TILE Institute Annual Symposium

9:30-10:15 a.m. Registration

10:15-10:30 a.m. Welcome and Opening Remarks

• Anthony E. Varona, Dean and Professor of Law, Seattle University School of Law
• Margaret Chon, Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Technology, Innovation Law, and Ethics (TILE) Institute, Seattle University School of Law

10:30-11:45 a.m. Panel Session: Contracts, AI, and Access to Justice

The 2026 TILE Symposium Panel on Contracts, AI, and Access to Justice will discuss how recent advances in AI stand to reshape contract doctrine. In doing so, the discussion will examine how AI technologies are changing the ways in which contracts are formed and interpreted. Moreover, this panel brings together an array of scholars and practitioners who are experts in both contract law and access to justice. 

Panelists

• Nancy Kim, Professor of Law, Michael Paul Galvin Chain in Entrepreneurship and Applied Legal Technology, Chicago-Kent College of Law
• Amy Schmitz, John Deaver Drinko-Baker & Hostetler Chair in Law; Director of JusticeTech, Moritz College of Law
• Yonathan Arbel, William Alfred Rose Professor of Law, University of Alabama School of Law
• Sonja Carlson, Senior Corporate Counsel, Microsoft, Seattle U Law Alumna  ‘13

Moderator

• Mark Verstraete, Assistant Professor of Law, Associate Director of the Technology, Innovation Law, and Ethics (TILE) Institute, Seattle University School of Law

11:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Lunch and Keynote Address 

The Baby, The Bathwater, and the Algorithm: The Courts and AI

• Judge Margaret McKeown, US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Jurist-in-Residence, Seattle University School of Law

For more than a century, court decisions have lagged technological advances. The advent of generative artificial intelligence has underscored and widened that gap. This talk will explore how courts are tackling disruptive technologies and new challenges in our increasingly digital, networked world. The reaction should be neither panic nor panacea. The solution is not a quick fix and throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Managing risks without losing opportunity is the challenge.

1:30-2:45 p.m. Panel Session: Legal Education and AI: The Flashpoints

This panel examines the questions underlying the differing approaches to AI in law teaching. What is the most appropriate policy stance to produce practice-ready lawyers? Should the rules relating to AI differ across first-year doctrinal courses, legal writing, and clinics? Schools treat AI as an integrity threat when students use it, yet faculty rely on it to prepare classes and draft feedback, and recent studies suggest they could credibly use it to grade exams. What do AI tutors and next-generation research tools mean for the faculty role?  The panelists, several of whom authored the studies driving these debates, will provide their insights into these questions.

Panelists

• Miguel Willis, Innovator in Residence, Future of the Profession Initiative, University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law, Seattle U Law Alumnus ‘17
• Mark Chinen, Professor of Law, Seattle University School of Law
• Dyane O’Leary, Professor of Law, Director of the Legal Innovation & Technology Center, Suffolk University Law
• Daniel Schwarcz, Fredrikson & Byron Professor of Law, Distinguished University Teaching Professor, University of Minnesota Law School

Moderator

• Sital Kalantry, Professor of Law, Seattle University School of Law and Director of the Roundglass India Center

3:00-4:15 p.m. Panel Session: Legal Practice and Ethical Access to Technology

Panelists

• Judge Sean O’Donnell, King County Superior Court, Seattle U Law Alumnus '01
• Drew Simshaw, Professor of Law, UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law
• Tyler McAllister, Partner at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton
• Laura Lemire, Tech Attorney, Private Practice, Seattle U Law Alumna ‘09
• Michele Carney, Partner at Carney & Marchi, P.S., Private Practice, Member of the WSBA CPE

Moderator

• Dave Platz, Adjunct Professor of Law, Associate General Counsel, Amazon, Seattle U Law Alumnus ‘06

4:30-5:15 p.m. Panel Session: Student Presentations on Legal Technology and Equitable Access

Students

• Ibrahim Badawi (SJD ’27)
• Dale Berg (JD ’28)
• Radhika Dhanotia (SJD ’27)

Moderator

• LeighAnne Thompson, Associate Director for Digital Innovation in the Law Library, Seattle University School of Law

5:15-5:30 p.m. Brief Closing Remarks

• Mark Verstraete, Assistant Professor of Law and Associate Director, TILE Institute, Seattle University School of Law

5:30-7:30 p.m. Reception and Presentation of the Alumni Award to Robert C. Cumbow '91

• Amanda Simantov, Assistant Dean for Administration and Chief of Staff, Seattle University School of Law and Seattle U Law Alumna ’21, Emcee