AAAA Fall Conference Registration Information

All AAAA Fall Conferences are always open to everyone. You do not need to be an attorney to attend. Special pricing is available for employees of non-profit organizations.

This Conference has both an Adoption and ART track. Ticket pricing for the 2026 AAAA Fall Conference is as follows:

Conference Registration

• Regular Registration - $1100 (thru August 23, 2026
• Late Registration - $1300 (starting August 24, 2026)
• Guest Ticket - $450 (includes breakfast & 2 social events)

Non-Profit Employees/Mental Health Professionals/Social Worker/ART Matching Program Employees Registration (Registrant must be staying at the conference hotel to receive this rate.)(Proof of Employment or Non-Profit Status May Be Requested)

• Regular Registration - $825 (thru August 23, 2026)
• Late Registration - $925 (starting August 24, 2026)
• Guest Ticket - $450 (includes breakfast & 2 social events)

Conference registration includes all CLE, provided meals/breaks and evening social events.

Guest registration includes breakfast and evening social events for each guest.

We encourage you to register early to avoid the late fee and missing out on the discounted hotel room rate. A link to book your room at the discounted rate will be provided on your registration confirmation/receipt.

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Conference Overview and Syllabus

If you would like to know more about the sessions, a draft syllabus will be available HERE shortly. Please note that this syllabus is subject to change.

Conference Start and End Times: This conference will start at 1:00 pm CT on Sunday, September 27 and conclude by 1:00 pm CT on Tuesday, September 29.

Conference Events: In addition to the excellent and relevant CLE, the Conference will have several events offering great networking opportunities and time to spend with friends outside the classroom.

• Free-time to explore Chicago
• Sunday evening Dine Arounds (we make the reservations, you pick your spot)
• Sunday evening dessert reception on the top floor of the hotel with gorgeous views of the city!
• Monday evening at the University Club of Chicago with dinner and entertainment.

Session Highlights: This year's program was built for the realities our community is living right now. Every session, speaker, and conversation is oriented toward the same goal: ensuring that when our community faces its hardest moments, no one is navigating alone!

Here's a preview of some of the sessions on the ART agenda:

• Stolen Futures: Fraud in Our Industry: Learn from an expert regarding federal prosecution of fraud cases in this space, including the process, procedure, prevention, and what we as a community can do to help mitigate the damage.
• Insurance Liens and Long-Term Consequences: Whether insurance liens are part of your day-to-day practice or something you confront only occasionally, this session will educate you on what they are, how they are negotiated, and why coordination of benefits is a critical component of this morass.
• Tax Consequences of Surrogacy and Donation: Compensation in ART arrangements raises a host of tax questions that practitioners often navigate without sufficient guidance. Our tax attorney speaker will discuss the fundamental issue of what constitutes income and common questions in this area, including whether the label given to a payment within an agreement carries weight with the IRS, and how to characterize lost wages so that a surrogate is fairly reimbursed.
• When Things Go Wrong: Hear from a law professor and practitioners on the ground about disputes, breaches, and conflicts of interest. We will analyze contract language and other related issues.
• Embryo Disposition Disputes: Learn from our case law and the perspective of a judge in a case involving embryo disputes and disposition, and how embryo characterization affects the unique legal issues involved.
• The Bigger Advocacy Landscape:  Hear from partner organizations on what's happening legislatively and politically, and how we build the coalitions needed to fight back.

