Robert L. Nelson

Robert L. Nelson headshot

ABF Director & MacCrate Research Chair in the Legal Profession

750 N. Lake Shore Drive
4th Floor
Chicago, IL 60611

Joint appointment

Professor of Sociology, Northwestern University

Education

Ph.D., Sociology, Northwestern University; J.D., Northwestern University School of Law

Bio

Robert L. Nelson is the Director of the American Bar Foundation, the MacCrate Research Chair in the Legal Profession at the ABF, and professor of sociology and law at Northwestern University. He…

Full bio »

Research focus

The social organization of law practice and the relationship between law and social inequality. Research has addressed transformations in the legal profession, the role of corporate counsel, gender inequality, and employment discrimination.

Projects

Urban Lawyers: The New Social Structure of the Bar: Latest finding: Sep 24, 2008, with John P. Heinz, John P. Heinz, Robert L. Nelson, Rebecca L. Sandefur and Edward O. Laumann; Published by The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 2005 Over the past several decades, the number of lawyers in large cities has doubled, women have entered the bar at an…
Employment Discrimination Litigation: Latest finding: Feb 11, 2008, with Laura Beth Nielsen, Ryon Lancaster, John Donohue III, Peter Siegelman; At the center of current debates about the role of anti-discrimination law in American society is the system of discrimination litigation. Despite the sheer magnitude of changes in employment…
After the JD: Latest finding: Feb 11, 2008, with Bryant G. Garth, Ronit Dinovitzer, Joyce Sterling; The After the JD (AJD) project is an empirical study of the career outcomes of a cohort of almost 5,000 new lawyers, offering both a nationally representative picture of lawyer career trajectories…

All projects »

Publications

Contesting Workplace Discrimination in Courts: Characteristics and Outcomes of Federal Employment Discrimination in Courts 1987-2003: Report
“The AJD Project: The First National Longitudinal Study of Lawyer Careers”: Southwestern University Law Review

All publications »

Presentations

The Trajectories of Legal Careers: Oct 2007 with R. Dinovitzer
Uncertain Justice: the Determinants of Outcomes in Federal Employment Discrimination Litigation, 1987- 2003: Jul 2007 with Laura Beth Nielsen and R. Lancaster
Rights and Realities: Studying Law, Consciousness, and Inequality in Employment Discrimination: Apr 2007

All presentations »

Professional Service & Recognition

Member, Kalven Prize Committee, Law & Society Association
Chair, Scholarship Committee, World Justice Project, ABA Presidential Initiative
Principal Investigator, After the JD – Wave 2.
Co-Principal Investigator and Member, Advisory Committee, National Science Foundation/Law & Society Association/American Bar Foundation, Doctoral Fellowships in Law and Inequality
Member, Sociological Research Association
Member, Faculty Advisory Board, Center for Legal Studies, Northwestern University