Robert L. Nelson
ABF Director & MacCrate Research Chair in the Legal Profession
- 750 N. Lake Shore Drive
- 4th Floor
- Chicago, IL 60611
Joint appointment
Professor of Sociology, Northwestern University
Education
Ph.D., Sociology, Northwestern University; J.D., Northwestern University School of Law
Bio
Robert L. Nelson is the Director of the American Bar Foundation, the MacCrate Research Chair in the Legal Profession at the ABF, and professor of sociology and law at Northwestern University. He…
Full bio »
Research focus
The social organization of law practice and the relationship between law and social inequality. Research has addressed transformations in the legal profession, the role of corporate counsel, gender inequality, and employment discrimination.
Projects
- Employment Discrimination Litigation
- Latest finding: Feb 11, 2008, with Laura Beth Nielsen, Ryon Lancaster, John Donohue III, Peter Siegelman
- At the center of current debates about the role of anti-discrimination law in American society is the system of discrimination litigation. Despite the sheer magnitude of changes in employment…
- After the JD
- Latest finding: Feb 11, 2008, with Bryant G. Garth, Ronit Dinovitzer, Joyce Sterling
- The After the JD (AJD) project is an empirical study of the career outcomes of a cohort of almost 5,000 new lawyers, offering both a nationally representative picture of lawyer career trajectories…
- Urban Lawyers: The New Social Structure of the Bar
- Latest finding: Jan 25, 2008, with John P. Heinz, John P. Heinz, Robert L. Nelson, Rebecca L. Sandefur and Edward O. Laumann
- A recently published book, reports on the forces that have transformed the urban bar over a twenty-year period.Suspendisse malesuada. Nunc metus nibh, dapibus ut, adipiscing ac, eleifend egestas,…
All projects »
Publications
-
“The AJD Project: The First National Longitudinal
Study of Lawyer Careers”
- Southwestern University Law Review
All publications »
Presentations
- The Trajectories of Legal Careers
- Oct 2007 with R. Dinovitzer
- Uncertain Justice: the Determinants of Outcomes in
Federal Employment Discrimination Litigation, 1987-
2003
- Jul 2007 with Laura Beth Nielsen and R. Lancaster
- Rights and Realities: Studying Law, Consciousness,
and Inequality in Employment Discrimination
- Apr 2007
All presentations »
Professional Service & Recognition
- Member, Kalven Prize Committee, Law & Society Association
- Chair, Scholarship Committee, World Justice Project, ABA Presidential Initiative
- Principal Investigator, After the JD – Wave 2.
- Co-Principal Investigator and Member, Advisory Committee, National Science Foundation/Law & Society Association/American Bar Foundation, Doctoral Fellowships in Law and Inequality
- Member, Sociological Research Association
- Member, Faculty Advisory Board, Center for Legal Studies, Northwestern University