Faculty at AALS Takes on NextGen Bar Exam, Lawsuit ‘Interventions,’ and Defending Democracy

01/05/2024

AALS Professors 3

Legal Writing Professors Meg Holzer, Joy Kanwar, and Irene Ten Cate were speakers at an AALS panel session on Jan. 5 that looks ahead to how law professors can prepare themselves and students for the NextGen Bar Exam in 2026. 

 

Brooklyn Law faculty continued to lead peers in discussions of thought-provoking topics at AALS this week, including today when a trio of our legal writing professors are speaking at a session on the upcoming “NextGen Bar Exam,” which is set to make its debut in July 2026. 

The three legal writing professors, including Assistant Professor Meg Holzer, Arthur Pinto & Stephen Bohlen Associate Dean of Inclusion & Diversity and Professor Joy Kanwar, and Associate Director of the Block Center for International Business Law and Associate Professor  Irene Ten Cate, team up at a session focused on providing guidance for the NextGen Bar Exam, titled “Legal Writing, Reasoning, and Research, Co-Sponsored by Academic Support, Law Libraries and Legal Information, and Student Services.”   Session Details (aals.org) 
Since law school professors will just be seeing the final exam and content in the second quarter of 2024, the session aims to assist new and experienced law teachers in learning how to incorporate the skills needed to both learn the material themselves and help students succeed on the exam.  

Also speaking today are the following professors: 

  • Professor of Clinical Law Jonathan Askin and founder/director of the Brooklyn Law Incubator & Policy Clinic (BLIP) will participate in a discussion on “Technology, Law and Legal Education, Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education and Teaching Methods,” for which topics include innovative technologies and programs that the next generation of law students is learning in efforts to help low-income Americans who are under-served by the legal profession. Session Details (aals.org) 
  • Dean’s Research Scholar and Professor Robin Effron is moderating a “Civil Procedure” panel discussing “Rule 24: The Power and Politics of Intervention,” which looks at how the ability of non-parties to “intervene” in lawsuits has become a popular and powerful mechanism for adjudicating all manner of interests and a flashpoint in controversial cases involving abortion and immigration, among other hot-button topics. Session Details (aals.org) 
  • Professor Cynthia Godsoe is a commentator on a works-in-progress panel in “Family and Juvenile Law,” at which emerging scholars will share their work and receive comments and feedback. Session Details (aals.org) 
  • Assistant Professor Sarah Lorr will be featured in a panel on “Disability Law Co-Sponsored by Law Professors with Disabilities and Allies.” The panel will discuss the intersections between reproductive rights and disability justice. Session Details (aals.org) 
  • Assistant Professor of Academic Success and Assistant Director of the Academic Success Program Flora Midwood was selected from a call for papers to present on the panel, “Criminal Procedure,” which will look at how the NextGen Bar exam’s new focus on practical skills and abilities, among other changes, will impact teaching criminal law and procedure.  Session Details (aals.org) 
  • Professor & Associate Dean for Research and Scholarship Jocelyn Simonson is speaking on a panel, “Law and Anthropology, Co-Sponsored by Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure,” which brings together scholars of the American prison to reflect on the present and future of empirical prison studies, and the importance of linking activism with research that surfaces the experiences of individuals whose lives are shaped by incarceration. Session Details (aals.org) 
  • Assistant Professor of Law Naveen Thomas was selected from a call for papers to speak on a panel, “Transactional Law and Skills,” which includes discussion of new approaches to effective teaching and learning, and presenters sharing experiential exercises they have used in business/transactional courses. Session Details (aals.org) 

On Friday, the following faculty will help close out the conference, with topics that include administrative law and defending democracy, including at law schools: 

  • Stanley A. August Professor of Law William Araiza, author of Rebuilding Expertise, will join an “Administrative Law” panel on the topic of politics, expertise, and accountability in regulatory review. The panel examines, among other topics, the Biden administration’s efforts to restore eroded public trust in bureaucratic expertise by broadening public participation in administrative processes. Session Details (aals.org) 
  • Assistant Professor of Academic Success and Assistant Director of the Academic Success Program Flora Midwood is moderating a works-in-progress panel titled “Remedies,” which includes a presentation of four works-in-progress that will be followed by feedback. Session Details (aals.org)  
  • Assistant Professor & Director of the Disability and Civil Rights Clinic Prianka Nair is speaking on a panel, “Disability Law, Co-Sponsored by Law Professors with Disabilities and Allies,” where panelists will discuss how policing and surveillance intersect with disabilities.  Session Details (aals.org) 
  • Associate Professor of Legal Writing Danielle Tully is speaking on a panel, “Scholarship,” which examines the issue of defending democracy and the democratic ideals that may govern law schools.  Session Details (aals.org) 
  • Assistant Professor of Law Sarah Winsberg is speaking on a panel, “Legal History,” which will be looking at new voices in the legal history of capitalism.   Session Details (aals.org)