Civil Justice Research Initiative Research Apprentice
Anne Bloom, Executive Director
Law
Applications for Fall 2025 are closed for this project.
The Civil Justice Research Initiative (CJRI) is a think tank that explores, through interdisciplinary, academically-based and independent research, how the civil justice system can be made more available to everyone seeking relief. The CJRI is chaired by Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and directed by Anne Bloom, an attorney and social scientist with significant experience in both academia and legal practice.
Role: The apprentices will have the opportunity to assist in several aspects of the Initiative’s work:
Legal Issue Marketing -- the CJRI seeks support from students with a background in social media marketing to assist with creating, circulating and posting educational materials on the courts, legal decisions, and other legal matters relevant to access to justice. The CJRI will provide apprentices with the legal training they need to do this work. Apprentices will also work collaboratively with social media marketing professionals.
Case Briefing and Memo Writing - the CJRI needs research support with briefing legal cases and writing memos summarizing the key points from legal research and practice meetings that take place at the law school and beyond. The CJRI will provide apprentices with the training they need to do this work.
Research Support (one apprentice) - the CJRI needs research support on an empirical project involving access to justice issues in federal courts. This work will primarily involve coding legal cases under the direction of the CJRI Executive Director and a research team made up of social scientists and legal academics. To prepare apprentices to work on the projects, CJRI will provide apprentices with general training in legal research. Students with training in social science methodologies preferred for this project. Coding experience is a plus. We expect to complete this project in the fall semester, at which point the apprentices working on this project will assist with legal case briefing and memo writing.
Qualifications: Juniors and Seniors only. Students with training or experience in social media marketing, reading and briefing legal cases, and/or social science methodologies preferred. We will be selecting two to three additional apprentices this fall.
Hours: 3-5 hrs
Off-Campus Research Site: Remote with some in-person meetings a few times a semester.
Related website: https://civiljusticeinitiative.org/
Social Sciences