Empirical Legal Studies

CELS 2017 -- Program

On behalf of my many colleagues here at Cornell Law School, I'm delighted to report that the CELS 2017 Program is now set and available (here).

CELS 2017 Registration

Cornell Law School and the Society for Empirical Legal Studies (SELS) are pleased to announce that registration is open for the 12th Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies (CELS) on October 13-14, 2017, in Ithaca, New York.

To register, or for more information about CELS 2017, please visit the conference website (here)

CELS is a highly regarded interdisciplinary gathering that draws researchers from across the United States and the world, bringing together scholars in law, economics, political science, psychology, policy analysis, and other fields who are interested in the empirical analysis of law and legal institutions. Papers are selected through a peer review process.

CELS 2017-- Call For Papers -- Deadline Extension

In an effort to provide authors with a bit more breathing space, the CELS 2017 paper submission deadline has been moved back to midnight (ET) on Wednesday, June 28, 2017.  More conference information follows.

General conference and registration information for CELS 2017 is found here. Instructions for those interested in submitting papers are found here.

CELS 2017--Call For Papers

On behalf of my Cornell colleagues I am delighted to announce that the Twelfth Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies (CELS), presented by the Society for Empirical Legal Studies (SELS) and hosted by Cornell Law School, is scheduled for October 13-14, 2017, in Ithaca, NY. CELS brings together scholars from an array of fields, including law, economics, political science, psychology, statistics, sociology, history, and policy analysis. Papers are selected through a peer-review process and each is assigned an individual discussant. CELS invites empirical papers that span all areas of empirical legal studies. Authors are encouraged to submit works-in-progress; however, submissions should be completed paper drafts that include main results. Submitted papers must also be unpublished (and are expected to be unpublished at the time of the conference). Paper submission deadline is midnight (EST) on June 23, 2017.

General conference and registration information for CELS 2017 is found here. Instructions for those interested in submitting papers are found here.

New Junior Faculty Forum Focusing on STEM fields--Call For Papers

Dave Schwartz (Northwestern), along with his counterparts at Penn and Stanford law schools, are converging to launch a new Junior Faculty Forum focusing on "interdisciplinary scholarship focusing on the intersection of Law and Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics (STEM)." Penn Law (specifically, Penn's CTIC) will host the the inaugural Forum on October 6-7, 2017. Forum organizers currently seek paper submissions from interested junior faculty. The deadline for paper submissions is Friday, June 9, 2017.

Those with questions about the Forum should contact either Dave Schwartz (Northwestern), Christopher Yoo (Penn), or Mark Lemley (Stanford). The overlap with ELS Blog readers is potentially rich. As Dave notes, "while the field of law-STEM is somewhat ambiguous, it includes many topics related to ELS. For instance, predictive analytics, machine learning, and computational law all would be included."

2017 AP-LS Annual Conference

For those interested (or planning to attend) the American Psychology-Law Society annual conference later this month in Seattle, information on the conference program (here) and pre-conference workshops (here) is now available.

2017 Conference on Empirical Legal Studies in Asia (CELSA)--Extended Submission Deadline

Organized by Yun-chien Chang (Academia Sinica), CELSA, scheduled for June 13 - 15, 2017, at Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan, will include up to seven panels with up to 5 parallel sessions. One of the parallel sessions will be reserved for papers using Asian data. The paper submission deadline has been extended until: 24 February 2017, 11:59pm ET.

An overview of the conference follows: "Empirical legal studies are well established in the United States and are now part of the academic mainstream. In Asia, as compared to other "law and" disciplines, empirical legal studies appear to rise faster and spread wider. For legal empiricists, it is not enough. Both legal academia and policy-makers would benefit from a deeper understanding of the law in action as well as behaviors of courts, legislators, regulated parties, etc. Hosted by Academia Sinica in Taiwan and sponsored by the Society for Empirical Legal Studies (SELS), the first Conference on Empirical Legal Studies in Asia (CELSA) brings together academics from law and other fields who embrace the empirical turn and seek to develop empirical accounts of law and legal institutions in Asia."

For information on how to submit a paper(s), click here. Presenters are permitted to submit--and present--up to two (2) papers at CELSA.

