President-Elect

Paul Goeringer

Paul Goeringer is a Principal Faculty Specialist and the Extension Legal Specialist at the University of Maryland. He joined the University of Maryland’s Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics in 2012. He is a founding member of the University of Maryland’s Agriculture Law Education Initiative. His research and extension program is focused on agricultural leases, energy leases, landowner liability, production contracts, agricultural nuisance issues, environmental law, and estate planning issues impacting agricultural producers in Maryland. Paul has authored over two hundred articles and is a sought-after speaker on agricultural law issues.

He grew up on his family’s wheat and cattle operation in Western Oklahoma. Upon graduating from high school, Paul graduated from Oklahoma State University with a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics. After graduating from OSU, Paul decided to attend law school for some strange reason still unknown to him. He graduated with a Juris Doctorate from some school in Norman, Oklahoma (also known as the University of Oklahoma). After law school, Paul received an LL.M. in Agricultural Law and a Master of Science in Agricultural Economics from the University of Arkansas and is licensed to practice in Oklahoma.

As a past AALA board member, Paul is honored to serve the association as President-Elect in 2027 and plan a conference at the highest level that is expected by the membership. Paul has served on the AALA board, membership committee, and newsletter committee. In his 2nd time co-chairing the newsletter committee, his vision helped to create Farm to Firm for the AALA.

Director Election 1

Tyler Moore

Tyler Moore is a professor at the University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law, where he teaches courses in agricultural law, constitutional law, federal courts, and philosophy of law.  He has served on the AALA awards committee for nearly 5 years and is currently a co-chair of the committee.  He looks forward to bringing a group of South Dakota students each year to AALA’s national conference.

Prior to coming to South Dakota, Tyler clerked for the Hon. Jonathan A. Kobes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.  He also worked as a litigation associate for Faegre Baker Daniels LLP helping represent agricultural clients and served in the civil division of the Nebraska Office of the Attorney General.  He earned his PhD from the University of Notre Dame, his JD from the Georgetown University Law Center, and his BA from the University of Nebraska (Go Big Red!).

Tyler grew up on a corn and soybean farm near York, NE.  He still takes his agricultural law class on an annual field trip to the family farm and a friend’s nearby custom meat processing facility.

His scholarship has focused on such topics as constitutional interpretation, the Judiciary Act of 1789, and localism–the theory that proximate, decentralized, and small-scale entities should be given priority when making decisions, distributing governmental authority, or implementing policy.  He is currently co-editing the Cambridge Companion to Localism (forthcoming 2027), containing 26 chapters written by contributors from around the world.

Kristi Boswell

Kristi Boswell focuses her regulatory and policy practice on advising farm and food clients on issues that impact commodity and food production, distribution and sale. She provides regulatory compliance counsel stemming within all eight missions areas of the USDA, including foreign disclosure of agricultural land, farm safety net programs, organic standards, trade promotion programs, rural development loan programs, and food and nutrition programs. Kristi also advises clients regarding foreign workforce solutions, compliance with the H-2A visa regulations, and policy guidance for agricultural labor and immigration reforms. Whether advising farmers, trade associations, cooperatives, food processors or grocers, Kristi’s enterprise-wide USDA experience gives her the unique ability to effectively provide regulatory compliance counsel and identify opportunities to actively engage policy makers for regulatory or legislative improvements with an eye for agency process.

Before joining Alston & Bird, Kristi served as a senior advisor to the Secretary of the USDA, where she implemented the secretary’s priorities and advised the secretary on decision-making. Kristi was the preeminent agricultural labor resource in the administration holding a policy role at the White House, where she served as the agricultural voice in drafting H-2A regulatory reforms and immigration legislation. She was active in implementation of the 2018 Farm Bill and pandemic response using Commodity Credit Corporation authority. Before her time in government, she served as the director of congressional relations at an agricultural trade association.

Director Election 2

Jackie Schweichler

Jackie Schweichler has been an active member of the American Agricultural Law Association since 2016 and regularly attends the Annual Educational Symposium. Since joining the Newsletter Committee in 2020, Jackie has served as an editor and now co-leads the committee with Paul Goeringer and Kelly Wilfert. Together, they launched the updated and renamed Farm to Firm newsletter in 2024, providing AALA members with a platform to share diverse perspectives and timely developments in agricultural law. Jackie also prioritizes student engagement, organizing Penn State Dickinson Law students to attend the Annual Symposium each year and helping introduce the next generation of agricultural law professionals to AALA.

At Penn State University, Jackie is a Staff Attorney at the Center for Agricultural and Shale Law, where she provides legal research, analysis, and educational presentations on a wide range of agricultural law and policy issues. Her primary areas of focus include liability, agritourism regulation, seed law, pesticide use and compliance, and rural economic development.

