When the Lawtomation Centre was conceived, the AI Act was still a proposal. The Digital Services Act was a draft. The Platform Work Directive was a conversation. Today, these instruments form part of a dense and far-reaching legal architecture that Europe and the world are now learning, for the first time, to actually enforce. That shift is precisely what brings us here.
From Legacy to Legitimacy
We are pleased to open the Call for Papers for the fifth edition of the IE Lawtomation Days, to be held on 24 and 25 September 2026 at the IE University Tower in Madrid.
This year’s theme — Redesigning Law in the AI Age: From Legacy to Legitimacy — reflects a moment of genuine inflection. Law is no longer simply catching up with technology. It is being tested by it. Norms are being translated into standards, operationalised through compliance frameworks, litigated before courts and embedded in technical and organisational architectures. The question is no longer only how much law is needed, but whether better-designed and more effectively enforced law can achieve more.
The regulatory wave of the early 2020s is giving way to something more difficult: implementation, recalibration, and the pressure to simplify without hollowing out rights. Algorithmic management is reshaping work. Content moderation is exposing the limits of scale. Semi-autonomous weapons are blurring accountability. Supply chains and critical infrastructures are caught in geopolitical rivalry. And AI continues to act as a stress test for legal theories and practices that were designed for slower, more predictable environments.
This is the terrain we want to explore: rigorously, comparatively, and without pretending the answers are simple.
Two Types of Submission
We welcome individual abstracts (up to 500 words) and fully formed panel proposals (four to five presentations, with a 500-word panel description and confirmed participants). Proponents may participate in multiple roles — as presenters, chairs or discussants.
Submission deadline: Monday, 15 June 2026
Notifications of acceptance will be sent by 30 June 2026.
Why Submit to Lawtomation Days?
Over five years and five editions, the IE Lawtomation Days have become what participants consistently describe as a not-to-miss fixture in the academic calendar, a permanent centre of gravity — known for the quality of contributions, the cross-generational and cross-disciplinary exchanges, and an atmosphere that is simultaneously rigorous and genuinely collegial.
Previous editions have brought together scholars from across Europe, the Americas, Asia and beyond, alongside practitioners, regulators and policymakers. Keynote speakers have included figures from the University of Chicago, Oxford, Newcastle, York, Tilburg, the ILO and the European Commission. This year marks a milestone — and we intend to mark it accordingly.
Selected papers will be considered for inclusion in a dedicated DigiBook, published in partnership with DigiCon.
Submit Now
Submissions should be sent via the dedicated online form.
The full call for submission is available here.
The conference is held fully in-person at the IE University Tower (Caleido), Paseo de la Castellana 259E, Madrid.
Contacts
The IE Lawtomation Days are organised by the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence for Law and Automation at IE Law School.
The organizing committee includes Antonio Aloisi, Marina Aksenova, François Delerue, Francisco de Elizalde, Yuliya Kaspiarovich, Francesca Palmiotto, Lazar Radic, Sara Sanchez, Sergio Verdugo and Laura Zoboli.
For questions, contact us at Isabel.Garces@ie.edu.