2017 Main Causal Inference Workshop

Northwestern and Duke Universities will hold their 8th annual week-long workshop on Research Design for Causal Inference, at Northwestern University from June 19-23, 2017. Organized by Bernie Black (Northwestern) and Mat McCubbins (Duke), the workshop features an outstanding faculty and is an excellent and efficient way to become acquainted with contemporary approaches for making causal inferences from various kinds of observational and experimental data. Details and registration information can be found here. A brief overview follows:

"Research design for causal inference is at the heart of a 'credibility revolution' in empirical research.  We will cover the design of true randomized experiments and contrast them to natural or quasi experiments and to pure observational studies, where part of the sample is treated in some way, the remainder is a control group, but the researcher controls neither the assignment of cases to treatment and control groups nor administration of the treatment.  We will assess the causal inferences one can draw from a research design, threats to valid inference, and research designs that can mitigate those threats."

Workshop Schedule:

Monday, June 19 (Don Rubin): Introduction to Modern Methods for Causal Inference
Tuesday, June 20 (Alberto Abadie): Designs for “Pure” Observational Studies
Wednesday, June 21 (Alberto Abadie): Instrumental variable methods
Thursday, June 22 (Jens Hainmueller): Panel Data and Difference-in-Differences
Friday morning, June 23 (Jens Hainmueller): Regression Discontinuity
Friday afternoon: Feedback on your own research

CELS 2017 -- Call For Papers

It is with particular pleasure and pride that I note the call for papers for CELS 2017, hosted by Cornell Law School. Details follow.

Paper Submission Deadline: June 23, 2017 (midnight, Eastern Time).

Cornell Law School and the Society for Empirical Legal Studies (SELS) are pleased to announce the 12th Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies (CELS) on October 13-14, 2017, in Ithaca, New York.

CELS is a highly regarded interdisciplinary gathering that draws researchers from across the United States and the world, bringing together scholars in law, economics, political science, psychology, policy analysis, and other fields who are interested in the empirical analysis of law and legal institutions. Papers are selected through a peer review process and discussion at the conference includes assigned commentators and audience questions.

CELS will consider empirical papers spanning all areas of empirical legal studies. Authors are encouraged to submit works-in-progress; however, submissions should be completed drafts that include principal results. Submitted papers must be unpublished (and expected to be unpublished at the time of the conference). If accepted, authors will have an opportunity to submit a revised draft prior to the conference for presentation and discussion. Please note that accepted papers will be made available to all conference participants.

To submit a paper, please go to the CELS 2017 Conference page on SSRN (here).

(Do not use the regular SSRN submission site.)

For more information about CELS 2017 please visit the conference website (here).

CELS 2017

I note with distinct pleasure that CELS 2017, hosted by Cornell Law School, is scheduled for Fri/Sat, 13-14 October 2017, in Ithaca, NY.

CELS 2016 Schedule

UPDATED:  Now final, the 2016 CELS program at Duke is here.

SELS Global: Conference on Empirical Legal Studies in Asia -- Call For Papers

A call for papers (excerpted below) for a 2017 conference, hosted by Academica Sinica in Taiwan and co-sponsored by the Society for Empirical Legal Studies (SELS), further evidences empirical legal studies' widening global footprint and reach. KC Huang (a JELS international adviser) helped found Academia Sinica's Empirical Legal Studies Center. Now that KC is a member of Taiwan's Congress, Yun-chien Chang directs the Center and organizes CELSA. The conference's host, Academia Sinica, has already organized three international conferences and multiple ELS workshops, making Taipei a critical hub of ELS activity in East Asia.

"The first Conference on Empirical Legal Studies in Asia (CELSA) brings together, in Asia, researchers from law and other fields who seek to develop empirical accounts of law and legal institutions.

Papers are selected through a rigorous peer review process. CELSA will consider empirical papers across all areas of law. Quantitative data analysis is preferred. Only submissions in English are considered. While authors are strongly encouraged to submit works-in-progress, submissions should be completed drafts that present main findings. Submitted papers must be unpublished (and expected to be unpublished at the time of the conference). If accepted, authors will have an opportunity to submit a revised draft prior to the conference.  Each paper will be assigned a discussant and authors of accepted papers are expected to be willing to act as discussants of another paper."

CELSA is set for June 13-15, 2017 (Tues.-Thurs.) at Taiwan's Academica Sinica.

Call for papers submission deadline: 15 February 2017.

