On January 5,2007, the Nonprofit and Philanthropy Law Section of AALS held its first program at the AALS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. The program, entitled "State-Level Legal Reform of the Law of Nonprofit Organizations," was a fitting way to launch what should prove to be a valuable contribution to the study of law relating to nonprofit organizations and philanthropy. This burgeoning area of academic legal study is well poised to grow by leaps and bounds in the coming years due to its impact on many traditional areas of legal study, including tax law, corporate law, estate law, trust law, constitutional law, education law, and others.

This symposium issue of the Georgia Law Review provides an excellent opportunity to showcase both the subject matter of the January 2007 AALS section program and the growing field of legal study on matters concerning nonprofit and philanthropy law. Professor Garry Jenkins's article, included in this symposium, will provide foundational information concerning the section program. But first, this short introduction to the symposium will outline other aspects of this growing field of law. It will describe the creation, development, and purpose of the new AALS section, highlight the new Social Science Research Network (SSRN) abstracting journal on nonprofit law, and identify one of the major educational institutes that focuses on nonprofit and philanthropy law studies.