You are invited to apply for the distinguished J. Willard Hurst Summer Institute in Legal History. 

This 13th biennial two-week program, devoted to supporting early-career legal historians, will take place June 15-27, 2025, at University of Wisconsin Law School in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. This one-of-a-kind gathering features presentations by guest scholars, discussions of core readings in legal history, and workshop sessions on fellows’ scholarly drafts.. 

The program is sponsored by the American Society for Legal History (ASLH) and University of Wisconsin Law School’s Institute for Legal Studies.

The 2025 cohort will be led by Michelle McKinley, Bernard B. Kliks Professor of Law at the University of Oregon Law School, and John Fabian Witt, Allen H. Duffy Class of 1960 Professor of Law at Yale Law School. 

While this Institute is held in the United States, professionals focused on legal history of any time or place are welcome to apply. Candidates outside the U.S. should be pursuing or have earned a graduate degree in law. This program is not intended for students outside the U.S. working toward undergraduate degrees in law.

Apply now; the deadline is Jan. 15, 2025.

Applicants will be notified of a decision no later than March 3, 2025.

James Willard Hurst (1910-1997) is generally recognized as the founder of modern U.S. legal history. He graduated from Harvard Law School and clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis before joining the faculty of University of Wisconsin Law School in 1937, where he taught, wrote and mentored for four decades.

Learn more about the 2023 participants and become one of 12 fellows in “The Hurst” this summer!

Email hurst@law.wisc.edu with any questions or concerns.