Ave Maria Law Faculty Advance Scholarship, Mentorship and Mission at SEALS 2026
Faculty members, academic leaders and a member of the Board of Governors from Ave Maria School of Law contributed to a wide range of scholarly and faculty-development programming at the 2026 Southeastern Association of Law Schools Annual Conference, held July 26 through Aug. 1 in Amelia Island, Florida.
The Southeastern Association of Law Schools, commonly known as SEALS, is an association historically centered on law schools in the Southeastern United States. Its annual conference brings together law professors, administrators, emerging scholars and aspiring legal educators for scholarly presentations, discussion groups, works-in-progress workshops, faculty-development programs and organizational meetings.
Unlike conferences built primarily around the presentation of completed research, SEALS places considerable emphasis on the development of scholarship and scholars. Its New Scholars Workshop gives junior faculty members an opportunity to present works in progress and receive feedback from experienced professors in their fields. Programming for prospective and newer law teachers addresses the academic hiring process, teaching, scholarship and service. Other sessions allow faculty members to examine emerging legal questions, exchange approaches to pedagogy and consider issues affecting law schools and the legal academy.
Ave Maria Law faculty contributed to each of these dimensions through academic leadership, scholarly commentary, mentorship and organizational service.
Faith and Legal Education
Ave Maria Law had a particularly strong presence in the three-hour discussion group “Incorporating Faith into the Classroom.” Professor Bruce R. Connolly created and moderated the session, while Professors Tony Kolenc, Kelley Thompson, Jennifer Jenkins and Timothy Tracey served as discussants alongside legal educators from several other institutions.
The group examined how professors can analyze legal subjects through the lens of faith while navigating the hesitation that students or faculty members may sometimes bring to those conversations. Participants considered the different opportunities presented by courses such as Constitutional Law, where questions of faith and moral reasoning may arise more naturally, and statutory courses such as Evidence and Commercial Law, where those connections may be less immediately apparent.
The discussion also addressed the development of curricula consistent with a law school’s institutional mission, ways to respond when students wish to examine faith-based ideas and the selection of texts that invite meaningful consideration of faith within the study of law
Contributing to the Legal Academy
Taken together, these contributions demonstrate the breadth of Ave Maria Law’s academic engagement at SEALS 2026. Faculty members and academic leaders helped lead substantive discussions concerning faith and legal education, intergenerational faculty mentorship, professor-student relationships, artificial intelligence, copyright, criminal liability and culpability. They also supported emerging scholars and prospective law teachers through paper review, scholarly commentary and individualized feedback.
The School’s participation reflected more than attendance at an academic conference. Ave Maria Law representatives helped create the settings in which scholarship was examined, pedagogical practices were tested and newer members of the academy received guidance from experienced colleagues.
Through this exchange of ideas and sustained academic service, Ave Maria Law contributed its distinctive intellectual and faith-informed perspective to contemporary conversations about law, scholarship and legal education. Those conversations will continue through the research produced, the faculty members mentored and the students ultimately formed by the educators who participated.
Bruce R. Connolly, Assistant Professor of Law and Director of the Rodney L. Smith Business Law Institute
Professor Connolly played a significant leadership role at SEALS 2026. In addition to creating and moderating “Incorporating Faith into the Classroom,” he created and co-moderated “Bridging the Generations: How Mid- and Senior-Level Faculty Can Support Newer Colleagues.”
That discussion examined how experienced faculty members can support junior colleagues while respecting their autonomy and academic freedom. Participants considered mentorship in teaching, scholarship and service; guidance concerning institutional expectations and the promotion and tenure process; and ways to foster collaboration among all cohorts of faculty.
Professor Connolly also served as a discussant for “Being Friendly Without Being Friends: Navigating the Professor-Student Relationship.” The two-hour session addressed the changing relationship between professors and students, including appropriate professional boundaries, the balance among teaching, scholarship and service, and the challenge of remaining accessible to students while maintaining academic standards.
