Sonipat, February 26 – O.P. Jindal Global University’s Jindal Global Law School (JGLS) has emerged as a global beacon in legal education by successfully hosting the prestigious Law Schools Global League (LSGL) Dean Meeting and Academic Conference 2026. This landmark four-day event, themed ‘Law and the Digital Future: Reimagining Global Legal Education,’ brought together deans and senior academics from 24 top universities worldwide to confront the seismic shifts brought by artificial intelligence and digital technologies on legal systems, practice, and pedagogy.
The gathering of 40 distinguished leaders underscored JGLS’s pivotal role in fostering international legal scholarship, institutional leadership, and transformative dialogues on the future of law. As part of the LSGL—a consortium of 32 elite law schools committed to globalizing legal education—the annual Dean Meeting serves as a strategic forum for high-level deliberations, while the academic conference provides a platform for scholars to tackle pressing global issues.
The event kicked off with a guided tour of India’s first Constitutional Museum at JGU, followed by a formal welcome ceremony. JGU Founder Vice-Chancellor and JGLS Dean Professor (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar delivered the keynote address titled ‘The JGU Story,’ chronicling the university’s remarkable journey built on pillars of academic excellence, global partnerships, and public service.
Highlighting the significance of hosting LSGL, Professor Raj Kumar emphasized, ‘The future of legal education must be guided by unwavering commitment to constitutional values, rule of law, and global justice. In an era disrupted by AI and rapid technological changes, law schools must ensure innovation strengthens democracy, expands access to justice, and upholds human dignity.’ He stressed the imperative for global collaboration among leading law schools to produce literate, tech-savvy, and ethically robust lawyers.
The Dean Conference opened with welcome addresses from JGLS Executive Dean and Director of the Centre for Justice, Law & Society Professor (Dr.) Deepika Jain, Professor (Dr.) Soledad Atienza, and Professor (Dr.) Eleanor Lozano. Professor Jain underscored the need for inclusive and critical engagement with technological change: ‘AI is not merely a technological evolution but a profound social and political phenomenon. Law schools must cultivate perspectives from the Global South and decolonial approaches to build a digital future shaped by diverse voices rather than centralized power.’
The inaugural session, chaired by Professor Raj Kumar and titled ‘Rule of Law in the Age of AI – Reimagining Justice in an Algorithmic World,’ featured insights from Justice U.U. Lalit, Professor (Dr.) B.S. Chimni, Arya Tripathi, and Aviral Sahay on the constitutional and ethical implications of algorithm-based governance in judicial systems.
Subsequent sessions delved into LSGL initiatives and a panel discussion on geopolitical challenges shaping global higher education, with contributions from Professor Soledad Atienza, Professor Joshua Titelbaum, Dr. Jane Wathuta, Professor Joyce Sadka, and others.
The academic conference commenced with Professor Deepika Jain’s address and keynote speeches by Professor Juan David Gutiérrez Rodríguez and Professor Veronica Ruiz Abu-Nigm on ‘The Impact of AI on the Legal Profession.’ Panels covered critical areas: Panel I on AI and Legal Practice moderated by Professor Lucas Lixinski; Panel II on Transforming Legal Education for the AI Era led by Professor Paul James Cardwell; Panel III on AI Governance chaired by Professor Veronica Ruiz Abu-Nigm; and a final panel on decolonial and Global South perspectives moderated by Professor Rodrigo Vianna.
Discussions probed uncertainties and accountability in AI-driven systems, regulatory responses to emerging technologies, ethical integration of large language models in classrooms, reimagining assessment methods, and AI’s impact on access to justice. Panels also explored geopolitical challenges in global higher education and structural inequalities in digital infrastructures, emphasizing decolonial, comparative, and Global South lenses to examine law’s digital transformation through equality, history, and power.
The LSGL delegation included luminaries from Edinburgh University, IE Law School, Universidad de los Andes, University of Galway, Stockholm University, Georgetown University, UCLA School of Law, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, and more, showcasing the network’s depth and diversity.
Beyond intellectual exchanges, the event yielded tangible outcomes: JGLS forged new pathways for student exchanges, faculty mobility, and joint research with partner institutions. Discussions focused on guest professorships, collaborative research clusters, and structured academic mobility frameworks.
Complementing the conference, JGLS organized the LSGL LLM Fair 2026, where over 400 students interacted with program administrators and faculty from top law schools, gaining insights into postgraduate courses, application processes, and global career opportunities.
Reflecting on the experience, LSGL Co-Chair and IE Law School Dean Professor Soledad Atienza noted it was a first visit to India and JGU for many, offering a firsthand glimpse into the university’s visionary leadership and innovative dynamism. LSGL Co-Chair and Universidad de los Andes Dean Professor Eleanor Lozano praised JGLS as a model of how institutional ambition, international collaboration, and academic excellence create meaningful global impact.
Cultural enrichments included visits to the Taj Mahal, Dilli Haat, and Qutub Minar, alongside a book exhibition and art display by Gond artist Mithilesh Shyam, blending culture, scholarship, and creative expression.
This triumphant hosting reaffirms JGLS and JGU’s commitment to academic excellence and international collaboration, positioning them as catalysts in shaping the next generation of legal thought. The discussions will continue to guide institutional partnerships, research agendas, and pedagogical innovations, ensuring legal education remains inclusive, responsive, and anchored in enduring values of justice, accountability, and rule of law in the digital age.