The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Committee on Sections has selected the AALS Section on Children and the Law as the organization’s Section of the Year.
First established in 2018, the AALS Section of the Year Award recognizes excellence in member support and other activities that promote the association’s core values. Such activities include community/pro bono service; expanding membership and member engagement; supporting faculty scholarship; providing mentorship and teaching support; and developing impactful programming. AALS hosts 108 sections where law school faculty, administrators, and staff connect year-round on issues of shared interest.
The AALS Section on Children and the Law showcased its commitment to uplifting the scholarship of new law faculty, introducing two new workshop series, increasing membership, and enhancing member engagement. The section demonstrated dedication to outreach to its members by revamping its leadership teams to include new section faculty members, who brought fresh ideas, perspectives, and experiences to the section’s executive committee, and by targeted outreach to new members to incorporate them into the section better.
Chair of the Section of the Year
“I am truly delighted that our Section has been recognized by the AALS with this honor” said Jonathan Todres, Chair of the AALS Section on Children and the Law and Distinguished University Professor and Catherine C. Henson Professor of Law at the Georgia State University College of Law. “We’ve had a wonderful mix of truly engaged faculty—both newer and more senior—who have helped develop exciting new programming. I am particularly excited about our new workshop series, including both our ‘incubator’ series, which provides a space for faculty—especially earlier career faculty—to workshop new ideas, and our ‘dialogues’ series, which hosted an event recently on ‘centering children in law school courses.’ All of this has helped foster a wonderfully supportive community of teacher-scholars who are committed to elevating children and youth.”
The AALS Section on Children and the Law also collaborated with a number of other Sections throughout the year, including partnering with the Section on Education Law on a Works-in-Progress conference held at the University of California College of Law, San Francisco, and in hosting an annual meeting program titled “Law and the Political Participation of Children and Youth.”
“It is an honor to recognize the important work of the Section on Children and the Law this year,” said Jill Engle, Chair of the selection committee and Clinical Professor of Law at Penn State Dickinson Law. “Our committee received several outstanding nominations, and our decision was difficult. The Section of the Year Award is an honor that recognizes exceptional efforts by section leaders and members to promote AALS values through collegial connections, educational enrichment, and innovative programs and activities over the course of the year.”
The section will be recognized at an awards ceremony during the AALS Annual Meeting in New Orleans on January 9, 2026.