In a notable achievement that adds to his already impressive resume, Willamette Law’s Associate Professor of Law Aaron Simowitz was elected to the prestigious American Law Institute (ALI).
Founded over a century ago, the ALI is the nation's preeminent independent organization dedicated to improving American law. Election to ALI recognizes legal professionals who have demonstrated excellence in their field and a commitment to improving the law.
Simowitz is a part of four “member consultative groups,” which are groups who volunteer to read drafts of projects, discuss them and provide comments.
Along with colleagues from the University of North Carolina and UC Davis, he assumed authorship of the prestigious “Annual Survey of Choice of Law in the American Courts,” succeeding Professor and Dean Emeritus Symeon Symeonides, who completed his landmark 30-year tenure with the publication.
“Working on the Survey has been transformative for my scholarship,” Simowitz explains. “Reading so many cases each year in my specialty areas has already begun to reshape my thinking and research direction.”
In addition to being a noted legal scholar, Simowitz has established himself as a versatile educator since joining Willamette Law in 2016. He teaches courses ranging from civil procedure and bankruptcy to specialized seminars on complex transaction negotiation. For the past three years, he has also directed Willamette Law’s Business Lawyering Institute, where he's working to transform how business law education is delivered at Willamette.
Simowitz focuses on experiential learning methods and has brought real-world applications into first-year classrooms. He is constantly reinventing his courses to keep pace with the evolving legal landscape.
“This year, in the business negotiations seminar, we were able to do a new business-focused simulation every other week, in contexts ranging from employment agreements to joint ventures to venture capital to fights for corporate control,” Simowitz explains. “As one of my students noted, ‘The better you understand a client’s business, the more effective you can be in negotiating for their interest.’”
Simowitz has plans to revitalize the BLI with a negotiations moot court, specialized events for transactional attorneys, and a symposium on simulation-based teaching for business law courses.
Despite his packed professional and personal schedule, Simowitz maintains perspective on what matters most. “My life is wonderfully full right now — divided between family and work, both of which I love,” he reflects. “Teaching isn't something we have to do; it's something we get to do. Walking into the classroom remains the highlight of every week.”
