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NAWJ 2026 Annual Conference

Name: NAWJ 2026 Annual Conference
Start: 2026-10-15T12:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-10-17T21:30:00-05:00
Location: The Roosevelt New Orleans, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel

October 15 @ 12:00 pm - October 17 @ 9:30 pm

Registration

Registration Rates	Late
Member Rate	$865
Non-Member Rate	$915

REGISTER HERE

Visiting New Orleans

Looking for fun things to do or places to eat? Check out an extensive list of fun activities and restaurants compiled by our conference planning committee.

Please contact [email protected] for any registration questions.

First 200 registrants will receive a free copy of Beyond Bourbon Street: An Insider’s Guide to New Orleans

Cancellation Policy: The cancelation fee for persons who cancel before September 24, 2026, is $100. Registrants who cancel after September 24, 2026, will not be eligible for a refund. If you must cancel, please let us know as soon as possible to allow others to register.

Hotel Information

The Roosevelt New Orleans, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel 130 Roosevelt Way New Orleans, LA 70112

The NAWJ rooming block is closed but you may use this link to find hotel accommodations at the Roosevelt – https://bit.ly/4AJWJKJ

Conference Agenda

Information subject to change. All times are listed in Central Time.

Wednesday \| October 14, 2026
11:30 AM – 3:30 PM	Board of Directors Meeting
Thursday \| October 15, 2026
8:30 AM – 12:15 PM	New Judges Training Seminar: A separate registration fee is required for this seminar ($250 NAWJ Members/$300 Non-Members) – REGISTER HERE.
12:00 PM – 7:00 PM	Registration Open
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM	Optional Lunch & Learn – CoCounsel Legal for the Bench – Trusted, Transparent, Verifiable AI Through a live demonstration, judges will see how courts are using the new CoCounsel Legal to streamline judicial workflows with AI grounded in trusted legal authority, linked to underlying legal sources, and designed to deliver transparent, easily verifiable results. Presented by Thomson Reuters.
3:30 PM – 4:30 PM	New Member and First Time Attendee Gathering
4:00 PM – 5:15 PM	Planting the Seed
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM	Resource Board Gathering
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM	Welcome Reception – All attendees welcome Hosted by John and Yulia Houghtaling
Friday \| October 16, 2026
7:45 AM – 5:00 PM	Registration and Exhibit Hall Open
7:45 AM – 9:00 AM	Breakfast
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM	District Meetings
9:00 AM – 9:15 AM	Introductions
9:15 AM – 10:30 AM	Opening Plenary Session Gavel to Headlines: How Judges Can Speak to a Divided World Without Losing Their Credibility, featuring Michelle Miller
10:45 AM – 12:00 PM	Breakout Sessions Putting Your Own Oxygen Mask on First: An Approach to Judicial Wellness Countering Disinformation in the Courts: A Threat to Judicial Independence and Democracy Judicial Forum: Assessing the Impact of AI in Courts
12:15 PM – 1:30 PM	Awards Luncheon
1:45 PM – 3:00 PM	Plenary Session: Makin’ Cake Layers of Justice – A Creative Expression of Race, Class, Equity and Law in America with Dasha Kelly
3:15 PM – 4:30 PM	Breakout Sessions The Rule of Law Recession: What Can Judges Do? Hot Topics in Family Court: The Latest Science on Substance Use, Intimate Partner Violence, Developmentally Sensitive Parenting Plans, and Emerging Issues From Ecosystem Vulnerabilities to Bad Actors: Understanding AI-Driven Risks in Modern Courts
4:45 PM – 5:45 PM	IVP Showcase: Informational Open Committee Meeting From Identification to Lifelong Healing: Judicial Leadership in Building Multidisciplinary Responses to Human Trafficking and Complex Trauma
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM	Friends Reception
Saturday \| October 17, 2026
7:30 AM – 1:00 PM	Registration Open
7:30 AM – 8:45 AM	Breakfast
7:45 AM – 8:45 AM	Committee Meetings
8:45 AM – 9:45 AM	NAWJ Annual Meeting
10:00 AM – 11:15 AM	Breakout Sessions At the Intersection of Judicial Decision-Making, Political Economy, and Access to Justice Ethics With a Focus on AI Law, Justice, and the Holocaust: How the Courts Failed Germany
11:30 AM – 12:45 PM	Plenary Session: SCOTUS Year in Review featuring Dean Erwin Chemerinsky
1:00 PM – 2:30 PM	Optional Lunch and Learn – AI for Courts: Practical Use Cases and What’s Next * This educational Lunch & Learn session will help courts better understand AI, discuss new AI developments, what requirements AI should have when being used for legal work and practical AI use cases for courts. Presented by LexisNexis.
1:00 PM – 5:00 PM	Free time to explore New Orleans Looking for fun things to do or places to eat? Check out an extensive list of fun activities and restaurants compiled by our conference planning committee.
5:30 PM – 6:30 PM	Gala Reception
6:30 PM – 9:30 PM	Gala Dinner and Dancing

* This event is designed to comply with applicable US federal and state and local rules regarding permissible gifts and expenses. By attending this event, invitees will comply with the applicable gift, disclosure, and approval laws and policies of their respective organizations and agree to the receipt of a gift, understanding that there may be potential disclosure of the gift(s) in applicable lobby disclosure filings of the donor. Please ensure that you are familiar with the rules of your organization and that you follow them. Any food, refreshments and promotional items provided during the event are not mandatory and are offered solely to those who may accept them. International guests should abide by their local laws, regulations and policies.