The Financial Crisis, one of the specially selected "Hot Topics" programs,will feature a discussion of the causes, short-term solutions, and longer-termimplications of the current financial crisis. The panelists for this programwill examine the financial crisis on a retail level; the securitization ofhome mortgages and the development of derivatives that contributed to thecrisis; the role of large financial conglomerates and the failure of thevarious regulators (especially the OCC, the OTS, the Fed and the SEC) tocontrol the risk-taking of those conglomerates; and the extent to which thecrisis, with its broad international repercussions, has prompted coordinatedand/or harmonized responses among affected states and whether this may lead toexpanded regulatory cooperation in the future. "The speakers that we havepulled together are among the finest in the legal academy," said Theodore P.Seto, Loyola Law School and moderator for the program. This program will occurfrom 8:30 - 10:15 a.m. on Friday, January 9 in the San Diego Marriott andMarina.

In addition to the "Hot Topics" program, three AALS sections will sponsorfinancial crisis related programs at the AALS Annual Meeting.

1. AALS Section on Securities Regulation

The AALS Section on Securities Regulation is sponsoring a finance-relatedprogram concerning the subprime mortgage crisis and the resulting fallout thathas placed new pressures on financial markets. Entitled "New Challenges inDynamic Markets" the panelists will focus on how the inevitable lawsuits willhave to contend with the changing legal landscape created by recent SupremeCourt decisions such as Dura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Broudo and Tellabs v.Makor. This program will occur from 10:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. on Friday, January9 in the San Diego Marriott and Marina.

2. AALS Section on Financial Institutions and Consumer Financial Services

The AALS Section on Financial Institutions and Consumer Financial Servicesis also organizing a financial related program entitled "Does Modern FinancialInstitution Regulation Work? Reflections on Deregulation andInternationalization of Supervisory Standards." The panelists on theFinancial Institutions and Consumer Financial Services section program willexamine the issue of whether deregulation saved an anachronistic industry orcreated opportunities for abuse. The panelists will discuss the passing ofthe Gramm Leach Bliley Act of 1999, the growing influence of internationalstandards on domestic regulation and the meaning for the future regulation ofinvestment banks of the Federal Reserve's recent intervention. This programhopes to address these and other related matters in a lively debate over thecurrent state of financial regulation. This program will occur from 1:30 -3:15 p.m. on Friday, January 9 in the San Diego Marriott and Marina.

3. AALS Sections on Creditors' and Debtors' Rights and Section on RealEstate Transactions

The AALS Section on Creditors' and Debtors' Rights and the Section on RealEstate Transactions are sponsoring a half day program, entitled "Real EstateTransactions in Troubled Times," designed to address the national housingfinance meltdown. The three panels scheduled to take place during this halfday program will examine many causes of, and cures for, troubled real estatetransactions including: the strengths and weaknesses of securitization andpossible adjustment of transactional models to align incentives with desirablesocial policy; policy ends and means, particularly whether homeownership hasbeen oversold; the costs imposed by local control of land use and constructionstandards; and whether new tools are needed to deal with failed real estatetransactions, in or out of bankruptcy, including bankruptcy modification ofhome mortgages. This program will occur from 9:00 - 12:00 p.m. on Saturday,January 10 in the San Diego Marriott and Marina.

The entire AALS 2009 Annual Meeting program can be found on theAssociation's Web site at www.aals.org/am2009/. Members of the press areinvited to attend free of charge. Those interested in attending are asked tonotify Deborah Quick from January 6-10, 2009 at 619-645-6955. Press also mayregister on-site at the AALS office located in the Manchester Room on theNorth Tower/Lobby Level of the San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina beginningTuesday after 6 p.m. January 6, 2009, and continuing through Saturday, January10, 2009.

The Association of American Law Schools is a resource for the improvementof the quality of legal education by networking law school faculty,professional staff and deans to information and resources. AALS is theprincipal representative of legal education to the federal government, othernational higher education organizations, learned societies and internationallaw schools.

SOURCE Association of American Law Schools