American Bar Foundation

The American Bar Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of its 2024-25 doctoral and postdoctoral scholars cohort! Joshua Aiken (Yale University) is our Doctoral Fellow in Law & Inequality. Sino Esthappan (Northwestern University), is our ABF/Northwestern University Doctoral Fellow in Law & Social Science. Robert Gelles (University of Chicago) is the ABF/University of Chicago Doctoral Fellow in Law & Social Science. Ewurama Okai (Northwestern University) is the ABF/AccessLex Institute Doctoral Fellow in Legal & Higher Education. Kyneshawau Hurd is our new Postdoctoral Fellow in Law & Inequality. These fellowships are possible thanks to the support of the Law and Society Association, the National Science Foundation (NSF), AccessLex Institute, Northwestern University, and the University of Chicago. Meet the new cohort and read more about the ABF's academic programs at the link below:

Last week, the ABF's Access to Justice Research Initiative, in partnership with Wayne State University Law School, hosted a conference titled "Emerging Insights from Access to Justice Research: Translating Ideas into Action." Fourteen scholars presented their latest research on critical #AccessToJustice issues, covering topics ranging from the impact of legal aid in eviction proceedings to the creation of specialized environmental courts as a potential way to address environmental injustices. Read presentation highlights and watch the full live stream at the link below:

🌟 Delighted to share insights from the recent William C. Hubbard Conference on Law & Education hosted by the American Bar Foundation, in collaboration with Stanford Law School and the Deborah L. Rhode Center on the Legal Profession at Stanford Law School. This spring's conference delved into pressing issues shaping the legal profession's future, with a focus on the ABF's After the JD study. Read highlights from the keynote address, conference speakers, and panel discussions at the link below. #LawAndEducation #LegalProfession #HubbardConference

📅 📅 📅 Happening next Wednesday, May 8th: Join the ABF at Wayne State University for an opportunity to critically examine how empirical research might provide answers to the access to civil justice crisis. The United States faces an access to civil justice crisis of extraordinary scale. According to the latest Legal Services Corporation Justice Gap Report, 92% of low-income Americans with civil needs cannot find adequate help to resolve their civil legal problems. Hosted by the American Bar Foundation’s Access to Justice Research Initiative and Wayne State University Law School, this conference offers a unique opportunity for access to justice researchers, policy makers, and practitioners to critically examine how empirical research and evidence might provide answers. There is no cost to attend this conference, but registration is required. Space is limited. 

The ABF’s Access to Justice Research Initiative is proud to announce the 2024-25 cohort of ABF/THE JPB FOUNDATION Access to Justice Scholars. Each scholar offers unique expertise to advance the program’s core mission: generating impactful research on access to justice and translating it into real-world policy and practice. Joining us from the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville, Cassie Chambers Armstrong will compare civil protective order processes in rural and urban courts and their similarities and differences. From Wake Forest University School of Law, Alyse Bertenthal will explore access to justice issues that surface in environmental courts and tribunals across the United States.  From the University of Southern California, Deisy Del Real will examine how immigration policies and political contexts impact Venezuelan migrants’ legalization processes. Amy Widman will join us from Rutgers Law School, and will explore non-lawyer representation in administrative decision-making. And from Georgetown University Law Center, Daniel Wilf-Townsend will examine the use of bank account garnishment as a debt collection tool in civil litigation in state courts. https://lnkd.in/eumM4ys9 #AccessToJustice #LegalResearch

💡💡 In a recent webinar hosted by the American Bar Foundation, experts gathered to tackle the topic of democratic decline and the role of education and critical thinking in reversing this trend: “Democracy at Risk: Can Understanding Our Past Protect Our Future?” Read the full story and access the webinar recording at the link below. #Democracy #Education #LawAndSociety

Happening Wednesday, April 17, at the University of Chicago's Center for the Study of Race, Politics & Culture! Join this terrific event with ABF Research Professor Reuben Miller and CSRPC 2024 Beyond Prisons Justice Practitioner Fellow Jimmy Soto. Learn more and RSVP at the link below. #BeyondPrisons

The American Bar Foundation is hiring a new Director of Major Gifts and Grants! Working closely with the Executive Director and Senior Director of the Fellows, the Director of Major Gifts and Grants will play a key role in developing and sustaining support for the empirical research in law and society produced by the ABF. https://lnkd.in/gwVCEt4z #hiring #jobalert #joinourteam

How does legal regulation impact medical practice? What can we learn from studying the rules that influence clinical procedures around the globe? 💡We're excited to share insights from Carol A. Heimer, Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation & Professor Emerita at Northwestern University. In her upcoming book, "Governing the Global Clinic: HIV and the Legal Transformation of Medicine,” Heimer conducts a comparative study of the “legalization” of American medicine, and its broad impact on the role of law in medicine, drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in HIV/AIDS clinics in the United States, Uganda, South Africa, and Thailand. This piece is the second edition of the ABF’s Featured Researcher series, which showcases cutting-edge empirical research produced by the faculty of the American Bar Foundation. #Healthcare #GlobalHealth #Sociology #Research

Tomorrow, ABF Research Professors Robert L. Nelson and Laura Beth Nielsen will be featured on a University of California, Berkeley - School of Law panel titled "Civil Justice Research Initiative: A Discussion of the Sex Abuse Litigation." This event will be held in-person and livestreamed via Zoom. Register for the Zoom webinar: https://lnkd.in/gw2u4cM6