Dean’s Fellows share reflections from Association of American Law Schools Annual Meeting

In January, Penn State Dickinson Law and School of International Affairs Dean and Donald J. Farage Professor of Law Danielle M. Conway was elected president of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) during the Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. Conway invited a group of 1L Dean’s Fellows, students recognized with scholarships for their leadership and academic accomplishments, to accompany her to the event and witness her election. Here, the students reflect in their own words on this unique learning opportunity and share their takeaways.

Alessandra Ayoub ’28

I wanted to attend the AALS Annual Meeting to see Dean Conway become the president of AALS. I also hoped I would get to learn more about legal academia.

The most valuable part of this experience was meeting all the professors and professionals from different institutions. I met so many people with so much experience and knowledge in their respective fields. It is rare that as a student I would get the chance to pick the brains of so many legal professionals.

I was able to learn about different paths people took to get to where they were, and it gave me a lot of career insight I would not have gotten otherwise. I am taking much of the advice I got at the Annual Meeting, and it has given me a better sense of direction.

Courtney Carmichael ’28

I wanted to attend the meeting in part to learn more about the association and Dean Conway’s new role in it and to hear from professors/deans from around the country about what they are doing to keep up with the changing landscape of academia and the law.

I really enjoyed hearing from professors about some of the techniques they are employing in the classroom to keep students engaged and the cutting-edge research they are involved in on things like space law and deep-sea law.

The experience shifted my perspective on academia and has made me more curious about other areas of the law. Going forward, I am interested in widening my selection of potential classes and participating in more on-campus lectures and academic presentations.

Dante Coppotelli ’28

I wanted to attend the AALS meeting because I thought it was a great opportunity to immerse myself in legal academia and learn more about a wide variety of legal topics. At the AALS meeting, I met professors of law from around the country, listened to research presentations in the works, and learned about the law from professors and professionals with years of experience.

The most interesting thing about the AALS meeting was the consensus that academia and expertise are being attacked by the current administration and society. Trust in expertise has been on a decline, and many of the conversations recognized this reality and identified ways to address this issue.

The AALS meeting has changed my perspective on being a law professor. Before attending, I wanted to focus on practicing law, and I had never thought about being a law professor. Seeing the passion those professors emanated was inspirational and changed my perspective on the future of my legal career.

Riley Clever ’28

I wanted to attend the AALS Annual Meeting because I recognized that it was an exceptional opportunity to meet many professionals working in various areas of the law across the country.

The most valuable parts of attending the Annual Meeting were the conversations and connections I made with professionals both from Penn State Dickinson Law and other institutions. Specifically, I had the opportunity to talk to faculty (including Dean Conway, Associate Dean for Antiracism and Critical Pedagogy Shaakirrah R. Sanders, and Professor Ronnie R. Gipson Jr.) about their professional interests and work, as well as learn more about them as people. I was also able to meet a few other people from other institutions, including Professor Michael Bazyler [of Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law] and Professor Danielle Copes [of the University of Memphis School of Law]. Both shared invaluable information about opportunities available for law students and how they can help our legal careers in the future.

This experience was invaluable and really opened my eyes to the various opportunities available to law students. I am a first-generation law student and do not know much about the journey to a legal career. By attending this event and hearing from different professionals, I have learned the various shapes a legal career can take, which has impacted the way I view where I am and where I need to go.

Tobias Kleinman ’28

I wanted to attended the AALS meeting because it was an opportunity I have not been afforded anywhere else. The opportunity to attend a conference on its own was interesting, but to get to learn more about what people research, what pressing subjects are in the legal field across all areas of practice, and how law schools are organized was one of a kind, and I could not miss it.

My favorite session was a talk on the First Amendment, which covered a variety of questions regarding how and where it may be invoked and what is actually meant by freedom of expression or assembly. I may be a bit biased, as I am taking Constitutional Law this semester, but I thought it was valuable because it demonstrated how many ways one single subject could be attacked and how long stretching consequences of a few words or an interpretation may be.

I believe the event gave me some well-needed exposure to future subjects I want to take. I am among the group of incoming students who have no idea where they want to end up working for the rest of their life, and the opportunity to see what certain areas of law look and sound like was invaluable. Because of the event, I have added a few courses to the to-do list for my upcoming semester and shaved a few experimental courses off, given my experience so far. It is not definitive by any means, but when there are so many fields of law with such similar roots, you have got to start somewhere.

Elizabeth Knapp ’28

I wanted to attend the AALS meeting because I knew it would be a wonderful opportunity to see our very own Dean Conway present her theme for the 2027 AALS Annual Meeting— “Emancipate. Academic. Freedom.” At the meeting, Dean Conway’s speech garnered rounds of applause from all the attendees. I am so grateful to attend Penn State Dickinson Law, and I felt so proud of our school’s representation at the Annual Meeting.

I found many things about the experience valuable and worthwhile. I had the chance to network with professors from around the country and got to explore my own legal interests by listening to panel discussions and attending receptions. We also had free time to explore New Orleans and were able to experience the cuisine, eating lots of beignets, gumbo, and even trying alligator!

Additionally, I had the opportunity to connect with Penn State Dickinson Law professors whom I had not met yet and was able to learn more about their interests outside of the classroom. When the first day of the spring semester rolled around, I had already been acquainted with my Constitutional Law professor, Associate Dean Sanders. It was wonderful to connect with her and learn more about her experiences in New Orleans, as she went to Loyola University New Orleans College of Law for law school.

I witnessed many interdisciplinary topics and conversations displayed at the Annual Meeting. The first panel session we attended was titled “Vaccine Skepticism” in the realm of biolaw. This connects to my future educational goals as I will be attending Johns Hopkins University to obtain my Master of Public Health next year and will then be returning to Penn State Dickinson Law to finish the final two years of my legal education.

James Rogus ’28

I wanted to attend the 2026 AALS meeting because it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. It is not every day you get to represent your law school at an event dedicated to them.

Demystifying the idea of attending an academic conference was incredibly valuable for my perception of legal academia. I had never gone to an academic convention before this, and suffice it to say, I was pleasantly surprised by how receptive and nice everyone was. People are there to learn, have discussions with others, and have fun in the area. It really was awesome.

I am ready to do it again! Well, not this exact thing again, but something similar. I think if anything, attending the 2026 AALS meeting incentivized me to keep up with modern legal discourse and news so as to not be in the dark for conversations at meetings such as these.

Tristen Sutton ’28

I wanted to attend the AALS meeting for the opportunity to network with other law school deans and faculty and to gain a broader view of the opportunities the legal field offers students. Seeing deans and faculty present their research and the wide range of topics gave me extremely helpful insight into just how vast the legal field is.

The most interesting and valuable thing I took away from attending AALS was attending a national security law panel. I went into AALS with some ideas about what I wanted to practice, and I gained firsthand insight into how national security law experts present their research and the wide variety of perspectives they offer.

Going to AALS definitely affirmed my interest in national security law, and I plan to take more classes to see if this path is what I want to practice. In the future, the opportunity for Dean’s Fellows to attend AALS is a great idea and offers them the chance to network not only with their classmates at the other Penn State Dickinson Law location but also with faculty and deans from across the country.