In addition to BC Law Dean Vincent Rougeau, who has officially assumed his role as The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) President-elect, a number of other members of the BC Law faculty are holding various leadership positions throughout the organization.
Professor Alfred Yen has been named chair of the section on sports law within AALS, which focuses on teaching and improvements of law in the sports industry. He previously held the role of Chair of the AALS Professional Development Committee. Yen is a Professor of Law and Dean’s Distinguished Scholar at Boston College Law School. He recently served as Associate Dean of Faculty. He is a nationally known scholar who has published numerous articles about copyright law, the Internet, sports law, Asian-American legal issues, and law teaching.
Professor David Olson was elected to the Intellectual Property Section Advisory Committee.The section on Intellectual Property encourages curiosity in topics relating to patents, trademarks, copyrights, and unfair competition.Olson teaches Patent Law, Intellectual Property Law, Antitrust Law, and various seminars at BC Law. He serves as the Faculty Director for the Program on Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Professor Vlad Perju is a member of the Executive Committee of the European Law Section, which focuses on topics relating to European legislation. Perju is the Director of the Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy at Boston College and Professor of Law at Boston College Law School. His primary research and teaching interests include the law of the European Union, comparative constitutional law and theory, international and comparative law, and jurisprudence.
Professor Pat McCoy is the Chair-elect of the AALS Section on Financial Institutions and Consumer Financial Services, which fosters conversations on state and federal regulation of financial institutions and the operation and development of the payment system. McCoy is the inaugural Liberty Mutual Insurance Professor of Law. In 2010 and 2011, she joined the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where she helped form the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and, as the CFPB’s first assistant director for mortgage markets, oversaw the bureau’s mortgage policy initiatives. She teaches insurance law as well as banking regulation and a full array of other financial services regulatory courses.
Professor Kent Greenfield is a member of the executive committee of the Section on Constitutional Law. The section presents to constitutional law teachers various programs on education law, law and religion, and legal history during the annual meeting of the AALS. An internationally recognized scholar of constitutional law and corporate governance, Greenfield is Professor of Law and Dean’s Distinguished Scholar at Boston College Law School. He has lectured at more than 130 institutions in 44 different states and 10 countries, and has been the recipient of four teaching awards while at Boston College.
Professor Ryan Williams was elected to the board of the AALS Section on Conflict of Laws. The section discusses developments in the subject area and stimulates communication on relevant topics. Williams teaches and writes in the areas of constitutional law, civil procedure, and federal courts. His research has included works on the original meanings of the Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth amendments as well as works exploring the intersection of constitutional rules and the civil litigation process. He has also joined the Executive Committee of the AALS Section on Scholarship.
In addition, Shawn McShay, the Assistant Dean for Graduate Enrollment Management at BC Law, is the Co-chair elect of the Section on Prelegal Education and Admission to Law School. This administrative section focuses on improving legal education and promoting diversity in the field. It also fosters interest in legislation and legal education prior to law school, as well as on advising students as they seek admission to law schools.
Dean Rougeau was nominated as President-elect in October 2019 by the AALS Nominating Committee, and voted in by the membership at the annual meeting in January. He was previously involved in the AALS as a member of the Executive Committee until 2019, as well as Chair of the AALS Dean Forum Steering Committee. Two prior BC Law deans have served as AALS presidents: Richard Huber and John Garvey. BC Law faculty have also held numerous leadership roles in AALS in the past, including George Brown as Chair of the Federal Courts Section and James Repetti as Chair of the Executive Committee of the Tax Section.