Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer
Dear Colleagues and Friends of Legal Education:
As the Constitution of the United States is the cornerstone of democracy, America’s law schools are the foundation of our legal system. They prepare future lawyers to uphold the founders’ vision and to protect the rights it guarantees to the people. Graduates not only practice law, but become problem solvers and leaders in government, business, and the academy. The American legal academy is a model for the world.
For more than a century, AALS has worked to advance excellence in legal education by supporting outstanding teaching and scholarship, encouraging innovation, and promoting diversity of backgrounds and viewpoints at our member schools. We are proud to serve as a voice for legal education in the United States.
AALS is also the learned society for the legal academy. We bring faculty together to explore the full panoply of issues that guide and challenge both public and private lives. Our many platforms for collaboration and opportunities for connection include:
- The AALS Annual Meeting, which constitutes one of the world’s largest gathering of law faculty and professional staff.
- More than 100 AALS Sections organized around subject matter, affinity group, or area of professional interest that provide year-round activity and professional development.
- Support for new faculty as they begin their careers.
- Venues for clinical faculty to gather, collaborate, and innovate.
Our services also assist law schools in recruitment and appointment of faculty, and guide law school graduates who express interest in becoming a law teacher.
With our responsibility as a learned society in mind, AALS publishes the Journal of Legal Education and co-sponsors the Clinical Law Review. We also collect data and produce research reports on topics of vital importance to legal education and higher education more broadly.
We also collect and share news about legal education to inform our members and the public about the latest developments in our nation’s law schools.
I invite you to explore AALS, what we do, and how law schools are responding to the challenges facing legal education and our world.
Kellye Y. Testy
Executive Director & CEO