Call for Proposals to Host Ninth Annual AALS Works in Progress Conference

For the last several years, one of the best events on the ADR calendar has been the annual Works in Progress Conference coordinated by the AALS Section on Dispute Resolution. Last year’s conference, held in November, was hosted by Southwestern Law School. We are now starting the process of identifying the host for the 2015 conference. If your school might be interested in hosting, please see the Call for Proposals I have included below. Proposals are due March 1, 2015, and can be sent to me at cole.228@osu.edu.

Call for Proposals:

The AALS Alternative Dispute Resolution Section is seeking a host for the 9th Annual Works-in-Progress Conference to take place in the fall of 2015. The WIP Conference has become one of the “must attends” in the ADR academic field. Previous hosts include Marquette, Arizona State, Harvard, Oregon, Creighton, Ohio State, Cardozo and Southwestern.

The host institution is responsible for organizing all of the logistics for the conference, such as picking dates, lining up hotels, and scheduling receptions and presentations. Additionally, the conference host is responsible for choosing the papers to be presented.

The Section’s Executive Committee will consider several criteria in selecting the next host institution, including:

• Proximity to a major airport and reasonably-priced hotels
• Planned outreach to attract junior faculty
• Planned or demonstrated outreach to attract law faculty from regional law schools
• Demonstrated engagement with the ADR academic community
• Indications of institutional support for the conference (e.g., funds for meals, sufficient staffing)
• Planned mechanisms to enhance the rigorous yet collegial atmosphere of the program; factors to be considered include:
– Schedule and structure (number of days, length of presentations, one track or multiple tracks, etc.)
– Methods for ensuring that presenters receive quality feedback
• Demonstrated experience with hosting similar events
• Any special circumstances that support an institution’s application

Proposals should be sent electronically to Professor Sarah Cole, 2015 Chair of the ADR Section, at cole.228@osu.edu by March 1, 2015. In the transmittal e-mail subject matter line, please put “AALS ADR Section WIP Conference Proposal.” If you have any questions, please contact Sarah Cole at the e-mail address listed above. We look forward to hearing from you!