Scholarly Papers Competition

AALS Selects 2019 Scholarly Papers Competition Winners

The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) has announced the winners of the 2019 AALS Scholarly Papers Competition for law school faculty members in the field for five years or fewer.

The Forgotten History of Metes and Bounds
Maureen E. Brady, Associate Professor, University of Virginia School of Law

Corporate Disestablishment
James D. Nelson, Assistant Professor, University of Houston Law Center

In “The Forgotten History of Metes and Bounds,” Professor Brady explores the social and legal context surrounding the use of metes and bounds to survey and describe property in the American colonial era. She argues that the metes and bounds system carried neglected benefits for American settlers and uses this history to illustrate the value of customization as well as standardization within property regimes. The draft article is available on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) and will be published in an upcoming issue of the Yale Law Journal.

In “Corporate Disestablishment,” Professor Nelson identifies and defends a set of legal principles limiting corporate religious liberty in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby. The article will be published in an upcoming issue of the Virginia Law Review.

The AALS Committee to Review Scholarly Papers for the 2019 Annual Meeting included distinguished legal scholars from around the country:

The competition is now in its 33rd year and the awards will be presented during the 2019 AALS Annual Meeting, January 2-6 in New Orleans.