The American Bar Endowment (ABE) has awarded its annual, unrestricted grant to the American Bar Foundation (ABF), totaling $3.68 million for the 2022-23 fiscal year. This grant will aid the ABF’s mission to expand knowledge and advance justice by understanding and improving law through interdisciplinary and empirical research and programs.
“As always, we are excited and honored to be one of the ABE’s primary grantees,” said Ajay K. Mehrotra, ABF Executive Director. “For nearly seven decades now, the ABE has been a vital partner in advancing the ABF’s research and programs, and we look forward to continuing this important relationship for many more decades to come.”
The ABF has received unrestricted annual grants from the ABE since the 1950s. In total, the ABE has awarded the ABF more than $150 million, which has proved vital for the continuation of the ABF’s critically acclaimed research.
“The ABE has been a proud supporter of the important work of the ABF for 66 years,” noted ABE President Carolyn B. Lamm. “This year’s grant of almost $3.7 million made possible through the generosity of ABE–insured lawyers reflects our commitment to the extraordinary empirical and interdisciplinary research undertaken by the unique interdisciplinary ABF scholars.”
The ABE is a not-for-profit public charity that sponsors high-quality, affordable life and disability insurance for ABA members. The ABE’s mission is to generate funds for the support of law-related research, as well as educational and public service projects through its insurance program. ABA-insured members can donate their insurance dividends to help fund the ABE’s grants that support these programs of importance to the public and the profession such as the excellent research of the ABF.
With the support of the ABE, the ABF will further its mission of conducting independent interdisciplinary research designed to shape laws, inform policy, and educate society at large. This includes research on diversity in legal education and the profession, with the capstone book from the After the JD project currently in production. The ABF also continues to expand its research in international matters, including the rule of law during wartime and the relationship between legal institutions and democratic governance, bolstered by the appointment of international legal scholar James Thuo Gathii as the 2022-23 William H. Neukom Fellows Research Chair in Diversity and Law. In addition, members of the ABF research community will continue their award-winning examination into the U.S. criminal justice system, including the effects of policing on political participation and the collateral damage of mass incarceration.
In the past year, the ABF has been able to establish multiple programs intended to support research of the most pressing issues facing the legal system in our nation and worldwide. The ABF’s Ruth Bader Ginsburg Endowed Fund for Research in Civil Rights and Gender Equality was founded with the support of the Ginsburg family to commemorate Justice Ginsburg’s legacy as a fierce advocate of civil rights and gender equality. The ABF also continues to mentor emerging scholars through an array of doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships, and the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program.
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About the American Bar Foundation
The American Bar Foundation (ABF) is the world’s leading research institute for the empirical and interdisciplinary study of law. The ABF seeks to expand knowledge and advance justice through innovative, interdisciplinary, and rigorous empirical research on law, legal processes, and legal institutions. To further this mission the ABF will produce timely, cutting-edge research of the highest quality to inform and guide the legal profession, the academy, and society in the United States and internationally. The ABF’s primary funding is provided by the American Bar Endowment and the Fellows of The American Bar Foundation.
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About the American Bar Endowment
Established in 1942, the American Bar Endowment (ABE) is an independent, not-for-profit public charity. The ABE provides lawyer members of the ABA with a unique way to protect themselves, their families, and their professional endeavors through participation in a range of ABE-sponsored insurance products underwritten by New York Life – with the option to seamlessly give any available annual dividends* they would otherwise receive to the ABE as a tax-deductible donation. In turn, the ABE makes grants that support critical law-related public service, educational, and research programs. At its core, the ABE is a charitable organization powered by generations of lawyers committed to ensuring equal access to justice for all.
* annual dividends are not guaranteed