Click here for more submission and conference information; please direct specific questions to Prof. Yun-chien Chang, at: [email protected]

2016 Journal of Law, Finance, and Accounting Conference--Submission Extension

The Journal of Law, Finance, and Accounting’s (JLFA) fourth conference, to be held at Northwestern Law School, 375 East Chicago Avenue, is scheduled for Friday, November 11th and Saturday, November 12th, 2016, ending by mid-afternoon on Saturday. The Conference’s Call For Papers deadline has been extended to July 18, 2016. Click here for information about JLFA; click here for submission information.

CELS 2016 -- Call For Papers Extension [New Deadline: 31 July 2016]

As previously mentioned (here), CELS 2016 will be held at Duke University Law School, in Durham, NC, on Nov. 18-19, 2016. To better accommodate summer research/writing schedules that vary across departments, schools, universities, and, in particular, nations, conference organizers have extended the Call for Papers deadline to: July 31, 2016. Click here for paper submission information.

CELS 2016 -- Call For Papers

The Eleventh Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies (CELS), hosted by Duke Law School, is scheduled for November 18-19, 2016, in Durham, NC. CELS brings together scholars from an array of fields, including law, economics, political science, psychology, and policy analysis. Papers are selected through a peer-review process and each is assigned an individual discussant. CELS invites empirical papers that span all areas of empirical legal studies. Authors are encouraged to submit works-in-progress; however, submissions should be completed paper drafts that include main results. Submitted papers must also be unpublished (and are expected to be unpublished at the time of the conference). Paper submission deadline is July 10, 2016.

Click here for additional conference information.

2016 Northwestern-Duke Causal Inference Workshop

Northwestern and Duke Universities will hold their 7th annual week-long workshop on Research Design for Causal Inference, at Northwestern University from August 1-5, 2016. Organized by Bernie Black (Northwestern) and Mat McCubbins (Duke), the workshop features an outstanding faculty and is an excellent and efficient way to become acquainted with contemporary approaches for making causal inferences from various kinds of observational and experimental data. Details and registration information can be found here. A brief overview follows:

"Research design for causal inference is at the heart of a 'credibility revolution' in empirical research.  We will cover the design of true randomized experiments and contrast them to natural or quasi experiments and to pure observational studies, where part of the sample is treated in some way, the remainder is a control group, but the researcher controls neither the assignment of cases to treatment and control groups nor administration of the treatment.  We will assess the causal inferences one can draw from a research design, threats to valid inference, and research designs that can mitigate those threats."

Save The Date: CELS 2016

Conference organizers Mathew McCubbins, Stuart Benjamin, and Guy-Uriel Charles announced that the 11th Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies, hosted by Duke University and the Society for Empirical Legal Studies (SELS), is set for November 18-19, 2016, at Duke Law School in Durham, NC. Due to growing and persistent demand, a one-day, hands-on empirical training workshop will once again be offered and is scheduled for Thursday, November 17, 2016. Additional information is forthcoming.

3rd Annual Roundtable on Empirical Methods in IP -- Call for Papers

Dave Schwartz (Northwestern) asked me to alter readers to the following and I am delighted to do so.  Please note the Feb. 12 proposal deadline.  Proposals (and any questions) should be directed to: [email protected]

"We are pleased to announce the third annual Roundtable on Empirical Methods in Intellectual Property. Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, Cardozo Law School, and the United States Patent & Trademark Office are negotiating an agreement to co-host the event.  The roundtable will take place in Washington, DC at the USPTO on April 29-30, 2016.

 

The roundtable is intended to give scholars engaging in empirical and experimental studies of IP a chance to receive feedback on their work at an early stage in their research.  Accordingly, the roundtable will be limited to a small cohort of scholars discussing projects that are still in their developmental stages.  Projects that will have substantially begun data collection by the time of the roundtable are inappropriate. Pilot data collection is, however, appropriate.

 

The roundtable will be organized around a modest number of projects.  Each project presenter will be expected to circulate a description of the project of no more than 10 pages by April 8.  Each project will be assigned to an expert commenter and will be allotted 45 minutes of discussion by the attendees.

 

We welcome applications from scholars in the social sciences and law.  Travel and lodging support for presenters will be provided.

 

Applications are due by February 12. We will notify applicants by March 1."

