ABF Access to Justice Research Initiative Early-Career Workshop

Deadline: Monday, November 24, 2025

About the ABF Access to Justice Research Initiative

The American Bar Foundation's Access to Justice Research Initiative is a dynamic hub for innovative empirical research and programs that bridge the divide between access to civil justice scholarship, policy, and practice in the United States and around the world. The Research Initiative aims to develop and raise the profile of access to civil justice research, support empirical scholarship that informs fundamental understanding of civil justice, and serve as a resource for researchers, policy makers, and practitioners as they seek to respond to the legal needs of the public today.

Program Description

The Access to Justice Research Initiative Early-Career Workshop, generously supported by the JPB Foundation, invites early-stage researchers interested in developing their scholarship in access to civil justice to apply for the Workshop. Program participants will join the ABF/JPB Access to Justice community of scholars, where they will receive opportunities for professional development, mentorship, and scholarly feedback from a community of engaged peers.

Participants will take part in monthly virtual meetings with fellow members of their cohort, focused on providing feedback on work shared by members of the group and conversations about relevant professional development topics.

Participants will also attend a two-day in-person conference and present on their work in Chicago in August or September 2026.

Deliverables

By the end of the program term, each participant will provide evidence that they have produced an original, empirical research project stemming from the project proposed in their application. Original research products include journal articles submitted to peer-reviewed outlets, dissertation or book chapters submitted to committee chairs, editors, or presses, grant proposals submitted to external funders, and other types of products subject to rigorous forms of peer review as determined by the organizers.

Eligibility

Participation in the Workshop is open to PhD students and early-career scholars in a range of social science disciplines — including anthropology, sociology, economics, law, political science, psychology, public policy, and related fields.

• Applicants must be a PhD student or faculty member or researcher (at an academic or research institution) and have not held, nor are currently holding, a tenured position or its equivalent.

Proposed research projects must:

• Be empirical;
• Be about access to civil justice or intersections between civil and criminal access to justice; and
• Explore relationships between access to justice and poverty or inequality in the United States (comparative studies between the US and other jurisdictions will also be considered).

Applicants must plan to attend a virtual kickoff meeting on January 12, 2026 at 3pm EST.

Financial Support

Each scholar selected for the program will receive travel support to Chicago for the in-person workshop (flight, hotel, transportation and incidentals) as well as a research stipend of $1000.

Application Criteria and Selection Process

Applicants must include:

1. A current curriculum vitae;
2. A draft abstract (1-2 pages) of the project that they intend to workshop with/including a brief explanation of the intended deliverable(s)
3. Early career scholars must submit a letter of endorsement from a department chair or equivalent (no longer than two pages);
4. PhD students must submit a brief statement of support (no longer than one page) from their dissertation advisor or another faculty member in a similar supervisory role. This statement should speak to the project's potential and the applicant's suitability for the program.

• Statements of support can be emailed directly to emucha[at]abfn.org if preferred.