam period,

Austen Parrish

Impact. Excellence. Resilience. 
The Enduring Contributions of Legal Education  

Over our 125-year history, the Association’s annual meeting has become the gathering place that brings together legal scholars and educators from all over the US and beyond. The faculty and staff that comprise our nation’s law schools have had a lasting impact on how we educate the next generation of lawyers; on the intellectual, pedagogical, professional, and theoretical underpinnings of our profession; on American jurisprudence and respect for equity, justice, and the rule of law; and on how law and legal institutions develop and change. The 2026 Annual Meeting will take stock of past achievements, with a particular emphasis on revealing voices and contributions that may have been hidden or not previously celebrated sufficiently.     

We live at a time when higher education is increasingly under attack. While criticism by those outside the academy is nothing new, the frequency of the attacks—now often founded on misunderstandings of what law schools do, a lack of appreciation for the variety among schools, and a misappreciation for innovations of recent decades—risk undermining the positive gains made. At the very least, a tendency exists to over-emphasize perceived shortcomings without recognizing gains made.   

Contributions from faculty and staff at law schools of all kinds and sizes, with different missions, in all parts of the country should be celebrated. Law students today are in many respects better prepared than in prior generations. The sophistication and breadth of the curriculum, including the lawyering skills, clinical, field placement, simulation, academic support, and other programs offered, is at an all-time high. Law schools have dramatically deepened their commitments to public service, to giving back to their communities, and to broadening access to the profession. Our colleagues have furthered fields of thought, scholarship, and pedagogy for the benefit of our democracy.

More than a century after our founding, American legal education remains a model for many in the world. As we celebrate the Association’s 125th anniversary, there’s no better time for the legal academy to reflect on our past and re-dedicate ourselves to our collective mission and shared goals.

What’s New in 2026

Registration for the AALS Annual Meeting includes:

In addition to the condensed schedule, we’ve added:

Section Coffee Breaks

This year, some AALS sections will host informal networking events during scheduled coffee breaks. This is a great opportunity to network and find common ground based on shared interests and fields of study. Look for more details about time, location, and host sections in the coming weeks.

Exhibit Hall Sessions

Select exhibitors will organize specialized programs on professional skills in the age of AI, increasing bar passage, law school revenue, and more! Check the full schedule for more details about these sponsored programs, to be held in the exhibit hall throughout the meeting.

Redesigned Exhibit Hall

The Exhibit Hall will have increased seating to allow more space for attendees to gather, meet, and take a break in between sessions.

AALS Presidential Sessions 

Wednesday, January 7 

AALS at 125: Reflecting on History and Impact 

9:35 – 10:50 am 

Join former AALS presidents and leaders in legal education for a conversation discussing the history and impact of the Association, well as some of the major milestones, long-term changes, and significant innovations in legal education. The panelists will reflect on their own experiences and how changes in legal education and in the Association have often reflected broader social and political change in the United States. This presentation will draw from the recent publication The First 125 Years: An Illustrated History of the Association of American Law Schools. 

Legal Education, the Courts, and the Profession 

2:35 – 3:50 pm 

Join leaders of the bench and bar in a discussion of the important work done by state courts, law firms, law schools, and others in the legal profession that make a positive difference to our communities and our nation. The discussion will highlight examples of a wide range of collaborative approaches taken by state courts and the way judges, faculty, lawyers, bar associations, and other leaders of the legal profession have worked together successfully. The panel will also reflect on challenges and opportunities, along with the panelists’ own experiences, while reflecting on how law schools, in collaboration with others, can continue to advance the interests of the communities they serve. 

Friday, January 9 

Rule of Law, Executive Orders, and the Legal Profession 

9:35 – 10:50 am 

This panel will explore and discuss the executive orders, regulatory pressure, and public accusations against major law firms, the resulting legal challenges, the different responses by firms, and the implications for the profession. The panel will also discuss some of the legal challenges around attempts to reshape higher education and some of the similarities in the administration’s campaign against firms and universities. The panel consists of managing partners of prominent law firms and others who have advised law firms and universities. 

Networking  

There are plenty of opportunities for you to connect with colleagues new and old throughout the meeting.   

General networking  

Attend the opening reception and roam the Exhibit Hall offerings, arrange meetings during the extended coffee breaks each day of the meeting, and check out law school receptions each night.    

For new faculty  

Your first stop should be the session for first-time meeting attendees on Tuesday, January 6, followed immediately that evening by the reception for new law school teachers. 

For pretenured teachers 

The annual Workshop for Pretenured Law School Teachers will take place on Wednesday, January 7. 

AALS Awards Ceremony 

Friday, January 9 | 11 am – 12:30 pm 

Join us for the annual AALS Awards Ceremony honoring our colleagues and celebrating excellence in legal education. During the ceremony, we will highlight the winners of the annual Scholarly Paper Competition, AALS Section of the Year, Section Award recipients, the Deborah L. Rhode Award, and the Michael A. Olivas Award for Outstanding Leadership in Diversity and Mentoring in the Legal Academy.