Faculty Books
Robert Nelson
Professor - On Leave
Director of American Bar Foundation
1810 Chicago Avenue
Room 321
Phone: (847) 491-3203
ABF: (312) 988-6532
r-nelson@northwestern.edu
Office Hours: By Appointment
Areas of Interest
Law and Society
Organizations-Formal/Complex
Occupations
Professions
Relevant Link
American Bar Foundation
Institute for Policy Research
Law School
Biography
Nelson is the founding director of the Center for Legal Studies at Northwestern, was the Director of the Bar Foundation's Program on Professionalism, Law and Economic Change from 1988 to 1992, and served as Department Chair from 1997-2000 and as Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Sociology in 1991-92 and 1993 through 1996.
In 1992-93, he was a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences, and co-directed a Special Project at the Center from 2003-2008. He serves on the Council of the American Sociological Association's Section on the Sociology of Law and has served on the Board of Trustees of the Law and Society Association and as Secretary and treasurer of the Organizations, Occupations, and Work Section of the ASA. He is a member of the Sociological Research Association.
Books
Global Perspectives on the Rule of Law
(with James J. Heckman and Lee Cabatingan), Routledge-Cavendish, 2010
Urban Lawyers: The New Social Structure of the Bar
(with John P. Heinz, Rebecca L. Sandefur, and Edward O. Laumann),
University Chicago Press, 2005
Handbook of Employment Discrimination Research: Rights and Realities
(with Laura Beth Nielsen), Springer, 2005
Publications
Experiencing Discrimination: Race and Retention in America's Largest Law Firms
(with Monique R. Payne-Pikus and John Hagan), Law & Society, 2010
Individual Justice or Collective Legal Mobilization: Employment Discrimination Litigation in the Post-Civil Rights United States
(with Laura Beth Nielsen and Ryan Lancaster), Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 2010
After the JD II: Second Results from a National Study of Legal Careers
(with Ronit Dinovitzer, G. Plickert, R. Sandefur, and Joyce Sterling),
American Bar Foundation and The NALP Foundation for Law Career Research and Education, 2009
Are We There Yet?: Empirical Research and the Predicted Demise of Large Law Firms: An Introductory Essay, American Bar Foundation,
Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, 2009
William Henry Exum Award
The intent of this prize is to honor the memory of William Henry Exum, a member of the Department of Sociology and the African American Studies Department, who died in 1986 at the age of 37. Exum was concerned with the quality of writing and research analysis in student papers. He was also interested in racial problems facing minority youths in higher education. This award was established as a means of continuing his goals of breaking barriers for all minorities.
The award submission deadline is April 27, 2012. All interested students should submit a 15-20 page paper, typed and double-spaced, on a topic dealing with race and ethnicity. Students are not limited to a sociological approach in preparing their submissions, nor is the award limited to sociology or social science majors.
The paper should include a cover sheet with the student's name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, year in school, and major.
Three copies of the essay must be submitted by the announced deadline to the Exum Award - Department of Sociology, 1810 Chicago Ave., Evanston Campus or one copy by email to sociol@northwestern.edu.
This award is open to all undergraduate students from all disciplines.
Upcoming Events
COLLOQUIUM: Myra Marx Ferree, Sociology, University of WI-Madison
May 17, 2012 • 12:30 PM - 2:00 PM
Culture and Society Workshop
May 17, 2012 • 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
