Wendy Muchman Honored By AALS Section on Technology, Law and Legal Education

Wendy Muchman, Professor of Practice at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, was awarded the 2025 Section on Technology, Law and Legal Education Ethics Award from the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). She was presented the award during the AALS Annual Meeting on January 9, 2025.

The award goes to an individual in the Technology, Law and Legal Education Section who has made significant and/or long-term contributions to scholarship, teaching, or innovative projects at the intersection of technology and ethics.

The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), founded in 1900, is a nonprofit association of 175 member and 19 fee-paid law schools. Its members enroll most of the nation’s law students and produce the majority of the country’s lawyers and judges, as well as many of its lawmakers. The mission of AALS is to improve and advance legal education.

“AALS sections are vital communities within our association, fostering collaboration, innovation, and excellence in legal education,” said Melanie D. Wilson, AALS President and Dean and Roy L. Steinheimer, Jr., Professor of Law at Washington and Lee University School of Law. “It is with great pride that we recognize these distinguished individuals and institutions that have been honored by their sections for outstanding contributions to scholarship, teaching, mentorship, and service. The theme for the AALS this year and the upcoming Annual Meeting is ‘Courage in Action.’ These honorees represent courage in our profession and inspire us all.”

At Northwestern Pritzker Law, Professor Muchman has been a pioneer in integrating AI topics into the legal ethics curriculum, incorporating them into five different courses she teaches. Her approach engages students in deep discussions about the technology and its implications for professional responsibility. Recognizing that AI is now an integral part of legal practice, her courses help Northwestern Pritzker Law students prepare to navigate the unique challenges it presents, equipping them with the knowledge and ethical foundation necessary for the modern legal landscape.

“Thank you to the Section on Technology, Law and Legal Education for the honor of this award and to Jon Garon for all his work as the Chair of the Section,” said Muchman. “The importance of our work as faculty educating our students on the use, and specifically ethical use, of technology cannot be overstated. I owe many people for my current understanding and ability to use AI, including my Northwestern colleagues, Michelle Falkoff, Alyson Carrel, and Jesse Bowman. Each one of them helped me brainstorm ways to illustrate for the students the benefits and risks of using technology. I would also like to thank Zach Clopton and anyone else (unknown to me) who is responsible for my nomination for this award. In addition, I would like to thank the other members ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility: the ABA Lead Senior Ethic’s counsel, Mary McDermott, and the Chair, Bruce Green.”

“Congratulations to Professor Muchman for this extremely well-deserved recognition of her incredibly innovative leadership and teaching,” said Dean Hari Osofsky. “We are grateful for all she contributes as a member of our faculty and are excited for her continued work in educating students on ethical use of generative AI.” 

Since 2000, Professor Muchman has developed and taught classes in Professional Responsibility, including the standard ABA required course in Legal Ethics. The courses she teaches include Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility, Legal Ethics for the Government and Public Sector Lawyer, Legal Ethics for the Business Lawyer, Legal for the Global Practitioner, ITA Ethics, (an experiential class for students interested in litigation), and a survey class in Legal Ethics. She co-teaches other courses: Professional Responsibility in Legal Writing, The Law of Whistleblowing, and Perspectives on Ethical Lawyering as well as a course on Ethics in the MSL program at Northwestern. Additionally, she presents regularly on varied issues of Professional Responsibility for the ABA and other organizations. The many recent presentations she has done on ethics and technology include one at the NCBE Annual Bar Admissions conference entitled “Technology is Changing the Practice of Law but Not Lawyer’s Ethical Responsibilities.”

In the 2023-2024 and 2019-2020 academic years, she was the recipient of the Robert Childres Award presented annually to the faculty member selected by the student body as the year’s most outstanding teacher. She has also received the Outstanding Professor of a Small Class award in 2022-2023, the same award with Professor Mary Foster in 2018-2019, and was selected by the graduating class to give The Last Lecture in 2021-2022 and 2024-2025. She was appointed the Harry. B. Reese Teaching Professor of Practice for the academic year 2020-2021.

Prior to coming to Northwestern Pritzker Law, Professor Muchman worked as a bar regulator at the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois (ARDC) from 1989 to 2019, serving as Chief of Litigation and Professional Education from 2010 to 2019. During her time there she investigated and prosecuted innumerable lawyer disciplinary cases as well as presented workshops regarding professional responsibility and disciplinary law to various national and state bar association groups, law firms, government agencies, judges, and law schools.