As moderator of the New Scholars Workshop on “Criminal Liability and Culpability,” Professor Connolly facilitated presentations and scholarly feedback on three works in progress. The papers examined culpability in the context of broad felony-murder liability, due process and vaccine crimes, and the treatment of personality disorders under the guilty-mind requirement and insanity defense.
Professor Connolly also provided feedback on two mock job talks through the Prospective Law Teachers Workshop. The exercise allowed aspiring law professors to present their scholarship and receive individualized guidance before entering the academic hiring process.
His broader service to SEALS includes membership on the Moderator and Coordination Committee, which supports the organization and moderation of conference panels, and the Call for Papers Committee, which evaluates emerging faculty scholarship.
Kelley Thompson, Assistant Professor of Law
Professor Thompson served as a discussant for “Incorporating Faith into the Classroom.” The discussion’s focus on pedagogy and curriculum complemented her academic interests in legal education, professional responsibility and the formation of future lawyers.
Participants examined how faith-informed inquiry can be incorporated into both doctrinal and statutory courses and how a law school’s mission can shape teaching without diminishing academic rigor or thoughtful engagement among students.
Kevin H. Govern, Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Professor of Law
Associate Dean Govern represented Ave Maria School of Law at the SEALS Steering Committee meeting. In that capacity, he served as the School’s representative in the organizational work of the association while also participating in academic and professional events throughout the conference.
His participation complemented his responsibilities as associate dean for faculty development, which include encouraging faculty scholarship, professional engagement and continued academic growth.
Tony Kolenc, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Professor of Law and Director of the Veterans and Servicemembers Law Clinic
Associate Dean Kolenc served as a discussant in both “Incorporating Faith into the Classroom” and “Bridging the Generations: How Mid- and Senior-Level Faculty Can Support Newer Colleagues.” Through those sessions, he contributed to academic discussions concerning mission-informed legal education and the responsibility of experienced faculty members to support colleagues in teaching, scholarship, service and institutional life.
He also served as a faculty mentor in the New Scholars Workshop on “Generative AI and Synthetic Media.” Associate Dean Kolenc mentored Professor Brian R. Downing of the University of Mississippi School of Law, reviewing his paper, “Ambient Copyright Fixation,” and providing commentary during the workshop.
The workshop brought together emerging scholarship examining compulsory copyright licenses for derivative works, AI chatbots as evidence, copyright fixation in digitally mediated environments and the adjudication of self-represented litigation in the era of generative artificial intelligence.
Jennifer Jenkins, Associate Professor of Law
Professor Jenkins served as a discussant for “Incorporating Faith into the Classroom.” She joined faculty members from Ave Maria Law and other institutions in examining how professors can bring questions of faith into legal analysis, curriculum development and the selection of classroom materials.
The session also considered how professors can encourage substantive discussion of faith-based ideas while respecting students who may approach those questions from different perspectives.
Timothy J. Tracey, Associate Professor of Law
Professor Tracey served as a discussant for “Incorporating Faith into the Classroom.” The group considered how professors can approach legal subjects through the lens of faith and how those conversations may differ across courses, including Constitutional Law, Evidence and Commercial Law.
The session also explored the use of texts and other course materials to encourage serious consideration of faith, law and institutional mission within the classroom.
Ronald J. Rychlak, Member, Ave Maria School of Law Board of Governors
Professor Rychlak contributed to several areas of academic programming at SEALS 2026. He served as a discussant for “Incorporating Faith into the Classroom” and “Bridging the Generations: How Mid- and Senior-Level Faculty Can Support Newer Colleagues.”
He also served as a mentor in the New Scholars Workshop on “Civil Rights, Education Law, and Sports Law,” advising Professor Heather Trick on her work in progress, “Can NIL Deals Buy Due Process Rights?”
Professor Rychlak moderated the 2026 SEALS Call for Papers presentation, which featured the winning paper, “Bankrupt Crypto Organizations.” The paper examined the intersection of decentralized autonomous organizations and American bankruptcy law.