Here's a preview of some of the sessions on the Adoption agenda:

• Building Together: Small Firm, Big Impact: Solo or small-firm life means you're the attorney, the IT department, and the marketing team—often all before lunch. Join fellow adoption practitioners for a fast-paced, practical session on protecting your practice and setting it up to thrive. We'll cover succession planning (because someone needs a plan if you get hit by a bus—or just take a vacation), marketing that connects with the families who need you, and a closer look at case management and e-filing tools, featuring industry professionals who'll share what's out there and how to put it to work. Come share war stories, swap your favorite tech hacks, and leave with new tools and a network of colleagues who've got your back. After all, we're all in this together.
• Staying Ahead of the Curve: Adoption Legislative Updates: The rules of the road are always changing — and we're navigating them together. From shifting interstate compact regulations to evolving intercountry adoption policies and emerging legislation on a federal and state level, the legal landscape of adoption and family building never stands still. This session breaks down the most significant legislative and regulatory developments of the past year — and what's on the horizon brought to you by the AAAA Adoption Policy Director and Deputy Director. Whether you're an agency professional or attorney understanding these changes is essential to protecting the families we serve. Because when the laws shift, it takes all of us — informed, connected, and unified — to ensure every child finds a safe and permanent home.
• View from the Bench: A Judicial Perspective on Adoption & Family Building: What does the adoption process look like from the other side of the courtroom? In this rare and candid conversation, two sitting judges pull back the curtain on the legal proceedings that shape the lives of children and families every day. From finalization hearings to contested terminations of parental rights, our panelists will share what they wish every attorney, caseworker, and advocate understood about how decisions are made — and what truly moves the needle in court. Bring your questions, your curiosity, and your toughest scenarios for an open dialogue that bridges the gap between the bench and the broader adoption community. Because when legal professionals and child welfare advocates understand each other better, the families we're all fighting for are the ones who win.

Two seats. Countless stories. One shared mission. A conversation long overdue - and one we can only have together. 

• Permanency, Together: Building Immigration Planning into Every Stop of the Process: For a non-citizen child, legal permanency isn't real permanency without legal status — so immigration planning belongs inside the permanency plan, not bolted on at finalization. This session shows attorneys how to partner with DSS to make immigration planning a standing component of permanency planning, identified at the front end and carried through every review while the court still has jurisdiction.
• Saving Your Sanity: Working with Agencies and Social Workers Through High-Stakes Emotional Adoptions: Every adoption is emotionally high-stakes — for the birth parents, the adoptive parents, and the lawyer holding it all together. This session keeps the focus on your well-being in that work: recognizing the secondary trauma, compassion fatigue, and moral distress that accumulate across emotionally charged cases, and using your relationship with agencies and social workers not only to serve clients but to protect your own sustainability — sharing the emotional load, clarifying who does what, and resisting the constant pull to be everyone's therapist. The session connects personal well-being to the duty of competent representation.
• 2 Truths and a Lie: This program is a facilitated analysis of adoption-practice hypotheticals under the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, presented in a "Two Truths and a Lie" audience-response format. Each round presents three wild adoption scenarios, each ending in a stated outcome: two reflect how the Model Rules actually resolve the situation, and one reflects a common but incorrect approach. Attendees identify the misapplication and, through guided debrief, work to the correct path forward under the governing Rule. The format is the polling mechanic; the instruction is the rule analysis that follows each round.

 

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Conference Hotel Information

We are pleased to be hosting this year's Midyear Conference at the beautiful Swissotel Chicago. This 4-diamond hotel is located in the heart of downtown Chicago offering guests spectacular views of the city, Lake Michigan, Navy Pier, the Chicago River and downtown! 

The discounted room block rate ends on Thursday, September 3, 2026. Please make your reservation prior to that date. 

• A link to book your room at a discounted rate will be provided on your registration confirmation/receipt after you register.
• Room block rate is $279/night plus tax for Classic rooms (single or double occupancy).
• Discounted rate is available 3 days pre and post conference, subject to hotel availability
• Free high speed in-room WiFi
• Complimentary use of Penthouse Fitness Center and Vitality Lounge
• One (1) coplimentary drink voucher per guestroom upon arrival, to be used in Hotel's Loggy Bar. Voucher is approved for house wine, domestic beer or non-alcoholic beverage.
• Earth Day, Every Day Program - In order to provide environmentally sustainable accommodations, the Swissotel Chicago offers a green program. Individuals who opt out of housekeeping service during a 2-or-more-night stay will receive a $10 food & beverage credit for each day service is declined.