Lawyers in America: A Historical Study of Entry, Practice, and Professional Power
Hunter Rendleman, Professor
Political Science
Applications for Spring 2026 are closed for this project.
Note: This project is co-mentored by Cailin Slattery, Assistant Professor in the Business and Public Policy Group at the Haas School of Business (cailin.slattery@berkeley.edu), and Hunter Rendleman, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science (hrendleman@berkeley.edu)
Project Description
Lawyers perform an indispensable role in modern democratic societies that are governed by the rule of law. They are considered the guardians of the justice system, they represent individuals, firms and the government, advise these entities about their rights and obligations, and perform the role of state verification in many aspects of life. These tasks are part of the institutional underpinnings of the success of such economies. A less charitable view holds that the development and organization of the profession has primarily served to benefit lawyers themselves, providing limited value to clients, and draw talented people away from other sectors of public and economic life
This project studies lawyers in the United States. Who becomes a lawyer, where do they work, what type of law do they specialize in? We study this over a long historical period, from the 1930s to the present. During this long period of economic and social change in the U.S., what role does the lawyer play?
This project involves an ambitious data collection exercise. There are historical directories of lawyers with rich biographical details on the law firm partners and associates at firms across the U.S. We are forming a team of ambitious and detail-oriented students to assist us in digitizing these historical directories. We encourage students with an interest in economics, political science, law, and history to apply!
Role: Responsibilities will include:
Core Tasks
* Digitizing historical lawyer directories: Traveling to the law library to access relevant records, systematically scanning assigned sections, and uploading high-quality images according to project protocols.
* Meeting weekly benchmarks: Completing a defined number of pages each week to ensure steady progress on the digitization effort. Benchmarks will be clear and tailored to your work schedule.
* Participating in weekly check-ins: Attending brief meetings with research team members to review progress, flag any issues, and ensure accuracy and consistency in the scanning process.
* Assuring data quality: Identifying scanning errors, missing pages, or formatting issues; documenting anomalies; and collaborating with the team to refine protocols as needed.
* Optional advanced tasks (depending on interest and performance): Assisting with early-stage data structuring, metadata tagging, or exploratory coding of scanned pages.
Learning Outcomes
* Experience working with large-scale historical data: You will learn how major quantitative social-science projects build datasets from archival materials.
* Skills in data management and research organization: Training in workflow management and quality-assurance procedures used in professional research teams.
* Familiarity with American legal and political history: Exposure to how the legal profession has evolved over time, with opportunities to engage with faculty on the project’s substantive questions.
* Professionalization and teamwork: Regular interaction with faculty and graduate researchers will give you insight into how collaborative research projects operate and prepare you for advanced research roles or honors theses.
Qualifications: Required: Ability to come to campus regularly to complete assignments and meet with research team members. Detail-oriented nature.
Desirable but not essential: Smart phone with high-quality camera. Curiosity about law, history, political science, or economics.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Emily Rusting, Staff Researcher
Hours: 6-8 hrs
Related website: https://cailinslattery.com
Related website: https://cailinslattery.com