U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaks at the Association of American Law School's annual meeting, Jan. 4, 2020.

There won't be any networking in the lobby or gathering for happy hour at the hotel bar for law professors in January.

The Association of American Law Schools on Monday officially announced that its annual meeting, which was to be held Jan. 5 to 9 in San Francisco, will be virtual instead of in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision was not unexpected—association executive director Judith Areen told law deans as much earlier this month and many legal education entities have moved their events online since March. But the decision means that the single-largest annual law school event will be dramatically different next year. The AALS' annual meeting typically draws about 2,000 attendees to an extensive series of panels, keynotes and networking events. It will be the first time since World War II that the meeting will not happen in person.

"Given the risks posed by COVID-19, and considering feedback gathered from faculty and deans across the country, AALS has decided to hold the 2021 AALS Annual Meeting in a virtual format rather than in person," reads a message the association sent to members Monday. "While we are disappointed that we will not be able to meet in San Francisco, we are excited about the opportunities for innovation that a virtual format provides without the need for travel or hotel arrangements."

In addition to not having the cost of travel and hotels, the association is lowering the price to attend the annual meeting and introducing a one-time school registration rate that will allow all faculty and administrators from participating schools to attend the virtual meeting. For those who attend under the traditional individual registration format, the cost for the 2021 meeting is $295, which the association noted is a 40% reduction from last year's price.

Nearly every American Bar Association-accredited law school is a member of the association, and spokesman James Greif said Monday that the organization is hopeful that offering a school-wide registration rate will result in more people participating next year. But he acknowledged that the move to an online format will reduce the revenue the association generates from the annual meeting.

"The transition to a virtual meeting brings additional technology costs and reduced revenue," Greif said. "We are optimistic, however, that establishing a law school rate means we will attract faculty and staff who would not have attended an in-person meeting."

Areen said in an interview in June that COVID-19 isn't the only factor the organization has been considering when canceling in-person events or moving them online. The association already canceled its annual Faculty Recruitment Conference, which was to take place in Washington in October. Aspiring law professors meet with law school hiring committees for first-round interviews at that yearly event.

"Higher education in general and legal education are facing real economic challenges," Areen said at the time. "Many universities aren't paying for faculty travel. So even if there weren't health issues, schools were saying they would not be able to send a team to interview people."