2024 Teaching Consumer Law Conference

“Teaching Consumer Law in a Changing Environment”

Santa Fe, New Mexico

May 17 & 18, 2024

Special supplemental session for clinical faculty, May 16.

The Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice at the UC Berkeley School of Law and The Center for Consumer Law at the University of Houston Law Center are proud to present the thirteenth biennial international Teaching Consumer Law Conference. The conference is presented in cooperation with the University of New Mexico School of Law and the National Association of Consumer Advocates.

As in the past, the Teaching Conference has combined forces with the Law School Consumer Clinics Conference – so the program will begin with a full day devoted exclusively to consumer clinical education. If you are interested in or have questions about the Clinics Conference on May 16, please email Ted Mermin (tmermin@law.berkeley.edu) and/or Ben Hiebert (ben.hiebert@law.berkeley.edu).

This year’s subject is “Teaching Consumer Law in a Changing Environment.” The Conference will be held at the Drury Hotel in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the “City Different,” one of the oldest and most interesting cities in the United States.

Please review the information below carefully, and let us know if you have any questions.

We look forward to seeing you in Santa Fe in May.

Richard Alderman

Nathalie Martin

Ted Mermin

Conference Chairs

Call for Presentations

Please review the Call for Presentations page closely for information on the substantive focus of the conference, the nature of the sessions, and expectations for proposals.  Proposals are due February 15, 2024.

Submitting a proposal is not required for conference attendance. (See "Registration" section below.)

Details

Date: May 17-18, 2024

Location: Drury Plaza Hotel, Santa Fe, NM (see "Hotel Accommodations" section below)

Schedule: The conference will commence at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, May 17, followed by a full day of sessions and an evening dinner reception. The conference will conclude Saturday, May 18 at 12:00 p.m.

Meals: We will provide lunch and dinner on Friday, May 17. If you are staying in our room block at the Drury Hotel, breakfast is included in your room rate.

Registration

Please REGISTER HERE by Friday, April 19, 2024.

When you register, you will be prompted to select the appropriate category from the below:

• General registration: $250.00
• Speaker registration: $100.00
• NACA / Legal Services / Clinical Faculty / Adjunct Faculty registration $ 125.00

NOTE: if you have submitted a presentation proposal, please refrain from registering until we have responded to your proposal so you know which category applies.

If you need assistance in order to attend or have any questions regarding registration, please contact us.

Speaker Form

If your presentation proposal was accepted and you will be speaking at the conference, please complete the Speaker Form.  (Note: please also register via link above.)

Hotel Accommodations

We have a block of rooms set up at the hotel conference venue (Drury Plaza Hotel, Santa Fe) from May 15-19.

Book your room HERE

• Room rate: $245/ night
  • Note: hot breakfast is included in room rate
• Group booking code: 10073368
• Booking Deadline: Wednesday, April 17, 2024

You may also make your reservation over the phone by calling 1-800-325-0720 and referring to the group number (10073368).

For more information on the hotel room block and the included amenities, please see here.

Keynote Address

We are pleased to announce that Christine Riefa of the University of Reading will be providing the keynote address.

Questions?

Feel free to contact conference logistics coordinator Ben Hiebert (ben.hiebert@law.berkeley.edu).

2024 Teaching Consumer Law Conference

The 2024 Teaching Consumer Law Conference will focus on traditional substantive and pedagogical issues of teaching consumer law, as well as new issues presented by generative AI, fintech, crypto, social media, Covid, Artificial Intelligence, and current societal issues. It is directed primarily toward those currently teaching or interested in teaching consumer law—full-time or as an adjunct.

We invite papers and presentations that will inspire attendees at the conference to think differently about the way we teach and the way we think about consumer law and the marketplace. Possible topics for the 2024 conference include:

• What opportunities are there for reimagining traditional classroom structure and practice?
• “I want to steal this idea from you.” A panel to share and borrow teaching tricks.
• How do we address issues of economic justice within the context of consumer law?
• How can we bring the world around us into the classroom – and get students out into that world as part of our teaching?
• How should the field of “Consumer Law” be defined? Are there further/fewer subjects that should be brought within the term?
• How can we build and enhance consumer law programs at our universities?
• What societal issues might benefit from the application of consumer protection law – for example, racial justice, health care, elder law, coerced debt in abusive relationships, telecommunications, commerce involved in incarceration, or climate change?
• How can we learn and teach about consumer financial scams that proliferate today, especially those targeting vulnerable groups like immigrants, children, and seniors?
• What aspects of consumer protection regulation should come from public or private litigation? From legislation? From agency rulemaking?
• Are there innovative ways to resolve consumer problems, other than existing court and alternative dispute resolution systems?
• Are there new forms of risky credit that we can learn and teach about – for example, buy now pay later and educational income share agreements?
• What can comparing different countries’ approaches to the same consumer protection issues tell us about those countries, and about consumer law?
• What updates and cutting-edge developments and issues have arisen in substantive consumer law?
• The view from the trenches—what do practicing attorneys see as the most pressing consumer law issues?
• What is different about this post-pandemic generation of students, and how can our teaching address those differences?

Presentations will be relatively short, leaving more time for discussion. Papers and presentations, which do not require a formal paper, are invited on any of the above themes, or any other topic of interest to those teaching of consumer law. Presenters may discuss the law of any jurisdiction; however, the emphasis is on topics of interest to law school instructors and those with an interest in entering academia.

Those who wish to submit a paper or presentation topic are invited to forward a proposal including a brief abstract of no longer than 400 words, and contact information for the author. The proposals should be sent to Professor Richard M. Alderman at alderman@uh.edu. Proposals may be submitted anytime, but no later than February 15, 2024. You will be promptly notified of acceptance. Final drafts of papers or materials that are to be distributed prior to the Conference should be received not later than the 1st of May 2024. Slides to accompany a presentation are welcome, particularly if they aid the presentation by providing useful graphs, images, videos, and other non-textual material.

The language of the conference is English. Conference registration fees will be reduced for all presenters. With consent, selected papers may be published in the Journal of Consumer and Commercial Law. For more information, contact Richard Alderman, alderman@uh.edu.

Registration, hotel, and other important logistical information be found on the main conference webpage HERE.