Jackie also serves as a Supervising Attorney with the Rural Economic Development Clinic, mentoring law students who provide legal support to rural businesses, and as Director of Pennsylvania’s Agricultural Mediation Program, a USDA initiative facilitating alternative dispute resolution for agricultural producers and landowners throughout the Commonwealth.

Jackie would be honored to continue her service to AALA and contribute to the organization’s continued growth and success as a member of its Board.

Austin Vincent

Austin Vincent grew up on his family’s 4th generation cattle ranch near Des Moines, New Mexico. He attended undergrad at Texas Tech University, earning dual undergraduate degrees in Energy Commerce and AgriBusiness. Continuing his academic journey, Austin stayed in Lubbock to attend Texas Tech University School of Law, where he founded the Tech Agricultural Law Association.

Austin is a staff attorney with the Kansas Department of Agriculture, advising a number of programs within the KDA including the meat and poultry program, agriculture marketing, conservation, plant protection, and water structures. Prior to joining KDA, Austin was the General Counsel and Director of State Affairs for the Colorado Farm Bureau.

Austin has been an active member of the American Agricultural Law Association for 9 years. He is active in his local church and community, and Kansas Bar Association. In his spare time, Austin enjoys spending quality time with his husband and family, returning to his family ranch, running with his three dogs, volunteering at St. Paul’s Episcopal church, and cheering on Texas Tech and Kansas State sports.

Access the 2026 Ballot

This presentation will provide a practical, lawyer-focused overview of generative artificial intelligence covering how modern AI systems work and the significant legal, ethical, and operational risks they introduce. We will examine security, privacy, and professional responsibility considerations – including attorney competence, confidentiality, sanctions, and legislative and judicial responses – alongside actionable guidance for responsible implementation, use, and risk management. This presentation is eligible for submission for CLE credit and is designed to equip legal personnel with both strategic understanding and actionable governance practices for responsible AI adoption.

This webinar will be offered to AALA members only for continuing legal education credit. If you are not currently an AALA member but want access to this webinar, you can become a member here.

Members:

Click here to be taken to your AALA member portal home page to register!

Please note the following:

1. This webinar is offered to current AALA members only as a part of the member benefits.

2. This program is being offered for CLE credit in each state and reporting will not occur until after the program.

3. Pre-registration and active participation during the program are required in order to receive credit.

4. AALA is seeking CLE approval from the most stringent states before the program and approval for all other states will be sought afterwards. AALA will do its best to seek CLE credit for all members who attend, but it is possible that some states may not approve the webinar.

5. CLE credit will not be offered to those who only watch the recorded version provided after the webinar on the member portal.

This presentation provides a broad overview of developing an energy generation project, from siting through offtake. With demand for new energy generation growing, the topic is timely as agricultural producers are increasingly offered opportunities to partner with energy developers by leasing land for wind, solar, battery, and geothermal projects.

REGISTER HERE!

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Scott will talk about the rise in distress debt and bankruptcies in the last 12 months.  The focus of his remarks will be on how to triage the “important issues” from the unimportant ones.  He’ll talk about when to extend or modify a loan versus calling a default.  And he will talk about what an attorney for the debtor (and a possible bankruptcy trustee) will be looking at when a bankruptcy case is filed vis-à-vis a creditor.  Finally, he will discuss how best to keep an asset cash flowing, even in distressed times.

Click HERE to view a recording of this webinar

The Federal Crop Insurance Program has developed over several decades and continues to evolve through implementation of final rule-making decisions. Lauren Ward will walk through the basic things you need to know about the program, its policies, and recent updates impacting implementation.

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In this webinar we will explore recent developments in food law and what they mean for today’s legal landscape.

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This webinar covers new FinCEN real estate reporting requirements and how ongoing litigation may impact their enforcement.

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) is evaluating updates to its reporting framework under the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (“AFIDA”), as part of a broader trend of increased federal scrutiny of foreign investment in U.S. agricultural and forest lands. This webinar will look at the potential changes and the interaction with other regulatory regimes.

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Burnout has reached critical levels in the legal profession—nearly 80% of legal professionals report experiencing burnout, and 40% have considered leaving the profession entirely due to stress. This presentation examines the occupational phenomenon of burnout, distinguishing it from everyday stress. Attendees will learn to recognize burnout warning signs in themselves and colleagues, understand the key differences between stress and burnout, and discover practical strategies for response and recovery.

Please note the following:

1. This webinar is offered to current AALA members only as a part of the member benefits.

2. This program is being offered for CLE credit in each state and reporting will not occur until after the program.

3. Pre-registration and active participation during the program are required in order to receive credit.

4. AALA is seeking CLE approval from the most stringent states before the program and approval for all other states will be sought afterwards. AALA will do its best to seek CLE credit for all members who attend, but it is possible that some states may not approve the webinar.

5. CLE credit will not be offered to those who only watch the recorded version provided after the webinar on the member portal.

Click Here to view a recording of this webinar