First Annual Conferenceon Empirical Legal Studies

I don't generally do conference announcements, but this one is both "close to home" and likely to be of interest to many:

First Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies

University of Texas Law School

27-28 October 2006

Announcement & Call for Papers (Submission Deadline:  June 30, 2006)

The inaugural Empirical Legal Studies Conference will be held at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, Texas, on Friday 27- Saturday 28 October 2006 (ending by 2:00 on Saturday to allow most participants to return home Saturday afternoon).  The conference will feature presentations of original empirical and experimental legal scholarship by leading scholars from a diverse range of fields.

The Conference on Empirical Legal Studies is jointly organized by Cornell Law School, NYU School of Law and the University of Texas Law School. The 2006, 2007 and 2008 Conferences will be held at University of Texas Law School, New York University School of Law and Cornell Law School, respectively. The conference organizers are: Jennifer Arlen (NYU), Bernard Black (Texas), Theodore Eisenberg (Cornell), Michael Heise (Cornell) and Geoffrey Miller (NYU).

Conference Objectives:

The conference's goals are:  (i) to encourage and develop empirical and experimental scholarship on legal issues by providing scholars with an opportunity to present and discuss their work with an interdisciplinary group of scholars; and (ii) to stimulate ongoing conversations among scholars in law, economics, political science, finance, psychology, sociology, and other disciplines about research in this area.  The conference’s audience will include paper presenters, commentators, and other attendees, and will include many of the nation’s leading empirical legal scholars.  The goal is productive discourse on both particular papers and appropriate methodologies.

Committed Participants:
The following scholars have agreed to participate in the 2006 conference.

• Jennifer Arlen, NYU
• Bernard Black, Texas
• Charles Cameron, Princeton
• Steven Choi, NYU
• John Coates, Harvard
• Frank Cross, Texas
• Robert Daines, Stanford
• Shari Seidman Diamond, Northwestern and ABF
• John Donohue, Yale
• Theodore Eisenberg, Cornell
• Phoebe Ellsworth, Michigan
• Lee Epstein,  Washington University, St. Louis
• Neal Feigenson, Quinnipiac
• John Ferejohn, Stanford and NYU
• Marc Galanter, Wisconsin
• Mitu Gulati, Georgetown
• Valerie Hans, Cornell
• Michael Heise, Cornell
• Donna Hitscherich, Columbia
• Keith Hylton, Boston University
• David Hyman, Univ of Illinois
• Dan Kahan, Yale
• Marcel Kahan, NYU
• Lewis Kornhauser, NYU
• Herb Kritzer, Wisconsin
• Stefanie Lindquist, Vanderbilt
• Kevin McGuire, Univ North Carolina
• Michelle Mello, Harvard
• Geoff Miller, NYU
• Dan Kahan,Yale
• Adam Pritchard, Michigan
• Jeffrey Rachlinski, Cornell
• Jennifer Robbennolt, Illinois
• Roberta Romano, Yale
• Mary Rose, Texas
• Joseph Sanders, Houston
• Jeffrey Segal, SUNY Stony Brook
• Charles Shipan, University of Iowa
• Charles Silver, Texas
• Dan Simon, USC
• James Spriggs, UC Davis
• Emerson Tiller, Northwestern
• Neil Vidmar, Duke
• W. Kip Viscusi, Harvard
• Paul Wahlbeck, George Washington
• Martin Wells, Cornell
• Justin Wolfers, Wharton School
• David Yermack, NYU

We welcome submissions in all areas of empirical and experimental legal scholarship, including but not limited to the following general topic areas:

banking and financial institutions
bankruptcy
civil rights and discrimination
contracts
criminal justice
courts and judges
corporate governance
corporate law
empirical methodology
experimental
health care (other than medical  malpractice)
intellectual property
international relations
juries, judges, and civil justice
law and finance
law and politics
law and psychology
law and society
law and sociology
medical malpractice
other private law
precedent and citations
securities law
tax and public finance
torts
venture capital and other private equity

[please direct suggestions for additional topic areas to Bernie Black]

Submissions:

Submissions for the Conference should be sent as email attachments no later than June 30, 2006 to this e-mail address, with copy to Bernard Black.

Please specify the topic(s) for which you are submitting the paper (limit two).  All submissions will be refereed.  The number of accepted papers will depend on the number and quality of submissions.  There is no publication commitment associated with the Conference, nor is previously published work eligible for consideration.  There is no cost to register for the conference.

Out-of-town paper presenters and commentators will receive payment of $800 to cover their expenses (if expenses are less than this, the remainder can be treated as an honorarium) (limited to one presenter per paper).  Given respectable low-cost hotel options and a "state rate" for airfare, we expect that this amount will be sufficient to cover presenters’ travel and lodging and other costs.  Presenters must attend the entire conference to receive the honorarium.

General inquiries concerning the 2006 Conference should be sent to Professor Black.

Registration requests and logistical inquiries should be directed to Ms. Peggy Brundage, (512) 232-1373, or via e-mail.