Call for Papers: Quantlaw at the University of Arizona

The University of Arizona College of Law is hosting its third-annual Quantlaw workshop, scheduled for February 12-13, 2016. The theme for this year's workshop in The Empirical Constitution, and the workshop's lead organizer, Chris Robertson (Arizona), invites paper proposals. The organizers describe this year's theme to include: "any empirical/experimental study of issues relevant to constitutional law or procedure, as well as non-empirical studies of constitutional doctrine relevant to data and public access thereto. The program will include works-in-progress sessions for extensive feedback, as well as methods sessions focusing on datasets and analytical tools."

Also noteworthy is that travel stipends are available for "junior scholars" accepted into the workshop ("junior scholars" are defined to include: "those not yet in tenure-track positions, or within five years of appointment.")

More information for those interested is found here. The deadline for submission is January 6, 2016. Specific questions and proposals should be addressed to Prof. Chris Robertson at: [email protected]

5th Annual Western Empirical Legal Studies Conference -- Call for Proposals

I am delighted once again to pass along information from Joe Doherty (UCLA) about the 5th Annual Western Empirical Legal Studies (WELS) Conference at UCLA on March 12, 2016. Insofar as WELS is consciously pitched to "law and graduate students," (emphasis added) it fills an important need and presents a wonderful opportunity for interested students. Click here for more information. (Please note the 1.8.2016 proposal deadline.)

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Call for Papers: 5th Annual Western Empirical Legal Studies (WELS) Conference at UCLA School of Law

Proposal Deadline: January 8, 2016.

The UCLA School of Law's Empirical Legal Scholars Association (ELSA) is proud to announce the 5th Annual Western Empirical Legal Studies Conference, on March 12, 2016, at the UCLA School of Law.

This is a conference for students (Masters, PhD, and JD) who are conducting empirical research on law, legal actors, and legal institutions (judicial behavior, access to justice, bankruptcy, crime, etc.).  It provides a unique forum for junior scholars to present original research and to receive focused feedback from students and law school faculty engaged in similar projects.  The first four conferences attracted participants from over a dozen campuses across the U.S.A., Europe, and Asia.

Future SELS Global Conferences

In light of the explosive growth in and demand for empirical legal scholarship world-wide, the Society for Empirical Legal Studies ("SELS") launched the SELS Global initiative. The initiative is already bearing important fruit and the list of future international conferences continues to grow. Forthcoming conferences include:

1. SELS Global Junior Empirical Legal Studies Workshop, Dec., 16-17, 2015, at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. This conference is co-sponsored by SELS, Hebrew University, and the Center for Empirical Studies of Decision Making and the Law.
2. First Conference on Empirical Legal Studies in Europe (CELSE), June 21-22, 2016, at University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. This conference is co-sponsored by SELS and the Amsterdam Center for Law and Economics.
3. CELS Asia Conference and the 4th International Conference on the Empirical Studies of Judicial System, June 13-15, 2017, at Academica Sinica, Taiwan. This conference is co-sponsored by SELS, CELS Asia, and Academica Sinica.

CELS 2015 -- Program

Here.

CELS 2015 -- Registration

Registration is now ongoing for 10th Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies (CELS). The conference will include over 100 paper presentations with assigned discussants, and more than 30 poster presentations, all selected through peer review. The conference will open with lectures on network analysis and data visualization. The Keynote Address will be given by Richard K. Wilson, PhD, Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Professor of Genetics, Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Director of the McDonnell Genome Institute at Washington University in St. Louis, who will speak on "Modern Genomics and Precision Medicine.”

 Click here for additional registration information.

Cornell's 2015 Junior Empirical Legal Scholars Workshop

Cornell Law School will host its Junior Empirical Legal Scholars Workshop next weekend in Ithaca, NY. Similar to past workshops, "Junior" is defined to include pre-tenure (or pre-tenure-track) individuals who, through their early empirical scholarship, have demonstrated considerable scholarly promise. At the Workshop, each junior presenter is matched with a field-appropriate "senior" empirical legal scholar discussant. The 2015 Junior scholars reflect a diverse range of academic disciplines and include: Maya Sen (Harvard), Sarath Sanga (UC Berkeley), William Hubbard (Chicago), Jed Stiglitz (Cornell), Jacob Goldin (Princeton), and Avani Sood (UC Berkeley).

CELS 2015 -- Call For Papers Deadline Extended

As previously mentioned, CELS 2015 will be held at Washington University Law School, in St. Louis, on Oct. 30-13, 2015. Conference organizers, Adam Badawi, Rebecca Hollander-Blumoff, and Pauline Kim recently extended the Call for Papers deadline to July 10, 2015. Click here for paper submission information.

