Program
Fall 2026 AI and the Law Conference
8:15 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Elisabeth Haub School of Law, Preston Hall
Pace University
78 North Broadway, White Plains, NY
Friday, October 23, 2026
- 8:15 a.m.–9:00 a.m.
Breakfast and Registration | Preston Hall lobby - 9:00 a.m.–9:55 a.m.
Opening Remarks: Dean Horace E. Anderson Jr.
Plenary Session: Jonathan Hill, Chief Transformation Officer
A Primer on Artificial Intelligence - 10:00 a.m.–10:55 a.m. | Breakout Sessions A
Track 1: The Standard of Practice in the Age of AI: Keeping Legal Workflows Grounded (CLE CREDIT)
(1.0 CLE credit in Law Practice Management)
Track 2: Leveraging Generative AI in Research and Writing: Tools and Workflows (CLE CREDIT)
(1.0 CLE credit in Law Practice Management) - 11:00 a.m.–11:55 a.m. | Breakout Sessions B
Track 1: Implementing AI in Your Practice
Track 2: Agentic AI: A Gentle Introduction - 12:00 p.m.–1:25 p.m. | Lunch & Fireside Chat
Perspectives surrounding artificial intelligence and its growing impact on society - 1:30 p.m.–2:25 p.m. | Breakout Sessions C
Track 1: AI and Environmental Protection: A Threat. A Tool. A Transformation.
Track 2: Managing the Risks and Rewards of AI in Law, Education, and Society (CLE CREDIT)
(1.0 CLE credit in Cybersecurity, Privacy and Data Protection – General) - 2:30 p.m.–3:25 p.m. | Breakout Sessions D
Track 1: Legal Ethics and the Future of Practice in the Age of AI (CLE CREDIT)
(1.0 CLE credit Ethics & Professionalism)
Track 2: ChatGPT, Esq.—Will AI Replace Lawyers? - 3:30 p.m. | Closing Remarks
- 3:45 p.m.–5:00 p.m. | Networking Reception
Featured Session
Fireside Chat with David Curran and Felipe Paez ’96
Join us for a lunchtime fireside conversation featuring Dave Curran, a senior executive, attorney, and thought leader focused on the intersection of law, technology, governance, risk, compliance, and AI, and Felipe Paez ’96, EY’s Global Lead Counsel for Privacy and Information Protection and Global Privacy Leader, for a timely conversation on how artificial intelligence is reshaping the legal profession, business, and society. Drawing on decades of experience in technology, cybersecurity, privacy, corporate governance, and emerging technologies, they will explore the opportunities, challenges, and responsibilities presented by AI, while offering practical insights for lawyers, business leaders, educators, and students navigating a rapidly evolving landscape.
Breakout Session A
The Standard of Practice in the Age of AI: Keeping Legal Workflows Grounded (CLE Credit)
Christopher An, Esq., Voice of the Customer Manager, LexisNexis Legal & Professional
Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping legal practice, with new tools and capabilities emerging at a constant pace. While these developments can be difficult to track, the professional standard of practice remains a stable framework for evaluating and integrating new technologies. This presentation examines how attorneys can apply existing standards of competence, diligence, and professional judgment to the use of AI in legal workflows. Participants will explore practical approaches to maintaining quality, managing risk, and preserving the lawyer’s role as a critical decision-maker, even as automation expands. The session will also highlight recent developments in AI-enabled legal tools as examples for understanding broader trends, with a focus on how to incorporate innovation without compromising professional responsibility.
1.0 CLE credit in Law Practice Management
Leveraging Generative AI in Research and Writing: Tools and Workflows (CLE Credit)
Deborah L. Heller, Assistant Dean of the Elisabeth Haub School of Law Library
The session explores how legal professionals can responsibly use mainstream AI tools in their research and drafting. The session covers key considerations before use, including confidentiality, model selection, and applicable court rules. It then moves into live demonstrations comparing tools like Claude and Gemini for legal research tasks, followed by practical drafting workflows for clauses or agreements, client emails, and redlining. It closes with guidance on verifying AI output and understanding professional responsibility obligations.
