Call for Papers: Developing Research on the Legal Profession: A Paper Development Workshop for Postgraduate Researchers and Early Career Researchers, 20 JANUARY 2027
Are you a Postgraduate Researcher (PGR) or Early Career Researcher (ECR) interested in the legal profession, legal practice, or lawyers’ role in society?
The Society of Legal Scholars (Practice, Profession and Ethics Section) and the Legal Professions Research Group at the University of Leeds invite submissions for a one-day paper development workshop designed specifically for PGRs and ECRs.
This event aims to provide a supportive and collaborative environment in which participants can present research at any stage of development, receive constructive feedback from peers and established scholars, and develop their ideas for future conference presentations, publications, grant applications, and doctoral projects.
We particularly welcome participants who are new to legal professions research or who are exploring innovative theoretical, interdisciplinary, empirical, or methodological approaches to the study of legal practice and professional life.
Workshop Objectives
The workshop has three principal aims:
1. To support the development of PGR and ECR research on legal professions and legal practice.
2. To build a network of emerging scholars working in this field across disciplines and institutions.
3. To assist participants in developing papers for future presentation at conferences, including The Society of Legal Scholars (SLS) Annual Conference, and for eventual publication.
Submissions are welcome at any stage of development.
This includes:a• Initial research ideas
• Doctoral projects in progress
• Literature review papers
• Methodological reflections
• Pilot studies
• Early empirical findings
• Draft conference papers
• Work being prepared for publication
Participants are not expected to present completed research but work in progress and developing papers may later be submitted for presentation at the SLS Annual Conference in 2027.
Themes and Topics
We welcome submissions on any aspect of the legal profession and legal practice, including but not limited to:
• Globalisation and legal practice
• Legal professionalism and professional identity
• Lawyers and post-colonialism
• Professional regulation and governance
• Technology, AI, and the digital transformation of legal services
• Changing business models and alternative legal service providers
• Professional culture and wellbeing
• Recruitment, education, and social mobility
• Ethics, integrity, and professional responsibility
• High-profile scandals, accountability, and the importance of public trust
• Diversity, inclusion, and inequality within the profession
• Access to justice and the role of lawyers in wider society
• Comparative and international perspectives on legal professions
• Historical studies of lawyers and legal institutions
• Methodological and theoretical innovations in researching legal practice
• Lawyers, courts, and the administration of justice
• Cause lawyering, public interest law, and legal activism
We welcome doctrinal, theoretical, empirical, historical, comparative, sociolegal, qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research
Who Should Submit
This is an interdisciplinary conference. We welcome PGRs, ECRs, and recently appointed academic staff or researchers working in legal practice, policy, regulation, or related fields from all relevant disciplines, including the following:
• Law • Ethics
• Legal History
• Sociology
• Socio-Legal Studies
• Psychology
• Business and Management
• Organisational Studies
• Criminology
• Legal and Regulatory Policy
• Political Science
• Regulatory Studies
Workshop Format
Participants will be allocated to small groups where they will:
• Present their research ideas or papers
• Receive detailed feedback from peers and mentors
• Discuss methodological and theoretical challenges
• Explore opportunities for publication and future collaboration
To support students and early career scholars in publishing and developing an academic profile in this field, the day will also include two plenary sessions led by established scholars addressing:
• Researching the legal profession across disciplinary boundaries
• Methodological approaches and challenges in legal professions research
Submission Deadline- 18 November 2026
For more details, refer here
