At the largest and most influential annual gathering of law professors and administrators, LMU Loyola Law School faculty and leaders shared scholarship, research, and other works on everything from the Voting Rights Act to developments in employment discrimination and property law. Meanwhile, two icons of their discipline received awards for their work.
The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Annual Meeting in San Francisco earlier this month leaned on the theme “Courage in Action,” which served as a conference through-line. In a “Reporter Roundtable” hosted by AALS’ Institutional Advancement section, reporters urged law school faculty to weigh in on legal topics in the headlines. “We need more courage from lawyers and scholars to comment on hot-button issues,” said Reuters’ Karen Sloan.
Two AALS sections honored LLS faculty and staff for their significant contributions to legal scholarship:
- The Section on Taxation gave Ellen Aprill, a distinguished retired faculty, the Lifetime Achievement Award. Aprill was a member of the LLS faculty from 1989-2022 and was the founding director of its Tax LLM program. She continues to be a leading voice in scholarship on tax and philanthropy, tax exemption, and more.
- The Section on Law Professors with Disabilities and Allies gave its Chai Feldblum Award to Katherine Pérez, director of the LMU Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy & Innovation, for her contributions to the inclusion of people with disabilities in legal academia. Among the Coelho Center’s many offerings and projects, Pérez leads the annual Coelho Law Fellowship for college students and graduates with disabilities who aspire to go to law school.
Six LLS faculty participated in panels and discussions on topics in their areas of expertise:
- Professor and William M. Rains Fellow Stephanie Bornstein participated in the panel “Employment Discrimination Law and Labor Relations and Employment Law Joint Program.” Bornstein also participated in the panel “Gender Justice and Administrative Law After Chevron” at the Harvard Journal of Law & Gender’s fall 2024 symposium.
- Visiting Associate Clinical Professor Jonathan Bremen moderated a session for junior scholars in property law. Bremen’s recent scholarship has focused on new ways to engage law students through legal research and writing courses.
- Professor and Therese Maynard Chair in Business Law Jennifer Fan spoke on the panel “Agency, Partnerships, LLCs, and Unincorporated Associations.” Her latest article Startup Biasesin the UC Davis Law Review (republished in the Corporate Practice Commentator) addresses a critical gap in corporate diversity scholarship by analyzing DEI issues from a private company perspective.
- Professor and John T. Gurash Fellow in Corporate Law & Business Michael Guttentag participated in two panels about securities regulation. Guttentag joined the Business Scholarship Podcast to discuss his book chapter “What Inside Information Is Worth and Why It Matters,” which will be included in the forthcoming Research Handbook on Insider Trading (Second Edition).
- Professor Jonathan Harris spoke on the panel “Socio-Economics and the Future of Labor Rights.” His forthcoming Georgetown Law Journal article Credentialism at Workreveals the ways that policymakers and for-profit job training companies lean on the meritocracy narrative to persuade workers to stack nondegree credentials.
- Professor and Gerald T. McLaughlin Fellow Justin Levitt participated in the panel “The Voting Rights Act at 60.” Levitt was recently published in Slate discussing conspiracy theories surrounding the election process for the 2024 presidential election.
Elsewhere, faculty participated in discussions about current challenges in the legal education field:
- Fritz B. Burns Dean Brietta Clark and Professor Robert Brain led a discussion about ABA changes for tenure-track faculty.
- Clark joined a workshop for pre-tenured law school teachers of color.
- Professor Rebecca Delfino, associate dean for clinical programs and experiential learning, participated in a panel on law school administration and finance.
- Professor and James P. Bradley Chair in Constitutional Law Kimberly West-Faulcon participated in the panel “Empirical Study of Legal Education and the Legal Profession,” co-sponsored by Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Professionals, Law and the Social Sciences, and Minority Groups.