Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law faculty and administrators made an impact with an active presence at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) held January 6-10, 2016, in New York City. The AALS meeting gathers together law professors from around the country to share ideas on scholarship, pedagogical innovation, management of law schools, and overall planning for the future for legal education. Administrators from key departments such as admissions, advancement, student affairs, and communications also meet to share ideas and discuss new developments.

Professor Deepa Badrinarayana served in 2015 as the Chair of the AALS Section on Law and South Asian Studies and as an Executive Committee member of the Section on Environmental Law.  At the Meeting, Professor Badrinarayana was elected to serve on the Executive Committee of the Section on Law and South Asian Studies for 2016. Professor Badrinarayana also moderated the crosscutting program on “International Environmental Law and the North-South Divide: At the Crossroads of Economic, Environmental, Human Rights, Energy, Food, Climate, and Sustainable Development Law.” Finally, Professor Badrinarayana moderated the panel sponsored by the Law and South Asian Studies Section on “Environmental Futures: South Asia’s Law and Policy Challenges.”

During 2015, Professor Rita Barnett-Rose served on the Awards Committee for the AALS Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning, & Research.

Professor Denis Binder was a speaker on the panel sponsored by the Law and South Asian Studies Section on “Environmental Futures: South Asia’s Law and Policy Challenges.”

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor Daniel Bogart was elected to the Executive Committee of the AALS Section on Real Estate Transactions for 2016.

Professor Lan Cao was elected as the Secretary for the AALS Section on International Legal Exchange.  Professor Cao was also elected to the Executive Committee of the AALS Section on International Law.

Professor John Eastman was a speaker on a panel held at the Federalist Society Annual Faculty Conference in conjunction with the AALS Annual Meeting entitled “Multiculturalism: Its Force and Limits from 1776 to Today.”

Professor Sam Ernst served as Chapman’s representative to the AALS House of Representatives.

AALS Deepa speaking at podium with panelist


Professors Deepa Badrinarayana and Denis Binder presented on the panel addressing “Environmental Futures: South Asia’s Law and Policy Challenges.”

Director of Communications and Lecturer David Finley served in 2015 as Chair of the Communications Track of the AALS Institutional Advancement Section and was elected to serve as Co-chair Elect of the Institutional Advancement Section for 2016. This year, David planned and moderated four panels: “Copyrights, Trademarks and Fair Use of Social Media Content;” “Preparing Law Faculty for Media Appearances;” “Producing High-Impact Videos for Marketing and Communications;” and, “Using Podcasts in the Media Mix.” As Co-chair Elect, he is part of the senior leadership team that will plan the Institutional Advancement Section’s two-day programs in San Francisco in 2017 and San Diego in 2018.

Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development and Professor Donald Kochan served in 2015 as the Secretary for the AALS Section on Property Law and organized that Section’s Junior Scholar Mentoring Session held during the Section’s annual breakfast meeting.  Dean Kochan was also elected to serve as Chair-Elect for the Property Section for 2016.  Later in the conference, Dean Kochan also served as a commenter on a junior scholar’s paper presentation at the New Voices in Administrative Law program held by the AALS Section on Administrative Law.  Dean Kochan also represented Chapman at meetings of law school associate deans held at the AALS Annual Meeting.

Professor Michael Lang was a speaker on the panel co-sponsored by the AALS Section on Taxation and the AALS Section on Professional Responsibility on “Advising Taxpayers in the 21st Century: Ethical Challenges.”

During 2015, Professor Abigail Patthoff served on the 2015 Outreach Committee for the AALS Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning, & Research.

Professor Larry Rosenthal was a speaker on the panel sponsored by the AALS Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning & Research on “Reimagining the Curriculum to Address Student Needs and Bench and Bar Demands.”  Professor Rosenthal also presented his paper on “Compulsion” as part of a panel of scholars selected from a call for papers to present their scholarly works-in-progress at the Federalist Society’s Annual Faculty Conference held in conjunction with the AALS Annual Meeting.

Since 2014, Professor Ronald Rotunda has served as a Member of the Board of Editors of the AALS’s
Journal of Legal Education.

Professor Kenneth Stahl served in 2015 on the Executive Committee of the AALS Section on State and Local Government Law.  Professor Stahl was once again elected to the Executive Committee for 2016.

Above: Professor Michael Lang presents at the 2016 AALS meeting in New York City.