2026 Conference on Empirical Legal Studies (CELS)
October 2-3, 2026
Northwestern Pritzker School of Law is pleased to host the 20th Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies (CELS) on October 2-3, 2026. CELS is an interdisciplinary gathering that draws empirical researchers from across the United States and the world, bringing together scholars in law, economics, political science, psychology, and other fields who are interested in the empirical analysis of law and legal institutions.
This conference is co-sponsored by Northwestern Pritzker Law and the Society for Empirical Legal Studies.
Submissions
Deadline for submissions: June 12, 2026
We welcome submission of papers within the following areas:
- Administrative Law and Legislation
- AI, Privacy, and Technology
- Antitrust and IP
- Bankruptcy and Corporate Finance
- Civil Procedure, Litigation, and Dispute Resolution
- Constitutional Law, Elections, and Political Economy
- Contracts, Commercial Law, and Consumer Law
- Corporate Law and Securities Regulation
- Courts and Judging
- Crime, Criminal Law, and Policing
- International Law, Comparative Law, and Immigration
- Labor, Employment, and Discrimination
- Legal Education and Legal Practice
- Property and Environmental Law
- Psychology and Law
- Tax and Public Finance
- Torts, Health Law, and Insurance
- Other
Registration
Registration coming soon.
Location
Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
420 E Superior St
Chicago, IL 60611
Hotels
Conference hotel information TBD.
Organizers
Stephanie Didwania
Professor of Law
Kyle Rozema
Professor of Law
David Schwartz
William G. and Virginia K. Karnes
Research Professor of Law
Questions?
Contact us at celsnorthwestern2026@gmail.com with any questions about the conference.
Conference History
The Conference on Empirical Legal Studies (CELS) was launched in 2006, in response to the growing level of empirical scholarship in law schools and elsewhere. It has thus far been held at the following, in each case with generous support from the host school.
- University of Texas School of Law (2006)
- NYU School of Law (2007)
- Cornell Law School (2008)
- USC Gould School of Law (2009)
- Yale Law School (2010)
- Northwestern Pritzker School of Law (2011)
- Stanford Law School (2012)
- University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (2013)
- UC Berkeley School of Law (2014)
- Washington University in St. Louis School of Law (2015)
- Duke University School of Law (2016)
- Cornell Law School (2017)
- University of Michigan Law School (2018)
- Claremont McKenna College (2019)
- University of Toronto Faculty of Law (March 2022)
- University of Virginia School of Law (November 2022)
- University of Chicago Law School (2023)
- Emory University School of Law (2024)
- Georgetown Law Center (2025)
The founding organizers of CELS are Jennifer Arlen, Bernie Black, Ted Eisenberg, Michael Heise, and Geoffrey Miller.