Registration
Registration is now open for the 2026 Conference on Empirical Legal Studies (CELS), which will take place on October 2-3, 2026, at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in Chicago. Registration, hotel information, travel grant information, and more are available on the conference website: https://cels2026.com.
We encourage participants to register and reserve hotel accommodations as soon as possible.
Hotel Information
We have reserved a block of rooms at The Wade hotel near Northwestern Law at a conference rate of $189 per night. The conference block is available for October 1-2, 2026, and the deadline to reserve a room at The Wade Hotel at the CELS 2026 group rate is Friday, September 11, 2026.
Book at The Wade at the CELS 2026 group rate.
If you would like to arrive earlier or depart later, please contact the hotel directly:
- Hannah Lovett: hannah.lovett@pyramidglobal.com
Travel Grants
A limited number of travel grants are available for students, post-doctoral fellows, and others with similar temporary academic positions. The short application is available on our website. We will consider all applications received by Thursday, September 10, 2026, and consider applications on a rolling basis after that if funds remain.
Pre-Conference Workshop
On Thursday, October 1, from 1:00-5:00 p.m., Northwestern Law and SELS will host a pre-conference workshop, "AI for Empirical Legal Research: A Hands-On Workshop." Using sample legal research questions and datasets, participants will learn how Claude Code can assist with linking datasets, cleaning data, creating visualizations, and conducting analyses. The workshop will emphasize breaking complex research tasks into manageable steps and verifying AI-generated output at each stage.About
Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and the Society for Empirical Legal Studies are pleased to host the 20th Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies (CELS) on October 2-3, 2026, in person at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in Chicago, Illinois. CELS is an interdisciplinary gathering that draws researchers from across the United States and the world, bringing together scholars in law, economics, political science, psychology, and other fields who are interested in the empirical analysis of law and legal institutions.
If questions about the conference persist, please contact the conference organizers at celsnorthwestern2026@gmail.com.