This year's conference will take place in Los Angeles on February 20–21, 2026, with a welcome reception on the evening of Thursday, February 19. This national event brings together scholars, educators, and advocates whose work focuses on poverty, inequality, and access to justice. Like previous gatherings, the event will feature paper presentations, roundtable discussions about teaching and advocacy, and opportunities to build community across disciplines and institutions.
We welcome paper abstract and panel submissions in the following areas:
- Critical Issues in Poverty and Inequality: Covering any topic relevant to poverty, including but not limited to housing, healthcare, public benefits, criminal justice, labor and employment, education, fiscal policy, and racial and economic justice.
- Innovations in Teaching Poverty Law: Sharing pedagogical strategies, classroom experiences, and curricular ideas for teaching poverty law and related subjects.
- Community Strategies for Protecting and Empowering the Vulnerable: Exploring the role of the poverty law community in resisting the dismantling of safety net programs and defending procedural rights, through integrative approaches that connect teaching, research, and practice.
How to Submit: Please use our submission form to submit your proposals by the deadline of August 1, 2025. You may also indicate if you would like to be a commenter, present your own close-to-final work, or present a work-in-progress: https://gould.law/poverty-law-submissions.
Registration Information: Please note that there is a $100 conference registration fee. Presenters are responsible for their own travel and lodging expenses. We will provide a list of nearby hotels. More information about the conference is available on the conference web page (or https://events.law.usc.edu/event/2026-poverty-law-conference). Registration will be made available on the web page closer to the event.
Questions: For questions, please contact Clare Pastore or Ariel Jurow Kleiman.
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