Ted Eisenberg (1947-2014) & Israel ELS

Yet another datum illustrating my late colleague's astonishing scholarly reach and influence is found in next week's Ted Eisenberg Memorial Empirical Legal Studies Conference, hosted by Tel Aviv University's Buchmann Faculty of Law. Ted's ties to Israel and Israeli scholars were numerous, deep, and significant. So much so that Tel Aviv University graciously decided to host an international conference on empirical legal studies in Ted's honor.

Inaugural SELS Global Junior Empirical Legal Scholars Workshop

The first international workshop for junior empirical legal scholars will be held on December 17th and 18th 2015, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The meeting is co-sponsored by the Society of Empirical Legal Studies (SELS) and The Center for Empirical Studies of Decision Making and the Law.

The workshop aims to foster the research of scholars who have recently completed their PhD or have recently been appointed to a tenure track position, by providing them with a forum in which they can present their research and receive feedback from fellow empirical researchers. Approximately ten scholars from around the world (submission criteria specified below) will be invited to the workshop. Each scholar will be assigned a commentator who will discuss their paper. The rigorous academic environment at the workshop will assist junior scholars to develop their ideas. The workshop is also intended to establish a sense of community among empirical legal scholars and help build cooperative relationships between participants.

Topics: Papers may touch on any legal field and can employ any empirical methodology.

Participation Criteria: To be eligible, an author must be an untenured faculty member at a research university in a tenure-track position; or a tenured faculty member if it has been less than five years since the initial entry level appointment; or a full time post-doctoral fellow or a visiting associate professor at a research university. In addition, the committee will consider the work of authors who do not fit these criteria, but are new to the field of empirical legal studies.

Travel: The costs of airfare (coach) and accommodations of authors who will be invited to participate in the workshop will be covered by the Center for Empirical Studies of Decision Making and the Law.

Paper Submission: Submissions should be sent to Ms. Ayelet Gordon ([email protected]) with the subject line: “Workshop for Junior Empirical-Legal Scholars.”

The deadline for submission is June 30th, 2015. Only drafts of complete papers will be considered.

Program Committee:
David Abrams – University of Pennsylvania Law School
Bernie Black – Northwestern University School of Law
Valarie Hans – Cornell Law School
Doron Teichman - Hebrew University
Keren Weinshall-Margel - Hebrew University
Eyal Zamir - Hebrew University

CELS 2015 -- Call For Papers

As previously mentioned, CELS 2015 will be held at Washington University Law School, in St. Louis, on Oct. 30-13, 2015. Conference organizers, Adam Badawi, Rebecca Hollander-Blumoff, and Pauline Kim recently announced the Call for Papers (here). Please note the June 26, 2015, submission deadline.

Save the Date: CELS 2015

Conference organizers Adam Badawi, Rebecca Hollander-Blumoff, and Pauline Kim announced that the 10th Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies, hosted by Wash U School of Law and its Center for Empirical Research in the Law, is set for October 30-31, 2015, in St. Louis, MO. Due to persistent and growing demand, a one-day, hands-on empirical training workshop will once again be offered and is scheduled for Thursday, October 29, 2015. While a Call for Papers will be announced sometime next month, paper submissions will be due by June 26, 2015.

2015 Research Design For Causal Inference Workshops

Northwestern and Duke Universities along with the Society for Empirical Legal Studies will co-sponsor a pair of causal inference workshops this summer. Organized by Bernie Black (Northwestern) and Mat McCubbins (Duke), the "Main" workshop will take place during an entire work-week in July (13-17, 2015) and the "Advanced" workshop will follow, running from July 19-22, 2015. Both workshops will take place at Northwestern University Law School, in downtown Chicago. These workshops feature world-class faculty, and are an excellent and efficient way to become acquainted with contemporary approaches for making causal inferences from various kinds of observational and experimental data. Details and registration information can be found here.

4th Annual Western Empirical Legal Studies (WELS) Conference -- Call For Papers

I am delighted once again to pass along information from Joe Doherty (UCLA) about the 4th Annual Western Empirical Legal Studies (WELS) Conference at UCLA on March 7, 2015. Insofar as WELS is consciously pitched to "law and graduate students," (emphasis added) it fills an important need and presents a wonderful opportunity for interested students. Click here for more information. (Please note the 12.22.2014 proposal deadline.)

