ABF IN REVIEW
P roducing Research that Advances Justice |  Quarterly Newsletter
Non-lawyer alternative has significant success in civil courts, according to a new ABF study
Professor Sandefur speaking at an ABF Access to Civil Justice Conference in 2012.
As part of her ongoing ABF Access to Justice research initiative, ABF Faculty Fellow Rebecca L. Sandefur has released " Roles Beyond Lawyers: Evaluation of the New York City Court Navigators Program and its Three Pilot Projects," a new  report that  assesses the potential of a new civil legal aid program. 'Navigators' are trained legal helpers, without a full formal legal education, who provide guidance to unrepresented litigants in New York City's overwhelmed civil courts. Sandefur conducted the study with Thomas M. Clarke, vice president of research and technology at the National Center for State Courts , with support from the Public Welfare Foundation . READ MORE >>
ABF receives generous grant from Access Group, Inc. 
The American Bar Foundation (ABF) was recently awarded a $320,000 grant from Access Group, Inc., a nonprofit organization that works to promote access to legal and graduate education through research, policy advocacy, and direct member and student educational services. The grant comes from Access Group's Center for Research & Policy Analysis and will support two new programs at ABF: the  Visiting Scholar Program in Legal and Higher Education and the  Doctoral Fellowship Program in Legal and Higher Education. The goal of both programs is to advance scholarship examining access, affordability, and value in legal and higher education.  READ MORE>>


On November 7, 2016, the American Bar Foundation (ABF) hosted the "The Network for Justice Planning Summit: Creating Legal and Legislative Support for Latino Communities," at the UCLA Luskin Conference Center. The summit was part of a series of regional events for the new ABF research and planning initiative, "The Future of Latinos in the United States: Law, Opportunity, and Mobility."  The Future of Latinos is a nationwide interdisciplinary research project dedicated to understanding the current condition of Latinos in the United States, the structural barriers that impede full equality and integration for this emerging population, and the sites of intervention that promise to be most impactful in promoting opportunity and mobility through law and policy. The summit was held in Los Angeles, with the goal of establishing a California-based network for justice pilot program to connect Latino populations with legal resources. Support for the event was provided by the California Bar Foundation, California Community Foundation, UCLA, and UC Davis School of Law. READ MORE>>
From left to right:  CBF Executive Director  Sonia Gonzales speaking on a morning panel discussion with FLP Project Manager  Pilar Escontrias, UC Davis School of Law Professor  Leticia Saucedo, CCF President and CEO  Antonia Hernandez, California Assemblywoman  Lorena Gonzalez, and MALDEF President  Thomas A. Saenz. 

©2016 UCLA Photography
From left to right: An afternoon panel discussion with California Assemblyman Jose Medina, Maria Blanco, executive director of the Undocumented Legal Services Center, Deepinder Mayell, director of education and outreach at the Center for New Americans, Sameer Ashar, clinical professor at UC Irvine School of Law, and Mark O'Brien, executive director of Pro Bono Net.
©2016 UCLA Photography 
For more photos from the summit, please visit our Flickr page.
Professor Shapiro publishes article on life-and-death decisions
Getty Images
In a new article, "Standing in Another's Shoes: How Agents Make Life-and-Death Decisions for Their Principals" Professor Susan Shapiro brings a principal/agent perspective to end-of-life decision making. The article shares an extraordinary three-year journey, that began each morning before sunrise as Shapiro and a medical social worker would throw on a white coat and race off to a medical or neurological intensive care unit. There, in real time, day after day, they observed how agents deliberated over life-and-death interventions on behalf of loved ones who, lacking decision-making capacity, were unable to speak for themselves. They observed more than 1,000 encounters in which agents exercised discretion for their principals, often, with little to go on. READ MORE >>
Duke University Professor Laura Edwards appointed new Research Chair in Diversity and Law
Courtesy of Duke University
Laura Edwards, the Peabody Family Professor of History at Duke University , was appointed the 2016-17 William H. Neukom Fellows Research Chair in Diversity and Law this fall. Edwards is an award-winning historian, and expert on race, gender, and the law. During her time at the ABF, Edwards' will work on a research project entitled "Only the Clothes on Her Back: Women, Textiles, and State Formation in the Nineteenth-Century United States," which explores the relationship between nineteenth century U.S. textile trade and institutions of law and governance, revealing the ways in which subordinated groups engaged in trade and used the legal system to shape the nation's governing institutions.  READ MORE >> 
New Leaders of the American Bar Foundation
Ellen J. Flannery is the new president of the board of the American Bar Foundation.  READ MORE >>
Mike Byowitz (pictured here with ABF Fellows Kenneth G. Standard and Helen Williams) is the new chair of the Fellows. READ MORE >> 
The ABF also welcomed three new members to its board of directors: 
ABF scholars recognized with awards and features

ABF Research Professor John Hagan was featured as a leading expert in the critically acclaimed documentary "13th," a revealing exploration of the system of mass incarceration and the history of racial inequality in the U.S. "13th" is directed by Ava DuVernay, director of the Academy Award-winning film "Selma" and the first woman of color to direct a film nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. 

ABF Faculty Fellow and  Law & Social Inquiry  Editor,  Chris Schmidt , was honored with the  American Society for Legal History 's (ASLH)  Surrency Prize  this fall for his article " Divided by Law: The Sit-ins and the Role of the Courts in the Civil Rights Movement. "  The Surrency prize is awarded for the best article published in the Society's journal,  Law
Courtesy of University of Wisconsin-Madison
 and History Review . ASLH described Chris' article as "a model of clarity, incisively and judiciously argued."
 
Apply for the 2017 Montgomery Summer Research Diversity Fellowship
The ABF is now accepting applications for the summer 2017 Montgomery Summer Research Diversity Fellowship in Law and Social Science. The prestigious fellowship is a wonderful opportunity for undergraduate students who are interested in law and social science to explore the field of sociolegal research and be a part of the ABF's vibrant community of scholars. To apply for the 2017 Fellowship, please visit our website.
NEW PUBLICATIONS

New book by ABF researchers unveils struggles for basic legal freedoms in China 
ABF researchers Terence C. Halliday and Sida Liu recently released their new book "Criminal Defense in China: The Politics of Lawyers at Work," (Cambridge University Press, 2016)  the first comprehensive social science study of the everyday work and political mobilization of criminal defense lawyers in China's criminal justice system. Liu and Halliday's research draws from 329 interviews with criminal defense lawyers and rights activists conducted between 2005 and 2015, as well as news and social media analysis, to document the rise of politically mobilized lawyers and human rights activism under China's authoritarian state. It is available for purchase through Cambridge University Press and Amazon. READ MORE>>
Latest issue of Law & Social Inquiry now available online

The Fall 2016 issue of  Law & Social Inquiry  (LSI), the academic journal of the ABF, is  now available online .  To stay up to date with issues, follow LSI on Facebook and  Twitter . To receive complimentary copies of LSI in the mail, or to request a previous issue, please contact Willa Sachs.
 

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