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Conference on Building Theory Through Empirical Legal Studies

Empirical Legal Studies is often associated with sophisticated quantitative work and less often associated with theory. The Center for the Study of Law and Society at the University of California, Berkeley is holding a one day conference to highlight and to foster discussion about the ways in which empirical legal studies (both quantitative and qualitative) can be used to generate, test, and elaborate socio-legal theory. Speakers from both the legal academy and the social sciences will present ongoing theoretically-informed empirical work and discussants, as well as the audience, will be invited to engage in a productive dialog about the intersection of empirical legal studies and law and social science theory. We also hope to foster connections across disciplines and among scholars in this area that will continue long after this initial conference. The conference will feature a Keynote Address by Richard Lempert, Stein Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Law and Sociology at the University of Michigan and former director of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Division at the National Science Foundation. The presentations that follow are organized into three panels: Litigation, Complaint Mobilization, and Inequality; Law and Organizations; and Judicial and Agency Politics. The full program and abstracts of the papers that will be presented are attached.

The conference is open to all scholars interested in the nexus of empirical legal studies and socio-legal theory. There is NO FEE TO ATTEND but we do require registration in order to plan for lunch and the closing reception. PLEASE REGISTER BY FEBRUARY 1, 2009.