The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) is proud to announce the winners of its 2023 section awards for excellence in legal education.

The awards are hosted by several sections of the association organized around various academic disciplines and topics of interest. This year’s winners will be acknowledged during an awards ceremony at the 2023 AALS Annual Meeting on January 5.

“AALS sections are active communities that help foster connections, scholarship, and professional development for law school faculty, staff, and administrators,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, AALS President and Dean of University of California, Berkeley School of Law. “The association is honored to present section awards to these outstanding individuals and organizations that are truly making a difference in legal education through research, teaching, advocacy, and action.”

The 2023 AALS section award winners are:

Academic Support

• Impact Award, Jamie A. Kleppetsch, DePaul University College of Law
• Legacy in Leadership, Kristine L. Franklin, New York Law School

Administrative Law

• Emerging Scholar Award, Emily S. Bremer, Notre Dame Law School
• Emerging Scholar Award Honorable Mention, Noah A. Rosenblum, New York University School of Law

Aging and the Law

• Lifetime Achievement Award, Rebecca C. Morgan, Stetson University College of Law

Animal Law

• Excellence in Animal Law-Scholarship-Teaching-Service, Sherry F. Colb, Cornell Law School

Balance & Well-Being in Legal Education

• Annual Award of the Section on Balance & Well-Being in Legal Education, Heidi K. Brown, Brooklyn Law School

Comparative Law

• Mark Tushnet Prize in Comparative Law, Anna Conley, Alexander Blewett III School of Law at the University of Montana

Criminal Law

• Junior Scholars Paper Competition Award, Sheldon Evans, St. John’s University School of Law
• Junior Scholars Paper Competition Award Runners Up, Alexis Hoag-Fordjour, Brooklyn Law School; Kathryn Miller, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law; Roseanna Sommers, University of Michigan Law School

East Asian Law and Society

• Jerome A. Cohen Award for Lifetime Achievement in East Asian Law and Society, John Haley, Washington University in St. Louis School of Law

Election Law

• Distinguished Scholarship Award, Tabatha Abu El-Haj, Drexel University Thoams R. Kline School of Law
• Distinguished Scholarship Award Runner Ups, Bertrall Ross, University of Virginia School of Law; Douglas M. Spencer, The University of Colorado Law School
• John Hart Ely Prize in the Law of Democracy, Pamela S. Karlan, Stanford Law School

Evidence

• John Henry Wigmore Award for Lifetime Achievement, Richard D. Friedman, University of Michigan Law School

Family & Juvenile Law

• Section on Family & Juvenile Law Achievement Award, Elizabeth Scott, Columbia Law School

Federal Courts

• Best Untenured Article Award, Benjamin Johnson, The Pennsylvania State University, Penn State Law

Global Engagement

• Outstanding Achievement Award, David Austin, California Western School of Law

Intellectual Property

• Intellectual Property Section Award, Dmitry Karshtedt, The George Washington University Law School

International Human Rights

• Nelson Mandela Award, Gay McDougall, Fordham University School of Law

Jurisprudence

• Hart-Dworkin Award in Legal Philosophy, Seana Shiffrin, University of California, Los Angeles School of Law
• Jurisprudence Section Article Award, Rebecca Stone, University of California Los Angeles School of Law
• Future Promise Award, Erin Miller, University of Southern California Gould School of Law & Nina Varsava, University of Wisconsin Law School

Law and Religion

• Harold Berman Award for Excellence in Scholarship, Zalman Rothschild, University of Chicago, The Law School

Law and Sports

• Law and Sports Award, Josephine (Jo) R. Potuto, University of Nebraska College of Law

Law Libraries and Legal Information

• Outstanding Service & Contributions to the Profession, Anne Klinefelter, University of North Carolina School of Law

Law, Medicine and Health Care

• Distinguished Health Law Service Award, Kathy Cerminara, Nova Southeastern Shepard Broad College of Law

Law Professors with Disabilities and Allies

• Chai Feldblum Award, Arlene S. Kanter, Syracuse University College of Law; Katherine MacFarlane, Southern University Law Center

Legal Writing, Reasoning, and Research

• Legal Writing, Reasoning, and Research Award, Laura Graham, Wake Forest University School of Law

Minority Groups

• Clyde Ferguson Award, Tamara F. Lawson, University of Washington School of Law
• Derrick A. Bell Jr. Award, Daniel Scott Harawa, Washington University in St. Louis School of Law

Part-Time Division Programs

• Part-Time Program Excellence, Liam Skilling, University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law

Pre-Law Education and Admission to Law School

• Excellence in Pre-Law Advising Award, Tina Coco, The City University of New York, Baruch College
• Organizational Change-Maker Award, Undoculaw Northwest
• Programmatic Change-Maker Award, The Dillard Legal Education Advancing Diversity (LEAD) Program, Dillard University
• Presidential Change Maker Award, Bekah Saidman-Krauss, The Pennsylvania State University – Dickinson Law
• Up-and-Comer Award, Hannah Berman, The University of Alabama College of Arts and Sciences
• Unsung Hero Award, Alicia Miles, Alexander Blewett III School of Law at the University of Montana

Pro Bono & Access to Justice

• Access to Justice Award, Stephen Rispoli, Baylor University School of Law
• Emerging Leader Award, Deborah Schlosberg, University of California, Berkeley, School of Law
• Lifetime Achievement Award, Russell Engler, New England Law | Boston

Professional Responsibility

• Fred C. Zacharias Memorial Prize, Matthew Kim, Judicial Law Clerk on the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Miami, Florida

Remedies

• Lifetime Scholarly Achievement Award, Douglas Laycock, University of Virginia School of Law

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues

• 2023 Individual LGBTQ+ Inclusive Excellence Awards, Arthur S. Leonard, New York Law School
• 2023 Institutional LGBTQ+ Inclusive Excellence Awards, Northeastern University School of Law

Student Services

• Peter N. Kutulakis Award, Elizabeth T. Bangs, The University of Texas at Austin School of Law

Technology, Law and Legal Education

• Technology, Law and Legal Education Section Award, Amy Schmitz, The Ohio State University, Michael E. Moritz College of Law

Torts and Compensation Systems

• William L. Prosser Award, John C.P. Goldberg, Harvard Law School
• William L. Prosser Awarer, Benjamin C. Zipursky, Fordham University School of Law

Women in Legal Education

• Ruth Bader Ginsburg Lifetime Achievement Award, Cynthia Nance, University of Arkansas School of Law