MEMORANDUM 02-06

 

January 31, 2002

 

To: Deans of Member and Fee-Paid Schools
From: Carl C. Monk
Subject: Proposed Change to AALS “Statement of Good Practices by Law Professors in the Discharge of their Ethical and Professional Responsibilities”

 

In late 1998 the AALS Executive Committee asked the Committee on Curriculum and Research to consider whether more specific language should be adopted regarding what is expected of a law professor who receives research support from any source other than the law school. As many of you know, the issue of funded research has attracted substantial attention throughout higher education and is one which many learned societies have addressed in one manner or another.

The current AALS statement that would be amended reads:

“A law professor has a responsibility to preserve the integrity and independence of legal scholarship. Sponsored or remunerated research should always be acknowledged with full disclosure of the interests of the parties. If views expressed in an article were also espoused in the course of representation of a client or in consulting, this should be acknowledged.”

The Committee produced a draft that was widely circulated prior to the January 2000 AALS Annual Meeting, at which a “mock hearing” was held. Many written and oral comments were received, and the annual meeting program attracted press attention in at least “The Wall Street Journal” and “The San Francisco Daily Journal”. In response to comments received the Committee produced a second draftwhich was then publicly distributed through the AALS Newsletter for additional comments. Additional changes were made based on those comments and the Committee produced its final draft in March 2001. This draft was then submitted to the Executive Committee, which made some additional changes that resulted in the attached language. A Statement of Good Practices does not have the force and effect of a membership requirement but it does constitute a formal AALS recommended practice. It is only bylaws and Executive Committee Regulations that constitute membership requirements.

The Executive Committee is now distributing this draft to you for any comments you might want to submit before final action, which is anticipated at the Executive Committee’s May meeting. Comments should be submitted to AALS Deputy Director Veryl Miles by either “snail mail” or e-mail at vmiles@aals.org, no later than April 15, 2002.

cc:
Committee on Curriculum and Research
Executive Committee
Veryl V. Miles, Deputy Director

 

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