Research

Overview of Nelson’s research on the legal profession, discrimination law, and the After the JD study.

After the JD

After the JD is a longitudinal study of lawyers’ careers in the United States, tracking a national cohort over time. The project examines how careers develop in practice, including differences in mobility, opportunity, and outcomes across the profession.

The Phase III study follows a nationally representative cohort of lawyers admitted in 2000 over the first twelve years of their careers. Ongoing work extends this research to later phases and new cohorts, allowing for comparisons across generations of lawyers.

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The Legal Profession

A central area of this work examines the structure of the legal profession and how lawyers’ careers develop over time. This includes research on professional stratification, organizational change, and the distribution of opportunity within legal practice.

Much of this work focuses on how careers unfold across different sectors of the profession, and how institutional settings shape long-term outcomes. Books such as Urban Lawyers and The Making of Lawyers’ Careers are part of this broader line of research.

Discrimination Law & Inequality

A second area of research examines how anti-discrimination law operates within workplaces and organizations.

This work focuses on how legal rules are interpreted and implemented in practice, and how organizational processes shape the application of those rules. Rather than operating directly, legal protections are often translated into internal procedures that influence how claims are handled and resolved.

Books such as Rights on Trial and Legalizing Gender Inequality examine these dynamics, with a focus on workplace discrimination and the relationship between law and inequality.

CV

For a complete list of publications, including articles, chapters, and working papers:

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Book cover titled 'Rights on Trial: How Workplace Discrimination Law Perpetuates Inequality' by Ellen Berrey, Robert L. Nelson, and Laura Beth Nielsen. The cover features a red background with a checklist of five boxes, four of which are checked.
Book cover titled "Urban Lawyers: The New Social Structure of the Bar" by John P. Heinz, Robert L. Nelson, Rebecca L. Sandefur, and Edward O. Laumann, featuring small circular images of people, a gavel, and a courthouse.
A red book cover titled 'The Making of Lawyers' Careers' with black lines creating a grid pattern, and white text reading 'Inequality and Opportunity in the American Legal Profession' alongside a list of authors' names.
Book cover titled 'Legalizing Gender Inequality' with the subtitle 'Courts, Markets, and Unequal Pay for Women in America' by Robert L. Nelson and William P. Bridges. The background is yellow with a purple and orange design.