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Call for Papers: 4th Annual Western Empirical Legal Studies (WELS) Conference at UCLA School of Law

Proposal Deadline: December 22, 2014.

The UCLA School of Law's Empirical Legal Scholars Association (ELSA) is proud to announce the 4th Annual Western Empirical Legal Studies Conference, on March 7, 2015, at the UCLA School of Law.

This is a conference for students (Masters, PhD, and JD) who are conducting empirical research on law, legal actors, and legal institutions (judicial behavior, access to justice, bankruptcy, crime, etc.).  It provides a unique forum for junior scholars to present original research and to receive focused feedback from students and law school faculty engaged in similar projects.  The first three conferences attracted participants from over a dozen campuses across the U.S.A. and Europe.

Hoffman on CELS No. 9

Once again, and per custom, over at Concurring Opinions Dave Hoffman (Temple) blogs about his reflections on last weekend's CELS. Well worth a read, particularly for those unable to make the trip to Berkeley (as well as for the many who did attend).

CELS 2014 Schedule

Here. Kudos to Anne Joseph O'Connell and Eric Talley at Berkeley for organizing what promises to be another outstanding conference.

Call For Proposals: American Psychology - Law Society Annual Conference

Erik Girvan (Oregon) reminded me about the American Psychology -- Law Society's upcoming annual conference (19-21 March 2015) in San Diego, CA. More specifically, submissions for paper and panel proposals are due by Monday, Oct. 6, 2014. Information for those contemplating a proposal is found here.

Call For Papers: How to Measure the Quality of Judicial Reasoning

At the request of conference organizer Mátyás Bencze (Debrecen--Law [Hungary]), I am delighted to note the following conference call for papers.

A conference on How To Measure the Quality of Judicial Reasoning, co-sponsored by the Law School of University of Debrecen and the HAS Centre for Social Sciences Institute for Legal Studies, will take place on 28-29 November 2014, at the University of Debrecen, School of Law, Debrecen, Hungary.

Conference aim: "In the past two decades various ‘external’ (public trust, satisfaction, affordability and accessibility etc) and ‘internal’ or ‘formal’ (timeliness, fairness of judicial process, independence and accountability of courts) benchmarks have been worked out for the assessment of the quality of judicial activity. The question remains, however, whether we can measure the quality of the actual judicial reasoning at all.

The purpose of the first day of the conference is to build a network of colleagues throughout Europe in order to launch a major research project on the topic. The Debrecen conference would be the first in a series of events in the coming years."

More conference information is found here as well as information on paper proposals which are due by 30 September 2014.

 

Call For Proposals: Roundtable on Empirical Methods in Intellectual Property

The second annual Roundtable on Empirical Methods in Intellectual Property, co-hosted by Chicago-Kent and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, will take place in Chicago, IL, on 19-20 September 2014.

The Roundtable seeks to give scholars engaging in empirical and experimental studies of IP a chance to receive feedback on their work at an early stage in their research. Accordingly, the Roundtable will be limited to a small cohort of scholars discussing projects that are still in their developmental stages. Projects that will have substantially begun data collection by the time of the Roundtable are inappropriate. Pilot data collection is, however, appropriate.

Those interested in proposing research projects will find specific application information here. Please note that applications are due by 1 August 2014.

CELS 2014 Paper Submission Deadline--Extended

Anne O'Connell (Berkeley) and Eric Talley (Berkeley) have extended the CELS 2014 paper submission deadline to Tuesday, July 22, 2014, 11:59 PM (PDT).

To submit a paper for consideration, please click on SSRN's CELS 2014 submission page (here). (Do not use the "regular" SSRN paper submission system.)

The 9th Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies, sponsored by the Society for Empirical Legal Studies (SELS), will be hosted by UC Berkeley School of Law and take place on Nov. 7-8, 2014.

Northwestern University Workshop on Research Design for Causal Inference

Once again, Northwestern University will be sponsoring a pair of workshops on "Research Design for Causal Inference," organized by Bernie Black (Northwestern) and Mat McCubbins (Duke).  Details can be found here; there is no formal registration deadline, but space is limited (and registration for the "main workshop" July 7-11 is already closed to graduate students). These workshops feature world-class faculty, and are an excellent, efficient way to become acquainted with contemporary approaches for making causal inferences from various kinds of observational and experimental data.

