The first Global Legal Skills conference was held in Chicago in 2005 at The John Marshall Law School (the school now known as UIC School of Law following the merger of John Marshall and the University of Illinois Chicago). The GLS Conference started as a specialized conference connecting legal writing professionals who had an interest in teaching international students and lawyers who spoke English as a second language. The conference series was important because a growing number of lawyers and law students had begun to attend law schools in the United States and other English-speaking countries, and they needed to have special language training in Legal English and related courses. The GLS Conference series has since grown to include legal writing faculty, international and comparative law professors, clinical faculty, linguists, librarians, judges, judicial clerks, attorneys, court translators, law students, and scholars interested in global legal skills education. The GLS Conference has been held (so far) in seven different countries: the United States (in Chicago, Phoenix, and Washington, D.C.); Mexico (Monterrey); Costa Rica (San José); Italy (Verona and Bari); Australia (Melbourne); United Kingdom (Nottingham, England), and Czechia (Brno).
- Global Legal Skills Conferences
- 2026, GLS-18: Facultad Libre de Derecho de Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico (to be held Dec. 2-4, 2026)
- 2025, GLS-17: Masaryk University, Faculty of Law, in Brno, Czechia
- 2024, GLS-16: University of Bari Aldo Moro, Italy 16th Global Legal Skills Conference
- 2023, GLS-15: Nottingham Law School, Nottingham Trent University, UK
- 2019, GLS-14: Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA
- 2018, GLS-13: Melbourne Law School, Melbourne University, Australia
- 2017, GLS-12: Facultad Libre de Derecho de Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico
- 2016, GLS-11: Uni degli studi di Verona Departimento di Scienze Giuridiche in Verona, Italy
- 2015, GLS-10: John Marshall Law School & Northwestern in Chicago, IL, USA
- 2014, GLS-9: Uni degli studi di Verona Departimento di Scienze Giuridiche in Verona, Italy
- 2013, GLS-8: San Jose, Costa Rica
- 2012, GLS-7: Uni de Costa Rica in San Jose, Costa Rica
- 2011, GLS-6: John Marshall Law School in Chicago, IL, USA
- 2010, GLS-5: Facultad Libre de Derecho de Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico
- 2009, GLS-4: Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC, USA
- 2008, GLS-3: Facultad Libre de Derecho de Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico
- 2007, GLS-2: John Marshall Law School in Chicago, IL, USA
- 2005, GLS-1: John Marshall Law School in Chicago, IL, USA