1.0 CLE credit in Law Practice Management
Breakout Session B
Implementing AI in Your Practice
Frank Iannella, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Heineken USA
Jeff Sipos, General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer of Clarion Capital Partners
AI is rapidly changing how professionals work, but moving from experimentation to real-world adoption can be challenging. Join a senior legal team leader and veteran General Counsel, and a business technology leader as they share practical lessons, use cases, governance considerations, and strategies for responsibly implementing AI to improve productivity and decision-making.
Agentic AI: A Gentle Introduction
David Sachs, EdD
This workshop will provide a gentle introduction to some amazingly powerful AI software. Claude CoWork can be used to easily and quickly automate entire workflows, create reports, and generate analyses. The focus will be on file organization mastery, document creation, research and data workflows and more. Attendees will learn how easy and powerful Claude CoWork can be - and how quickly they can apply it to a wide array of uses in their lives. They will see Claude CoWork in action and will be provided with some useful books and videos that will enable them to quickly start using Claude CoWork in their lives.
Breakout Session C
AI and Environmental Protection: A Threat. A Tool. A Transformation
Moderator: Achinthi C. Vithanage, Executive Director of the Environmental Law Program and Professor of Law for Designated Service in Environmental Law, Elisabeth Haub School of Law
Panelists:
Nicholas A. Robinson, University Professor on the Environment and Gilbert and Sarah Kerlin Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law Emeritus, Elisabeth Haub School of Law
Ruth Colon, Director of Operations and Culture, Open Society Foundations (OSF)
Pianpian Wang, Global Regulatory Affairs Manager, Vita Coco
Artificial intelligence is reshaping our world at a breathtaking pace, but at a cost to the planet. However, that cost may not be a reason to object to all AI development, because AI also offers cutting-edge opportunities for new approaches to environmental protection and for reviving traditional approaches with new vigor.
This panel brings together elite faculty and alumni from the nation's #1 ranked environmental law program at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law to explore the complex and urgent relationship between AI and the environment. Panelists will examine the staggering environmental footprint of AI infrastructure, including the massive energy consumption, water demands, and environmental justice implications of data centers powering today's large language models and machine learning systems. At the same time, the panel will explore AI's transformative potential as a force for environmental protection, from accelerating climate modeling and pollution detection to reinvigorating regulatory enforcement and environmental litigation at a moment when progress has stalled, and we desperately need bold new approaches.
At the intersection of technology, law, justice, and the planet's future, this conversation could not be timelier. Join us for a rigorous and forward-looking dialogue on the opportunities and challenges ahead.
Managing the Risks and Rewards of AI in Law, Education, and Society (CLE Credit)
John Bandler, Founder, Bandler Law Firm PLLC and Bandler Group LLC
This discussion examines the risks and opportunities associated with artificial intelligence through the intersecting lenses of law, legal education, technology, and democratic governance. It will consider the responsibilities of lawyers, law students, and educators to engage with AI critically and ethically, while assessing its broader implications for professional practice, institutional decision-making, and society.
1.0 CLE credit in Cybersecurity, Privacy and Data Protection – General
Breakout Session D
Legal Ethics and the Future of Practice in the Age of AI (CLE Credit)
Hon. Patria Frias-Colon, Kings County Supreme Court, Civil Term
Hon. Vito M. DeStefano, District Administrative Judge Nassau County
This session examines how New York’s Rules of Professional Conduct, Part 130, disciplinary decisions, ethics opinions, Part 161, and Unified Court System policies inform and shape the responsible use of artificial intelligence by lawyers and law firms.
1.0 CLE credit Ethics & Professionalism
ChatGPT, Esq.: Will AI Replace Lawyers?
Heather Schneider, Partner, Gemini Law LLP
Artificial intelligence is transforming the practice of law at an extraordinary pace. AI can already conduct legal research, draft briefs, analyze contracts, and perform tasks that once required hours of attorney time. But does that mean AI will eventually replace lawyers? Or will it simply change what it means to be one?
This presentation will explore how AI is reshaping the legal profession, which aspects of legal practice are most vulnerable to automation, and where human judgment, creativity, and advocacy remain essential. It will also consider the implications for law firms, legal education, and the next generation of lawyers. Most importantly, it will address a question every law student should be asking: How do you prepare for a legal career in a world where AI may be able to do much of what lawyers do today?