Empirical Legal Studies

Conference on Data Science and Law

Prof. Elliott Ash (ETH-Zurich) passed along information on a conference submission deadline extension for the Conference on Data Science and Law, hosted by ETH-Zurich, Switzerland, on 7-8 June 2019. The conference’s submission deadline is now: 12 Feb. 2019. An excerpted conference description and related information follow.

“Interest is growing among scholars from a variety of disciplines and across the globe in research at the intersection of data science and law. In recent years, the digitization of legal texts and developments in statistics and computer science have paved the way for new methodological approaches in this area…. The inaugural Conference on Data Science and Law will convene researchers across disciplines who are interested in this burgeoning field. Scholars in law, social and behavioral sciences, digital humanities, computer science, machine learning, and data analytics are invited to present works-in-progress in all areas of empirical legal studies that involve big data sources or use data science techniques, including natural language processing, machine learning, algorithmic fairness, topic modeling, or network analysis."

For those interested, paper proposals can be submitted directly to: [email protected], with an email subject line: “Conference Submission”.

Database of State Tort Law Reforms (v.6.1)

Ronen Avraham (Tel Aviv/Texas) recently alerted me to an update of one of the more helpful resources around for those who study torts and tort reform. Specifically, the (DSTLR v.6.1) "updates the DSTLR (5th) and contains the most detailed, complete and comprehensive legal dataset of the most prevalent tort reforms in the United States between 1980 and 2018. The DSTLR has been downloaded more than 2700 times and has become the standard tool in empirical research of tort reform. The dataset records state laws in all fifty states and the District of Columbia over the last several decades...." For direct access to the dataset (in Excel) click here.

Power and More Power (Testing)

Power and sample-size calculations are an important part of planning a scientific study. In addition, too often papers that report (perhaps unexpected) null results do not take the next step and assess the possibility that any null results may be ascribed to an underpowered sample. While simple power tests are understood by many (click here for an inventory; click here for a helpful general intro video), power testing for more complex empirical specifications are not. A recent entry (the first of a series) on the Stata Blog (here) walks readers through power testing for more sophisticated modeling.

Marginal Effects Primer

Prof. Richard Williams (Notre Dame) put together an exceedingly helpful "primer" on Stata's "margins" command. Prof. WIlliam's PowerPoint slide deck (here) walks readers through the basics, provides helpful explanations, and illustrates though an array of concrete examples. As marginal effects gain in popularity many might find this helpful.

UPDATE: A loyal Els Blog reader, Prof. Jeff Yates (Binghamton), alerted me to two addition helpful links germane to margins (here and here).

Baldy Center Fellowships

The Baldy Center, an endowed, internationally recognized institute that advances interdisciplinary research on law, legal institutions, and social policy at the State University of New York at Buffalo, plans to appoint one new Postdoctoral Fellow and one or two new Senior Fellows for terms beginning during the 2019-20 academic year. These opportunities target scholars pursuing “important topics in law, legal institutions, and social policy.” Applications are invited from junior and senior scholars from law, the humanities, and the social and natural sciences.

Those with any questions should contact the Baldy Assistant Director Laura Wirth ([email protected]) directly. Please note that applications are due Wednesday, February 1, 2019.