Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference
Exeter 2026
Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference
Exeter 2026
The deadline to submit an abstract for consideration for the ALT Annual Conference 2026 is Monday 15 December 2025 (11:59pm). Please submit abstracts to alt2026@exeter.ac.uk (indicating in your cover email if you are an Early Career academic). Follow the University of Exeter Law School on LinkedIn for regular conference updates.
Conference Theme: ‘Reimagining Legal Education for the Future of Law‘
The University of Exeter and the Association of Law Teachers invite abstract submissions for the ALT Annual Conference 2026, which will take place on 16-17 April 2026.
Technology is radically reshaping the way we ‘do’ and study law, and legal education is slowly but certainly undergoing its own transformation as a result: to more effectively and holistically prepare graduates for the complex and rapidly shifting demands of the global legal profession; and educate future lawyers with the soft skills, cultural competencies and multiple intelligences to work collaboratively across sectors and beyond borders. The rise of algorithmic decision-making, automated contract review and ‘digital lawyering’ has highlighted the urgent need to address gaps in AI literacy and digital skills within the core law curriculum, to ensure that graduates can critically and responsibly engage with the tools and technologies that are already transforming legal practice in unprecedented ways. As attacks on the rule of law escalate globally, lawyers now and in the future will continue to play a critical role in upholding legal principles, advancing access to justice and safeguarding the independence of the legal profession, as well as in the realisation of sustainability and climate-related goals, and in championing social justice and steering equitable, inclusive development.
In response, law teachers in the UK and beyond are reimagining legal pedagogy and innovating the way we teach and assess law: embedding experiential and clinical legal education, promoting interdisciplinarity, bridging the pedagogy/practice gap through ‘pracademia’, redesigning curricula to promote ‘next-gen’ legal skills and reinforcing in a new context more traditional skills such as critical thinking and human-centred lawyering. Many law teachers are emphasising social justice and sustainability education within the law school, and emphasising the importance of emotion and wellbeing as integral to producing adaptive, reflective and socially engaged graduates who can thrive and make a difference in a world of work, law and business that is undergoing profound social, economic and cultural change.
The ALT2026 Annual Conference at Exeter Law School offers an opportunity for academics, professionals and practitioners to convene and exchange ideas, best practices, and opportunities to collaborate and ready our learners for the future. In particular, the conference will focus on pedagogical innovations related to teaching and assessment, human-centred legal education, and the development of emerging skills and competencies into the core law curriculum: from soft skills and professional ethics training to digital lawyering and entrepreneurial skills, including the use of AI and other technologies.
Whilst submissions can relate to any element of legal education pertaining to the overall theme, we specifically invite proposals for panels, workshops and papers on the following:
We welcome submissions in a variety of formats e.g. traditional paper presentations, panels, posters, ‘lightbulb’ TED-style talks and workshops. We particularly welcome submissions from Early Career Academics (3 years or less since completion of PhD or commencement of a full-time academic position).