CELS 2014 Paper Submission Deadline Reminder

The 9th Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies (CELS 2014), sponsored by the Society for Empirical Legal Studies (SELS), will be hosted by UC Berkeley School of Law and take place on Nov. 7-8, 2014. Please note that the paper submission deadline is Mon., July 7, 2014, at 11:59 PM (PST).

To submit a paper for consideration, please click on SSRN's CELS 2014 submission page (here). (Do not use the "regular" SSRN paper submission system.)

2014 Summer Causal Inference Workshops: Main and Advanced

Information on two separate (Main and Advanced) Causal Inference Workshops at Northwestern Law School this summer follows. Both workshops will be taught by leading causal inference researchers. Registration for each is limited to 100 participants.

Main workshop: Monday – Friday, July 7-11, 2014 [at Northwestern]

Advanced workshop: Wednesday - Friday, August 13-15, 2014 [at Duke]

For information and to register for either or both workshops: (click here)

 

Main Workshop Overview and Target Audience: Most empirical methods courses survey a variety of methods. We will begin instead with the goal of causal inference, and discuss how to design research to come closer to that goal. The methods are often adapted to a particular study. Some of the methods we will discuss are covered in PhD programs, but rarely in depth, and rarely with a focus on causal inference and on which methods to prefer for messy, real-world datasets with limited sample sizes. Each day will include with a Stata “workshop” to illustrate selected methods with real data and Stata code. We will assume knowledge, at the level of an upper-level college econometrics or similar course,of multivariate regression, including OLS, logit, and probit; basic probability and statistics including conditional and compound probabilities, confidence intervals, t-statistics, and standard errors; and some understanding of instrumental variables.

 

Advanced Workshop Overview and Target Audience: The advanced workshop seeks to provide an in-depth discussion of selected topics at the causal inference research frontier.Our target audience is empirical researchers who are familiar with the basics of causal inference (from our main workshop or otherwise), and want to extend their knowledge.

3rd Annual Western Empirical Legal Studies (WELS) Conference -- Call For Papers

I am delighted once again to pass along information from Joe Doherty (UCLA) about the 3rd Annual Western Empirical Legal Studies (WELS) Conference at UCLA. Insofar as WELS is consciously pitched to "law and graduate students," it fills an important need and presents a wonderful opportunity for interested students. (Please note the 2.1.2014 proposal deadline.)

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Call for Papers: 3rd Annual Western Empirical Legal Studies (WELS) Conference at UCLA School of Law

Proposal Deadline: February 1, 2014.

The UCLA School of Law's Empirical Legal Scholars Association (ELSA) is proud to announce the 3rd Annual Western Empirical Legal Studies Conference, on March 8, 2014, at the UCLA School of Law.

WELS is a conference for law and graduate students that provides a unique opportunity for emerging ELS scholars to present their work in front of an audience of peers. The first two conferences attracted participants from a dozen campuses across the U.S. and Europe. WELS provides a unique forum for junior scholars to present their original research, and receive focused feedback from students and law faculty engaged in similar projects.

Click here for more information and to submit a proposal (paper title and abstract).

More ELS (Summer) Workshops

Back for its 13th year is the Conducting Empirical Legal Scholarship Workshop, co-sponsored by Wash U and USC and co-directed by Andrew Martin and Lee Epstein. The Workshop will run from June 9-11, 2014, and take place at Wash U (St. Louis). A brief description follows. (For more detailed information click here.)

"The 13th Annual Conducting Empirical Legal Scholarship Workshop will take place at Washington University in St. Louis. The workshop is for law school faculty, political science faculty, and graduate students interested in learning about empirical research and how to evaluate empirical work. Leading empirical scholars Lee Epstein and Andrew Martin will teach the workshop, which provides the formal training necessary to design, conduct, and assess empirical studies, and to use statistical software (Stata) to analyze and manage data. Participants need no background or knowledge of statistics to enroll in the workshop."

2014 AALS Annual Meeting: Quant. & Qual. Workshops

Due to last year's success and sustained demand, the AALS is offering two separate workshops at its annual meeting, both scheduled for Jan. 4-5, 2014. One workshop will focus on quantitative methods, taught by Ted Eisenberg (Cornell) and Marty Wells (Cornell), and another on qualitative and mixed methods, taught by an array of scholars.  For registration information (click here); additional information from the AALS website follows.

