Main program: Impact, Excellence, Resilience, and Professional Integrity: Educating Lawyers as Leaders
Thursday, January 8, 2026, 2:35 PM – 3:50 PM Hilton New Orleans Riverside, First Floor, Grand Salon Section 3
Questions recently have been raised about the integrity of lawyers, judges, and legal institutions. The legal profession is tasked with ensuring the integrity of its members and the stability of legal institutions, even in the face of growing partisanship, declining civility, and low levels of social trust. What does principled leadership look like in contexts of uncertainty, where legislative actions, executive orders, and judicial opinions continually raise new questions about free speech, the rule of law, and the nature of democratic legitimacy? This session explores from several perspectives how law schools can educate lawyer leaders in the current, dynamic environment.
Session Speakers:
William Bay, Thompson Coburn LLP:
James E. Graves, Jr., United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit;
Austen L. Parrish, University of California, Irvine School of Law
Cory T. Wilson, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Moderator: Tania Luma, Loyola University Chicago School of Law
Cosponsoring with the Section on Balance & Well-Being in Legal Education:
Doing Well-Being Without Losing Your Mind: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Law Student, Faculty, and Staff Well-Being.
Wednesday, January 7, 2026, 1:00 pm to 2:15 pm. Location: Hilton New Orleans Riverside, First Floor, Grand Salon Section 3.
As a wellness advocate and practitioner, I was grateful for the reach-out from the leadership of the Section on Balance and Well-Being requesting our support for this program.