AccessLex
Since launching our grantmaking activities in 2014, we have awarded $30.7 million in support of our research priorities: access, affordability, and the value of legal education.
Awarded Grants
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The Law College Association of the University of Arizona
Program:
Directed Grants Program
Date:
July 2019
Amount:
$149,997
Status:
Awarded
This grant will measure the outcomes of students in the BA Law program and compare those outcomes to students in other fields at the University of Arizona through surveys and archival data to document students’ success in their programs, career aspirations, preparedness for continuing higher education, and sources of information and advice. Results will be used to better understand what, if anything, is valuable and distinctive about the BA Law experience as a preparation for the JD, as well as provide Latina students an even more engaging experience by offering additional support and preparation through a specialized mentor and training seminar.
American Bar Foundation
Program:
Unsolicited Grants Program
Date:
July 2019
Amount:
$87,140
Status:
Completed
The project will employ anthropological linguistic methods to examine how inequality is sustained in law schools in order to help them create more supportive environments for students and faculty of color. Faculty interviews, observations, and autobiographical textual analyses will be used to identify the verbal and non-verbal interactional habits that contribute to institutional practice that may sustain implicit biases.
View grant outcomes.
Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI)
Program:
Directed Grants Program
Date:
June 2019
Amount:
$53,470
Status:
Completed
The Law School and Bar Exam Study Skills Fellowship consists of five law school professionals (Fellows) who write 3-5 self-paced instructional tutorials each (15-25 tutorials) covering the area of the Bar Exam Study Skills. The goal of the fellowship is to author lessons that help develop students’ critical-thinking skills.
Read more about the Law School and Bar Exam Study Skills Fellowship.
View grant outcomes.
The Association of American Law Schools (AALS)
Program:
Directed Grants Program
Date:
April 2019
Amount:
$375,000
Status:
Completed
The Sponsorship, Research and Challenge Directed Grant is a multi-component project, including a $25,000 sponsorship for the Law School Deans’ workshop/forum at the AALS Annual Meeting, $225,000 for the Study of the American Law School Dean, and a $25,000 Challenge Grant. The project will survey the process by which individuals are recruited and selected for deanship at American law schools, as well as identify the most challenging issues facing law deans today.
Read more about the Research and Challenge Directed Grant.
View grant outcomes.
Concordia University Chicago
Program:
Unsolicited Grants Program
Date:
April 2019
Amount:
$10,000
Status:
Awarded
The grant will examine approximately 30 first-generation law students enrolled at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law using both surveys and in-depth interviews to identify critical: pre-law school experiences, psychoemotional/educational needs of enrolled first-generation law students, and personal qualities associated with first-generation students’ law school success.
New York Law School
Program:
Directed Grants Program
Date:
April 2019
Amount:
$125,000
Status:
Completed
This grant supports New York Law School's efforts to dramatically enhance bar performance in its longstanding Evening Division, which offers a J.D. degree in four years (eight semesters). The Evening Division provides access to legal education for generations of underrepresented or economically disadvantaged groups working professionals, a significant number of whom have been members of historically underrepresented or economically disadvantaged groups.
View grant outcomes.
Elon University School of Law
Program:
Directed Grants Program
Date:
April 2019
Amount:
$21,530
Status:
Awarded
This grant will evaluate the relationship between programmatic and curricular interventions developed by the Elon University School of Law and the bar examination success of the Law School’s students. The project’s results will be used to focus its efforts on those areas which most benefit its students, particularly those at risk of not passing their bar examination on the first try.
University of Denver
Program:
Bar Success Research Grant Program
Date:
March 2019
Amount:
$125,000
Status:
Awarded
This grant, in partnership with the ABA Commission on the Future of Legal Education and Prof. Deborah Merritt (Ohio State University Moritz College of Law), will develop a fair, evidence-based definition of minimum competence. The grant will build on existing research, including the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS)’ Foundations for Practice, and will use layered focus groups to deepen our understanding of minimum competence.
Read more here.
University of Cincinnati
Program:
Bar Success Research Grant Program
Date:
March 2019
Amount:
$125,000
Status:
Completed
The grant will conduct rigorous, multi-site analyses to develop a richer empirical model of bar passage and improve understanding through qualitative interviews of student graduates. The grant will use this information to extend existing literature and build research-practice partnerships that provide university partners with actionable insight into programmatic decisions, student interventions and supports, and advising.
View grant outcomes.