"The [AALS] Committee on Research presents two intensive 10-hour courses on statistical analysis in the legal context. Choose between quantitative and qualitative. The workshops will take place Saturday, January 4, from 2:00-5:00 p.m. and continue on Sunday, January 5, from 9:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. There is an additional registration fee of $100 for each workshop which includes a box lunch on Sunday. Advance registration is required and homework will be assigned."

CELS 2013 Observations

I am delighted to announce that, once again, Dave Hoffman (Temple) will blog about his reactions to CELS over at Concurring Opinions.

UPDATE: Part 1 of Dave's comments.

UPDATE 2: Part 2.

CELS 2013 Schedule

CELS 2013 conference organizers at Penn put together a fancy interactive schedule for this weekend's events.

2014 American Psychology/Law Conference -- Call For Papers

Jeremy Blumenthal (Syracuse) asked that I share the following Call For Papers, and I'm delighted to do so.

The upcoming American Psychology/Law Conference in New Orleans, next March 2014, is particularly recruiting legal scholars’ work. All law-and-psychology-related work is welcome, with a separate review process for non-empirical legal work that relates to psychology. An abstract and a 1,000-word summary for individual papers, or a panel of papers with abstracts, is required. Instructions and further conference information are here. And the login page to submit papers is here.

The submission deadline is Sept. 30. Those with any questions/comments should contact Jeremy directly at: [email protected]

Workshop on Empirical Methods in Intellectual Property

David Schwartz (Chi-Kent) asked that I pass along on the inaugural "Workshop on Empirical Methods in Intellectual Property," co-sponsored by Chicago-Kent's Center for Empirical Studies of Intellectual Property and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. I am happy to oblige and welcome another field-specific empirical methods workshop into the fold. Summary information follows.

"The workshop is intended to give scholars engaging in empirical and experimental studies of IP a chance to receive feedback on their work at an early stage in their research. Accordingly, the workshop will be limited to a small cohort of scholars discussing projects that are still in their developmental stages. Projects that will have substantially begun data collection by the time of the workshop are inappropriate. Pilot data collection is, however, appropriate."

"The workshop will be organized around a modest number of projects. Each project presenter will be expected to circulate a description of the project of no more than 10 pages by October 1. Each project will be assigned to an expert commenter and will be allotted 45 minutes of discussion by the attendees."

For those interested, applications are due by August 24. Decisions will be made by September 2. Click here for detailed information; email Christi Guerri ([email protected]) with any questions.

Stanford Law Review & ELS

I am delighted to note that Stanford Law Review's current issue (65:6) focuses exclusively on empirical legal studies. The issue features essays from six Stanford faculty members who used papers presented at last year's CELS (hosted by Stanford Law School) as a starting point to discuss the state of empirical work in an array of substantive legal sub-fields. The introductory essay, The Empirical Revolution in Law, by Prof. Dan Ho (Stanford) and Stanford Law's former Dean, Larry Kramer, provides a nice frame and overview. I recommend the entire issue to all.

I should also note that the 2013 CELS, hosted by Penn Law School, is scheduled for October 25-26, 2013. Those hoping to present papers or posters need to submit by no later than midnight (EST) on Friday, July 12, 2013.

Call For Papers: 2014 Asian Law & Economics Association Annual Meeting

The 10th Annual Conference of the Asian Law and Economics Association (AsLEA) will be held on June 20–21, 2014 (Friday and Saturday) in Taipei, Taiwan, at the National Taiwan University College of Law.

Those interested in presenting are invited to submit papers by Feb. 15, 2014 (at least in draft form), together with a short abstract, to: [email protected]

Papers may be on any topic related to Law and Economics, be it theoretical, empirical, or experimental. Priority in selection will be given to completed papers. AsLEA encourages the submission of proposed panels (containing three papers) for consideration. Panel submission forms can be found here.

CELS 2013 Update: Paper Submission Deadline Extended (12 July 2013)

In an effort to accommodate July 4th holiday activities/plans, the submission deadline CELS 2013 papers has been moved back to midnight (EST) on Friday, July 12, 2013.  More conference information follows.

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Information on the 8th Annual CELS 2013, co-sponsored by the Society for Empirical Legal Studies (SELS) and Penn Law School (and organized this year by David Abrams, Ted Ruger, and Tess Wilkinson-Ryan), is now available (here). The 2013 CELS will take place at Penn Law School, from October 25-26. In addition, due to the success of last year's workshop and growing demand, one-day, "hands-on" CELS empirical training workshops will also be offered and are set for October 24-25.