Professor Kathryn Zeiler Named to Society for Empirical Legal Studies Leadership
As chair-elect, and then chair, Zeiler hopes to sustain the success of previous chairs by continuing to expand the organization’s international reach.
Professor of Law and Nancy Barton Scholar Kathryn Zeiler has been named chair-elect of the Society for Empirical Legal Studies. She will serve in the role until November 2019, when she will take over as chair.
Zeiler’s scholarship applies economic theory and empirical methods to the study of legal issues and research questions. Her main scholarly interests include the importation of experimental economics results and behavioral economics theories into legal scholarship, the impact of state legislative tort damages caps on the price of medical malpractice insurance premiums, the impacts of communication and resolution programs implemented by hospitals to resolve medical malpractice claims, and the role of technology in patient safety.
Launched in 2004, the society’s mission is to stimulate and support empirical research on legal issues and encourage conversations among scholars in a range of fields, including law, economics, health care, political science, sociology, and others. “For decades, legal scholars have been importing theory from social sciences fields like economics, psychology, and sociology, but we were working on blind faith,” Zeiler says. “The increasing availability of data has made it possible for researchers to test predictions and fundamental assumptions of the theories, and it’s driving the field of interdisciplinary legal studies forward. Building confidence in theory is crucial as we move from theory to policy.”
Zeiler has been involved with the organization since 2006, when she began attending and presenting at its annual meeting, the Conference on Empirical Legal Studies. The organization also houses the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, the premiere publication for the field. She has been on the board of directors since 2015. “The conference is one of the best for scholars doing empirical work on theories that apply to legal issues,” she says. “It’s a great way to get feedback on your work. The organizers pair each paper presenter with a discussant. The collaborative environment is fantastic and a major contribution to the field.”
Recently, the organization has established ties with international universities, running affiliated conferences in Europe and Asia. In addition to expanding those international ties, Zeiler says one of her goals as chair will be to explore ways the Society might partner with law reviews to connect student-editors with experts willing to provide reviews of empirical research.
“The founders of the Society—Bernie Black, Jennifer Arlen, Geoffrey Miller, Ted Eisenberg and Michael Heise—did so much to get the organization up and running, to establish ties with international universities, and to push research in the field forward,” Zeiler says. “I’m excited to build on the great work they have done during the next two years.”