ABF Visiting Scholar Program
The American Bar Foundation invites scholars to join our intellectual community throughout the year on a temporary visiting basis. We encourage national and international scholars on leave or sabbatical to take advantage of our diverse sociolegal research environment and excellent facilities.
ABF Visiting Scholars enjoy an office or workspace, opportunities for collegial interaction, and library access. We do not offer a stipend. Visitors are expected to participate in the intellectual life of the ABF community, and to attend the ABF’s weekly Wednesday speaker series. We prefer visitors who will be in residence full-time at the ABF for all or part of the academic year, although summer visits are possible.
Preference will be given to visitors whose scholarship aligns with the ABF's mission to expand knowledge and advance justice through innovative, interdisciplinary, and rigorous empirical research on law, legal processes, and legal institutions. ABF visitorships are open to scholars in all social science disciplines, law, and the social science adjacent humanities, regardless of institutional appointment. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are integral to the ABF. We seek qualified applicants who can contribute to these goals through their scholarship, mentorship, and/or service, and we enthusiastically encourage applicants from historically underrepresented groups and backgrounds in sociolegal research.
Information about past visitors can be found on the Former Visiting Scholars page of the ABF website.
Application Deadline
The application period for the 2025-2026 cohort of Visiting Scholars is now open. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, but preference is given to applications received by March 1, 2025.
Applicants should submit the following, combined as a single PDF:
- A letter of application, including the preferred dates for residence and any limitations on your ability to be on-site at the ABF
- A curriculum vitae
- A brief (no more than 2-page) description of current research and the topic on which you would be working as a Visiting Scholar
- A list of three references
Application materials should be submitted via the application portal. For assistance with your application, contact Dianna Garzón, Program Associate, at dgarzon(at)abfn.org.
For all other questions, please contact Reuben J. Miller, Chair of the Appointments Committee, at rmiller(at)abfn.org. Please include "ABF Visiting Scholars" in the subject line.