CALL FOR PROPOSALS

We are accepting proposals immediately, but in no event later than 5:00 p.m., February 1, 2010.  We welcome proposals on any subject of interest to current or potential teachers of transactional law and skills.

To submit a proposal, please click here.

Among the topics we hope to receive proposals on are the following: 

PANELS

Each panel will be 90 minutes long.

1. Contract drafting—the “building block” for all transactional lawyering

• The five basic contract concepts as the foundation of contract drafting (representations and warranties, covenants, conditions, discretionary authority, and declarations)
• How to draft the different parts of a contract (introductory provisions, definitions, etc.)
• Writing clearly and without ambiguity
• Advanced contract drafting issues (syllabus, teaching methods, etc.)

2. Teaching transactions in an international setting

• The basic framework of contract law in civil law jurisdictions
• The drafting of contracts in civil law jurisdictions
• Business transactions in accordance with Islamic law
• Simulations as a mode of teaching
• Integration of international issues into transactional skills courses
• Cultural issues affecting the negotiation of international transactions
• The use of clinics to teach international transactions
• How non-U.S. law schools are teaching transactional skills
• Teaching foreign LLM students about drafting in a common law country

3. Teaching contract drafting for the first time—from a legal writing professor’s perspective

4. Teaching transactional skills in a doctrinal course

• Business Associations
• Contracts
• Corporate Finance
• Employment Law
• Intellectual Property
• Property
• Other courses

5.  Teaching accounting from a transactional perspective

6.  Teaching ethics from a transactional perspective

7. Teaching transactional skills other than contract drafting

• Problem solving
• Negotiation
• Interviewing and counseling
• Written communication: memoranda to superiors and clients
• Judgment
• How, if at all, does pedagogy differ from that used when teaching these skills in the litigation context

8. Teaching transaction-related tasks

• Project management
• Due diligence
• Third party opinion letters
• Drafting of resolutions

9. Transactional training techniques (including technology such as clickers and Google Docs)

10. Curricular Issues

• Field placements/externship programs
• The role of adjuncts in a transactional skills curriculum
• Interdisciplinary courses, including JD/MBA courses

11. Transactional Centers and Certificates

• Why have a center
• How to start and then run a center
• What is a transactional certificate program

EXERCISE SHOWCASES

We will also reserve several panels as “Exercise Showcases.” Each will be 90 minutes long. At each of these panels, professors will each take approximately 15 minutes to demonstrate an exercise he or she uses to teach a transactional skill or task or a principle of doctrinal law. In addition, we hope that each of the other panels, when appropriate, will take the opportunity to showcase an exercise.  

LUNCH ROUNDTABLES

At this conference, we will introduce Lunch Roundtables. They will be 40 minutes long. These will be informal group discussions of topical issues. If you would like to lead a Roundtable, please submit a proposal as you would if you were proposing a panel. 

ONLINE DATABANK OF TEACHING MATERIALS

As transactional education has expanded, the need for high quality training materials has continued to grow. Unfortunately, we do not yet have enough textbooks that adequately address our needs. As a result, professors labor to create materials for their courses. Currently, gaining access to these terrific teaching materials is generally by word of mouth or a request on a listserv. One goal of this conference, therefore, is to create a databank of teaching materials available to professors and practitioners. The databank will be known as The Emory Exchange for Transactional Training Materials. It will store (for eligible users) syllabi, PowerPoint slides, exercises and other transactional teaching materials that professors and practitioners submit. Our hope is that the Exchange will facilitate the growth of transactional education by being a source of high quality teaching materials.  It will be "live" for downloads on June 4, 2010, the first day of the conference.   If you would like to submit materials separately from submitting a proposal for the conference, please click here.

REGISTRATION AND HOTEL INFORMATION

Information on registration and hotel reservations will be distributed in early 2010. To keep the costs for registrants as modest as possible, speakers must pay the registration fee and for their own travel expenses.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS

To submit a proposal, please click here. Once again, the deadline is 5:00 p.m., February 1, 2010.

Emory is delighted to once again host this conference, and we look forward to seeing you in Atlanta on June 4 and 5.

Cordially,

The Steering Committee