From Kristen K. Tiscione, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center

Call for Proposals

Ninth Biennial Conference on Applied Legal Storytelling

July 26–28, 2023

Hosted by The City Law School; City, University of London

This is the call for proposals for the ninth biennial conference on Applied Legal Storytelling. We are offering two deadlines for submitting proposals: December 2, 2022 (priority deadline) and February 3, 2023 (extended deadline).

About the Conference
The Applied Legal Storytelling Conference brings together academics, judges, other law-makers, practitioners, and any other type of legal storyteller. The conference has previously convened in 2007 (London), 2009 (Portland), 2011 (Denver), 2013 (London), 2015 (Seattle), 2017 (Washington D.C.), 2019 (Boulder), and 2021 (Virtual/Mercer).

Applied Legal Storytelling (AppLS) examines the use of stories, storytelling, or narrative elements in law practice, legal education, and the law. This definition is intentionally broad to allow people creativity in the way they think and present on the topic. Examples may include: the ways in which fiction-writing techniques or narrative theory can inform legal storytelling; stories in the law, or law as stories; legal storytelling and metaphor; client story advocacy; legal storytelling and cognitive science; and ethical considerations in legal storytelling. Undoubtedly there are many other avenues to explore.

In an effort to continue the storytelling conversation for this ninth conference and to welcome new attendees, we are providing resources for those interested in submitting a proposal and who wish to generate ideas or respond to others’. The first is a list of topics from past conferences. The second is a link to the second Applied Legal Storytelling bibliography, including articles that have emerged from previous storytelling conferences. Finally, there are also articles included in this Monograph double volume, dedicated to the topic (scroll down to Volumes 10 and 11). We are also happy to answer questions and offer you suggestions-if you are a newcomer and interested in becoming involved, please reach out.

Presentation Formats
The conference will include 45-minute and 30-minute time slots. For the 45-minute time slots, we welcome interactive, panel or roundtable presentation proposals, as well as other format types. For the 30-minute time slots, we envision presenters adopting something like the 14 to 18-minute TED-style format of rehearsed presentations that center on one idea conveyed through narrative, with reserved time for audience questions. On the proposal form, please indicate either a preference for a particular format or your willingness that we accept your proposal in any of the formats and time constraints.

Submitting a Proposal/Format
We welcome and encourage presentation proposals from faculty, lawmakers, and practitioners engaged in a variety of disciplines and from schools and organizations around the world. Complete the Proposal Form found here: forms.gle/jaditxEZvet4kivu5.

We ask for a short summary of fewer than 60 words for use in the conference program, as well as a narrative description of your proposal for selection purposes (500 words maximum).

Deadlines
To allow greater flexibility for those interested in submitting a proposal, the Program Committee has established two submission deadlines:

•      The Priority Deadline for submissions is December 2, 2022 by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. The Program Committee will review all proposals received by this date by mid-January.

•      The Committee will also consider proposals submitted by the Extended Deadline, February 3, 2023 by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, and will review these proposals by the first week of March.

Selection process
The Program Committee will review the proposals and respond according to the submission date. Those who submitted proposals by the Priority Deadline (Dec. 2) will be notified by mid-January if their proposal has been accepted. Those who submitted their proposal by the Extended Deadline (Feb. 3), will be notified by mid-March.

Conference Structure and Registration
All selected presenters will be expected to present in person. Additionally, presenters will be required to pay the conference registration fee and cover their own costs for travel and accommodations. We encourage creativity in presentation formats! Like previous AppLS conferences, this conference will be collegial, inclusive, and supportive of your work.

Dates and conflict possibilities. The conference will take place July 26–28, 2023, at City University in London. We recognize that all of London is waiting to hear about the date of the upcoming and as-yet-unscheduled coronation of HRM King Charles III. If there’s a conflict we are prepared to shift the dates so that no one has to incur or manage with the extra costs and travel issues that undoubtedly will ensue.

The 2023 conference will begin with a reception early in the evening of July 26, 2023. The next two days, July 27–28, 2023 will be devoted to a plenary session and presentations given in concurrent sessions.

Hotels: The new normal of hotel reservations prevent us from reserving blocks of rooms unless we pay the entire cost of the rooms up front. We will provide a list of nearby hotels with reasonable (for London) rates.

Registration: We will send out registration information early in 2023. We expect the conference registration fee to come in around $425 (this cost covers lunches, a dinner, and administrative costs associated with hosting a conference). Updates will appear on the conference website, here: www.lwionline.org/conferences/….

Questions
If you have questions, please feel free to contact any member of the conference planning committee:

Kim Holst kimberly.holst@asu.edu
Ruth Anne Robbins Ruth.Anne.Robbins@rutgers.edu
Robert McPeake r.j.mcpeake@outlook.com
Marcus Soanes m.soanes@city.ac.uk
Aysha Ames aysha.ames@fordham.edu
Gopal Balachandran gzb39@psu.edu
Sha-Shana Crichton scrichton@law.howard.edu
Maureen Johnson Maureen.johnson@uconn.edu
Binny Miller bmiller@wcl.american.edu
Paige Snelgro carlos@law.ufl.edu
Kristen Tiscione kkt7@georgetown.edu

Hosts & Sponsors
This conference is sponsored by the Legal Writing Institute (LWI) and The Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA); and hosted by The City Law School, City, University of London.