Legal research for social impact

This conference has been rescheduled for May 17th, 2023.

All tickets remain valid for the new date. Please email the Events Team if you have any queries.  Please also note this is the ticket page for the in-person event. Please click here for the hybrid version of the conference.

PLEASE NOTE: Bookings close 15 May 12.00pm prompt!  We will not accept any bookings after this time. 

Legal Research for social impact

Civil society, Universities and Government all want research that has impact.  This event is for anyone wanting to commission, develop or collaborate on legal research resulting in positive change to people’s lives by influencing law, policy and practice.

If your organisation has very limited resources and you want to attend we can subsidise tickets. Please e-mail events@publiclawproject.org.uk to discuss.

Who this event is for:

• Legal researchers or those commissioning research working towards social change at NGOs and Universities.
• Policy professionals, campaigners and lawyers using research to inform action.

As delegates you will learn:

• What the impact agenda is and why it matters to researchers, lawyers, civil society, and Government
• To define and measure impact in the context of legal research
• How to collaborate to build relationships, projects and co-produce impactful research
• What support is available for impactful research, from universities and funders, and how organisations might access this
• Discuss perceptions of failure in impact

11:00-11:05: Introduction: Professor Caroline Hunter, University of York

11:05-11:45: Opening conversation: Legal research for social impact
Our speakers open the conference with a discussion on why impact matters, drawing on themes for the day including understanding the experience and objectives of communities and movements in designing research projects for social impact.

• Shameem Ahmad, Director, Public Law Project
• Habib Kadiri, StopWatch
• Dr Lawrence McNamara, Law Commission of England and Wales and York Law School

11:45-13:00: What is impact?  
Speakers will discuss impactful research projects and the effects those projects have. The session will also look at theories of change, and how they should inform research projects from inception, helping to build impact into models from the outset. We’ll also ask speakers to address what happens if impact is not as expected, and you have to tell funders, reassess outcomes, and more.

• Chair: Arabella Lang, Public Law Project
• Dr Emily Greytak, Director of Research, American Civil Liberties Union
• Jo Hynes, Public Law Project
• Professor Charlotte O’Brien, University of York
• Professor Joe Tomlinson, University of York

13:00: Optional: The Access to Justice Research Library
Network for justice will introduce their online library resources and the wider Network for Justice project.

13:00  -14:00 Lunch

14.00 – 15.15: Breakouts (choose 1 of 4)

1. Impact via law reform

This session will look at the process of influencing law reform using research and influencing the actions and programme of the Law Commission.  Case studies will include the reform of court processes to help litigants in person (LIPs), the legal treatment of non-legally binding religious-only marriages and the potential connection between non-unanimous  verdicts, race, and miscarriages of justice.

• Chair: Dr Lawrence McNamara, Law Commission of England and Wales
• Dr Rajnaara Akhtar, University of Warwick
• Professor Graínne McKeever, University of Belfast
• Nisha Waller, APPEAL

2. Impact on litigation – test case strategies 

This session will look at the way research can inform litigation strategies, and specifically test case litigation.  The session will also look at collecting and acting on litigation data.

• Chair: Alice Stevens, Public Law Project
• Polly Glynn, Deighton Pierce Glynn
• Daniel Hoadley, Mishcon de la Reya
• Kuba Joblonowski, the 3million and University of Exeter (joining remotely)
• Gillian Lobo, Client Earth

3.  Co-producing research

A session looking at case studies of research co-production to explore how research benefits from involving individuals in the project who are not researchers, but have interest or experience.

• Chair: Mia Leslie, Public Law Project
• Professor Helen Carr, University of Southampton
• Martin Collett, English Rural
• Ife Thompson, BLAM UK

15:15 – 15:30 Break

15:30-16:00: Funding for impact
Academic funding bodies and Charitable foundations – helpful tips on what kind of funds are available and what potential funders are looking for.

• Caroline Gentile, Lloyds Foundation
• Robert Street, Nuffield Foundation

 16:00-16:15: Communicating research for impact 
This session will use real world examples of how complex ideas and research findings often need to be distilled to be communicated to different, and often wider, audiences.

• Luke Robins-Grace, Public Law Project

16:30 -17:00: On scholactivism in constitutional studies: Skeptical thoughts

• Professor Tarunabh Khaitan, University of Oxford (virtual presentation)

17:00-17:45: Closing address

• Chair: Arabella Lang, PLP
• Professor Jeff King, UCL

18:15: Drinks reception

This conference is presented in partnership with the University of York Law School.

Please note this is a developing programme and some speakers and timings are subject to change.

All bookings are processed by our Events Team and so it may take 1-2 business days to receive your booking confirmation.

Please email our Events Team for any queries about ticketing or the programme.