From cell phone footage and body cameras to new forms of digital media and AI technologies, courts are confronting an expanding range of emotionally evocative evidence—a trend that shows no…
The ABF Welcomes New Fellows Officers for 2026–27
The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation (ABF) have announced new Fellows Officers for the 2026–27 fiscal year. The Fellows are an honorary society of attorneys, judges, law faculty, and…
The ABF Welcomes Michael H. Byowitz as President of the Board of Directors
The American Bar Foundation (ABF) welcomes Michael H. Byowitz as the new president of the ABF’s Board of Directors. His two-year term began September 1, 2026, following his service as…
The ABF Welcomes Shaun Ossei-Owusu as the 2026–27 William H. Neukom Fellows Research Chair in Diversity and Law
Shaun Ossei-Owusu has been named the William H. Neukom Fellows Research Chair in Diversity and Law for the 2026–27 academic year. Ossei-Owusu is a Presidential Professor of Law at the…
New JDO Edited Volume, Global Perspectives on People-Centered Justice: Exploring the Evidence
Launched in 2023 as a partnership between the ABF Access to Justice Research Initiative, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD), and the…
Access to Justice Research Initiative’s Early Career Workshop
The Access to Justice Research Initiative’s Early Career Workshop provides support for early-career researchers interested in access to civil justice scholarship, offering an opportunity to make connections, explore interdisciplinary research,…
Fellows CLE Explores the Lasting Consequences of Mass Incarceration
The ABF Fellows CLE Program, held July 31 during the 2026 ABA Annual Conference, examined the lasting consequences of mass incarceration and why, for many people, the legal and social…
ABF Hosts New York City Reception Celebrating RBG Fund
A reception in May 2026 celebrated the legacy of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the fund named in her honor at the ABF. When Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg entered Harvard law school,…
Leading Sociologist Laura Beth Nielsen to Steer ABF into Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Year
The American Bar Foundation (ABF) has named Laura Beth Nielsen as its eleventh Executive Director, succeeding Interim Executive Director and ABF Affiliated Research Professor Bryant Garth. She will assume the role September…
The ABF Announces 2026–27 Visiting Scholars
The American Bar Foundation is pleased to welcome six Visiting Scholars to the ABF research community. The scholars of the 2026–27 cohort are: Winnifred Fallers Sullivan, Kathryn Birks Harvey, Jennifer Carlson,…
The American Bar Foundation Announces 2026 Cohort of Doctoral Fellows
The American Bar Foundation (ABF) has awarded doctoral fellowships to three exceptional scholars. Selected from a highly competitive pool of applicants, these scholars were chosen for their impressive empirical and…
Princeton University Student Laura Nelson Wins Law & Social Inquiry’s 2026 Graduate Student Paper Competition
The American Bar Foundation (ABF) is delighted to announce that Laura Nelson, a PhD candidate in the Department of History at Princeton University, has won the 2026 Graduate Student Paper Competition from Law…