Last week, I posted about a discussion group I am organizing on teaching numeracy for the Southeastern Association of Law Schools (SEALS) 2024 annual meeting.  (Thanks to those who responded!)  I also am working with folks who are organizing another session.  More on that in another post!  And some of you or others you know also may be proposing panels or discussion groups.  But the Business Law Workshop at the conference can always use another program, imv.

With that thought in mind, I am reaching out to suggest that you organize a business program for the SEALS 2024 annual meeting.  The SEALS submission webpage includes instructions and information about the submission process and a hypertext link to the the submission site.  The submission site is open for 2024 program proposals now and is easy to navigate.  I am happy to help by answering any questions you may have (or by getting answers for you).

The only tricky parts are determining the type of session you want to organize and complying with the requirements for that type of session.  The two most common types of programs are panels and discussion groups, as follows:

PANELS

Panels are the traditional presentations at most conferences. The time allotted is about an hour-and-a-half, and between 4 and 6 panelists do presentations around a central theme or subject. You should leave time for questions or discussion with the audience at the end of the presentations.

Here are the rules that govern Panels:

• • Panels must include at least four speakers.
  • Panels must include both a title for the program, as well as a description of the program.
  • If your proposal would fit into a workshop in a particular area (e.g., constitutional law, criminal procedure, business law, teaching), please indicate that fact in your proposal.
  • Before you list someone as a speaker, please confirm that person is willing and able to participate.
  • The one-panel-per-person rule applies. No attendee may serve on more than one panel. This rule governs all kinds of panels and includes moderators and panelists. There are a
    couple of situations in which this rule will not apply: the Call for Papers presentations, Discussion Groups, mentors for new scholars, and programming in the other special workshops with attendance limited to special registrants (e.g., the workshops for new law teachers and prospective law teachers).
  • Only one person per school can be on a panel unless the two people are co-authors. They are treated as one person for purposes of time.
  • At least half the panelists (including the moderator) must be from institutional and affiliate member schools,

DISCUSSION GROUPS

Discussion Groups require ten discussants, with the designation of one of them as the moderator of the discussion. Groups may include a few additional discussants. Discussion Groups are scheduled in either two-hour or three-hour blocks. The discussants often have concise written papers on a central theme, abstracts, or have prepared some thoughts around several questions connected to that theme. The discussants circulate their papers or thoughts in writing before the conference, spend 3-5 minutes summarizing their points, and then discuss the theme in more depth along with all attendees in the room. Wide audience participation and discussion are the focus of this kind of programming.

To propose a Discussion Group, you will need at least ten discussants.

• • Discussion Group proposals must include a title, as well as a description of the Discussion Group.
  • Before you list someone as a speaker, please confirm that person is willing and able to participate.
  • If your proposal would fit into a workshop in a particular area (e.g., constitutional law, criminal procedure, business law, teaching), please indicate that fact in your proposal.
  • The one-panel-per-person rule does not apply.
  • The one-person-per-school rule does not apply.
  • Discussion Group organizers must issue a call for participants.
  • At least one-fourth of the discussants must be from institutional and affiliate member schools.

So, think about who you might want to join up with to vet current research or talk about teaching methods, techniques, or tools!  Then, propose a program.  The date of the conference (July 21-27, 2024) is optimally situated to position business law faculty for the new school year.  As a result, it is a great conference for rededicating oneself to one’s law scholarship and teaching.